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This Day in Baseball History
December 8th

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26 Fact(s) Found
1914 Afraid of losing his unsigned second baseman to the upstart Federal League, Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins to the White Sox for the hefty sum of $50,000. The A's have already lost Eddie Plank and Chief Bender to the new league.
1941 Yesterday's bombing of Pearl Harbor and America's sudden involvement in the war change the tentative plans of the American League owners, who were considering shifting a franchise. The group would have considered moving the Browns from St. Louis to Los Angeles at their meeting.
1941 Following yesterday's attack on Pearl Harbor, Cubs' owner Phillip K. Wrigley donates 165 tons of steel, slotted to be used for the proposed light standards at Wrigley Field, to the war effort. After President Franklin Roosevelt requested more major league night baseball games, the team looked into the possibility of using wooden poles and second-hand equipment to illuminate the Northside ballpark, but the War Production Board rejected the plan on three occasions.
1947 Brooklyn acquires sure-handed infielder Billy Cox and southpaw Preacher Roe from the Pirates, and both will play vital roles in the Dodgers' successes during the next decade. The deal, which includes utility player Gene Mauch, sends hurlers Vic Lombardi, Al Gregg, and Dixie Walker, a former batting champ who asked to be traded in the spring because he didn't want to play with Jackie Robinson, to Pittsburgh.
1961 The Mets purchase outfielder Richie Ashburn from the Cubs. The veteran outfielder, the club's first-ever representative on the National League's All-Star team, will be given a boat after being named the Most Valuable Player of the last-place team, which unfortunately will sink before he uses it.
1966 The Yankees trade two-time MVP Roger Maris to the Cardinals for third baseman Charley Smith, who will hit only .224 during his two-year tenure in New York. The former Bronx Bomber outfielder will play a vital role in the Redbirds' World Championship next season, helping the club win another pennant the following year.
1980 The first significant trade ever made at the annual winter meeting occurs in Dallas when Padres' reliever Rollie Fingers and Cardinals' catcher Terry Kennedy are the key players involved in an eleven-player swap.
1983 The Dodgers trade southpaw Sid Fernandez and utility infielder Ross Jones to the Mets in exchange for infielder/outfielder Bob Bailor and left-hander Carlos Diaz. 'El Sid' will compile a 98-78 record, posting a respectable ERA of 3.14 during his ten-year tenure with New York.
1988 Free-agent southpaw Bruce Hurst agrees to a three-year, $5.25 million deal to pitch for the Padres. The left-hander leaves the Red Sox, the only major league team he has known, after compiling an 88-73 record during nine seasons with Boston.
1992 Former Pirates outfielder Barry Bonds signs the richest contract in major league history when he agrees to a $43-million, six-year deal to play for the Giants. The free agent will not disappoint the San Francisco fans, winning the National League Most Valuable Player award, his third in four years, when he hits a career-high .336 batting average to go along with 46 homers and 123 RBIs.
1992 Replacing Lee MacPhail, the owners elect Dr. Bobby Brown as the American League president. The former Yankee infielder, now a heart specialist, will serve in the post until 1994.
2005 After signing the two-time Gold Glove shortstop to a four-year, $40 million deal, the Red Sox trade Edgar Renteria to the Braves for third base prospect Andy Marte. The 30-year-old Colombian infielder, who led the majors with 30 errors last season, will fill the void created when Atlanta's free agent Rafael Furcal signed with the Dodgers earlier this week.
2005 The Pirates send southpaw Dave Williams (10-11, 4.41) to the Reds for Pittsburgh area native Sean Casey. The popular first baseman, dubbed 'The Mayor' because of his outgoing personality, becomes expendable as Cincinnati seeks to bolster its pitching to complement the team's heavy-hitting lineup.
2005 Julio Franco, the oldest player in the major leagues, signs a two-year deal with the Mets. The 47-year-old is the last active player who was born in the 1950s.
2007 In U.S. District Court, Barry Bonds pleads not guilty to five felony charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Four years ago, the federal government challenged the sworn testimony given by the new home run king to a grand jury, in which he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
2008 Casting ten possible 12 votes (83.3%), the Veterans Committee elects Joe Gordon to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1942 Most Valuable Player, who played second base for the Yankees and Indians, was a nine-time All-Star and played on five World Series champion teams.
2009 In a three-team, seven-player transaction, Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson leave the Tigers to play for the Yankees and Diamondbacks, and respectively, New York deals right-hander Ian Kennedy to Arizona. The Bronx Bombers also send Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to Detroit, and the D-Backs trade Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth to the Motor City.
2009 Peter Gammons, who won the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award for his outstanding work as a baseball journalist, announces he will leave ESPN to join the fledgling MLB Network as an analyst. The 64-year-old reporter says he will miss his former employer of the past twenty years but is excited about working in a venue that is "devoted to baseball, and baseball only.”
2009 Avoiding arbitration, Mark Teahen and the White Sox agree to a $14 million, three-year deal. The 28-year-old third baseman, acquired in a trade with the Royals last month for infielders Chris Getz and Josh Fields, would have been eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.
2009 Chone Figgins (.298, 5, 54) and the Mariners finalized the $36 million, four-year deal to bring the former L.A. Angel to Seattle. The 31-year-old infielder, who primarily played third, will switch to a new position if free-agent Adrian Beltre, the team's current third baseman, returns to the team after an injury-plagued season.
2011 In the first of their two major free-agent acquisitions today, the Angels sign former Texas ace C. J. Wilson to a five-year, $77.5 million deal. Later in the day, the 31-year-old southpaw will be delighted to hear one of his new teammates will be Albert Pujols, who will sign a 10-year deal with the Halos for a reported $254 million.
2011 The Angels and Albert Pujols agree on a 10-year deal for a reported $254 million. The three-time NL MVP, who has spent his entire career with the Cardinals, has compiled a .328 batting average and hit 445 career home runs during his 11-year tenure in the major leagues.
2012 The International Olympic Committee votes in favor of allowing host cities to propose including one or more events for their games. The decision clears a path for considering baseball and softball as part of the 2020 Tokyo Games because of their popularity in Japan after the IOC dropped both for the Beijing Games twelve years ago.
2015 Amanda Hopkins is hired by the A's as a full-time major league scout, becoming the first female to hold that position in over seventy years. The 22-year-old former Central Washington University softball captain, whose dad is also a scout, joins Edith Houghton and Bessie Largent, pioneers who held similar positions with the Phillies and White Sox, respectively, in the 1930s and 1940s.
2017 Shohei Ohtani, a prized Japanese pitcher and a power hitter, comes to terms with the Angels with a very reasonable signing agreement. Los Angeles will place the 23-year-old Oshe native, one of the most widely-sought prospects in baseball history, atop their starting rotation and in the middle of their lineup.
2019 The Modern Era Committee elect union leader Marvin Miller to the Baseball Hall along with Ted Simmons, an eight-time All-Star switch-hitting catcher who compiled a .285 lifetime batting average during his 21-year playing career with the Cardinals, Brewers, and Braves. Miller, who failed seven times to be selected by the Veterans Committee, led the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966 to 1982, an era that revolutionized the game with the advent of free agency.
26 Fact(s) Found