January 18 – ThePittsburgh Pirates purchase the contract of first basemanHank Greenberg from theDetroit Tigers for $75,000. A futureBaseball Hall of Famer and all-time Tiger great, Greenberg, now 36, led theAmerican League in homers with 44 in1946, but he has become estranged from Detroit's front office. The Pirates will pair him with sophomoreRalph Kiner, who led theNational League with 23 home runs in 1946. They also will shorten the left-field dimensions inForbes Field; the "porch" favoring the two right-handed sluggers will be initially nicknamed "Greenberg Gardens," then "Kiner's Korner."[2] The 1947 campaign proves to be Greenberg's last as an active player; he will hit 25 long balls for the Pirates, while Kiner's andJohnny Mize's 51 home runs set the pace for the majors.
January 20 – Less than three months before the start of the National League season, withJackie Robinson poised to break thebaseball color line, catcherJosh Gibson of theHomestead Grays, known as "the blackBabe Ruth", dies from a stroke in Pittsburgh at 35. Despite a prolonged period of declining mental and physical health, possibly due to a brain tumor,[3] Gibson passes away months after leading theNegro National League in homers in1946—the 11th time he's done so in 13 seasons. Author of as many as 962 home runs overall,[3] and believed to have compiled a careerbatting average of as high as .373, he'll be elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in1972.[4] (SeeDeaths for this date below.)
Brooklyn Dodgers managerLeo Durocher and actressLaraine Day wed inEl Paso, Texas, publicly defying aCalifornia judge's decree that they wait a full year from Day's divorce before marrying. Durocher and Day have been the subject of intense press scrutiny since their extra-marital affair made headlines in early December 1946.[5][6]
January 25 – TheNew York Yankees sign free-agent first basemanGeorge McQuinn, who was released by thePhiladelphia Athletics 16 days earlier. A slick fielder and line-drive hitter, McQuinn, 36, is a four-timeAL All-Star who had slumped badly with Philadelphia in 1946. As a Yankee in 1947 and1948, he'll make two more All-Star squads and earn aWorld Series ring.[7]
February 1 –Commissioner of BaseballHappy Chandler announces the creation of a pension plan for retired major leaguers. Any player with five years of experience will receive $50 a month at age 50 and $10 a month for each of the next five years. The plan extends to coaches, players and trainers active onOpening Day. The plan will be funded by $650,000‚ with the 16 teams providing 80% and the players the remaining 20%.
February 4 – The career ofHal Trosky comes to an end when he's released by theChicago White Sox. Though overshadowed by fellow first basemenLou Gehrig andJimmie Foxx, Trosky, 33, was one of theAmerican League's most feared batsmen of the 1930s, once (in1936)driving in 162 runs on the strength of 42 homers as a member of theCleveland Indians. But debilitatingmigraine headaches impaired his durability, then caused him to miss three full seasons before attempting a final comeback with the 1946 Pale Hose.
February 19 – TheBoston Red Sox sign free-agent catcherFrankie "Blimp" Hayes, released by theWhite Sox six days earlier. Former "iron-man" Hayes, 32, is only 2+ years removed from his remarkable1944 season, in which he started all 155 of theAthletics' games behind the plate, and only missed 18 innings of action all season. He then followed that in1945 by starting a combined 151 games for the Athletics andIndians. Hayes will be released by the Red Sox on May 21, 1947, after making only five appearances—ending his MLB career.
February 23–25 – The wildest pennant race inCuban League annals sees theAlacranes del Almendares overcome a six-game, late-season deficit to defeat their archrivals, theLeones del Habana, in a three-game, season-concluding sweep. American left-handerMax Lanier, one of the players suspended indefinitely by MLB in May 1946 for "jumping" thereserve clause to sign with the "outlaw"Mexican League, wins two of the contests, including the clincher on a single day of rest.
TheBrooklyn Dodgers and theirMontreal Royals affiliate arrive inPanama for a series of exhibition games against each other. The teams have been training inHavana to avoidJim Crow laws in the United States. The Montreal roster includes1946International Leaguebatting championJackie Robinson and catcherRoy Campanella. Brooklyn president and general managerBranch Rickey hopes that Robinson's talent and style of play will "break the ice" with the all-white Dodger roster and smooth his promotion to the major leagues. However, before the Panama series begins, a petition begins to circulate among the white players on the Dodgers that seeks to keep Robinson off the team.[8]
TheChicago Cubs bring back one of their stalwart pitchers of the 1930s, veteran right-hander"Big Bill" Lee, as a free agent three weeks after his release from theBoston Braves. Lee, 37, won 20 and 22 games for theNational League-champion1935 and1938 Cubs, and also posted 19- and 18-win seasons in a Chicago uniform. He'll get into 14 games for the Cubs and spend part of 1947 in theTexas League before drawing his career-ending release on September 19.
