January 31 – Harry Heilmann with 203 votes, and Paul Waner with 195, become the newest members of the Hall of Fame.
February[]
February 16 – Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, 77, retires after 40 years as a major league player and coach. He receives a pension from the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he spent most of those years.
February 21 – Thomas Fine of Cuba's Leones de la Habana hurled the first no-hitter in Caribbean Series history, a 1–0 masterpiece against Al Papai and Venezuela's Cervecería Caracas. Through 2013, it has been the only no-hitter pitched in Series history.
February 26 – Thomas Fine was three outs from consecutive no-hitters in the Caribbean Series, having allowed a single in the ninth inning to break it up, in an 11–3 Cuba's victory over Panama's Carta Vieja Yankees. His 17 consecutive hitless innings pitched record still as the longest in Series history.
April[]
April 23 – Bob Cain and the St. Louis Browns defeat Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians, 1–0, in a game in which both pitchers throw a one-hitter.
April 30
Veteran Negro leagues catcher Quincy Trouppe makes his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians. At 39 years of age, he is one of the oldest rookies in major league history. Three days later, Trouppe is behind the plate when relief pitcher Toothpick Sam Jones enters the game, forming the first black battery in American League history.
Ted Williams hits a two-run home run to break a 3–3 tie on "Ted Williams Day" at Fenway Park. It was Williams' final game of the season before his departure for the Korean War to serve as a Marine fighter pilot.
May[]
May 13 – Ron Necciai of the Class-D Bristol Twinsstrikes out 27 batters while pitching a 7–0 no-hitter against the Welch Miners in an Appalachian League game. Four of the Welch hitters reach base on a walk, an error, a hit by pitch, and a passed ball charged to Twins' catcher Harry Dunlop on a swinging third strike. But 27 strikeouts are recorded on the night, including four in the ninth inning, as a result of Dunlop's miscue, while one batter is retired on a grounder in the second inning.
May 15 – After pitching four no-hitters in the minors, 33-year-old Virgil Trucks of the Detroit Tigers pitches his first in the majors, a 1–0 blanking of the Washington Senators. Vic Wertz's two-out home run in the ninth inning off Bob Porterfield wins the game at Briggs Stadium.
May 21 – At Ebbets Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers set a Major League record by scoring 15 runs in the first inning of a 19–1 pounding of the Cincinnati Reds. All nine Dodgers in the starting lineup both score a run and bat in a run in that first inning.
May 29 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Mickey McDermott faces 27 batters and fire a one-hitter to beat the Washington Senators, 1–0, at Fenway Park. Mel Hoderlein's fourth-inning single is the only Washington hit and he is thrown out while trying to stretch the hit into a double.
June[]
June 11 – Sammy White clouts a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning off pitcherSatchel Paige to give the Boston Red Sox an 11–9 victory over the St. Louis Browns at Fenway Park.
June 14- The Milwaukee Braves purchase the contract of Hank Aaron from the Indianapolis Clowns and assign him to the Eau Claire Bears, who were the Braves class C farm team in the Northern League.
June 19 – Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers tosses a 5–0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field. Erskine would pitch his second career no-hitter on May 12, 1956 against the New York Giants, 3–0, at Ebbets Field.
June 25 – Chicago White SoxshortstopChico Carrasquel fractures his little finger in a play‚ which drops Chicago four games out of first place. Carrasquel will reinjure it on July 9 and be out of the lineup until August 19. The injury to Carrasquel‚ the starting shortstop for the American League in the MLB All-Star Game, is a key damage component as the White Sox will finish in third place.
July[]
July 8 – In a rain-shortened affair at Shibe Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, the National League tops the American League, 3–2 (5 innings), in the All-Star Game. Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer each homer for the NL.
July 15
Detroit Tigersfirst basemanWalt Dropo collects seven consecutive hits over the course of doubleheader against the Washington Senators. Combined with the five consecutive hits he recorded on July 14, Dropo establishes the American League and Major League record for consecutive hits in consecutive plate appearances with twelve base hits.
Eddie Joost of the Philadelphia Athletics became the second player to hit a walk-offgrand slam against St. Louis Browns pitcher Satchel Paige this season, in a 7–6 victory at Shibe Park (The first being the Boston Red Sox's Sammy White on June 11). Paige is the first pitcher in Major League history to surrender two walk-off homers in the same season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Other pitchers will join Paige in the coming years: Lindy McDaniel in 1963, Lee Smith in 1995 and Francisco Rodríguez in 2009.
