1885 – A lower court in New York, NY decides that playing baseball on Sunday is a crime. This decision will be overturned, but it will be appealed.
1945 – Bert Shepard, a one-legged veteran of the war, tries out as a pitcher for the Senators. The symbol of wartime baseball, outfielder Pete Gray of the Browns, will field and bat with only one arm.
1977 – The Pirates trade outfielders Tony Armas and Mitchell Page, and four pitchers, including Rick Langford, to the A’s for second baseman Phil Garner, infielder Tommy Helms, and pitcher Chris Batton.
1978 – The A’s trade Vida Blue to the Giants for seven players and an estimated $390,000 in cash.
1991 – The Kansas City Royals release Bo Jackson
2011 – A committee of twelve, led by the newly-appointed official historian John Thorn, is convened by Commissioner Bud Selig to delve into baseball’s origins. Thorn’s book, Baseball in the Garden of Eden, challenges traditional views, suggesting the game predates previous assumptions. Cartwright was championed as the authentic originator of the game, intended to dispel the baseless tale that Abner Doubleday established the inaugural baseball field in Cooperstown, NY, in 1839.
