This day in baseball ● On this day
December 31
The record for December 31 in baseball history — 47 births and 35 deaths.
No milestones or firsts are on record for December 31 — but the players below were born and lost on it.
Born on this day
b. December 31, 1852 · Third baseman for the New York Mutuals, 1875 to 1875.
b. December 31, 1857 · Baseball's first celebrity, sold from Chicago to Boston for a record price and serenaded by a song about the way he slid.
b. December 31, 1861 · Third baseman who batted .262 across three clubs, 1883 to 1884.
b. December 31, 1870 · An English-born umpire who worked in both leagues from 1898 to 1929, and was one of the first two ever elected to the Hall of Fame.
b. December 31, 1879 · Pitcher across five clubs, 1906 to 1916.
b. December 31, 1884 · Third baseman who batted .254 across four clubs, 1907 to 1917.
b. December 31, 1891 · Third baseman for the St. Louis Browns, 1913 to 1913.
b. December 31, 1894 · Pitcher for the Brooklyn Robins, 1922 to 1922.
b. December 31, 1894 · Second baseman for the New York Giants, 1921 to 1922.
b. December 31, 1900 · Pitched in nineteen seasons across three decades and won 112 games without a winning record.
b. December 31, 1918 · Catcher who batted .203 across four clubs, 1942 to 1954.
b. December 31, 1919 · Walked 179 batters in 1949, more than anyone else in the league, and hit 14 home runs as a pitcher.
b. December 31, 1951 · Right fielder who batted .242 across three clubs, 1975 to 1983.
b. December 31, 1955 · Left fielder for the Chicago Cubs, 1980 to 1981.
b. December 31, 1961 · Started for the 1986 Mets, closed for the 1991 Twins, and saved 318 games in between and after.
b. December 31, 1961 · Left fielder across three clubs, 1987 to 1990.
b. December 31, 1971 · Won 14 games for a Detroit club that lost 97, and was ejected in 1999 for sandpaper taped to his thumb.
b. December 31, 1971 · Pitcher who won 126 games with a 4.65 ERA across eight clubs, 1995 to 2008.
b. December 31, 1977 · Pitcher across three clubs, 2001 to 2007.
b. December 31, 1980 · Pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, 2008 to 2010.
b. December 31, 1985 · Pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, 2013 to 2014.
b. December 31, 1988 · Pitcher with 159 career saves across five clubs, 2013 to 2023.
b. December 31, 1992 · Pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, 2018 to 2018.
b. December 31, 1994 · Third baseman for the Detroit Tigers, 2018 to 2020.
47 players were born on December 31; these are the 24 best known.
Died on this day
d. December 31, 1903 · Right fielder for the Baltimore Orioles, 1890 to 1890.
d. December 31, 1905 · Second baseman who batted .257 across seven clubs, 1894 to 1903.
d. December 31, 1907 · Pitcher for the Chicago White Stockings, 1886 to 1887.
d. December 31, 1912 · Pitcher across three clubs, 1887 to 1890.
d. December 31, 1914 · Catcher across two clubs, 1873 to 1884.
d. December 31, 1914 · Center fielder for the Baltimore Monumentals, 1884 to 1884.
d. December 31, 1925 · Third baseman across two clubs, 1879 to 1880.
d. December 31, 1927 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1890 to 1893.
d. December 31, 1933 · Third baseman for the Kansas City Cowboys, 1884 to 1884.
d. December 31, 1936 · Third baseman who batted .258 across four clubs, 1898 to 1907.
d. December 31, 1944 · Pitcher across three clubs, 1908 to 1914.
d. December 31, 1955 · Was one of the first pitchers used purely in relief, and led the American League in saves before the statistic existed.
d. December 31, 1958 · Hit .299 across seventeen seasons, fought everyone, and is credited with the first pinch hit in major-league history.
d. December 31, 1961 · Pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1935 to 1936.
d. December 31, 1962 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1904 to 1907.
d. December 31, 1963 · Baseball figure for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1916 to 1916.
d. December 31, 1963 · Pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, 1934 to 1934.
d. December 31, 1964 · Third baseman who batted .254 across four clubs, 1907 to 1917.
d. December 31, 1972 · Reached exactly 3,000 hits in his last at-bat, and died three months later flying aid to Nicaragua.
d. December 31, 1980 · Threw the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in 1923 and managed the club seven years later.
d. December 31, 1994 · Catcher who batted .260 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1953 to 1956.
d. December 31, 1999 · Pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, 1936 to 1939.
d. December 31, 2000 · Pitcher across four clubs, 1947 to 1956.
d. December 31, 2004 · Pitcher for the Boston Braves, 1945 to 1945.
35 players died on December 31; these are the 24 best known.