- 1933 – Four days after turning thirty years old and acquiring a $7 million dollar inheritance from his step-father, Tom Yawkey purchases the Red Sox from Robert Quinn for $1.2 million.
- 1934 – John McGraw, in ill health since his retirement as Giants manager early in the 1932 season, dies at his home in New Rochelle, New York, at age 60. His last public appearance was the 1933 All-Star Game as N.L. manager.
- 1957 – The U.S. Supreme Court decides 6-3 that baseball is the only professional sport exempt from antitrust laws. The issue arises when pro football seeks similar protection from the laws.
- 1969 – A pension plan for baseball is agreed on, with players to receive $5.45M per year. They also get a percentage of television revenues, a reduction in the years necessary to qualify for a pension from five to four (retroactive to 1959) and lowered minimum age for drawing a pension from 50 to 45.
- 1972 – The Cardinals trade pitcher Steve Carlton to the Phillies for pitcher Rick Wise. Carlton will go on to win 241 games and four Cy Young Awards for the Phillies.
- 1973 – A new three-year Basic Agreement is reached between players and owners. Among the provisions of the agreement are a $15,000 minimum salary, salary arbitration, and the ’10 and five’ trade rule, which permits a player with 10 years in the major leagues, the last five of which are with his current team, to veto any trade involving him.
- 1981 – The Executive Board of the Players’ Association votes unanimously to strike on May 29 if the issue of free-agent compensation remains unresolved. That deadline will be extended briefly, however, when the Players Association’s unfair labor practices complaint is heard by the National Labor Relations Board.
- 1984 – Former manager Leo Durocher is selected by the Veterans Committee into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Yankee legend Phil Rizzuto. Rizzuto had a long campaign by Yankee fans, including owner George Steinbrenner. The former infielder and current television broadcaster’s enshrinement causes much debate, given the borderline career stats became especially important to his supporters when Pee Wee Reese, a similar-styled shortstop of the rival crosstown Brooklyn Dodgers, was inducted in 1984.
1987 – In the wake of three drug-related incidents over the past year, La Marr Hoyt is banished from baseball for the 1987 season by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. On June 16 an arbitrator will reduce Hoyt’s suspension to 60 days and order the Padres to reinstate him. But Hoyt would never pitch in another major league game.
