2009 in baseball


Calendar

Major League Baseball

Champions

Major League Baseball

  • Regular Season Champions
LeagueEastern Division ChampionsCentral Division ChampionsWestern Division ChampionsWild Card Qualifier
American LeagueNew York YankeesMinnesota TwinsLos Angeles Angels of AnaheimBoston Red Sox
National LeaguePhiladelphia PhilliesSt. Louis CardinalsLos Angeles DodgersColorado Rockies

  • World Series Champions – New York Yankees
  • *American League Champions – New York Yankees
  • *National League Champions – Philadelphia Phillies
  • Postseason – October 7 to November 4
Higher seed had home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series.

The American League champion has home field advantage during the World Series as a result of the AL victory in the All-Star Game.

Other Champions

it was Henderson's first year of eligibility and Rice's last on the BBWAA ballot
Joe Gordon was inducted following his election by the Veterans Committee
Major Leagues
Minor Leagues

January

  • January 1 – Major League Baseball launches the MLB Network at 6 PM ET. Commissioner Bud Selig greets viewers at the channel's official inception.
  • January 13 – Trevor Hoffman, the current all-time saves leader, signs a one-year $6 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.
  • January 15 – The Los Angeles Dodgers reach an agreement with Andruw Jones to release him in time to catch on with another team before spring training in exchange for a deferral of some of the remaining money due on his contract.
  • January 21 – In his first year of arbitration eligibility, closer Jonathan Papelbon and the Boston Red Sox agree to a $6.25 million, one-year contract that avoids salary arbitration. Just one day after Bobby Jenks does the same, Papelbon easily surpasses Éric Gagné's previous major league mark of $5 million for a reliever with three years of service time. Francisco Rodríguez made $3.775 million in his first year of arbitration.
  • January 22 -Jeff Kent announces his retirement after 17 seasons. He hit more home runs than any other second baseman in major league history.
  • January 25 – Three time All-Star Sean Casey announces his retirement after twelve seasons, later joining the MLB Network staff.

    February

  • February 3
  • *Joe Torre and Tom Verducci's book, The Yankee Years hits book stores. The book chronicles Torre's years as manager of the New York Yankees from to. In the book, Joe Torre says he feels that general manager Brian Cashman "betrayed" him in negotiations with the Yankees following the 2007 season, and that teammates refer to Alex Rodriguez as "A-Fraud".
  • *A urine sample that Barry Bonds submitted as part of Major League Baseball's anonymous testing program in that did not show the presence of performance-enhancing drugs under that program is retested by federal authorities after it is seized in a raid, and comes back positive for anabolic steroids, according to a New York Times report.
  • *Óliver Pérez re-signs with the New York Mets with a three-year $36 million deal.
  • February 4
  • *The list of victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme is revealed, and includes Sandy Koufax and Sterling Equities Associates, the New York Mets' ownership group.
  • *San Diego Padres slugger Adrián González sets a Caribbean Series record with three home runs in a game and Mexico's Venados de Mazatlán beats the Dominican Republic's Tigres del Licey, 12–9. González has a two-run homer in the fourth inning and a solo shot in the sixth and ninth innings. Forty-seven players had hit two home runs in a Series game over its previous fifty editions.
  • February 7 – Sports Illustrated reports that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in.
  • February 8 – Andruw Jones signs a one-year minor league contract offer from the Texas Rangers. Jones' deal pays him $500,000 if he makes the major league team. He also has the chance to make $1 million in incentives throughout the season.
  • February 9 – Alex Rodriguez admits in an interview to ESPN's Peter Gammons that while with the Texas Rangers during the – seasons he used performance-enhancing drugs.
  • February 17 – Alex Rodriguez meets the press at George M. Steinbrenner Field to discuss his admission of having used performance-enhancing drugs to ESPN's Peter Gammons. Rodriguez claims that a cousin repeatedly injected him with drugs obtained over the counter in the Dominican Republic called "Boli", a likely reference to Primobolan.
  • February 18
  • *Ken Griffey Jr. returns to the Seattle Mariners, agreeing to a one-year deal that includes a $2 million base salary and up to $2.5 million in incentives based on at-bats and attendance.
  • *The demolition of Shea Stadium is completed.

    March

  • March 1
  • *Jim Bowden resigns after four seasons as the Washington Nationals general manager, leaving under the cloud of a federal investigation into the skimming of signing bonuses given to Latin American prospects.
  • *Following an afternoon spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez meets with officials from MLB's Department of Investigations and Labor Relations Department about security issues and his past involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
  • March 3 – Major League Baseball 2K9 is released by Visual Concepts and 2K Sports for Microsoft Windows, the Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and the Nintendo Wii. Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants appears on the cover as well as serving as MLB player consultant for the popular video game.
  • March 4 – The Los Angeles Dodgers and free agent left fielder Manny Ramírez agree in principle on a two-year, $45 million deal.
  • March 5 – The 2009 World Baseball Classic opens in Tokyo with defending champions Japan defeating China.
  • March 6
  • *Los Angeles Dodgers pinch hitter Mark Sweeney announces his retirement and becomes a member of Joe Torre's coaching staff with the Dodgers. Sweeney's 175 career pinch hits rank second in major league history. Lenny Harris, the all-time pinch-hits leader, is also a member of the Dodgers' coaching staff, as is Manny Mota, who ranks third on the career list.
  • *Ripken Baseball and MLB.com announce a multi-year agreement to jointly operate a new youth baseball instructional website, GetGreat.com.
  • March 10 – For the second time in three days, the Netherlands upsets the heavily favored Dominican Republic at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Dutch advance to the second round and the Dominicans are eliminated.
  • March 22 – Team USA is eliminated from the World Baseball Classic with a 9–4 loss to Japan in Los Angeles.
  • March 23
  • *After having missed the entire season with right shoulder problems, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announces his retirement from baseball.
  • *Japan wins the 2009 World Baseball Classic with a 5–3 victory over South Korea in ten innings. Ichiro Suzuki hits a two-run single in the top of the tenth inning with two outs for the winning runs. Daisuke Matsuzaka is the tournament's Most Valuable Player for the second time. Dice-K posts a 3–0 record with a 2.45 ERA in the tournament.
  • March 26 – Eri Yoshida pitches for the Kobe 9 Cruise at the Osaka Dome in the season opening game of the newly formed Kansai Independent Baseball League.
  • March 31
  • *The Detroit Tigers release OF/DH Gary Sheffield after he bats only.178 during spring training. He signs a one-year deal with the New York Mets on April 1.
  • * The Atlanta Braves extend Chipper Jones' contract through the 2013 season.