Loading…
On This Day in Baseball History: January 1
Sources Lahman People + MLB StatsAPI0 debuts27 transactions
Every major-league debut, final game, transaction, birth and death recorded for January 1, newest first. Player names link to career pages where one exists, and each season links onward to that year’s awards and postseason archives.
Debuts0
Final games0
Transactions27
Born59
Died30
| Year | Player | That season |
|---|---|---|
| No major-league debuts are recorded for this date. | ||
| Year | Player | That season |
|---|---|---|
| No final games are recorded for this date. | ||
| Year | Move | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | New York Mets signed free agent RHP Mike Baumann to a minor league contract. 2026 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2025 | Philadelphia Phillies traded LHP Tyler Gilbert to Chicago White Sox for RHP Aaron Combs. 2025 transaction archive |  |  |
| 2025 | Los Angeles Angels signed free agent OF Korey Holland to a minor league contract. 2025 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2025 | Washington Nationals signed free agent RHP Junior Santos to a minor league contract. 2025 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2023 | Baltimore Orioles traded 3B Tyler Nevin to Detroit Tigers for cash. 2023 transaction archive |  |  |
| 2023 | Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent C David Freitas to a minor league contract. 2023 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2020 | San Francisco Giants signed free agent RHP Jesus Liranzo to a minor league contract. 2020 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2019 | Chicago White Sox signed free agent RHP Randall Delgado to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2019 transaction archive | - | |
| 2019 | Colorado Rockies signed free agent OF Michael Saunders to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2019 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2019 | Texas Rangers signed free agent RHP Collin Wiles to a minor league contract. 2019 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2018 | Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent RHP C.C. Lee to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2018 transaction archive | - | |
| 2016 | Houston Astros signed free agent Eury Perez. 2016 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2016 | Houston Astros signed free agent RHP Cesar Valdez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2016 transaction archive | - | |
| 2016 | Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent C Ed Easley to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2016 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2016 | Baltimore Orioles signed free agent SS Paul Janish to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2016 transaction archive | - | |
| 2016 | Chicago Cubs signed free agent 1B Jesus Guzman to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2016 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2016 | San Diego Padres signed free agent 1B Adam Rosales to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2016 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2015 | Atlanta Braves traded LHP Chasen Shreve and RHP David Carpenter to New York Yankees for LHP Manny Banuelos. 2015 transaction archive |  |  |
| 2014 | Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent 3B David Pereira to a minor league contract. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent OF Geovanny Subero to a minor league contract. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2013 | Chicago White Sox signed free agent 1B Randy Ruiz to a minor league contract. 2013 transaction archive | - | |
| 2013 | Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent C Lucas May to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2013 transaction archive | - | |
| 2013 | Detroit Tigers signed free agent 1B Danny Dorn to a minor league contract. 2013 transaction archive | - | |
| 2012 | Chicago White Sox Traded RHP Jason Frasor to Toronto Blue Jays; Lansing Lugnuts Traded RHP Daniel Webb to Winston-Salem Dash and Bluefield Blue Jays Traded RHP Myles Jaye to Bristol White Sox. 2012 transaction archive | |  |
