The following are the events that happened world-wide throughout the sport of baseball.
|
January |
|
February |
|
March |
|
April |
|
May |
|
June |
|
July |
|
August |
|
September |
|
October |
|
November |
|
December |
| Sources |
1800s[]
- 1880 - In the National League, the Boston Red Caps signs Jim Whitney, considered one of the best pitchers in California, at a salary of $150 per month.
- 1886 - The Executive Council of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players (*), formed the previous year, meets and chooses officers. Monte Ward is re-elected president, Dan Brouthers vice president, and Tim Keefe secretary-treasurer.
- 1889 - The Joint Rules Committee of the National League and the American Association makes only minor changes in the playing rules, the most important of which is to allow two substitutes per team, up from one in 1889.
- 1891 - The National League meets and dismisses the charges of collusion and game throwing against the eastern clubs brought by the Chicago Cubs, thereby formally giving the Boston Beaneaters the pennant. The league also plans its strategy for conquering the association by consolidating the four strongest American Association clubs into a 12-team league for next year.
- 1899 - Chicago Orphans star outfielder Bill Lange returns to San Francisco and vows he will never appear on the diamond again. He is only 28 and hit .325 this season.
1900s[]
- 1903 - Jimmy Collins signs a contract to [[manager (baseball)|manage the Pilgrims for three years. They will be called the Pilgrims, then the Red Sox during his tenure.
1910s[]
1920s[]
- 1926 - The Chicago White Sox fire one future Hall of Famer and replace him with another. Second baseman-manager Eddie Collins is released by the White Sox, despite his record of 81-72 and .344 batting average. He will rejoin the Philadelphia Athletics as a player-coach. In his place, Chicago hire catcher Ray Schalk, who will guide the White Sox to a record of 70-83 in 1927.
1930s[]
1940s[]
- 1940 – Brooklyn Dodgers GM Larry MacPhail still needs a starting pitcher to make his team a threat to the Reds. He acquire pitcher Kirby Higbe, from the Philadelphia Phillies, for catcher Mickey Livingston, pitchers Bill Crouch and Vito Tamulis, and $100,000. Higbe, who won 14 games in 1940, will win 22 games in 1941 to lead the National League pitchers.
- 1943 - The Most Valuable Player Awards for both leagues are named. Yankees pitcher Spud Chandler wins it in the American League and Cardinals outfielder Stan Musial in the National League.
- 1948 - Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees undergoes surgery for bone spurs on his right heel. DiMaggio will miss 65 games in 1949 because of continuing problems with his heel.
1950s[]
- 1953 - Jimmy Dykes, recently released as the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, succeeds Marty Marion as the Baltimore Orioles manager.
- 1958 - The American League announces that the Kansas City Athletics will play 52 night games in 1959, a new AL mark.
1960s[]
1970s[]
- 1970 - Baltimore Orioles first baseman Boog Powell, who batted .297 with 35home run]]s and 114 RBI, is named American League Most Valuable Player, beating Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins by a 234-157 margin.
1980s[]
- 1981 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela becomes the first rookie ever to win a Cy Young Award, edging Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds by a 70-67 margin for National League honors. Valenzuela was the first rookie since Herb Score in 1955 to lead his league in strikeouts with 180.
- 1982 - Joe Altobelli succeeds the retired Earl Weaver as Baltimore Orioles manager. Altobelli is the second Yankees coach to take a managing job this month, and will be the Orioles first new pilot since 1968.
- 1986:
- Mike Scott of the Astros beats Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers for the National League Cy Young Award, garnering 15 first-place votes to Valenzuela's nine.
- Forty-five-year-old player-manager Pete Rose is dropped from the Reds' 40-man ML roster to make room for pitcher Pat Pacillo. Rose will continue to manage the club.
- 1987:
- Roger Clemens becomes the first pitcher since Jim Palmer in 1975-76 to win consecutive Cy Young Awards, collecting 21 of 28 first-place votes to easily beat runner-up Jimmy Key.
- Jim Frey, who managed the Chicago Cubs to the 1984 NL East Division title, and spent last season as a broadcaster for the Cubs, is named the club's director of baseball operations. His first major move will be to hire longtime friend Don Zimmer as manager on November 20th.