March 24 –Commissioner of BaseballHappy Chandler convenes a hearing inSarasota, Florida, in response to the public feud betweenNew York Yankees president and co-ownerLarry MacPhail andBrooklyn Dodgers managerLeo Durocher. The dispute flared when a newspaper article that ran under Durocher's byline on March 9 accused baseball (and, indirectly, the Commissioner) of a "double standard" by allowing MacPhail to bestow free tickets to a Dodgers–Yankees exhibition game to two known gamblers whom Durocher has been warned by Chandler to avoid.[5][6]
March 26 – After managerLeo Durocher calls a middle-of-the-night meeting to castigateBrooklyn Dodgers players who've signed a petition aimed at denyingJackie Robinson a place on the team, one of the petitioners, outfielderDixie Walker, asksBranch Rickey to trade him.[8][10] Walker, a former NL batting champion and three-timeAll-Star, is one of the Dodgers' most popular veterans, nicknamedThe People's Cherce.
Commissioner of BaseballHappy Chandler drops a bombshell on theBrooklyn Dodgers, suspending managerLeo Durocher for the entire 1947 season for "conduct detrimental to baseball." Chandler's controversial ruling, which comes after his closed-door hearings of late March, stems from Durocher's highly publicized, high-risk behavior—his association with known gamblers, scandals surrounding his allegedly adulterous courting of and marriage to starletLaraine Day, and public feud with powerfulNew York Yankees co-ownerLarry MacPhail.[5][6]
The suspension leaves the Dodgers without a manager on the eve of theNational League season—and the anticipated debut of "Organized Baseball's" first Black major-league player of the 20th century,Jackie Robinson. A press release issued the following day atEbbets Field in the sixth inning of an exhibition game will announce that the Dodgers have purchased Robinson's contract from theMontreal Royals.
April 15 –Major League Baseball'scolor line is officially broken forever whenJackie Robinson makes his debut for theBrooklyn Dodgers against theBoston Braves atEbbets Field. Playing first base and batting second, Robinson goes hitless in three at bats, but scores the winning run in a 5–3 Brooklyn victory. He playserrorless ball in the field. CoachClyde Sukeforth, who escorted Robinson to Brooklyn for his historic meeting withBranch Rickey in August 1945, is the Dodgers' acting manager who writes Robinson's name on today's lineup card.[11] More than a half-century later, Major League Baseball will decree April 15 to be "Jackie Robinson Day" with every MLB player wearing Robinson's #42.
Burt Shotton, 62, a long-time associate ofBranch Rickey's, is appointed to serve as manager of theBrooklyn Dodgers duringLeo Durocher's season-long suspension. Rickey turns to Shotton afterJoe McCarthy, currently retired, declines the chance to take the interim position. Apart from one game, Shotton has not helmed a big-league team since he was fired from thePhiladelphia Phillies in1933 after compiling a 370–549–4 (.403) record over six full baseball seasons. Having hung up his uniform when he stepped down as aCleveland Indians coach in1945, he will manage the Dodgers in street clothes.[12]
In Shotton's first game today, Brooklyn falls to theNew York Giants, 10–4, at thePolo Grounds for its first defeat of 1947.Jackie Robinson, however, collects his first National League home run, hit in the third inning offDave Koslo.
On a cold afternoon atEbbets Field, in the opener of a three-game series,Ben Chapman, manager of thePhiladelphia Phillies, leads his team in racist chants directed atJackie Robinson of theBrooklyn Dodgers. The Phillies' abuse backfires: it begins to galvanize support for Robinson among white teammates formerly cool or hostile to his presence; influential radio and print journalists denounce Chapman; and CommissionerHappy Chandler chastises him.[8] The contest itself is scoreless into the bottom of the eighth inning when Robinson singles, steals second base, and scores its only run on an RBI hit byGene Hermanski. Brooklyn'sHal Gregg throws a one-hit, complete-game shutout, allowing only a first-inning double toDel Ennis.[13] Brooklyn will sweep all three low-scoring games; Robinson scores four of their eight total runs.
April 23 –Cleveland sells the contract of minor-league sluggerGus Zernial to theChicago White Sox. Outfielder Zernial will require two more years of seasoning atTriple-A, but when he arrives in the majors in1949, he'll blast 237 homers over an 11-season career.
April 27 – It isBabe Ruth Day atYankee Stadium. Battlingthroat cancer, Ruth speaks to the packed house, proclaiming, "The only real game, I think, in the world is baseball."
April 29 – After signing with theNew York Yankees the previous winter,Joe Medwick is released despite never playing a single game with the Bombers. On May 25, the futureHall of Famer, now 35, will rejoin his original team, theSt. Louis Cardinals, as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter.
May 2 – FutureHall-of-FamerBob Feller tosses his second one-hitter in ten days with his 2–0 victory over theBoston Red Sox atCleveland Stadium.Johnny Pesky's first-inning single is Boston's only "knock"; Feller walks six and strikes out ten. Over his career, "Rapid Robert" will fire three no-hit games; April 22's and today's are the ninth and tenth of the 12 one-hitters he'll have on his résumé.[15] Feller's third straight complete-game, shutout win lowers hisearned run average to 0.26 for 1947.
