Dec. 21
1960 | Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley announces that the team will not hire a manager for the upcoming season. Instead, the team will be run by a “college of coaches” who will share duties throughout the season. Eight different coaches take part in leading the team throughout the season, which ends with the Cubs 35 games out of first place.
1977 | Left-hander Ross Grimsley signs a free agent contract with the Montreal Expos. Grimsley would win 20 games in 1978, the only 20-game-winning season in Expos history.
1981 | Third baseman Mike Schmidt agrees to a six-year, $7.2 million contract extension to return to the Philadelphia Phillies.
1995 | Right-hander David Cone agrees to a three-year, $18 million contract to return to the New York Yankees.
1999 | The Dodgers are fined $50,000 and suspended from signing players in the Dominican Republic for one year after a league investigation found that they had signed Adrian Beltré when he was still just 15 years old.
2001 | Free agent outfielder Johnny Damon agrees to a four-year, $31 million contract to join the Boston Red Sox.
2007 | The Cincinnati Reds trade outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers for right-hander Edinson Volquez and left-hander Danny Herrera.
2013 | Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo agrees to a seven-year, $130 million free agent contract to join the Texas Rangers.
2022 | Aaron Judge is named the 16th captain in the Yankees franchise history.
2023 | Free agent right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto agrees to a 12-year, $325 million contract to join the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2024 | Rickey Henderson passes away from pneumonia just days short of his 66th birthday.
Dec. 22
1921 | Socks Seybold, the Philadelphia A’s outfielder who held the single-season home run record before Babe Ruth with 16 in 1902, dies at age 51 when his car plunges over an embankment.
1962 | Voters approve a bond issue to help finance the construction of a domed stadium to house the Houston Colt .45s.
1980 | Contracts for the upcoming season are mailed to Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk, but it is two days past the deadline set by the CBA. Boston’s mistake results in the two players becoming free agents.
1982 | Veteran first baseman/outfielder Lee Mazzilli is traded for the third time this year. The Yankees send Mazzilli to the Pirates for outfielder Jerry Aubin, catcher Bubba Holland, infielder Jose Rivera, and right-hander Tim Burke.
1994 | The San Francisco Giants trade right-hander John Burkett to the Cincinnati Reds for shortstop Rich Aurilia and first baseman Desi Wilson.
1995 | An investment group led by Bill DeWitt Jr. purchases the St. Louis Cardinals for $150 million from the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company.
1999 | The New York Yankees trade right-hander Hideki Irabu to the Montreal Expos for right-handers Jake Westbrook and Christian Parker, and left-hander Ted Lilly.
1999 | Braves left-hander John Rocker offends virtually every race and ethnic group in New York City in an interview published in Sports Illustrated. His comments would create such outrage that he’d eventually be suspended for them.
2001 | Free agent right-hander Chan Ho Park agrees to a five-year, $65 million contract to join the Texas Rangers.
2002 | Right-hander Maels Rodríguez pitches the first perfect game in Cuban Serie Nacional history.
2009 | The Atlanta Braves trade right-hander Javier Vazquez and left-hander Boone Logan to the New York Yankees for right-hander Arodys Vizcaino, left-hander Michael Dunn, and outfielder Melky Cabrera.
2010 | The driver responsible for the April 2009 crash that killed Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others is sentenced to 51 years in jail.
2011 | The Washington Nationals trade right-handers Brad Peacock and A.J. Cole, left-hander Tom Milone, and catcher Derek Norris to the Oakland Athletics for left-hander Gio Gonzalez.
2012 | Former Reds utilityman Ryan Freel is found dead in his Jacksonville, FL home from an apparent suicide. He was 36. He would later be the first MLB player diagnosed with CTE.
2022 | Trevor Bauer’s record suspension is reduced from 324 games to 194 by an independent arbitrator, reinstating him immediately.
Dec. 23
1958 | The Los Angeles Dodgers trade infielder Sparky Anderson to the Philadelphia Phillies for right-hander Jim Golden, left-hander Gene Snyder, and outfielder Rip Repulski. Anderson’s career as a player didn’t amount to much, as he hit just .218/.282/.249 in 527 PA in his one season in the majors, but he’d have a Hall of Fame career as a manager.
1997 | The Chicago Cubs trade outfielder Doug Glanville to the Philadelphia Phillies for second baseman Mickey Morandini.