August[]
August 15 – Detroit Tigers pitcher Virgil Trucks hurled his second no-hitter of the season, a 1–0 shutout over the host New York Yankees. Previously, Trucks held the Washington Senators without a hit on May 15. Besides, Trucks is one of five pitchers to throw two no-hitters in a season, being the others Johnny Vander Meer (1938), Allie Reynolds (1951), Nolan Ryan (1973) and Roy Halladay (2010), as one of his no-hitters came in the postseason.[1]
September[]
September 13 – Buffalo Bisons outfielder Frank Carswell wins the International League batting title with a .344 average, leading also the league with 30 home runs while driving in 101 runs and slugging .587.[2]
October[]
October 1 – In Game 1 of the 1952 World Series, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees, 4–2, at Ebbets Field behind relief ace Joe Black, who started only two games during the regular season.
October 7 – The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4–2, in the decisive Game 7 of the World Series to win their fourth straight World Championship title – tying the mark they set between 1936 and 1939 and fifteenth overall. Billy Martin saves the day by snaring a two-out, bases-loaded infield pop off the bat of Jackie Robinson. Gil Hodges goes hitless again and is 0-for-21 in the Series. This is the Yankees' third defeat of the Dodgers in six years.
November[]
November 12 – Bobby Shantz, who posted a 24–7 record with 152 strikeouts and a 2.48 ERA for the Philadelphia Athletics, is selected the AL Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and the AL Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News.
November 22 – Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Harry Byrd, who won 15 games and posted and a 3.31 ERA, is selected American League Rookie of the Year. Byrd will be the last Athletics player to win the award until José Canseco in 1986.
November 28 – International League President Frank Shaughnessy reveals plans to form two new major leagues by merging the top teams in the American Association and the top teams from the IL. Shaughnessy thinks that in five to six years, Major League Baseball will elevate these two leagues, along with the Pacific Coast League, which nearly has MLB status now.
November 30 – On a local New York TV program, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers charges that the New York Yankees management is racist for its failure to bring up a black player. Yankees executive George Weiss denies the allegations.
December[]
December 2:
The Pittsburgh Pirates draft relief pitcher Elroy Face from the Montreal Royals, the top minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. During a 15-year career with the Pirates, Face will lead the National League in saves three times and will be a three-time All-Star, as well as his amazing 18 relief wins in 1959 remains a major league record.
Brooklyn Dodgers executive Buzzie Bavasi dismisses the New York Yankees reaction to the Jackie Robinson racism charges. Commissioner Ford Frick plans no action against Robinson. Two days earlier, Robinson had called the Yankees a racist organization for its failure to promote a black player to the parent club.
January 6 – Frank Oberlin, 75, pitcher who played for the Boston Americans and Washington Senators over four seasons spanning 1906–1910.
January 8 – Art Evans, 40, pitcher for the 1932 Chicago White Sox.
January 10 – Bones Ely, 88, one of the top defensive shortstops of his generation and also a versatile two-way player, whose 19-season professional career included stints with eight major league teams in three different leagues in a span of fourteen seasons between 1884 and 1902.[3]
January 14 – Rube Sellers, 70, outfielder who played for the Boston Doves in its 1910 season.
January 17 – Walter O. Briggs Sr., 74, industrialist and co-owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1919 to 1935, and sole owner from 1935 until his death.
January 17 – Solly Salisbury, 75, pitcher who played in 1902 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
January 20 – Ollie Pickering, 81, outfielder for six major league clubs in three different leagues between 1896 and 1908, who entered the record books as the first ever batter in American League history, when he faced Chicago White Sox pitcher Roy Patterson as a member of the Cleveland Blues on April 24, 1901.[4][5]
January 24 – Ángel Aragón, 61, third baseman for the New York Yankees in three seasons from 1914 to 1917, who was also the first Cuban and Latin American player to wear a Yankees uniform.[6]
February 5 – Esty Chaney, 61, pitcher who played from 1913 to 1914 for the Boston Red Sox (1913) and Brooklyn Tip-Tops.
February 5 – Mike Hopkins, 79, catcher who appeared in just one game for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1902, hitting a single and one double in two at-bats to finish his major league career with a 1.000 batting average and a 1.500 slugging percentage.[7]
February 6 – Del Paddock, 64, third baseman who divided his playing time between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Highlanders in the 1912 season.