A story authored by sports editorStanley Woodward of theNew York Herald Tribune reports thatNL presidentFord Frick andSt. Louis Cardinals ownerSam Breadon have quelled a potential strike by members of the Cardinals who refuse to take the field withJackie Robinson. While a potential strike has been rumored, the details of Woodward's story will be hotly disputed and the seriousness of such a strike threat debated for decades.[16]
Right-handerCliff Fannin of theSt. Louis Browns issues 11bases on balls and allows ten hits in 101⁄3 innings of work in today's start against the visitingCleveland Indians. Yet he loses the contest by a score of only 4–3. Cleveland leaves 17 on base over the 11-inning game.[17]
May 17 – During today's game atForbes Field, veteranPittsburgh Pirates first basemanHank Greenberg asks baserunnerJackie Robinson if he's injured after an earlier collision between the two. Greenberg then gives rookie Robinson apep talk, telling him: "Don't pay any attention to these guys who are trying to make it hard for you. Stick in there. You're doing fine. Keep your chin up." Robinson takes the advice to heart and later praises Greenberg to theNew York Times and writes of him as his "diamond hero". Robinson knows that Greenberg, a Jew, had withstood his own trial by fire with racial taunts being hurled at him by fans and players.[19]
May 26 – Inthe Bronx,Joe DiMaggio goes three for four, including his fourth home run, scores three times, and drives in four to lead theNew York Yankees to a 9–3 victory and a four-game sweep of the defendingAmerican League championRed Sox. Outscoring the Bosox 40–5 over the four contests, the Yankees vault ahead of them into second place, three games behind the league-leadingDetroit Tigers. Moreover, their rough treatment ofTex Hughson andDave Ferriss betrays the arm troubles and performance declines that will beset Boston's ace starting pitchers.
June 8 – In the first game of a Sundaydoubleheader,Comiskey Park hosts a marathon pitchers duel, as theWashington Senators and theChicago White Sox grapple for 17 scoreless innings before the Senators break through with a run in the top of the 18th onAl Evans'striple andSherry Robertson'ssacrifice fly, then hold on for a 1–0 victory. StartersWalt Masterson (16 shutout frames) andFrank Papish (13 innings) depart before the game is decided. The official time of the game, the longest in the majors in 1947,[20] is 3:30.[21] Masterson begins MLB's longest consecutive-scoreless-innings-pitched streak of 1947 (34) before it ends on June 27 against the Pale Hose atGriffith Stadium.[14]
June 9:
AtBraves Field, veteran right-handerRed Barrett hurls his third one-hitter in as many seasons in a 1–0Boston victory over theChicago Cubs. Barrett's opposite number,Hank Borowy, spoils the no-hit bid with a sixth-inning single.[22]
At thePolo Grounds, thePittsburgh Pirates blow an 8–1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when theNew York Giants tally eight times to claim a 9–8 edge. The Bucs then score twice in the top of the ninth to regain the advantage, 10–9, only to see the slugging Giants come from behind on home runs byMickey Witek andWalker Cooper to win, 13–10, in their half of the frame. Cooper's game-winning, three-run blow is his second, and the New Yorkers' fifth, four-bagger of the game.[23]
June 11 – In the process of batting .381 during the month of June,[8]Jackie Robinson goes four-for-four, including a double and a triple, in theBrooklyn Dodgers' 5–4 defeat at the hands of theCincinnati Reds atEbbets Field. Three days from now, the rookie will embark on a 21-game hitting streak; by the time it ends July 4, his club will be in first place in the National League standings.
Boston'sFenway Park hosts its first night game, a 5–3 triumph for the hostRed Sox over theChicago White Sox before a capacity crowd of 34,510. Only two MLB ballparks now lack arc lights for night contests: Detroit'sBriggs Stadium, which will install them in1948, and Chicago'sWrigley Field.
June 15 – By sweeping a doubleheader from theSt. Louis Browns, the home-standingNew York Yankees climb into first place in theAmerican League with a 30–23 record. The Bombers surpass theDetroit Tigers, who have led since the first week of May; the Bengals today drop both ends of their twin bill to theWashington Senators atGriffith Stadium. While they'll share the top spot for one day (June 19) with theRed Sox, the Yankees will remain in first place for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile,Johnny Pesky's fifth hit of the evening delivers a 15-inning, 6–5 win for theBoston Red Sox over theSt. Louis Browns before 34,462 fans inFenway Park's second-ever night game. The contest is unusual because, after the clubs play to a 2–2 deadlock after nine innings, they match each other by scoring three runs over the 13th and 14th frames before Pesky comes through in the 15th with two out. The game ends at 1:07 a.m. — barely averting a curfew that would have halted the contest as a 5–5 tie.[24]
June 22 –Cincinnati'sEwell Blackwell just misses pitching back-to-backno-hitters whenEddie Stanky of theBrooklyn Dodgerssingles with one out in the ninth inning. Stanky's hit ends Blackwell's hitless-inning skein at 19. Blackwell also allows a single toJackie Robinson two batters after Stanky to finish with a two-hitter. Blackwell's 4–0 triumph is his ninth consecutive victory and improves his record to 11–2.
June 28 –Walker Cooper of theNew York Giants hits a home run in his sixth consecutive game to tie a record set byGeorge Kelly in 1924. Cooper had two homers in the first game of the streak, while his shot today helps his brotherMorton defeat thePhiladelphia Phillies, 14–6, for his first victory in a Giants uniform.
