Some Baseball February 29 Trivia

February 29 doesn't fall during the baseball season, but it does fall during spring training. There have probably been some newsworthy items such as free agent signings, veterans cut, someone ending a holdout, or significant injuries on this date, but I'll just focus on births and deaths of major league players.

So far, there have only been 14 major leaguers who were born on February 29. I am a longtime fan of 20th and 21st century baseball who generally hasn't followed 1800s baseball. I also don't always understand newly prominent statistics such as WAR, OPS, and WHIP. But I hope to learn more about these areas as I grow my blog. Two of these 14 players only appeared in the 1800s. I do know that the higher the WAR, the better, and that negative WAR values are possible.

I have come up with a composite full name taken from some of the major leaguers born on February 29:

Albert "Al" Leonard Long

This covers 5 of the 14 players born on Leap Day.

Albert "Al" - This name covers both extremes, the Leap Day baby with one of the longest Major League careers and one with one of the shortest. Third baseman Al Rosen, born in 1924, appeared in 1,044 games from 1947-1956, all with the Cleveland Indians. His best season was 1953, when he won the American League MVP award. As of now, Rosen is the only Jewish Major Leaguer who was born on February 29. Righthander Al Autry, born in 1952, appeared in only one game, in September 1976. Starting the second game of a doubleheader for the Atlanta Braves against the Houston Astros, he went five innings and gave up three runs, all earned, for a 5.40 career ERA. Fortunately for him, the Braves had scored four runs by then. That 4-3 lead stood, so Autry won his only game in the majors. Autry had been a prospect with the Kansas City Royals for a few years before being traded to the Braves a year earlier, spending some spring training camps with one of the Royals' top pitchers at the time, Steve Mingori, who was born on February 29, 1944.

Leonard - This name covers the two Leap Day babies with the highest career WAR so far, the aforementioned Al Rosen and Pepper Martin, born Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin in 1904, while Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States. Martin played in 1928, 1930-1940, and 1944, all for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was mainly an outfielder, playing all three positions, but like Rosen, he played third base, too. He was a member of the Cardinals' Gashouse Gang of players in the 1930s.

Long - Sometimes it is a long time between the births of two Leap Day babies who become Major League ballplayers. There were none born in 1964, 1968, or 1972. But Long also happens to be the last name of both the sole player born on February 29, 1960, and the only one born on February 29, 1976. Righthander Bill Long, born in 1960, pitched in 1985 and 1987-1991, mainly for the Chicago White Sox and also for the Chicago Cubs and the Montreal Expos. Outfielder Terrence Long, born in 1976, played in the majors from 1999-2006. He was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2000 with the Oakland A's, after a brief debut with the New York Mets the previous year. He also played for the San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, and New York Yankees. Terrence Long is so far the only African-American Major Leaguer born on February 29.

The only two Leap Day babies to have appeared in the Major Leagues since Terrence Long were both born in 1992. Lefthander Gerardo Concepcion appeared in three games for the 2016 Cubs, although he was no longer on the active roster for their historic World Series win that year. A native of Cuba, Concepcion is the only Hispanic Major Leaguer born on February 29 as of now. Righthander Stefan Crichton appeared in the majors for the Baltimore Orioles in 2017 and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. He is in training camp with the Diamondbacks this spring, so his big league career could continue in 2020 or later. I don't know where Concepcion is following his release by the Cubs in 2017.

Only one Major Leaguer has died on February 29, Ernie Courtney, who passed away 100 years ago today in 1920. (I hope I don't jinx anyone by saying this!) He played in 1902-1903 for four different teams and then in 1905-1908 for the Philadelphia Phillies. His primary positions were third base, first base, and left field.

Some sources, including his Wikipedia entry, show the death date for Lena Blackburne (born Russell Aubrey Blackburne on October 23, 1886, in Clifton Heights, PA, not far from Philadelphia) as February 29, 1968. Baseball Reference, which I used to find data for this article, shows it as February 28, 1968. In addition to his playing career as an infielder with the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies and his time spent as a manager and coach with a few teams, his claim to fame is that he discovered a special use for the clay from the Delaware River to take the shine off of baseballs before each game. This method is still used today.