1990s[]
- 1990 - Pitchers Chuck Finley of the California Angels and Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners combine to pitch a no-hitter in the finale of an eight-game exhibition series between American and Japanese All-Star teams. But Japan still wins the series 4-3 with one tie, the first time since 1970 that a touring U.S. team has left Japan with a losing record.
- 1995:
- Marty Cordova of the Minnesota Twins is named American League Rookie of the Year, winning by six points over Garret Anderson of the California Angels, who outhit him by 44 points (.321-to-.277).
- Gaffney Street, near the former site of Braves Field in Boston, is renamed Harry Agganis Way, after the former Boston University and Boston Red Sox star, who died during the 1955 season.
- 1996 - John Smoltz, who won a major league-high 24 games for the Atlanta Braves, wins the National League Cy Young Award in a runaway. Smoltz, the NL leader in strikeouts (276), innings pitched (253.2), and winning percentage (.750), receives 26 of 28 first-place votes. Kevin Brown of the Florida Marlins, the major-league ERA leader (1.89), receives the other two first-place votes. Since 1991, five of the six Cy Young winners have been Braves.
- Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig meets with Don Fehr, the players' labor leader, in a futile attempt to convince Fehr to accept the owners' demands. With the deadline for an agreement at midnight on the 14th, there is virtually no hope that the two sides will agree. If the two sides reach the deadline without an agreement, the interleague schedule for next year will be wiped out, and a traditional schedule followed.
- 1997 - Pedro Martínez of the Montreal Expos breaks the veteran Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves have on the National League Cy Young Award. Since 1991, either Maddux or a Braves pitcher captured the award. Martinez posted a 17- record with 305 strikeouts, a 1.90 ERA, and 13 complete games, giving Canada a clean sweep of the Cy Young this year. Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League award a day earlier. It's a bittersweet moment for Montreal.
- 1998:
- The Arizona Diamondbacks sign free agents pitcher Greg Swindell (three-year contract) and first baseman Greg Colbrunn (two-year contract).
- The Chicago White Sox trade outfielder Mike Cameron to the Cincinnati Reds for first baseman Paul Konerko.
- In a swap of high-priced unwanteds, the Mets send pitcher Mel Rojas to the Dodgers for outfielder Bobby Bonilla. Neither will help, but the little-used, outspoken Bonilla, with a two-year contract, will be a heavier burden than Rojas.
- The Detroit Tigers sign free agent third baseman Dean Palmer to a five–year contract.
- 1999:
- Jimy Williams of the Boston Red Sox is named the American League Manager of the Year.
- Toronto trade pitchers Pat Hentgen and Paul Spoljaric to the Cardinals in exchange for P Lance Painter, catcher Alberto Castillo and outfielder Matt DeWitt.
2000s[]
- 2001 - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire announces his retirement, saying "I am unable to perform at a level equal to the salary the organization would be paying me." McGwire's 583 career home runs place him fifth on the all-time list.
- 2002 - San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds wins his MLB record fifth Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the unanimous choice of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
- 2005 - John Shelby was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first base and outfield coach, becoming the third member of Jim Tracy's staff with the Los Angeles Dodgers to join him in Pittsburgh. Shelby, like pitching coach Jim Colborn and bench coach Jim Lett, was a member of Tracy's staff in Los Angeles. Shelby is a former MLB outfielder who played for the Orioles, Dodgers and Tigers, and was a Dodgers coach for eight seasons, six of them as first base coach. He had been on the Dodgers' coaching staff since 1998 after previously managing four seasons in the organization's farm system.
Births[]
- 1891 - Rabbit Maranville, Hall of Fama player and manager (d. 1954)
- 1899 - Pie Traynor, Hall of Fame player and manager (d. 1972)
- 1912 - Hal Trosky, infielder (d. 1979)
- 1929 - Ike Delock, pitcher
- 1961 - Kevin Towers, pitcher and executive
- 1962 - Cory Snider, outfielder
- 1964 - Roberto Hernández, All-Star pitcher
- 1969 - Damion Easley, All-Star infielder
- 1971 - Rey Ordóñez, infielder
- 1976 - Jason Grilli, pitcher
- 1977 - Mike Bacsik, pitcher
- 1979 - J.R. House, catcher