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On This Day in Baseball History: December 31
Sources Lahman People + MLB StatsAPI0 debuts41 transactions
Every major-league debut, final game, transaction, birth and death recorded for December 31, 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
Transactions41
Born46
Died37
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Chicago Cubs signed free agent RHP Hunter Harvey. 2025 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2025 | Boston Red Sox signed free agent CF Matt Fraizer to a minor league contract. 2025 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2025 | Washington Nationals signed free agent 1B Matt Mervis to a minor league contract. 2025 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2025 | Chicago Cubs signed free agent 1B Christian Bethancourt to a minor league contract. 2025 transaction archive | - | |
| 2024 | Chicago Cubs signed free agent LHP Caleb Thielbar. 2024 transaction archive | - | |
| 2024 | Baltimore Orioles signed free agent LF Nick Gordon to a minor league contract. 2024 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2024 | Washington Nationals signed free agent RHP Trevor Williams. 2024 transaction archive | - | |
| 2024 | Minnesota Twins signed free agent 1B Mike Ford to a minor league contract. 2024 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2024 | New York Yankees signed free agent SS Andrew Velazquez to a minor league contract. 2024 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2024 | Tampa Bay Rays signed free agent DH Eloy Jiménez to a minor league contract. 2024 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2023 | Arizona Diamondbacks signed free agent SS Kevin Newman to a minor league contract. 2023 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2022 | Atlanta Braves signed free agent 3B Joshua Fuentes to a minor league contract. 2022 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2020 | San Diego Padres signed free agent SS Ha-seong Kim. 2020 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2020 | Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent RHP Aneurys Zabala to a minor league contract. 2020 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2020 | Tampa Bay Rays signed free agent RHP Chris Ellis to a minor league contract. 2020 transaction archive | - | |
| 2020 | San Diego Padres signed free agent SS Ha-Seong Kim. 2020 transaction archive | - | |
| 2020 | San Diego Padres signed free agent SS Ha-Seong Kim, , , , and. 2020 transaction archive | - | |
| 2019 | Minnesota Twins signed free agent RHP Homer Bailey. 2019 transaction archive | - | |
| 2019 | Minnesota Twins signed free agent LHP Rich Hill. 2019 transaction archive | - | |
| 2019 | Arizona Diamondbacks signed free agent C Michael De La Cruz to a minor league contract. 2019 transaction archive | - | |
| 2018 | Chicago White Sox signed free agent 1B D.J. Peterson to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2018 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2018 | Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent OF Shane Peterson to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2018 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2016 | Washington Nationals signed free agent LHP Josh Outman to a minor league contract. 2016 transaction archive | - | |
| 2015 | Miami Marlins signed free agent RF Moises Sierra to a minor league contract. 2015 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2015 | New York Yankees signed free agent SS Jonathan Diaz to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2015 transaction archive | - | |
| 2015 | San Diego Padres signed free agent RHP Derek Eitel to a minor league contract. 2015 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent LHP Brett Anderson. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Philadelphia Phillies traded LF Marlon Byrd and cash to Cincinnati Reds for RHP Ben Lively. 2014 transaction archive | |  |