Doby, then an infielder, had been a standout player with theNewark Eagles of theNegro National League: in1946 he had led the NNL inhits,triples and the modern metric ofOPS (1.030), and he followed that by hitting .354 with eight homers during the early weeks of the Eagles' 1947 season. However, his introduction to white baseball is much more abrupt than Robinson's, whose arrival in Brooklyn had been anticipated since his brilliant 1946 season with theMontreal Royals. Cleveland ownerBill Veeck, though a champion ofintegration, rushes Doby to the Indians only two days after signing him, bypassing the painstaking preparationsBranch Rickey had undertaken for Robinson's debut.[26]
Doby initially endures ostracism from white teammates and bats only .156 with five hits and a base on balls in 33plate appearances, almost exclusively as a pinch hitter, in 1947. However, he will earn a regular job in1948 when he moves to the outfield, bats .301 in 121 games, and becomes the first black player to earn aWorld Series ring, as well as the first to hit a home run in the Fall Classic. Doby will forge a 13-season American League career (1947–1959), be selected to sevenAll-Star teams, blast 253 home runs (leading the AL in both1952 and1954), then become MLB's second black manager (1978), and be elected to theHall of Fame (1998). Looking back on his 1947 experience, he will say: "It was 11 weeks between the time Jackie Robinson and I came into the majors. I can’t see how things were any different for me than they were for him.”[26]
July 11 – In the nightcap of a doubleheader at thePolo Grounds, theSt. Louis Cardinals andNew York Giants combine for 20 runs and 18 hits—in the game's first two innings. When the smoke clears, the Giants lead 11–9 with seven innings yet to play. They shut out the Redbirds on two hits the rest of the way, to win 17–9. En route to a record for most home runs by a team during a 154-game season, the Giants belt six round-trippers in the game—including two each bySid Gordon andBill Rigney.
July 17:
TheNew York Yankees win their 19th straight game, 7–2 over theCleveland Indians, behind rookieVic Raschi. Now 58–26, the Yankees have gone 30–3 since June 14 and their league lead reaches 11½ games.
Two days later, on July 19, the 32-year-oldWillard Brown, who'll be elected to theHall of Fame in2006 to recognize his brilliant career with the Monarchs, makes his debut with St. Louis, going 0-for-3 as the starting centerfielder against theBoston Red Sox.
On July 20, the St. Louis Browns become the first AL or NL club to field two black players at the same time when both men start and play all nine innings of both games of adoubleheader with the visiting Red Sox. The Browns stun the Bosox by sweeping the twin bill, but Thompson[30] and Brown[31] go a combined 3-for-17.
July 20 –Cardinals outfielderRon Northey's long drive is simultaneously ruled "in play"and overEbbets Field's center-field fence by umpiresLarry Goetz andBeans Reardon in the top half of the ninth of today's game against theDodgers. Deceived by Reardon's home-run call, Northey slows to a trot rounding third and is thrown out at the plate. His run would have made the score 3–0, St. Louis. Redbird managerEddie Dyer officially protests the game because of the umpires' conflicting decisions. In the bottom of the ninth, Brooklyn tallies three runs to seemingly pull off a 3–2 victory. But NL presidentFord Frick upholds the St. Louis protest: he restores Northey's homer (albeit as an"inside the park" blow) and St. Louis' third run. Frick rules that the contest is actually a 3–3 tie.[33][34] It will be replayed in full on August 18, and the Dodgers will triumph, 12–3.[35]
July 25 – SidewinderEwell Blackwell wins his 16th straightdecision dating to May 10, going all nine innings in a 5–4Cincinnati Reds victory over thePhiladelphia Phillies. His complete game is his 15th of this 16-victory span. At18–2, he's responsible for 41.8% of Cincinnati's wins so far in 1947. Blackwell's streak will end July 30 when he absorbs a ten-inning, 5–4 setback against theNew York Giants atCrosley Field.
August 9 – Pitcher,World War II combat veteran, and formerPrisoner of WarPhil Marchildon of thePhiladelphia Athletics registers his fourth consecutivecomplete game victory and goes three-for-four at the plate (including a home run) to defeat theWashington Senators, 8–1, atShibe Park. Marchildon, who served as aflying officer in theRoyal Canadian Air Force, survived being shot down over theBaltic Sea, hypothermia, and nine months as a POW after a bombing mission overNazi Germany on August 16, 1944. His harrowing experiences led to recurring nightmares when he returned to civilian life and baseball in 1945.[36] After winning 13 games for a 105-loss Philadelphia team in1946, Marchildon, 33, comes back this season to post a19–9,3.22 record in 35starts; his 19 wins are tied for second in theAmerican League.
August 12 – Right-handerAl Gettel of theCleveland Indians hurls a one-hit shutout, and he and his teammates amass 15 hits and 11 runs, as Cleveland overwhelms the visitingDetroit Tigers.Eddie Mayo's first-inning double is the spoiler.
AtEbbets Field, the onrushingSt. Louis Cardinals ensure a split of their four-game series with the first-placeBrooklyn Dodgers with a 12-inning, 3–2 victory.Whitey Kurowski's homer off Brooklyn relief aceHugh Casey, only the fourth Redbird hit of the day, makes the difference. The Dodgers and Cardinals, bitter foes throughout most of the 1940s, are only 4½ games apart in theNational League race. However, an 11th-inning incident—in which St. Louis'Enos Slaughter spikesJackie Robinson during a play at first base—adds to the enmity: the Dodgers accuse Slaughter of deliberately trying to injure Robinson (who remains in the game), and Slaughter vehemently denies the charge.[8][38]
August 26 – TheBrooklyn Dodgers'Dan Bankhead becomes the National League's first black pitcher. He homers in his debutplate appearance, but doesn't fare well on the mound. In 31⁄3 innings of relief, he gives up ten hits and six earned runs to thePittsburgh Pirates, who win the game, 16–3.
