This Day in MLB History: January 3

MLB History

1911 - The National Commission adopts a rule that bars World Series winners from playing post-season exhibition games. This ruling will lead to a direct confrontation between Babe Ruth and Commissioner Kenesaw Landis in 1921.

1920 - The secret deal to sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 is announced publicly. The $125,000 is twice the amount every previously paid for a player. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee also secured a $350,000 loan from the Yankees as part of the deal.

1961 - Frank Lane re-signs as general manager of Cleveland to take the same post with the Kansas City Athletics.

1962 - Ground is broken for the Astrodome in Houston.

1973 - A group of investors headed by George Steinbrenner purchases the Yankees from CBS for $10 million.

1974 - The Yankees hire Bill Virdon as their new manager. Virdon will manage in New York for two seasons, but will never win a game at Yankee Stadium. New York will play their home games at Shea Stadium due to ongoing renovations at Yankee Stadium.

2005 - Hoping to make the team appeal to a broader marketplace, the Angels announce the franchise will now be known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Officials from Anaheim threaten to file a lawsuit to block the change as they believe that the new name violates the terms of the team’s 33-year lease with the city.

2007 - The A’s trade outfielder Nick Swisher to the White Sox in exchange for prospects Faustino De Los Santos, Gio Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney.

2017 - The Arizona Diamondbacks file a lawsuit against Maricopa County seeking to break the team’s lease which runs through 2028, unless the county performs “urgent repairs” to Chase Field.

2019 - The Phillies sign reliever David Robertson to a two-year, $23 million deal. Due to injury, Robertson will appear in just seven games in 2019 and will miss all of the 2020 season.

Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.