Welcome to the New Year’s Day edition of This Date in Phillies (and MLB) History! We have been including MLB events and birthdays over the holidays simply to fill space because there simply wasn’t much going on. It turns out that we have received some positive feedback, so we will officially turn our daily feature into a combined Phillies and MLB history lesson. We hope you enjoy it!
Once again, January 1 was a day of no events for the Phillies.
Major League Baseball Events on January 1
1923 – Willie Keeler dies: Legendary hitter Willie Keeler, known for the phrase “hit ’em where they ain’t,” dies on January 1 at age 50.
1927 – Zach Wheat is released: A Hall of Fame outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Brooklyn Robins from 1909-1926 was released. 11 days later he signed with the Philadelphia Athletics and played one season for them before retiring.
1940 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis voids Tigers trades / releases 87 players: Baseball Commissioner Landis voids a series of trades involving the Detroit Tigers and orders the release of 87 players, a sweeping decision in labor history. (see today’s Deeper Dive section below)
1961 – Briggs Stadium renamed Tiger Stadium: Briggs Stadium in Detroit is officially renamed Tiger Stadium, a landmark in ballpark history. (see the Deeper Dive section below for more on Tigers owner Walter Briggs Sr., the stadium’s namesake)
1970 – Chub Feeney becomes NL president: Chub Feeney begins a 16-year tenure as the president of the National League.
1974 – Lee MacPhail becomes AL president: Joe Cronin steps down and Lee MacPhail becomes American League president, reshaping the league’s leadership.
2009 – MLB Network launch milestone: MLB Network is reported to be in 50 million homes, marking its growth in broadcast reach.
Phillies personnel born on January 1
- Tim Keefe (1857): Hall of Fame pitcher who pitched for the Phillies at the end of his career in 1891-1893 and went 32-29 with a 3.21 ERA in 70 Phillies starts.
- Carl Scheib (1927): Made his MLB debut with the Philadelphia Athletics on September 6, 1943 at the age of 16 years, 248 days, one of the youngest players ever to play Major League Baseball. Pitched in 264 games with the A’s with a 45-64 record and a 4.85 ERA before pitching three games for St. Louis in 1954.
- Aroon Escobar (2005): Philadelphia Phillies minor leaguer Aroon Escobar, a versatile infielder, was born in Caracas, Venezuela.
Other MLB Birthdays on January 1
- Bumpus Jones (1870): Started his career making one start for Cincinnati in 1892 and it was a no-hitter. He made six starts and one relief appearance with Cincinnati and the New York Giants in 1893 and went 1-4 with a 10.19 ERA.
- Hank Greenberg (1911): Hall of Fame first baseman and slugger Hank Greenberg, a two-time MVP and one of the game’s great hitters, was born in New York City.
- LaMonte Wade Jr. (1994): Major League outfielder known for his clutch hitting and late-game heroics. He is currently a free agent after playing with the Giants and Angels last season.
- Nick Hagadone (1986): Relief pitcher who pitched in 105 games with Cleveland from 2011 to 2015.
A DEEPER DIVE… Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the integrity of the game
When Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided a series of Detroit Tigers trades and ordered the release of 87 players in early 1940, the decision sent shockwaves through Major League Baseball. To modern eyes, the move can look draconian, even arbitrary. But in the context of the late 1930s and Landis’ view of his role as commissioner, it was very much in character. Landis believed the commissioner’s office existed not to compromise with owners, but to protect the integrity of the game at all costs, even if that meant embarrassing a franchise or angering powerful executives.
The Tigers, under owner Walter Briggs Sr., had engaged in a sweeping series of transactions that effectively stripped their roster of players and sent them to other clubs, most notably the St. Louis Browns. While trades themselves were nothing new, Landis believed these moves went far beyond ordinary baseball business. To him, they looked like an attempt to manipulate rosters and player rights in a way that undermined competitive balance and violated the spirit, if not the letter, of baseball law.
Why Landis Intervened
At the heart of the issue was Landis’ long-standing fear of anything that resembled collusion, dumping, or the quiet transfer of talent for financial reasons rather than competitive ones. He was deeply suspicious of deals that appeared designed to benefit ownership interests over the integrity of on-field competition. The Tigers’ transactions raised red flags because of their sheer volume and timing. Dozens of players were shuffled out in a short window, creating the impression that Detroit was acting less like a club trying to win and more like a clearinghouse for other teams.
Landis also viewed these trades through the lens of his broader mission to keep baseball free from corruption. This was the same commissioner who had banned eight Chicago White Sox players for life over the 1919 World Series, even after they were acquitted in court. To Landis, legality was secondary to trust. If fans believed games were not being contested honestly, baseball was in danger. He believed mass transactions like the Tigers’ deals threatened that trust by suggesting outcomes were being influenced behind closed doors.
The Decision and Its Fallout
By voiding the trades and releasing 87 players, Landis made an unmistakable statement. He was asserting that the commissioner’s office had absolute authority over the structure of the game and that no owner, regardless of wealth or influence, would be allowed to bend the system to suit their needs. The released players were effectively made free agents, a harsh outcome for many who had little say in the transactions that triggered Landis’ response.
The fallout was immediate and controversial. Owners were furious, players were confused and anxious, and the Tigers were left embarrassed on a national stage. Yet Landis did not back down. From his perspective, the punishment had to be severe enough to deter similar behavior elsewhere. A slap on the wrist would have invited repetition.
Legacy of the 1940 Action
In hindsight, the Tigers episode illustrates both the strengths and flaws of Landis’ reign. He acted decisively and, in his mind, honorably. But he also operated with enormous unilateral power, often without transparency or a formal appeals process. The voided trades and mass releases remain one of the most extreme examples of commissioner authority in baseball history, a reminder of an era when the office was ruled less by collective bargaining and more by the personal judgment of one man determined to protect the game, no matter the cost.
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