This day in baseball ● On this day
December 8
The record for December 8 in baseball history — 48 births and 40 deaths.
No milestones or firsts are on record for December 8 — but the players below were born and lost on it.
Born on this day
b. December 8, 1856 · Catcher who batted .286 across three clubs, 1879 to 1890.
b. December 8, 1877 · Left fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1902 to 1902.
b. December 8, 1879 · Played third base for eighteen seasons and remained with the St. Louis Browns through three late-career returns.
b. December 8, 1879 · Left fielder who batted .237 across six clubs, 1902 to 1911.
b. December 8, 1887 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1909 to 1912.
b. December 8, 1892 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1912 to 1917.
b. December 8, 1902 · Right-hander who pitched for more than a dozen Negro Leagues clubs across seventeen seasons and made All-Star squads in 1947 and 1948.
b. December 8, 1907 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1939 to 1942.
b. December 8, 1925 · Third baseman who batted .275 across three clubs, 1943 to 1956.
b. December 8, 1937 · Caught 17 home runs' worth of power for Boston in 1961 and hit .295 with 108 hits for Pittsburgh in 1965.
b. December 8, 1940 · Right fielder who batted .247 across four clubs, 1965 to 1972.
b. December 8, 1941 · Shortstop regarded as one of the finest defensive players of his era, whose 1972 Gold Glove season came with a .203 batting average.
b. December 8, 1946 · Pitcher across five clubs, 1967 to 1976.
b. December 8, 1956 · Pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, 1978 to 1980.
b. December 8, 1968 · Won 270 games and struck out 2,813 in eighteen seasons spent entirely in the American League East, and never won a Cy Young Award.
b. December 8, 1971 · Pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, 1996 to 1996.
b. December 8, 1973 · Right fielder who batted .259 across four clubs, 1999 to 2007.
b. December 8, 1975 · Pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, 1998 to 1998.
b. December 8, 1978 · Led the American League with 215 hits in 2003 and then signed the contract everyone remembers.
b. December 8, 1982 · Pitcher across two clubs, 2008 to 2014.
b. December 8, 1985 · Was a catcher until twenty-five and the Most Valuable Player at twenty-nine.
b. December 8, 1987 · Pitcher across three clubs, 2011 to 2015.
b. December 8, 2000 · Pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, 2024 to 2025.
b. December 8, 2000 · Center fielder who batted .262 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2024 to 2025.
48 players were born on December 8; these are the 24 best known.
Died on this day
d. December 8, 1908 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1892 to 1894.
d. December 8, 1909 · Pitcher for the New York Highlanders, 1905 to 1908.
d. December 8, 1931 · Catcher for the St. Louis Browns, 1889 to 1889.
d. December 8, 1932 · Catcher who batted .242 across three clubs, 1890 to 1898.
d. December 8, 1945 · Pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, 1894 to 1894.
d. December 8, 1951 · Hit four home runs in one game in 1894, the first man ever to do it.
d. December 8, 1955 · Pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1905 to 1905.
d. December 8, 1956 · Left-hander who threw two no-hitters for the Bacharach Giants and hit .311 when he was not pitching.
d. December 8, 1958 · Played four positions across fourteen seasons and hit .281 without ever settling at one spot.
d. December 8, 1958 · Center fielder who played so shallow he took throws at second base, and hit 792 doubles, still the record.
d. December 8, 1961 · Catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1909 to 1909.
d. December 8, 1962 · Pitcher who batted .280 across 13 clubs, 1906 to 1927.
d. December 8, 1966 · Pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, 1919 to 1919.
d. December 8, 1968 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1920 to 1927.
d. December 8, 1974 · Second baseman who batted .240 across four clubs, 1913 to 1918.
d. December 8, 1975 · Catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1917 to 1919.
d. December 8, 1977 · Third baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1919 to 1919.
d. December 8, 1979 · Shortstop who batted .224 for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1937 to 1940.
d. December 8, 1981 · First baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1928 to 1929.
d. December 8, 1985 · Second baseman who batted .259 across four clubs, 1914 to 1926.
d. December 8, 1985 · Pitcher across three clubs, 1950 to 1953.
d. December 8, 1993 · Pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, 1924 to 1924.
d. December 8, 2014 · Shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, 1956 to 1956.
d. December 8, 2015 · Second baseman across three clubs, 1967 to 1971.
40 players died on December 8; these are the 24 best known.