This day in baseball ● On this day
December 9
The record for December 9 in baseball history — 56 births and 30 deaths.
No milestones or firsts are on record for December 9 — but the players below were born and lost on it.
Born on this day
b. December 9, 1860 · Catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1883 to 1883.
b. December 9, 1863 · Center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1891 to 1891.
b. December 9, 1871 · Left fielder on the Baltimore Orioles teams that won three straight pennants, and the easiest of that club's Hall of Famers to forget.
b. December 9, 1872 · Won 61 games as a pitcher and got 1,724 hits as an outfielder, which only three other men have matched.
b. December 9, 1877 · Catcher across two clubs, 1908 to 1908.
b. December 9, 1909 · Pitcher across three clubs, 1930 to 1934.
b. December 9, 1921 · First baseman across four clubs, 1947 to 1954.
b. December 9, 1926 · Shortstop across two clubs, 1946 to 1948.
b. December 9, 1928 · Shortstop who batted .249 across six clubs, 1952 to 1963.
b. December 9, 1930 · Right fielder across three clubs, 1955 to 1958.
b. December 9, 1941 · Pitched in all seven games of the 1973 World Series, which nobody else has done.
b. December 9, 1944 · Hit pinch home runs in three consecutive at bats in 1979 and doubled twice in the World Series the year after.
b. December 9, 1952 · Right fielder who batted .263 for the New York Mets, 1974 to 1979.
b. December 9, 1960 · Had at least ten doubles, ten triples, ten home runs and ten steals in each of his first four seasons, which nobody else has done.
b. December 9, 1961 · Pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, 1985 to 1985.
b. December 9, 1973 · Third baseman who batted .231 across four clubs, 2000 to 2003.
b. December 9, 1976 · Pitcher across three clubs, 2005 to 2007.
b. December 9, 1987 · Pitcher across four clubs, 2011 to 2017.
b. December 9, 1987 · Pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, 2016 to 2016.
b. December 9, 1987 · Pitcher across two clubs, 2016 to 2018.
b. December 9, 1990 · Pitcher across two clubs, 2013 to 2018.
b. December 9, 1991 · Center fielder who batted .224 across two clubs, 2017 to 2023.
b. December 9, 1996 · Pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2025 to 2025.
b. December 9, 1998 · Catcher for the Colorado Rockies, 2025 to 2025.
56 players were born on December 9; these are the 24 best known.
Died on this day
d. December 9, 1884 · Shortstop for the Washington Nationals, 1884 to 1884.
d. December 9, 1920 · Right fielder who batted .273 across seven clubs, 1901 to 1912.
d. December 9, 1921 · Center fielder across four clubs, 1882 to 1885.
d. December 9, 1923 · Went 25-4 in 1907, managed the Yankees, and died in a train wreck at forty-seven.
d. December 9, 1930 · Founded the Negro National League in 1920, and his own playing career ended in 1917, three years before there was a league to count it.
d. December 9, 1930 · Center fielder who batted .263 across five clubs, 1877 to 1888.
d. December 9, 1941 · Pitcher for the Syracuse Stars, 1890 to 1890.
d. December 9, 1950 · Second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, 1910 to 1910.
d. December 9, 1954 · Thirty consecutive seasons in the American League without missing one, from 1925 until five months before he died.
d. December 9, 1955 · Right fielder who batted .304 across four clubs, 1919 to 1930.
d. December 9, 1959 · Third baseman for the Cleveland Indians, 1917 to 1917.
d. December 9, 1965 · Signed Jackie Robinson, invented the farm system, and had 82 hits of his own across four scattered seasons as a catcher.
d. December 9, 1975 · Pitcher across four clubs, 1937 to 1940.
d. December 9, 1975 · Left fielder who batted .293 across four clubs, 1936 to 1949.
d. December 9, 1976 · Hit 38 home runs, more than any pitcher has, and is not in the Hall of Fame that took his brother.
d. December 9, 1976 · Second baseman across two clubs, 1928 to 1928.
d. December 9, 1978 · First baseman who batted .282 across three clubs, 1932 to 1945.
d. December 9, 1982 · Shortstop for the Chicago Cubs, 1931 to 1931.
d. December 9, 1983 · Baseball figure for the Newark Dodgers, 1934 to 1934.
d. December 9, 2002 · Right fielder who batted .263 for the Boston Red Sox, 1943 to 1946.
d. December 9, 2008 · Second baseman for the Homestead Grays, 1947 to 1947.
d. December 9, 2018 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1959 to 1962.
d. December 9, 2019 · Catcher for the New York Mets, 1971 to 1971.
d. December 9, 2020 · Shortstop who batted .235 across three clubs, 1962 to 1968.
30 players died on December 9; these are the 24 best known.