August 28 – Two relief pitchers—Clyde Shoun of theBoston Braves andEddie Erautt of theCincinnati Reds—distinguish themselves in one of the National League's longest games of 1947, going ten and 92⁄3 innings respectively in today's 16-inning marathon atBraves Field. The game ends on a sour note for Erautt, as he walksTommy Holmes with the bases loaded to seal an 8–7 Boston victory.
September 1 –Jack Lohrke leads off the eighth inning with a home run offRed Barrett, giving theNew York Giants and pitcherLarry Jansen a 2–1 victory over theBoston Braves in the opening game of aLabor Day doubleheader at thePolo Grounds. The 43,106 in attendance see history as Lohrke's homer is the Giants' 183rd of the season, surpassing the record of 182 bombs set by the1936 New York Yankees. The Giants win the nightcap, 12–2; they will finish the season with 221 homers but struggle to finish fourth.
Red Ruffing of theChicago White Sox gives up 12 hits over seven innings in a 7–5 loss to theBoston Red Sox in what proves to be his final MLB appearance. The futureHall of Famer, 42, will be released two weeks later, ending his major league career with 273 victories over 22 seasons.
The 22-year-long playing career ofMel Ott draws to a close when the 38-year-old slugger is released by theNew York Giants. FutureHall of Famer Ott retires with 511 career home runs, most inNational League history. He remains the Giants' manager, a job he's held since Opening Day of1942.
September 20 –Ernie Lombardi draws his unconditional release from theNew York Giants, ending his MLB career at age 39. A two-time National Leaguebatting champion despite being notoriously slow afoot, Lombardi will be elected to theHall of Fame in 1986.
September 25 – FutureHall of Fame second basemanBilly Herman, 38, steps down as manager of thePittsburgh Pirates after less than full season at the helm. He's led the Bucs to a 61–92 record, good enough for a tie for seventh in the National League, 33½ lengths behindBrooklyn. Herman also had played sparingly, putting himself into only 15 games and hitting a paltry .213.
September 27 – RookieBobby Thomson's 29th home run of 1947 enables hisNew York Giants to set the new modern MLB record for home runs in a season, with 221 in 155 official games. The1956 Cincinnati Redlegs will equal that mark nine years later.
September 29 – Legendary managerJoe McCarthy, who won 1,460 regular-season games, eight AL pennants, and sevenWorld Series in all or part of 16 seasons (1931 toMay 23, 1946) at the rudder of theNew York Yankees, takes over their rivals to the northeast, theBoston Red Sox, for1948. McCarthy, 60, who has spent the past 16 months in retirement, succeedsJoe Cronin, who in turn moves up togeneral manager, replacingEddie Collins, who steps aside due to declining health. Cronin, 40, has been manager of the Bosox since 1935, and Collins, 60, their GM since 1933, but their efforts have produced only one ALpennant. Collins is already aHall of Famer (1939), and Cronin (1956) and McCarthy (1957) will follow.
It's the firstWorld Series to feature a team with aracially integrated roster: rookie Brooklyn first basemanJackie Robinson, who broke thebaseball color line on April 15, starts all seven games, collects seven hits, including twodoubles, in 27 at bats (.259), scores three runs, drives in three, and steals two bases. In addition, Dodger pitcherDan Bankheadpinch runs forBobby Bragan in Game 6, and scores Brooklyn's seventh tally in an 8–6 win.
It's the first Series to be telecast, although coverage is limited toNew York City,Philadelphia,Washington, D.C., andSchenectady/Albany, New York. The TV industry is in its infancy, with only 44,000[40] to 100,000 sets in U.S. homes, retail store windows, and dining and drinking establishments.Billboard will estimate that 3.9 million viewers took advantage of the new medium to watch the action.[41]
Above all, it features three memorable highlights.
In Game 4 on October 3 atEbbets Field, the Yankees'Bill Bevens—though issuing tenbases on balls over 82⁄3 innings—comes within one out of the firstno-hit game in World Series history, only to be foiled bypinch hitterCookie Lavagetto's double that scores Brooklyn's tying and winning runs.
Then, in the sixth inning of Game 6 on October 5 atYankee Stadium,Al Gionfriddo robsJoe DiMaggio of extra bases, perhaps a game-tying homer, when he makes a running catch of DiMaggio's deep drive to the bullpen fence, 415 feet (126 m) from the plate in left-center.
And in Game 7 on October 6, Bevens and left-handedbullpen aceJoe Page combine for 71⁄3 innings of three-hit, shutout relief to enable the Yankees to claw back from a 2–0 deficit and win the deciding contest by scoring five unanswered runs.
