Baseball Hall of Fame
Most Valuable Player
Cy Young Award
Rookie of the Year
Manager of the Year Award
Woman Executive of the Year (major or minor league): Frances Crockett, , Southern League
Charlotte Orioles
Gold Glove Award
January 7 – Outfielder and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, with Wilhelm becoming the first relief pitcher ever selected. Second baseman Nellie Fox is named on 295 of the 395 ballots (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's percentage to the necessary 75%.
Lou Brock
March 6 – and Arky Vaughan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
Enos Slaughter
March 18 – Peter Ueberroth officially reinstates Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. The two had been banned from working within Major League Baseball by Ueberroth's predecessor, Bowie Kuhn due to their associations with gambling casinos.
Commissioner
March 28 – The April 1 issue of comes out, including George Plimpton's hoax article on Sidd Finch.
Sports Illustrated
April 11 – hits three home runs and drives in six runs to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 14–6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Gorman Thomas
April 28 – Only hours after being swept by the in a three-game series at Comiskey Park, the New York Yankees fire Yogi Berra as manager 16 games into the season. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner does not fire Berra personally, but instead dispatches general manager Clyde King to deliver the news for him. Berra is replaced by Billy Martin, whom he replaced as manager after the 1983 season. It is the fourth of Martin's five stints as Yankee skipper. Berra vows after the slight to never again set foot in Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner owns the team.
Chicago White Sox
The Slugger's Wife
January 4 –
Scott Sizemore
January 7 –
José García
January 8 –
Matt LaPorta
January 10 –
Samuel Gervacio
January 12 –
Chris Hatcher
January 16 –
Junior Guerra
January 16 –
Jeff Manship
January 17 –
Chad Beck
January 17 –
Emmanuel Burriss
January 17 –
Jai Miller
January 20 –
Fabio Castro
January 20 –
Luis Pérez
January 22 –
Scott Cousins
January 23 –
Jeff Samardzija
January 24 –
Niuman Romero
January 24 –
Jay Sborz
January 25 –
Shane Lindsay
January 28 –
Wesley Wright
January 16 – , 71, pitcher for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and New York Giants between 1936 and 1943.
Ken Chase
January 30 – , 87, pitcher for the 1929 Brooklyn Robins.