1999 | The Houston Astros trade left-hander Mike Hampton and outfielder Derek Bell to the New York Mets for outfielder Roger Cedeño and right-handers Octavio Dotel and Kyle Kessel.
2004 | Free agent outfielder J.D. Drew agrees to a five-year, $55 million contract to join the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2005 | Free agent outfielder Johnny Damon agrees to a four-year, $52 million contract to join the New York Yankees.
2012 | Free agent outfielder Nick Swisher agrees to a four-year, $56 million contract to join the Cleveland Indians.
2016 | Free agent third baseman Justin Turner agrees to a four-year, $64 million contract to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2022 | The Toronto Blue Jays trade catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel to the Arizona Diamondbacks for outfielder Daulton Varsho.
Dec. 24
1940 | The Cleveland Indians trade outfielder Ben Chapman to the Washington Senators for left-hander Joe Krakauskas.
1949 | Hall of Fame right-hander Grover Cleveland Alexander is found in Hollywood, CA, lying unconscious in an alley and missing an ear. Alexander will die from liver disease less than a year later.
1967 | Right-hander Jim Lonborg, who won the Cy Young Award with the Red Sox just weeks earlier, tears the ligaments in his left knee while skiing in Lake Tahoe.
1990 | The Montreal Expos trade outfielder Tim Raines to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Ivan Calderón and right-hander Barry Jones.
1992 | The Montreal Expos trade third baseman Tim Wallach to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Tim Barker.
2002 | Cuban free agent right-hander José Contreras agrees to a four-year, $32 million contract to join the New York Yankees.
2004 | Jason Varitek is named the 16th captain in Red Sox franchise history.
Dec. 25
1940 | South Side Park, the first home of the Chicago White Sox, burns down.
1988 | Center fielder Fernando Hernández drives in 12 runs to break the single-game RBI record in the Cuban Serie Nacional.
1989 | Former All-Star infielder and manager Billy Martin dies in a car accident in Johnson City, NY. He was 61.
2012 | Outfielder Andruw Jones is arrested and charged with battery following a complaint filed by his wife.
Dec. 26
1919 | Red Sox owner Harry Frazee agrees to sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000.
1934 | Matsutaro Shoriki, head of Yomiuri Newspapers, announces the formation of Japan’s first professional team. The team is comprised of players signed to compete against a team of traveling American All-Stars and will be among the first six teams to form the NPB two years later. The Dai Nihon Tokyo Yakyu Club will eventually be renamed as the Yomiuri Giants.
1974 | President Gerald Ford signs legislation helping to pave the way for girls to play Little League.
1990 | The Senior Professional Baseball Association folds during its second season when one of the six teams, the Fort Myers Sun Sox, collapses due to a financial dispute among club owners.
1995 | The Cincinnati Reds trade left-hander David Wells to the Baltimore Orioles for outfielders Curtis Goodwin and Trovin Valdez.
2008 | Free agent left-hander Randy Johnson agrees to a one-year, $8 million contract to join the San Francisco Giants.
2012 | Ugueth Urbina is released from a Venezuelan prison after serving seven years of a 14-year sentence for attempted murder.
2020 | Hall of Fame right-hander Phil Niekro passes away from cancer at age 81.
Dec. 27
1972 | Roberto Clemente puts on a hitting display in front of “300 admiring kids” during a hitting clinic in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It’s considered the last time he swung a bat, dying a few days later in a tragic plane crash.
1994 | Julio Franco, Pete Incaviglia, and Eric Hillman all announce that they’ve signed contracts with the NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines, who had already hired Bobby Valentine to be their manager.
2001 | The New York Mets trade right-hander Kevin Appier and cash to the Anaheim Angels for first baseman Mo Vaughn.
2005 | The Toronto Blue Jays trade second baseman Orlando Hudson and right-hander Miguel Batista to the Arizona Diamondbacks for third baseman Troy Glaus and shortstop Sergio Santos.
2012 | Outfielder Hideki Matsui announces his retirement.
2014 | Right-hander Hiroki Kuroda agrees to a one-year contract with the Hiroshima Carp, returning to Japan.
2022 | Free agent right-hander Nathan Eovaldi agrees to a two-year, $34 million contract to join the Texas Rangers.