October 2 – ThePittsburgh Pirates hire longtime minor-league managerBilly Meyer, 54, as their new field leader, signing him to a two-year contract for the highest salary ever paid a Pirate skipper.[42] Meyer has compiled a highly successful record in theNew York Yankees' organization, with his teams winning four championships and finishing second four times over the past decade. The Pirates today also unconditionally release first basemanHank Greenberg, ending the futureHall-of-Fame slugger's playing career after 13 MLB seasons and 331 home runs.
October 6 – Minutes after winning the1947 World Series, his first championship as an executive,New York Yankees' one-third-ownerLarry MacPhail resigns asclub president andgeneral manager, then confronts fellow co-ownerDan Topping and farm system directorGeorge Weiss at the team's victory party. The following day, Topping and co-ownerDel Webb acquire MacPhail's one-third interest in the Bombers, and promote Weiss to general manager. His bizarre departure from the Yankees marks the end of MacPhail's brilliant but erratic baseball career at age 57;[43] he'll be elected posthumously to theHall of Fame in1978. Topping and Webb will co-own the Yankees until they sell the franchise toCBS in1964.
October 9 – TheWashington Senators name former stalwart first basemanJoe Kuhel, 41, their manager for 1948. Kuhel retired from the playing ranks in May 1947; hebatted .288 in 1,205 games over 11 seasons with Washington (1930–1937,1944–1946). He succeedsOssie Bluege, the club's manager since1943, who becomes the Senators'farm system director.
October 24 – TheCleveland Indians release pitcherMel Harder, a 20-year veteran who won 223 games in a Cleveland uniform. He remains with the club as itspitching coach.
November 4 –Muddy Ruel is dropped as manager of theSt. Louis Browns after one season at the helm. His team finished last in theAmerican League at 59–95 in 1947. Former Browns coach and interim managerJames "Zack" Taylor, 49, will take his place.
One day after the massiveVern Stephens trade, theBrowns andRed Sox make another major, one-sided deal that favors Boston. In it, St. Louis sends pitcherEllis Kinder and infielderBilly Hitchcock to the Red Sox for $65,000, pitcherClem Dreisewerd and infieldersSam Dente andBill Sommers. Right-hander Kinder will win 23 games as a starting pitcher for the1949 Red Sox, then become their bullpen ace during the early 1950s, leading the American League insaves twice (1951,1953).
November 25 –Sam Breadon and his minority partners sell theSt. Louis Cardinals to formerUnited States Postmaster GeneralRobert E. Hannegan, 44, andSt. Louis attorneyFred Saigh, 42. Breadon, 71, became the Redbirds' president and largest stockholder in 1920 and principal owner two years later; under him they won nine National League pennants and sixWorld Series titles. The deal—which includes the team, the Cardinals' extensive network of owned-and-operated minor-league farm clubs and assets, and cash and securities set aside for the construction of a new baseball park—is valued at $4.06 million.
TheNew York Giants acquire first baseman and minor-league sluggerJack Harshman fromSan Diego of thePacific Coast League for three players and $65,000. In the majors, Harshman will falter as a batsman before he converts to the pitching mound, where the left-hander will win 69 games for four American League teams between1954 and1960.
December 8:
The NL championBrooklyn Dodgers trade four-timeNL All-Star outfielderDixie Walker and pitchersHal Gregg andVic Lombardi to thePittsburgh Pirates for pitcherPreacher Roe, third basemanBilly Cox and utilily infielderGene Mauch. Walker, 37, became one of the Dodgers' most popular players during his nine-season tenure in Brooklyn. But left-handed hurler Roe will win 93 games and Cox will provide stellar infield defense for three Brooklyn pennant-winners through 1954.
Leo Durocher, 42, is reinstated as theDodgers' manager after serving a year-long suspension imposed byCommissionerHappy Chandler for "conduct detrimental to baseball."Burt Shotton, who led the 1947 Dodgers to theNational League championship as acting manager, is given a post in the Brooklyn front office.
The contract of veteran second basemanJerry Priddy, once a prizedNew York Yankees prospect, is sold by theWashington Senators to theSt. Louis Browns. A top-flight fielder and dangerous hitter, Priddy, 28, has been hampered by injuries during his career.
Brooklyn Dodgersgeneral managerBranch Rickey announces an agreement withFlorida entrepreneur Bud Holman and theCity of Vero Beach to rent 104 acres of adecommissoned World War II naval airstation as the site of "Dodgertown," a first-of-its kind training facility capable of housing hundreds of minor-league ballplayers. The team will pay $1 a year in rent and take over maintenance. The big-league Dodgers will move their training camp there in 1949, and on March 11, 1953, they'll open a new baseball field,Holman Stadium, for Grapefruit League games.
December 16 – TheDetroit Tigers sell the contract of journeyman veteran outfielderRoy Cullenbine, who socked 24 homers in 1947, to thePhiladelphia Phillies. Cullenbine, 34, will be released by the Phils in April 1948, ending his playing career.
December 29 – TheWashington Senators release catcher-coachRick Ferrell from his playing contract, ending his active career. Ferrell, 42, has set an American League record by catching in 1,806 games over 18 seasons beginning in1929. He'll stay in the game as a coach and front office executive, and be elected to theHall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in1984.
January 15 –Jimmy Sheckard, 68, left fielder and leadoff hitter who played for eight different teams in a span of 17 seasons between 1897 and 1913, most notably for the Chicago Cubs from 1906 to 1912, a period in which the Cubs won four National League pennants and two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908.
