The first day of December is a day that invigorates many people with the excitement of the holiday season. Along with the joy that comes with this month has been many memorable moments in the history of pro sports. The largest trade of all time went down in the MLB while one of baseball’s legendary players ended a career for the books. Additionally, multiple NBA franchise and league-wide scoring records were broken. Sports fans can count on never knowing what’s in store upon the kickoff of December.

Ricky Eisenbart & Alex Raphael covered the NFL & NBA sections in this article.

Largest Trade Ever

12/1/1954 - The Yankees and Orioles complete the largest trade in major league history consisting of 17 players. https://t.co/vCa895iue4
— River Ave. Blues (@RiverAveBlues) December 1, 2016

YEAR: 1954

SIGNIFICANCE: Yankees and O’s completed a swap of a record 17 players, including NYY legend Don Larsen

On this day in 1954, a massive trade between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles became official with a total of 17 players included in the deal. The initial trade, which had the Orioles sending three players for six Yankees, was agreed upon three weeks earlier. On December 1st, the teams announced four PTBNL each, bringing the total of players involved up to a record-setting 17.

This trade saw the Yankees acquire SP Don Larsen, who later became a legend as the only pitcher to throw a Perfect Game in the World Series, and SP Bob Turley, who in 1958 won the Cy Young and WS MVP awards. The Orioles received C/1B Gus Triandos, who would become a 4x All-Star, and 5x World Series Champion LF Gene Woodling.

NBA Points Records

📌36 years ago today, December 1, 1981

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar passed Oscar Robertson to become the NBA's second all-time leading scorer, behind Wilt Chamberlain. Jabbar finished the season with over 28,000 career points and eventually surpassed Chamberlain for the top spot (38,387) pic.twitter.com/siHaOjTfu4
— 🖼️NFT is Life (@NFT_Promoter) December 1, 2017

YEAR: 1981 & 1991

SIGNIFICANCE: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar moved into 2nd in all-time scoring AND Isiah Thomas became Pistons all-time PTS leader

A year in which the 6x MVP and Lakers’ anchor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sought out his third of six Finals rings, he also overtook the triple-double icon, Oscar Robertson, on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. On this date 1981, his 14 points in a commanding 117-86 triumph over the Utah Jazz were all he needed to secure the second-place spot behind only Wilt Chamberlain for the most points ever.

While Robertson sat with 26,710 points, the sky-hook savant would later solidify himself as the scoring goat after blowing the old record out of the water with his high-sweeping shots, ending the season with over 28,000 points and retiring in 1989 at 38,387 — the most points ever scored in NBA history to this day.

Also on the first day of December, the HOF Detroit Pistons PG Isiah Thomas scaled to the top rank of all-time scorers in the franchise’s 50-year history in 1991. The monumental moment for the Motown legend was in a 94-87 home victory over the Houston Rockets at the Palace of Auburn Hills which featured Thomas’ game-high of 22 points, raising his total to 15,493 points — five points above the previous leader Bob Lanier. The back-to-back NBA champion and 12x All-Star “Zeke” would end his prosperous 13-year career with 18,822 points, still the most in Pistons’ history.

HOF Retirement

YEAR: 1971

SIGNIFICANCE: Ernie Banks officially retired as a player; immediately joined the Cubs’ coaching staff

After 19-years commanding the shortstop position at Wrigley Field, Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub, announced his retirement from the game. Banks, a 2x MVP and 14x All-Star, retired after his age-40 season and immediately signed a contract to join the Chicago Cubs coaching staff the following season. The member of the 1977 Hall of Fame class slashed .274/.330/.830 as a pro hitter and accumulated over 2,500 career hits. He was most notorious for being one of the first 10 players in the history of the game to join the 500-HR club as he finished with 512 HRs.

NFL's Historic Day

Congrats to @andydalton14 who passed Ken Anderson (197) to become the #Bengals all time leader in TD passes (198). #SeizeTheDEY pic.twitter.com/LQLGXxrxnd
— Moving The Chains Podcast 🎙 (@_MTCPodcast) December 2, 2019

Derek Carr becomes the 1st Raiders QB to record 2,000 completions ever pic.twitter.com/eX9jkaDIWW
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 1, 2019

YEAR: 2019

SIGNIFICANCE: Andy Dalton, Derek Carr, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson all make history on the same exact day

This date exactly a year ago provided a flurry of historic achievements by numerous NFL QBs — including the two most recent MVPs. First and foremost, with a 243-yard game and the Bengals’ first victory of the season (1-11), Andy Dalton connected with Tyler Boyd for his 198th career PASS TD to break Ken Anderson’s franchise record. Though he would be released the following offseason, Dalton managed to set the Bengals franchise record in 43 fewer starts than Anderson.

Later that afternoon, the reigning MVP would continue his blistering rate of production while Derek Carr made Raiders history on the other end of the loss. Completing 20-of-30 passes for 222 yards, Carr tossed only one TD to two INTs (including a pick-six) but became the very first Raiders player to ever complete 2,000 career passes. On the other sideline, Patrick Mahomes was relatively contained and completed just over half of his 29 attempts for 175 yards but his first-quarter PASS TD marked the 70th of his career in just 27 games, beating the record of 29 GP set by Dan Marino as the fastest ever to the 70-mark milestone.

Last but certainly not least, the eventual MVP’s air attack was stifled by the eventual NFC champions’ league-leading defense. Mustering only 105 passing yards against the stingy 49ers defense, Lamar Jackson was able to still continue his historic efforts on the ground, however, registering his fourth 100-yard game of the season to break Michael Vick’s former record. A slugfest bogged down by poor weather, both the 9-2 Ravens and 10-1 49ers eclipsed 170 rushing yards while neither came even close to 200 yards passing. The heavyweight bout exceeded rather-high expectations, however, when Justin Tucker nailed a 49-yard FG as time expired to deliver home the victory for Baltimore and right to be considered the best team of the 2019 regular season.

With his first-quarter touchdown pass in his 27th career game, @Chiefs QB @PatrickMahomes surpassed @ProFootballHOF QB Dan Marino (29 games) to become the fastest player to reach 70 career touchdown passes in @NFL history. #NFL100 #OAKvsKC pic.twitter.com/GMRUlmY5Q3
— NFL345 (@NFL345) December 1, 2019

Unanimous NL ROY

YEAR: 1956

SIGNIFICANCE: Frank Robinson became the 1st unanimous NL Rookie of the Year

Frank Robinson was no stranger to making baseball history. For example, in 1966 he became the first player to win the MVP in both leagues. In 1974, he was named Manager of the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Black manager in MLB history. And on this day in 1956, he became the first player to win the NL Rookie of the year award unanimously.

The 20-year-old Cincinnati Reds LF hit 38 HRs and drove in 83 RBIs while posting a .936 OPS. Robinson led the NL in runs with 122 in a year where he also made the first of 14 career All-Star appearances. Robinson would go on to play 21 seasons and hit over 2,900 hits and 586 HRs, the 4th most of all-time when he called it a career.