This day in baseball ● On this day
January 5
The record for January 5 in baseball history — 70 births and 34 deaths.
No milestones or firsts are on record for January 5 — but the players below were born and lost on it.
Born on this day
b. January 5, 1864 · Pitcher who won 218 games with a 2.83 ERA across five clubs, 1884 to 1893.
b. January 5, 1865 · Founded the American League in 1901 and ran it for a quarter of a century, and lost the argument that produced the commissioner's office.
b. January 5, 1870 · Hit in 42 straight games in 1894, stole 548 bases, and has been considered by eighteen Hall of Fame committees.
b. January 5, 1885 · Shortstop who batted .277 across two clubs, 1909 to 1922.
b. January 5, 1890 · Center fielder who batted .311 across four clubs, 1912 to 1920.
b. January 5, 1897 · Pitcher across two clubs, 1924 to 1929.
b. January 5, 1899 · Shortstop who batted .272 across four clubs, 1926 to 1931.
b. January 5, 1899 · Left fielder for the New York Giants, 1919 to 1920.
b. January 5, 1901 · Caught twenty seasons and then managed the only pennant winner the St. Louis Browns ever had.
b. January 5, 1928 · Catcher across three clubs, 1953 to 1963.
b. January 5, 1936 · Third baseman across two clubs, 1963 to 1964.
b. January 5, 1944 · First baseman for the California Angels, 1966 to 1966.
b. January 5, 1948 · Threw a knuckleball for twenty-five seasons and finished exactly even, at 216-216.
b. January 5, 1948 · Pitcher across five clubs, 1970 to 1977.
b. January 5, 1951 · Catcher for the Montreal Expos, 1978 to 1978.
b. January 5, 1953 · Played 1,801 games at second base for Milwaukee and never played anywhere else.
b. January 5, 1957 · Center fielder who batted .255 across two clubs, 1980 to 1989.
b. January 5, 1958 · Hit 35 home runs as a rookie, struck out more than anyone in the league, and hit balls onto the Comiskey Park roof.
b. January 5, 1962 · Won 112 games across seven clubs, twice an All-Star.
b. January 5, 1963 · Spent seven years in the minor leagues, reached the major leagues at twenty-eight, and pitched sixteen seasons.
b. January 5, 1967 · Pitcher across four clubs, 1990 to 1995.
b. January 5, 1981 · Pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, 2007 to 2007.
b. January 5, 1990 · Defected from Cuba at nineteen, hit .330 as a rookie, and caught on with eight clubs across fourteen seasons on his glove.
b. January 5, 1992 · Pitcher across four clubs, 2015 to 2021.
70 players were born on January 5; these are the 24 best known.
Died on this day
d. January 5, 1937 · Pitcher for the Boston Americans, 1901 to 1901.
d. January 5, 1940 · Third baseman across two clubs, 1883 to 1886.
d. January 5, 1945 · Second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, 1913 to 1916.
d. January 5, 1949 · Second baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1915 to 1915.
d. January 5, 1954 · A shortstop of five feet five who played twenty-three seasons and finished with more games at the position than any man before him.
d. January 5, 1960 · Pitcher for the Washington Senators, 1927 to 1928.
d. January 5, 1961 · First baseman who batted .277 across two clubs, 1909 to 1920.
d. January 5, 1962 · Caught for John McGraw's Giants through four straight pennants in the early 1920s.
d. January 5, 1962 · Shortstop who batted .327 across 11 clubs, 1916 to 1937.
d. January 5, 1963 · The highest career batting average of any right-handed hitter: .358, on 2,930 hits in 8,173 at-bats.
d. January 5, 1965 · Third baseman who batted .287 across six clubs, 1916 to 1930.
d. January 5, 1965 · Third baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1908 to 1908.
d. January 5, 1975 · Pitcher who won 104 games with a 3.15 ERA for the Houston Astros, 1966 to 1974.
d. January 5, 1976 · Right fielder for the Boston Braves, 1924 to 1925.
d. January 5, 1976 · Right fielder for the New York Highlanders, 1911 to 1911.
d. January 5, 1979 · Pitcher for the New York Yankees, 1941 to 1941.
d. January 5, 1987 · Left fielder who batted .312 across two clubs, 1946 to 1956.
d. January 5, 1991 · Catcher who batted .301 for the Homestead Grays and Nashville Elite Giants in the 1930s.
d. January 5, 1994 · Pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1950 to 1951.
d. January 5, 1996 · Made 145 pitching appearances across eight seasons spread from 1945 through 1959.
d. January 5, 1997 · Pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1933 to 1933.
d. January 5, 2004 · Said you gotta believe in 1973 and struck out Willie Wilson to end the 1980 World Series.
d. January 5, 2021 · Second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, 1955 to 1955.
d. January 5, 2023 · Pitcher for the Kansas City Athletics, 1956 to 1958.
34 players died on January 5; these are the 24 best known.