This Day In MLB History: December 31

By David Conde
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Updated: December 31, 2015

Image Source: HuffingtonPost.com

It was 43 years ago today that the baseball world was shocked by the sudden and tragic loss of future Hall of Famer and Pittsburgh Pirates great, Roberto Clemente. The Puerto Rican native was in a cargo plane when it went down off the coast of his native land just moments after take-off. The plane was carrying relief supplies to the victims of an earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua.

Below are other memorable events that took place on December 31st.

1914 – Colonel Jacob Ruppert & Cap Huston purchase NY Yankees for $460,000.

1918 – Kid Gleason replaces Pants Rowland as White Sox manager.

1972 – Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico.

1974 – NY Yankees sign Catfish Hunter for five years, for a record $3.75 million.

1991 – Daniel R McCarthy elected NY Yankees managing general partner.

1997 – Orlando Hernandez, half-brother of pitcher Livan Hernandez, defects from Cuba.

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David Conde

Co-Founder/Executive Editor at Legends On Deck®

David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®. He was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com. David along with John Ginder created Legends on Deck to be the site where passionate fans of the game have a place to read about their favorite baseball teams. The site was also created for people who had a talent to write or even take photographs and have the platform to share. The passion of following the Minor Leagues can be seen all over the site as the players journey's are what what drives the LOD team to share their content. David's passion is making available a site that people can have fun sharing and reading.

You can also reach out to David at daconde@legendsondeck.com