Participants in a team-sponsored high school program aimed at helping Bronx youths pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction, along with a few players, remove rain-soaked dirt from the former Yankee Stadium and bring it across the street to the site of the team’s new $1.3 billion field. The soil is mixed with the new stadium’s dirt around home plate and pitcher’s rubber, which were also removed during the ceremony from the ‘House that Ruth Built’.

Barack Obama, a long-time White Sox fan, is elected as the 44th president of the United States. The junior senator from Illinois, the first African-American to become the nation’s Commander-in-Chief, is friendly with the team’s general manager Kenny Williams, also a prominent member of Chicago’s black community.

The Brewers exercise their $10 million option on Mike Cameron (.243, 25, 70). The 35 year-old three-time Gold Glove outfielder committed only one error in 119 starts for the Brew Crew last season.

Ruben Amaro Jr., the team’s assistant GM for a decade, is named to replace Pat Gillick as the general manager of the recently crowned World Champion Phillies. The former batboy signs a three-year deal to run the club five days after Philadelphia beat Tampa Bay in the Fall Classic to win its second title in franchise history.

2008 – Rubén Amaro Jr. is announced as the new general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, replacing Pat Gillick, who retired. Amaro has big shoes to fill as the Phillies are fresh off winning the 2008 World Series.

The Red Sox and Lee County (FL) sign an agreement which will keep Boston’s spring training home in the Fort Myers area for the next three decades. The 30-year deal will keep the team playing in the City of Palms Park, until a new complex is completed prior to the 2012 season.