| 2012 | Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent RHP Wilmin Lara to a minor league contract. 2012 transaction archive | - | |
| 2012 | Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent RHP Francis Eduardo to a minor league contract. 2012 transaction archive | - | |
| 2012 | Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent LHP Oscar Cabrera to a minor league contract. 2012 transaction archive | - | |
| Year | Player |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Yanquiel Fernández |
| 1994 | LaMonte Wade |
| 1990 | Xavier Avery |
| 1989 | Jarrett Parker |
| 1988 | Dallas Keuchel |
| 1986 | Nick Hagadone |
| 1984 | Neil Wagner |
| 1975 | Fernando Tatis |
| 1974 | Kevin Beirne |
| 1972 | Rafael Roque |
| 1970 | Gary Wilson |
| 1969 | Roberto Rivera |
| 1955 | Bob Owchinko |
| 1955 | LaMarr Hoyt |
| 1953 | Joe Pittman |
| 1953 | Lynn Jones |
| 1948 | Randy Bobb |
| 1942 | Bill Bethea |
| 1933 | Gene Host |
| 1931 | Foster Castleman |
| 1927 | Carl Scheib |
| 1924 | Charlie Bishop |
| 1924 | Earl Torgeson |
| 1921 | Royce Lint |
| 1919 | Sherry Robertson |
| 1912 | Hiker Moran |
| 1911 | Hank Greenberg |
| 1910 | Charlie Devens |
| 1904 | Ethan Allen |
| 1900 | Al Stokes |
| 1900 | Teddy Kearns |
| 1897 | Monty Swartz |
| 1894 | Frank Fuller |
| 1894 | Hack Miller |
| 1891 | Charlie Schmutz |
| 1884 | Tom Downey |
| 1882 | Andy Bruckmiller |
| 1882 | Howard Murphy |
| 1881 | Rudy Baerwald |
| 1880 | Claude Rothgeb |
| 1876 | Harry Wilson |
| 1876 | Joe Martin |
| 1874 | Doc Amole |
| 1874 | Ned Garvin |
| 1873 | Tom Donovan |
| 1872 | Malcolm MacDonald |
| 1870 | Bumpus Jones |
| 1869 | Frank Connaughton |
| 1869 | Jack Keenan |
| 1868 | Dave Zearfoss |
| 1865 | Miah Murray |
| 1858 | Hugh Nicol |
| 1857 | Tim Keefe |
| 1855 | Bill McGunnigle |
| 1855 | Robert Stevens |
| 1855 | Tom Mansell |
| 1854 | Pete Morris |
| 1851 | David Lenz |
| 1844 | Harry Berthrong |
| Year | Player | Age |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Don Larsen | 90 |
| 2020 | Jim Manning | 76 |
| 2019 | Walt McKeel | 46 |
| 2008 | Chuck Daniel | 74 |
| 2007 | Ernie Koy | 97 |
| 2006 | Paul Lindblad | 64 |
| 2004 | John Stoneham | 95 |
| 2000 | Andy Spognardi | 91 |
| 2000 | Larry Bearnarth | 59 |
| 1999 | Len Dondero | 95 |
| 1992 | Buck Stanton | 85 |
| 1990 | Carmen Hill | 94 |
| 1987 | Ernie Maun | 85 |
| 1986 | Bill Hall | 57 |
| 1977 | Danny Frisella | 30 |
| 1974 | Jimmy Smith | 78 |
| 1971 | Harry Rice | 69 |
| 1971 | Joe Lotz | 79 |
| 1967 | Lindsay Brown | 55 |
| 1966 | Oscar Dugey | 78 |
| 1960 | Tige Stone | 58 |
| 1953 | Doug McWeeny | 56 |
| 1949 | Hans Rasmussen | 53 |
| 1932 | Tom Parrott | 63 |
| 1925 | Hank Simon | 62 |
| 1923 | Willie Keeler | 50 |
| 1921 | George Winkleman | - |
| 1919 | Gene Curtis | 35 |
| 1916 | Jake Drauby | 51 |
| 1904 | George Radbourn | 47 |
About these records
Every dated event on this page is read directly from the source tables: debuts, final games, birth dates and death dates from the SABR / Sean Lahman baseball database (2025 edition, People table), used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, and transactions from the official MLB StatsAPI transactions archive captured through 2026-10-22. Nothing is inferred: a record appears here only when the source carries a complete month and day for January 1.
Honesty notes: the staged People table records complete dates or none, and no partial dates had to be excluded. Missing dates are not unknowns everywhere: an empty death date means the player is living (10,918 rows), an empty final-game date means no end date is recorded (1,932 rows), and 398 rows have no birth date. Early records reach back to the 1870s; 19th-century dates reflect the best retrospective research in the source and are shown exactly as recorded. Award winners and postseason series are staged by season with no calendar day in the source, so they are linked from each season above instead of being dated here. The transaction window covers 2011 to 2026 only. Player names link to career pages for every player who has one.
See the sources page for every dataset behind Legends Deck.