This day in baseball ● On this day
December 6
The record for December 6 in baseball history — 53 births and 28 deaths.
No milestones or firsts are on record for December 6 — but the players below were born and lost on it.
Born on this day
b. December 6, 1859 · Center fielder for the Altoona Mountain City, 1884 to 1884.
b. December 6, 1873 · Collected 152 hits for Philadelphia in 1903 and later managed the 1912 New York Highlanders.
b. December 6, 1894 · Second baseman who batted .231 for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1914 to 1918.
b. December 6, 1896 · Shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1918 to 1918.
b. December 6, 1896 · Left fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1923 to 1923.
b. December 6, 1899 · Played two seasons in the outfield for the White Sox, then umpired for twenty-five, having volunteered when one collapsed in the heat.
b. December 6, 1903 · The Yankees' second baseman for twelve seasons, the first Italian American star in New York, and a player with epilepsy throughout his career.
b. December 6, 1909 · Batted .301 with 1,092 walks in sixteen seasons for the Cubs and played in four losing World Series.
b. December 6, 1913 · Pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1939 to 1939.
b. December 6, 1914 · Baseball figure for the Philadelphia Blue Jays, 1944 to 1944.
b. December 6, 1934 · Center fielder across two clubs, 1959 to 1961.
b. December 6, 1937 · Catcher across two clubs, 1969 to 1973.
b. December 6, 1938 · Shortstop across two clubs, 1962 to 1964.
b. December 6, 1942 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1964 to 1966.
b. December 6, 1945 · Was cut from his high school team, signed for nothing, and played 2,222 games at shortstop.
b. December 6, 1952 · Second baseman across two clubs, 1978 to 1981.
b. December 6, 1957 · Won the 1987 Cy Young Award by two points over Rick Sutcliffe and three over Rick Reuschel.
b. December 6, 1967 · Had the best earned run average in the American League in 1993 and was chosen for one All-Star team in sixteen years.
b. December 6, 1971 · Center fielder across four clubs, 2000 to 2006.
b. December 6, 1978 · Third baseman for the New York Yankees, 2007 to 2007.
b. December 6, 1980 · Pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, 2007 to 2008.
b. December 6, 1988 · Right fielder who batted .276 across four clubs, 2012 to 2021.
b. December 6, 1992 · Catcher who batted .211 across two clubs, 2017 to 2023.
b. December 6, 1995 · Left fielder for the San Diego Padres, 2017 to 2017.
53 players were born on December 6; these are the 24 best known.
Died on this day
d. December 6, 1905 · Pitcher who batted .229 across seven clubs, 1880 to 1884.
d. December 6, 1911 · Shortstop across three clubs, 1898 to 1902.
d. December 6, 1942 · The hardest thrower of the 1890s, with 341 strikeouts in a season and a full year lost to a fight with his own club's owner.
d. December 6, 1943 · Pitcher across five clubs, 1906 to 1948.
d. December 6, 1943 · Shortstop who batted .239 across five clubs, 1898 to 1903.
d. December 6, 1948 · Pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, 1897 to 1899.
d. December 6, 1950 · Pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1916 to 1928.
d. December 6, 1952 · First baseman who batted .298 across two clubs, 1928 to 1934.
d. December 6, 1955 · The shortstop of the dead-ball era, and the subject of the most valuable baseball card ever printed.
d. December 6, 1956 · Second baseman across two clubs, 1904 to 1905.
d. December 6, 1962 · Center fielder for the Chicago White Sox, 1929 to 1929.
d. December 6, 1964 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1907 to 1912.
d. December 6, 1965 · Catcher for the St. Louis Browns, 1912 to 1914.
d. December 6, 1975 · Third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1929 to 1929.
d. December 6, 1977 · Pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, 1934 to 1934.
d. December 6, 1978 · Pitcher for the Baltimore Black Sox, 1926 to 1927.
d. December 6, 1985 · The last pitcher legally allowed to throw a spitball: the ban came in 1920, the men already using it were exempted, and he outlasted all of them.
d. December 6, 1987 · Pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, 1970 to 1970.
d. December 6, 1989 · Left fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1937 to 1939.
d. December 6, 1997 · Right fielder who batted .247 across six clubs, 1960 to 1967.
d. December 6, 2002 · Pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1948 to 1948.
d. December 6, 2018 · Third baseman who batted .263 across two clubs, 1970 to 1973.
d. December 6, 2023 · Won a Gold Glove for Cleveland in 1964 and was still getting big postseason pinch hits for the Dodgers at thirty-eight.
d. December 6, 2023 · Pitcher across four clubs, 1976 to 1985.
28 players died on December 6; these are the 24 best known.