World Series
American League
European Baseball Championship
Caribbean Series
Australian Baseball League
Baseball Hall of Fame honors
January 6 – and Mike Piazza are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. In his first year on the ballot, Griffey receives a record 99.3 percent of the vote, being named on all but three of the 440 ballots, to surpass the 98.84 percent Tom Seaver received in 1992. Piazza, in his fourth year on the ballot, receives 83.0 percent of the votes, up from the 69.9 percent he received in 2015. Griffey becomes the first player drafted #1 overall (1987) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, while Piazza becomes the lowest draftee to be inducted, having been selected in the 62nd round, 1390th overall (1988).[67] A player needs 75 percent to gain election. This time, the vote total dropped by 109 from last year, due to the new rules writers who have not been active for 10 years lost their votes. Falling shy of enshrinement was Jeff Bagwell (71.6%). The other players to be named on more than half the 440 ballots were Tim Raines (69.8%), Trevor Hoffman (67.3%) and Curt Schilling (52.3%).[68]
Ken Griffey Jr.
January 5 – , 79, durable long reliever for the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds in a span of five seasons from 1964 to 1968, who over a stretch of six appearances in May 1967 for the Reds, tossed 11+2⁄3 hitless innings, including retiring 28 consecutive batters.
Jay Ritchie
January 9 – , 63, left-handed reliever for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1977 to 1979, while facing the New York Yankees in the 1977 and 1978 World Series, who was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1977 NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies, when the Dodgers came back from a two-out, 5–3 deficit in the top of the 9th inning following key pinch hits by Vic Davalillo and Manny Mota.
Lance Rautzhan
January 10 – , 90, pitcher for the 1951 Washington Senators, who never played organized baseball at any level until he was with an Army team during World War II.
Alton Brown
January 11 – , 96, Hall of Fame left fielder who played a significant role in the integration of MLB while mentoring many of the African-American players who were breaking into the big leagues in the 1950s, whose playing career spanned almost 18 seasons, from his debut in the Negro leagues with the Newark Eagles in 1938 to seven seasons with the New York Giants from 1949 to 1955 and one with the Chicago Cubs in 1956, leading the Giants to the 1951 National League pennant, after hitting .312 with 24 home runs and a league-best 121 RBI, en route to a third-place finish in the MVP voting behind Roy Campanella and Stan Musial.
Monte Irvin
January 13 – , 88, a two-time All-Star relief pitcher who was the first Puerto Rican-born player to appear for the New York Yankees, joining them in 1960 to become a key part of their American League pennant-winning staff that year, while posting a 15–5 record with a 2.19 ERA in 119 relief innings in 1961, en route to the World Series championship.
Luis 'Tite' Arroyo
January 19 – , 71, shortstop for the Kansas City Royals in parts of two seasons from 1970 to 1971.
Rich Severson
January 19 – , 85, two-time All-Star pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins from 1953 to 1963, and also topped the American League with 18 wins and 260 innings in 1955.
Frank Sullivan
January 23 – , 91, outfielder who played from 1947 to 1948 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, as well as the only Houston-born ballplayer to perform in the league during its twelve years of existence.
Marie Mahoney
January 23 – , 72, corner outfielder and solid hitter best known for his hustle during his six seasons with the Chicago White Sox from 1967 to 1972, while hitting .304 in 1969 for the sixth-best average in the American League.
Walt 'No-Neck' Williams
January 24 – , 70, outfielder who played from 1969 through 1973 for the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.
Clyde Mashore
January 25 – , 76, middle-infielder for the Washington Senators in the 1961 and 1962 seasons, who also coached at Thousand Oaks, Cal Lutheran and Moorpark College, and was co-captain of USC's national championship baseball team in 1961.
Ron Stillwell
January 27 – , 85, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League catcher from 1949 to 1950.
Barbara Berger
January 30 – , 84, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League slugging outfielder who played with four teams in a span of six seasons from 1949 to 1954.