Baseball History Calendar: Dated Moments From Our Articles

A worn, scuffed baseball on a weathered wooden dugout bench

Last checked October 3, 2026

Dated moments from the posts on this site, in calendar order. Each entry has a date we traced to a primary source (the Hall of Fame, MLB.com, the Cubs or Red Sox, SABR or the Mitchell Report) and links to the article with the full story. The box on our homepage shows the entries nearest today. We add entries as we re-check more articles.

January

  • Jan 5, 1920: The Yankees buy Babe Ruth. The sale of Ruth by the Red Sox is announced about a week after the deal was done. Headlines gave the price as $100,000 in one paper and $125,000 in another. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • Jan 31, 1919: Jackie Robinson is born. Robinson is born in Cairo, Georgia, the youngest of five children. Read the article · Source: SABR

February

  • Feb 2, 1936: The first Hall of Fame class. The Hall counts February 2, 1936 as the date Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mathewson and Johnson were elected, when the news reached the public. The 226 writers’ ballots had been counted on January 29. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • Feb 6, 1895: Babe Ruth is born. SABR says Ruth believed he was born February 7, 1894, until a passport application for a trip to Japan showed February 6, 1895. Read the article · Source: SABR
  • Feb 13, 1920: The Negro National League is founded. Rube Foster and his fellow team owners create the Negro National League. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame

March

  • Mar 25, 2026: The first ABS challenge. Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero taps his helmet in the fourth inning at Oracle Park, the first automated ball-strike challenge in a big league game. The strike call stood. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Mar 26, 2026: The first successful ABS challenge. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez overturns a ball call on Opening Day at Citi Field; MLB.com says it ended the human umpire’s century-old role as the final authority on balls and strikes. Read the article · Source: MLB.com

April

  • Apr 14, 1910: Taft stands in the seventh. The popular origin story of the seventh-inning stretch: President Taft stands to stretch at Washington’s opener. A letter from 1869 shows fans were stretching long before. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Apr 15, 1947: Jackie Robinson debuts. Robinson makes his National League debut as Brooklyn’s first baseman. Every team marks Jackie Robinson Day on April 15. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • Apr 20, 1912: Fenway Park’s first game. The Red Sox beat the New York Highlanders 7-6 in 11 innings at the new ballpark in Boston. Read the article · Source: Red Sox
  • Apr 20, 1916: First National League game at Wrigley. The Cubs beat the Reds 7-6 in 11 innings in the park built for the Federal League in 1914. Read the article · Source: Cubs
  • Apr 23, 1914: The first big-league game at Weeghman Park. The Federal League’s Chicago club beats Kansas City 9-1 in the park later named Wrigley Field. Read the article · Source: Cubs

May

  • May 5, 1904: Cy Young’s perfect game. Young throws the first perfect game of the 20th century, a day he considered his greatest. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • May 7, 2019: The 300th no-hitter. MLB’s no-hitter count reaches 300, 15,316 days after the 200th. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • May 8, 1929: Hubbell’s no-hitter is number 100. Carl Hubbell’s no-hitter against the Pirates is the 100th in major league history. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • May 29, 2024: Negro Leagues statistics join the MLB record. MLB folds the statistics of seven Negro Leagues, 1920-1948, into its database; Josh Gibson becomes the career batting average leader at .372. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • May 30, 1977: Eckersley’s no-hitter is number 200. Dennis Eckersley’s no-hitter against the Angels is the 200th. Read the article · Source: MLB.com

June

  • Jun 4, 1964: Koufax’s no-hitter. Sandy Koufax throws a no-hitter; umpire Ed Vargo was behind the plate and would call his perfect game 15 months later. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Jun 12, 1939: The Hall of Fame opens. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated in Cooperstown, built on the Doubleday story. Read the article · Source: SABR
  • Jun 28, 2023: Domingo German’s perfect game. German’s perfect game ends a drought of more than ten years without one. Read the article · Source: MLB.com

July

  • Jul 9, 2002: The All-Star Game ends in a tie. Both teams run out of pitchers and Commissioner Bud Selig declares a 7-7 tie after 11 innings in Milwaukee. Read the article · Source: SABR
  • Jul 15, 1876: The first no-hitter. George Bradley of the St. Louis Brown Stockings no-hits Hartford. Read the article · Source: MLB.com

September

  • Sep 4, 1937: The ivy goes in at Wrigley. A photo dated September 4, 1937 shows the Clavey family planting the ivy, one of three official accounts of who did it. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Sep 6, 1920: Doubleday Field opens. Cooperstown’s Doubleday Field officially opens with a game between Milford and Cooperstown. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • Sep 9, 1965: Koufax’s perfect game. Sandy Koufax pitches a perfect game, with Ed Vargo again behind the plate. Read the article · Source: MLB.com

October

  • Oct 1, 1932: The called shot. Babe Ruth hits his famous home run in Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field. Whether he called it is still argued. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Oct 1, 1937: Wrigley reopens rebuilt. The renovated ballpark, with bigger bleachers, a new scoreboard and ivy on a brick wall, opens for the Cubs’ last home series. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • Oct 6, 1932: Gehrig on the radio. Lou Gehrig describes the called shot on NBC’s Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour, five days after the game. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Oct 24, 1972: Jackie Robinson dies. Robinson dies in 1972. He had been elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame

December

  • Dec 3, 1968: The mound comes down. A rules panel votes to lower the mound from 15 to 10 inches and shrink the strike zone after the Year of the Pitcher. Read the article · Source: MLB.com
  • Dec 10, 1919: The NL bans new spitball pitchers. Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss leads the National League to ban new spitball pitchers. A year later both leagues banned the pitch, with 17 grandfathered pitchers. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame
  • Dec 13, 2007: The Mitchell Report. The report to the commissioner finds widespread illegal steroid use in baseball for more than a decade. Read the article · Source: Mitchell Report
  • Dec 30, 1907: The Mills Commission report. The commission says baseball’s first scheme was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown in 1839. SABR gives 1908 as the year it was released. Read the article · Source: Hall of Fame

Compiled with AI assistance and checked on October 3, 2026. See our editorial policy. Found a wrong date? Tell us.

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