| 2014 | Chicago Cubs signed free agent RHP Andres Santiago to a minor league contract. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Chicago White Sox signed free agent 1B Chris Jacobs to a minor league contract. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Atlanta Braves signed free agent SS Isranel Wilson to a minor league contract. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Boston Red Sox signed free agent SS Jeff Bianchi to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Minnesota Twins signed free agent RHP Blaine Boyer to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2014 transaction archive | - | |
| 2014 | Pittsburgh Pirates released RHP Josh Stinson. 2014 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2013 | Houston Astros signed free agent RHP Jesse Crain. 2013 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2012 | Kansas City Royals signed free agent LF Endy Chavez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2012 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2012 | Kansas City Royals signed free agent 3B Miguel Tejada to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2012 transaction archive | - | |
| 2012 | Chicago Cubs signed free agent RHP Dayan Diaz to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2012 transaction archive | - | |
| 2011 | Chicago White Sox traded RF Carlos Quentin to San Diego Padres for RHP Simon Castro and LHP Pedro Hernandez. 2011 transaction archive | | |
| 2011 | Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent SS Brian Bocock to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2011 transaction archive | - |  |
| 2011 | Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent LHP Aaron Laffey to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. 2011 transaction archive | - | |
| Year | Player |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Liover Peguero |
| 1997 | Jose Hernandez |
| 1996 | Jorge Ona |
| 1995 | Yaramil Hiraldo |
| 1994 | Dawel Lugo |
| 1993 | Miguel Sanchez |
| 1992 | Adam McCreery |
| 1991 | Kevin Kaczmarski |
| 1991 | Ryan Yarbrough |
| 1989 | Kelvin Herrera |
| 1988 | Alex Colome |
| 1986 | Nate Freiman |
| 1985 | Evan Reed |
| 1982 | Julio De Paula |
| 1982 | Ronald Belisario |
| 1980 | Jesse Carlson |
| 1977 | Chris Reitsma |
| 1975 | Sam McConnell |
| 1971 | Brian Moehler |
| 1971 | Esteban Loaiza |
| 1965 | Sil Campusano |
| 1961 | Donell Nixon |
| 1961 | Rick Aguilera |
| 1961 | Steve Engel |
| 1955 | Jim Tracy |
| 1953 | Jose Baez |
| 1951 | Joe Simpson |
| 1947 | Manny Muniz |
| 1933 | Ken Rowe |
| 1924 | Ted Gray |
| 1919 | Loyd Christopher |
| 1919 | Tommy Byrne |
| 1918 | Al Lakeman |
| 1918 | John Dantonio |
| 1900 | Syl Johnson |
| 1894 | Jim Murray |
| 1894 | Joe Berry |
| 1891 | Charlie Flanagan |
| 1884 | Bobby Byrne |
| 1879 | Fred Beebe |
| 1863 | Pete Sweeney |
| 1861 | Jerry McCormick |
| 1861 | Walt Goldsby |
| 1857 | King Kelly |
| 1852 | Alfred Metcalfe |
| 1842 | Tom Berry |
| Year | Player | Age |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Marv Breeding | 72 |
| 2004 | Charlie Cozart | 85 |
| 2003 | Max West | 87 |
| 2000 | Fritz Dorish | 79 |
| 1999 | Harry Kimberlin | 90 |
| 1996 | Sam Narron | 83 |
| 1994 | Jack Shepard | 63 |
| 1988 | Wes Flowers | 75 |
| 1980 | Bob Shawkey | 90 |
| 1978 | Tod Davis | 54 |
| 1972 | Roberto Clemente | 38 |
| 1967 | Shovel Hodge | 74 |
| 1964 | Bobby Byrne | 80 |
| 1964 | Doc Wallace | 71 |
| 1964 | Red Rollings | 60 |
| 1963 | Bill Batsch | 71 |
| 1963 | Junie Barnes | 52 |
| 1962 | Al Mamaux | 68 |
| 1962 | Del Mason | 79 |
| 1961 | Dutch Lieber | 51 |
| 1958 | Jack Doyle | 89 |
| 1955 | Clint Brown | 52 |
| 1954 | Tom Raftery | 73 |
| 1944 | Bill Chappelle | 63 |
| 1936 | James Casey | 66 |
| 1933 | Jim Donnelly | 66 |
| 1927 | Jack Sharrott | 58 |
| 1925 | Denny Sullivan | 67 |
| 1915 | Tip O'Neill | 55 |
| 1914 | John Farrow | 61 |
| 1914 | John O'Brien | 63 |
| 1912 | Charlie Sprague | 48 |
| 1911 | Pete Gilbert | 44 |
| 1907 | Jocko Flynn | 43 |
| 1905 | Frank Bonner | 36 |
| 1903 | Joe McGuckin | 41 |
| 1898 | Martin Duke | - |
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 December 31.
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.