On This Day: February 12

1981

Arbitrator Raymond Goetz supports the MLB Players’ Association and declares Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent on the grounds that the club mailed his 1981 contract two days after the December 20 deadline. Fisk was signed by the Chicago White Sox on March 18, 1981. As the season got under way, Fisk was interviewed by the media concerning his switching teams, and joked that “after a decade with the Red Sox, it was time to change my sox!”