January 5 –Boston Red Sox pitcherTim Wakefield escapes serious injury when he is hit by a car while out jogging. He is released from the hospital after being treated for bruises.
January 6 – KnuckleballerPhil Niekro is elected to theHall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Niekro receives 80.34% of the vote. PitcherDon Sutton falls nine votes short of election.
February 20 – ThePhiladelphia Phillies sign free agent outfielderDanny Tartabull. Tartabull broke his foot on Opening Day and sat out the year before retiring.
April 15 – In an unprecedented move,Commissioner of BaseballBud Selig announces on the 50th Anniversary ofJackie Robinson's debut that the number he wore with theBrooklyn Dodgers, number 42, would be unilaterally retired throughout all ofMajor League Baseball during a mid-game ceremony in a game between the Dodgers and theNew York Mets atShea Stadium. Rachael Robinson, Jackie's widow and PresidentBill Clinton attended the event as well. The number would be worn by players during the anniversary of his major league debut, and would still be worn by players who started wearing the number before the announcement, most famously the New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera, until he retired after the 2013 season, thus officially retiring number 42, as he was the last player to wear the number 42 jersey on a regular basis.
May 7 – TheMontreal Expos score aNational League-record 13 runs in the 6th inning of their game against theSan Francisco Giants on the way to a 19–3 win. The Expos send 17 batters to the plate.Mike Lansing homers twice in the inning to drive in five runs, becoming the third Expos player to perform the feat, and the first NL second baseman to do so sinceBobby Lowe in 1894.
May 8 – At home, theBaltimore Orioles stopRandy Johnson's 16-game win streak with a decisive 13–3 pasting of theSeattle Mariners. Baltimore is led by catcherChris Hoiles, who collects six RBI on two homers and a double. Johnson strikes out 10 in six innings, but gives up five runs on six hits and two walks in his attempt to become the first AL pitcher sinceDave McNally (1968–69) to win 17 straight.
May 21 –Roger Clemens fires theToronto Blue Jays past theNew York Yankees 4–1, for his 8th win of the year against no losses. The Rocket wins his 200th game, the 94th pitcher to reach the 200 victories mark.
May 26 – In Toronto,Roger Clemens allows one run and four hits in seven innings and strikes out seven to beat theRangers 8–1. The Rocket is now 9–0, his best start since beginning 1986 at 14–0.
May 26 –Andrés Galarraga hits a 469-foot two-run homer andVinny Castilla adds a solo shot as theColorado Rockies overcome a six-run deficit to beat the Cardinals 9–7. Galarraga has four RBI, and his moon shot offMark Petkovsek is the third-longest homer in the three-season history ofCoors Field.
May 27 –Barry Larkin's streak of consecutively reaching base 13 times is stopped byCurt Schilling, who goes all the way to beat Cincinnati 2–1. Larkin singles in the first inning, but flies out in the 3rd to end his streak one shy ofPedro Guerrero's NL record, set in 1985.
May 30 – The Orioles'Mike Mussina retires the first 25 Indian batters beforeSandy Alomar Jr. ruins his no-hit bid with a one-out single in the 9th. Mussina then strikes out the final two batters for a 3–0 victory.
May 31 –Cal Ripken Jr. snaps a 7th-inning tie with a record-breaking home run as theBaltimore Orioles rally from a 4-run deficit to beat theCleveland Indians 8–5. Ripken's homer gives him 4,274 total bases with Baltimore, breaking the franchise mark for total bases in a career. Baltimore also placeEric Davis on the disabled list. Davis is suffering from colon cancer and will be operated on in early June.
May 31 – In Miami,Andrés Galarraga golfs a 529-footgrand slam, the longest home run ever atPro Player Stadium. His homer gives theColorado Rockies a 7–0 lead over theFlorida Marlins, and they eventually win 8–4. Galarraga has three home runs in the past three games against Florida that traveled 1,435 feet, an average of 478 feet. He hit a 455-foot homer two days before and a 451-foot homer the previous day. The longest previous homer at the stadium was 482 feet byPete Incaviglia of the Phillies offAl Leiter on May 1, 1996.