January 20 –Josh Gibson, 35, Negro leagues All-Star catcher who is considered by baseball historians as one of the best power hitters and catchers in the history of any league, including Major League Baseball, becoming the second Negro league player to be inducted in theNational Baseball Hall of Fame behindSatchel Paige.
January 21 –Jimmy Walsh, 60, third baseman who played from 1910 through 1915 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Terrapins and St. Louis Terriers.
January 29 –Del Gainer, 60, solid first baseman and line drive hitter who played for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals (1922) during ten seasons between 1909 and 1922.
January 31 –Johnny Kling, 71, catcher who was key part of the great Chicago Cubs dynasty from the early 1900s.
February 5 –Ed Callahan, 89, outfielder and shortstop who played in 1894 for the St. Louis Maroons, Kansas City Cowboys and Boston Reds clubs of the outlawFederal League.
February 9 –Dan Barry, 60, American League umpire in 1928 who worked 132 games in his lone AL season; one of only six umpires to ejectLou Gehrig from a game; former sportswriter.
February 10:
Carney Flynn, 72, pitcher who played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1894 and for the New York Giants and Washington Senators in 1896.
George Whiteman, 64, outfielder for the 1918 Boston Red Sox World Champions.
February 11 –Jim Stanley, bornStanislaus Francis Ciolek, 59, shortstop for Chicago of the Federal League in 1914.
February 13 –Sam Shaw, 83, pitcher who played with the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association in 1888 and for the Chicago Colts of the National League in 1893.
February 19 –Hooks Warner, 52, third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates in part of four seasons spanning 1916–1921.
February 24 –Jack Glasscock, 89, flashy fielding shortstop of the 19th century, and the sixth player to collect at least 2,000 hits.
February 27:
Ensign Cottrell, 58, pitcher who played from 1911 to 1915 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Braves and New York Yankees.
Jack Calhoun, 67, third baseman the 1902 St. Louis Cardinals.
February 28:
Clarence Stephens, 83, pitcher who played with the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1886 and for the Cincinnati Reds in 1891.
March 2 –Dewey Metivier, 48, pitcher who played for the Cleveland Indians from 1922 to 1924.
March 7 –Dan McGarvey, 57, left fielder who played for the Detroit Tigers in the 1912 season.
March 20 –Mike Mowrey, 62, outstanding third baseman during theDeadball Era, who played from 1905 through 1915 for five different National League clubs, and was a member of the Brooklyn Robins team who were defeated by the strong Boston Red Sox in the1916 World Series.
March 22 –Tony Von Fricken, 77, pitcher for the 1890 Boston Beaneaters.
March 26 –Jim Bluejacket, 59, pitcher who played from 1914 to 1915 with the Brooklyn Tip-Tops and for the Cincinnati Reds in 1916.
March 27 –Pete Lister, 65, first baseman who played in 22 games for the Cleveland Naps during the 1907 season.
March 28 –Johnny Evers, 65, Hall of Fame second baseman who along shortstopJoe Tinker and first basemanFrank Chance formed the most famous double play combination in Major League history, which is memorialized in the legendary poemBaseball's Sad Lexicon, as the trio led the Chicago Cubs during the glory years of 1906–1910 to four National League pennants and two World Series.
Charlie Jones, 72, a fine defensive outfielder with a strong arm, who played for the Boston Americans, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns between 1901 and 1908.
Mike Lynch, 71, center fielder for the 1902 Chicago Orphans of the National League.
April 4 –Jot Goar, 77, pitcher who played with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1896 and for the Cincinnati Reds in 1898.
April 12 –Tom Sullivan, 87, pitcher for the Columbus Buckeyes and Kansas City Cowboys in parts of four seasons spanning 1884–1889.
April 20 –Jack Rothfuss, 75, first baseman for the 1897 Pittsburgh Pirates.
April 21 –Steamer Flanagan, 66, outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1905.
April 25 –John Walsh, 68, third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1903 season.
Kitty Bransfield, 72, first baseman who played for the Boston Beaneaters, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs in a span of 12 seasons from 1898 to 1911.
May 2 –Ossie France, 88, pitcher for the 1890 Chicago Colts of the National League.
May 5 –Ty LaForest, 30, Canadian third baseman who played for the Boston Red Sox in 1945, one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues duringWorld War II conflict.
May 6 –Ferdie Moore, 51, first baseman who played for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1914 season.
May 7 –Michael McDermott, 83, pitcher who played for the Louisville Colonels of the American Association during the 1889 season.
May 18 –Hal Chase, 64, outstanding first baseman whose big league career lasted from 1905 to 1919, who was the most notoriously corrupt player in Major League history and was barred from baseball after a reputed long history of fixing games.
May 19 –Tex Hoffman, 53, third baseman for the 1915 Cleveland Indians.
May 21 –Dan Kennard, 63, catcher whose career began in Black baseball in 1913 and continued after the formation of the Negro National League for the St. Louis Giants/Stars (1920–1923) and Detroit Stars (1925).
May 23:
Harry Bemis, 73, catcher who played from 1902 through 1910 for the Cleveland Naps of the American League.
Goat Cochran, 56, pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1915 season.
