Mariano Rivera Signs Record Reliever Contract

On February 16, 2001, Mariano Rivera agreed to a four-year, $39.99 million contract with the New York Yankees, making the 31-year-old Panamanian closer the highest-paid relief pitcher in baseball history. Rivera had already posted 16 postseason saves at that point, breaking Dennis Eckersley's record, and his cutter had become the single most feared pitch in October. The deal kept Rivera in pinstripes through 2004 and proved a bargain relative to his dominance over the next decade.

The same date carried weight across different eras of the game. In 1989, Orel Hershiser signed a three-year, $7.9 million extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first player in major league history to reach a $3 million annual salary. Hershiser had just led the Dodgers to a World Series title, winning NLCS and World Series MVP honors while posting 23 wins and a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings.

In 1967, Red Ruffing won election to the Hall of Fame through a rare runoff vote. Ruffing had received 72.6 percent on the regular BBWAA ballot, just short of the 75 percent threshold, and tied with Joe Medwick for the top spot. Under the rules of the time, a runoff limited voters to five candidates. Ruffing surged to 87 percent. Medwick also crossed 75 percent in the runoff, but only one candidate could be elected per the rules. Ruffing had won 273 games and pitched in seven World Series for the Yankees.

Further back, on February 16, 1909, the Boston Red Sox traded the legendary Cy Young to the Cleveland Naps for pitchers Charlie Chech and Jack Ryan and $12,500. Young, then 41, had won 21 games for Boston the previous season. He added 19 more wins in Cleveland and finished his career with 511 victories, a record that still stands.