May 31 –Ila Borders of theSt. Paul Saints of theNorthern League faces threeSioux Falls Canaries batters, and surrenders three earned runs, in her professional baseball debut. The Canaries, who led 4–0 when she entered the game, go on to defeat St. Paul 11–1.
July 12 – At a sold outThree Rivers Stadium,Francisco Córdova pitched nine innings of a combined 10-inning no-hitter for thePittsburgh Pirates. Ricardo Rincón pitched the 10th inning. The Pirates won the game on a dramatic three run, pinch hit home run in the bottom of the 10th by Mark Smith.
August 31 –Don Mattingly the former first baseman and Yankee captain has his uniform number 23 retired by theNew York Yankees in a pregame ceremony. A plaque is also dedicated in his honor inMonument Park.
September 10 –Mark McGwire joinsBabe Ruth as the only players in major league history with 50 home runs in consecutive seasons by hitting a 446-foot shot offShawn Estes in the third inning of theSt. Louis Cardinals' road game against theSan Francisco Giants. McGwire, who hit a major league-leading 52 homers for theOakland Athletics last season, becomes the first player with back-to-back 50-homer seasons since Ruth did it in 1927 and 1928.
September 28 –Tony Gwynn of theSan Diego Padres tiesHonus Wagner's record by winning his eighthNational League batting title. Gwynn finishes at .372, becoming the first player to win four consecutive NL batting titles sinceRogers Hornsby won six straight between 1920 and 1925.
November 4 - Voters in 11 counties in southwesternPennsylvania reject theRegional Renaissance Initiative, a voter referendum to raise sales taxes to fund new stadiums for thePittsburgh Pirates andPittsburgh Steelers. The public funding necessary to ensure their construction would eventually be approved legislatively in an alternate proposal colloquially known as "Plan B".
January 6 –Dick Donovan, 69, All-Star pitcher, mainly with the White Sox and Indians, who led AL in ERA in 1961 and won 20 games in 1962
January 20 –Curt Flood, 59, All-Star center fielder who won seven Gold Gloves and batted .300 six times; challenged baseball's reserve clause all the way to theU.S. Supreme Court, unsuccessfully, after refusing a trade
February 7 –Manny Salvo, 83, Boston pitcher who tied for the National League lead in shutouts in 1940
February 13 –Bobby Adams, 75, third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs between 1946 and 1959
June 1 –Mickey Rocco, 81, Cleveland first baseman who led the American League in fielding percentage at his position in 1943 and 1945
June 9 –Thornton Lee, 90, All-Star pitcher who won over 100 games for the White Sox; won 22 games and led AL in ERA in 1941
July 31 –Eddie Miller, 80, 7-time All-Star shortstop for four NL teams who led league in fielding five times
August 23 –Guy Curtright, 84, White Sox outfielder who finished sixth in 1943 American League batting race with a .291 average
September 9 –Richie Ashburn, 70, Hall of Fame center fielder for the Phillies who batted .308 lifetime, winning two batting titles, and led NL in putouts nine times, hits three times, triples twice and steals once; retired with six of the top eight single-season putout totals in history
September 22 –Eddie Sawyer, 87, manager who led the Phillies' "Whiz Kids" to the 1950 pennant, later a scout
September 26 –Woody English, 91, All-Star infielder for the Cubs who batted .300 twice
October 6 –Johnny Vander Meer, 82, All-Star pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds who in 1938 became the only player to pitch two consecutive no-hitters; led NL in strikeouts three times
October 21 –Dolph Camilli, 90, All-Star first baseman who was the NL's MVP in 1941, leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to the pennant; had five 100-RBI seasons
November 2 –Roy McMillan, 68, All-Star shortstop for the Reds, Braves and Mets who won the NL's first three Gold Gloves; minor league manager, coach and scout
November 20 –Dick Littlefield, 71, well-traveled pitcher who played for nine teams, earning 15 of his 33 wins with the Pirates
November 27 –Buck Leonard, 90, Hall of Fame first baseman of the Negro leagues regularly among the league leaders in batting average and home runs
