2003 in baseball

This article is currently under construction

Events

January-June

• January 22 - David Ortiz is signed by the Boston Red Sox, where he will start a successful and productive career.
• April 4 - Sammy Sosa hits his 500th career home run off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Scott Sullivan in the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park, becoming only the 18th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 or more home runs, as well as the first Hispanic to do so.
• May 5 - Matt Stairs' home run off Houston Astros pitcher Wade Miller was estimated at 461 feet, making it the longest home run in the history of Minute Maid Park.
• May 11 - Rafael Palmeiro hit his 500th career home run off Cleveland Indians pitcher David Elder, becoming only the 19th player in major leagues history to hit 500 or more home runs.
• May 28 - Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit home runs off Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Jeff Austin in the bottom of the first inning, as the Atlanta Braves become only the second team in big league history to begin a game with three consecutive home runs. On April 13, 1987, San Diego Padres's Marvell Wynn, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk did the same in the bottom of the first inning off SF Giants starter Roger Mason.
• June 11 - Houston set a major league record for combined pitchers in a no-hitter with six, against the Yankees. The pitchers were Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner.
• June 13 - Yankees' pitcher Roger Clemens becomes the 21st pitcher in MLB history to win 300 games and only the 3rd pitcher to record 4,000 career strikeouts as he defeats the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2.

July-December

• July 15 - At U.S. Cellular Field, the American League won the All-Star Game, beating the National League, 7-6. Hank Blalock connected for a two-run, pinch-hit home run off Éric Gagné in the eighth inning to lead the rally. Garret Anderson was named the MVP. He came just one triple shy of hitting for the cycle after going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Brendan Donnelly was the winning pitcher, while Keith Foulke got the save.
• September 5 - Mike Maroth of the Detroit Tigers became the first major league pitcher in 23 years to lose 20 games in a season when Detroit lost to Toronto 8-6. Maroth (6-20) allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings. Oakland's Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.
• September 10 - St. Louis Cardinals Tony La Russa became the eighth manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins as the Cardinals beat Colorado, 10?2. The 58-year-old La Russa has posted a 2,000-1,782 record in 25 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis.
• September 14 - At Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers set a franchise record for losses as they drop their 110th loss to the Kansas City Royals, 7-2. The 1996 Tiger squad finished the season with a 53-109 record.
• September 17 - In Boston Red Sox 7-0 loss to Tampa Bay, Todd Walker's ninth-inning double is the Red Sox's 608th extra base hit of the season, breaking the major league record set by the 1996 Mariners.
• September 20:
• Unlike this season when the Montreal Expos played twenty-five percent of its home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the players vote to play their entire 2004 home schedule in Montreal. The MLB owners, who collectively own the franchise, have been considering moving the Expos permanently to Washington D.C., Portland, Oregon or Monterrey, Mexico or continuing the present format by having the team split home games between different locations (Puerto Rico or Mexico and Montreal).
• Second baseman Marcus Giles hit a home run off Brad Penny's 3-2 pitch, as the Atlanta Braves tie the National League record by having six players to hit at least 20 home runs in season. Along with Giles, Javy López, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones and Vinny Castilla equals the mark established by Eddie Mathews (32), Hank Aaron (32), Joe Torre (27), Felipe Alou (23), Mack Jones (31) and Gene Oliver (21) of the 1965 Milwaukee Braves.
• September 22:
• Detroit set an American League record with its 118th loss, falling 12-6 to Kansas City. The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) had held the record.
• Second baseman Alfonso Soriano broke a major league season-record by hitting his 13th leadoff home run of the year in the New York Yankees' 10-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox.
• October 25 - In Game 6 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, Josh Beckett, on three days' rest, pitched a 2?0, five-hits shutout over the New York Yankees, to give the Florida Marlins its second championship in 11 seasons. Beckett received MVP honors.