2000
» The Rangers swap pitchers Ryan Cullen and Aaron Harang to the A's for 2B Randy Velarde.

The Phillies sign free agent P Jose Mesa to a 2-year contract worth $3.4 million.

1999
» Atlanta Braves 3B Chipper Jones is named the National League Most Valuable Player.

The Angels hire Mike Scioscia as their new manager.

The Rockies trade P Curtis Leskanic to the Brewers in exchange for P Mike Myers.

The Orioles sign free agent P Mike Trombley to a 3-year contract.

1998
» The Pirates sign free agent IF Mike Benjamin to a 2-year contract.

1997
» The Diamondbacks sign free agent SS Jay Bell to a 5-year contract.

The Braves sign free agent SS Walt Weiss to a 3-year contract.

1993
» The Braves trade 1B Brian Hunter to the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named.

1992
» Baseball holds the expansion draft to stock the rosters of the National League's two new teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. A total of 72 players are chosen. P David Nied is the 1st pick of the Rockies, while OF Nigel Wilson is selected 1st by the Marlins. The Fish take Jose Martinez with #2, while the Rocks pick vet Charlie Hayes. The best picks for Florida are #4 Trevor Hoffman, eventually packaged for Gary Sheffield; #11 Jeff Conine, who will hit 81 homers in four years; and #18 Cris Carpenter, later dealt to Texas for Robb Nen. For Colorado, they will find gold with #6 Eric Young, #10 Joe Girardi, #16 Vinny Castilla, and #18 Armando Reynoso. Picks #13 and 14 are good ones -- Andy Ashby, Brad Ausmus and Doug Bochtler -— but they'll all go to the Padres in 1993 in an ill-fated deal for pricey vet pitchers Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris.

The Reds trade P Norm Charlton to the Mariners in exchange for OF Kevin Mitchell.

The Cubs trade SS Alex Arias and 3B Gary Scott to the Marlins for P Greg Hibbard.

The Athletics trade SS Walt Weiss to the Marlins for C Eric Helfand and a player to be named.

The Rockies make their first trade a good one, sending OF Kevin Reimer to the Brewers for OF Dante Bichette. Bichette hit .287 for Milwaukee, but just .246 in the 2nd half of the year.

The Dodgers trade P Rudy Seanez to the Rockies in exchange for Jody Reed.

1989
» Nick Esasky, who became one of the major leagues’ most coveted free agents after hitting .277 with 30 HRs and 108 RBI for the Red Sox last season, signs a 3-year contract with Atlanta Braves. Esasky lives in Marietta, Georgia.

1987
» George Bell becomes the first Blue Jay ever to win the American League MVP Award, edging Detroit's Alan Trammell 332-311. Bell hit .308 last season with 47 home runs and a league-leading 134 RBI.

1983
» Kansas City Royals teammates Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin, who, along with former teammate Vida Blue, had pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase cocaine, are each sentenced to three months in prison.

1982
» Dale Murphy wins the National League MVP Award, becoming the first Brave to be so honored since Hank Aaron in 1957. The centerfielder hit .281 with 36 home run, 109 RBI, 113 runs, and 23 stolen bases.

1979
» On a flight to Austin, TX, Daniel Okrent sketches out the first draft of rules for what would become Rotisserie League Baseball. Had the friends he was seeing not ignored these rules, the Rotisserie League would have been called Pit League, after the Austin barbecue joint where Okrent first unveiled them. Two weeks later in New York, he pitches the idea to a more receptive group with whom Okrent lunched monthly at La Rotisserie Francaise.

1976
» Minnesota's Rod Carew, who hit .331, wins the American League MVP Award. This is the first year in the past five that Carew did not win the batting title.

1975
» The Dodgers trade outfielders Jim Wynn and Tom Paciorek, and infielders Lee Lacy and Jerry Royster to the Braves for OF Dusty Baker and 1B Ed Goodson.

The Rangers trade 7-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins to the Red Sox for OF Juan Beniquez, two pitchers, and cash.

1965
» Retired Air Force Lieutenant-General William Eckert is unanimously elected commissioner of baseball. Ford Frick leaves office after 14 years.

1960
» The new Washington franchise is awarded to Elwood Quesada, Washington native, W W II hero, and head of the Federal Aviation Agency.

Hank Greenberg drops out of the bidding to run the new American League franchise in Los Angeles.

1959
» William Shea of the Continental League shows sketches of the proposed stadium in New York City with its transparent retractable roof.

Giants slugger Willie McCovey is the National League Rookie of the Year. McCovey gets all 24 votes to make him the 2nd Giant in a row to win the award unanimously.

1954
» The Cubs trade Ralph Kiner to the Indians for $60,000 plus OF Gale Wade and P Sam Jones. Kiner's home run total fell to 22 in 1954, though he hit .285.

1953
» The St. Louis Browns' name officially becomes the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc. The Baltimore franchise board officially changes its name to the "Orioles."

1947
» In a major deal that helps the Red Sox, Boston ships Roy Partee, Jim Wilson, Al Widmar, Eddie Pellagrini, Pete Layden and Joe Owstrowski and $310,000 to the Browns for Jack Kramer and Vern Stephens. Stephens will lead the AL in RBI in 2 of the next 3 seasons while averaging 33 HRs each year.

1940
» Jimmy Wilson gets his reward for managing the woeful Phillies in the 1930s and for his late-season role with the Reds. He becomes manager of the Cubs.

1933
» Pittsburgh sends Alan Comorosky and Tony Piet to Cincinnati in exchange for P Red Lucas. As a pitcher, Lucas will feast on the Reds over the rest of his career, going 14–0 against them. Piet hit .323 for the season, but was in the doghouse over a contract dispute and never started a game after July.

1927
» A group led by Alva Bradley and John Sherwin buys the Indians.

1913
» Former star P Rube Waddell is picked up in St. Louis, wandering the streets and suffering from consumption.

1903
» Chicago Cubs SS Joe Tinker tells an interviewer that it is "impossible to fix" a ML baseball game.

1892
» National League magnates conclude a 4-day meeting in Chicago where they agree to shorten the 1893 schedule to 132 games and drop the double championship concept. They also pledge to continue to reduce player salaries and other team expenses.

1887
» The National League meets and officially recognizes the Brotherhood by meeting with a committee of three players, John Ward, Ned Hanlon, and Dan Brouthers.