May 24 –Atkins Collins, 37, pitcher for the 1932 Baltimore Black Sox of the East–West League.
May 27:
Ed Konetchy, 61, who led National League first basemen in fielding seven times and batted .281 in 2,085 games over 15 seasons (1907–1921); his 2,150 career hits included 181 triples, 17th all time.
Harry Sage, 83, catcher who played in 1890 for the Toledo Maumees of the American Association.
May 31 –Jimmie Wilson, 46, two-time All-Star catcher who played 1,525 games over 18 seasons (1923–1940) with three National League clubs; won World Series rings with the 1931 St. Louis Cardinals and 1940 Cincinnati Reds; managed Philadelphia Phillies (1934–1938) and Chicago Cubs (1941 to April 30, 1944) to a combined 493–735 (.401) record.
July 4 –Jeff Sweeney, 58, catcher for the New York Highlanders/Yankees in the early 1900s, who in 1914 stole 19 bases, the most ever by a Yankee catcher in a single season.
July 7 –Dick Egan, infielder who played from 1908 through 1916 for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves.
July 8 –William G. Bramham, 72, president of the Minor Leagues from 1932 to 1946.
July 14 –Orval Overall, 66, pitcher for the 1907/1908 World Champion Chicago Cubs; a right-handed curveball specialist who compiled a lifetime 108–71 record with a 2.23 earned run average, the eighth best ERA in Major League history.
July 16 –Bill Keen, 54, first baseman who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1911 season.
July 29 –George Bausewine, 78, pitcher for the 1889 Philadelphia Athletics, and later an umpire in the National League.
July 30:
Chick Robitaille, 68, Franco-American pitcher who had a solid career with the Athletics club of the Quebec Provincial League in the late 1890s, and later posted a 12–8 record with a 2.56 ERA in 26 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1904 to 1905.
Ed Seward, 80, Philadelphia Athletics pitcher who averaged 27 wins from 1887 to 1889, with a career-high 35 in 1888.
Curtis Harris, 42, infielder/catcher for the Cleveland Stars, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Philadelphia Stars of the East–West and Negro National leagues between 1932 and 1940.
Al Tesch, 56, second baseman who played for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in the 1915 season.
Vic Willis, 71, Hall of Fame pitcher and an eight-time winner of 20 games, a key member of the pennant winning Boston Beaneaters as a rookie in 1898 and also a member of the 1909 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished with 249 wins, 1651 strikeouts and a 2.63 ERA in only a thirteen-year career.
August 6 –Gene Good, 64, outfielder for the 1906 Boston Beaneaters.
August 11 –Harry Davis, 74, first baseman and one of the most feared sluggers in the early 1900s, known today primarily for leading in home runs during four consecutive seasons, while guiding the Philadelphia Athletics teams who dominated the newly formed American League, winning six pennants and three World Series between 1902 and 1913, over a career that spanned more than thirty years as a player, coach, manager and scout.
August 14 –Woody Crowson, 28, pitcher for the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics of the American League.
August 15:
Bill Hall, 53, pitcher for the 1913 Brooklyn Superbas of the National League.
Carlton Lord, 47, third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1923 season.
August 21:
King Brady, 66, who pitched with the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves in a span of four seasons between 1905 and 1912.
Jacob Fox, 67, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1902 season.
October 1 –Hub Northen, 61, outfielder who played from 1910 through 1912 for the St. Louis Browns, Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers.
October 2:
Charles F. Adams, 70, co-owner, and briefly owner, of the Boston Braves from 1927 to 1935; most known as founder of Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.
Billy Hulen, 77, shortstop who played in 1896 with the Philadelphia Phillies and for the Washington Senators in 1899.
Jim Kane, 65, first baseman for the 1908 Pittsburgh Pirates.
October 10 –Slim Embry, 46, pitcher who played with the Chicago White Sox during the 1923 season.
October 11 –Doc Martel, 64, catcher and first baseman who played from 1909 to 1910 for the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Doves.
October 15 –Pol Perritt, 56, pitcher who played 10 seasons from 1912 through 1921 for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and Detroit Tigers, while helping the Giants win the National League pennant in 1917.
October 23 –Cy Rheam, 54, infield/outfield utility who played for the Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League in the 1914 and 1915 seasons.
December 7 –Jud Smith, 78, third baseman who played with the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Browns, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators of the National League in a span of four seasons from 1893 to 1898.
December 9 –Bevo LeBourveau, 51, outfielder who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Athletics in all or parts of four seasons spanning 1919–1929.
December 17 –Lee Viau, 81, pitcher who played from 1888 through 1892 for the Cincinnati's Red Stockings and Reds, Cleveland Spiders, Louisville Colonels and Boston Beaneaters.
December 24 –Joe Cobb, 52, catcher who appeared in one game for the Detroit Tigers in the 1918 season.
December 26:
Roxey Roach, 65, shortstop who played from 1910 to 1912 with the New York Highlanders and Washington Senators of the American League, and for the Buffalo Buffeds/Blues of the Federal League in 1915.
Phil Stremmel, 67, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns of the American League in the 1909 and 1910 seasons.
December 29 –George Blaeholder, 43, pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Indians in 12 seasons between 1925 and 1936, who is most noted for popularizing theslider pitch.
Negro American League
Negro National League