February 12 – Charlie Manlove, 89, 19th century catcher who played in 1884 for the Altoona Mountain City of the Union Association and the New York Gothams of the National League.
March[]
March 11 – Pete Daglia, 46, pitcher for the 1932 Chicago White Sox.
March 13 – Vincent Maney, 65, shortstop for the Detroit Tigers in the 1912 season.
March 20 – Harry Bay, 74, oufielder for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Bronchos and Naps in a span of eight seasons from 1901 to 1908, who led the American League in stolen bases in 1903 and 1904.
March 23 – Steve Sundra, 41, pitcher for the New York Yankees, Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns over eight seasons spanning 1936–1946, as well as a member of the 1938 and 1939 World Series champion Yankees teams.
March 30 – Deacon Phillippe, 79, pitcher who played for the Louisville Colonels in 1899 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 through 1911, whose 13-season career was highlighted by pitching a no-hitter in his seventh career game with the Colonels, winning four National League pennants and the 1909 World Series with the Pirates, while winning three games of the 1903 World Series against the eventual champions Boston Americans, and prevailing in a pitching duel with Cy Young in Game 1 of the best-of-nine series, as his five decisions in the World Series are still a record for a pitcher.[8]
April[]
April 3 – Dick Harley, 79, left fielder who played from 1897 through 1903 for the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Spiders, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs.
April 3 – Phenomenal Smith, 87, whose pitching career lasted eight seasons from 1884 to 1891 while playing for six different clubs,[9] as he earned the sumptuous nickname when he pitched a no-hitter for the Newark Domestics of the American Association on October 3, 1885 in which he struck out 16 Baltimore Orioles batters.[10]
April 5 – Ray Jacobs, 50, infielder who made two pinch-hit appearances for the Chicago Cubs in its 1918 season.
April 8 – Willie Ludolph, 52, pitcher for the 1924 Detroit Tigers.
April 21 – Sheldon Lejeune, 68, outfielder who played with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1911 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1915.
May 1 – Ernie Johnson, 64, middle infielder and third baseman whose 10-year career included stints with four teams from 1912 to 1925, being also a contributor to the 1923 World Series Champion Yankees, slashing .297/.333/.385 for the club in the regular season, and scoring the series-deciding run as a pinch runner in Game 6 against the New York Giants.
May 14 – Red Dooin, 72, catcher and manager for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1902 to 1914, who caught 1,219 games for the team and posted a managing record of 392-370 (.514) between 1910 and 1914.
May 16 – Sal Campfield, 52, pitcher who played for the New York Giants in its 1896 season.
May 18 – Spec Harkness, 64, pitcher who played from 1910 to 1911 for the Cleveland Naps.
May 23 – Bill McGilvray, 69, outfielder for the 1908 Cincinnati Reds.
May 27 – Lew Ritter, 76, catcher who played for the Brooklyn Superbas over seven seasons from 1902 to 1908.
May 29 – Doc Lavan, 61, shortstop whose 21-year career included stints in the major leagues with the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators and St. Louis Cardinals in a span of twelve seasons from 1913 to 1924.
May 30 – Albert Lasker, 72, advertising executive and owner or part-owner of the Chicago Cubs between 1916 and 1925.
June[]
June 5 – Bruno Haas, 61, pitcher for the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics.
June 9 – Bob McHale, 82, 19th century pitcher who played for the Washington Senators of the National League in 1898.
June 17 – Al Atkinson, 91, pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago Browns and Baltimore Monumentals in 1884 and again with Philadelphia from 1886 to 1887; one of the few pitchers to throw two no-hitters in the early days of baseball, first against the Pittsburgh Alleghenys on May 24, 1884 and the second on May 1, 1886 against the New York Metropolitans, but achieved prominence in 1888 when he set a season record with 307 strikeouts in the International Association, a mark that stood until 1923, when Lefty Grove broke it with 320 SO while pitching for the Baltimore Orioles in the then International League.
June 17 – Julio Bonetti, 40, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns and Chicago Cubs over part of three seasons spanning 1937–1940, one of only seven Italian-born players in Major League Baseball history.
June 19 – Dick Crutcher, 62, pitcher for the Boston Braves in part of two seasons from 1914 to 1915.
June 20 – John Kalahan, 73, catcher who appeared in one game with the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1903 season.
June 21 – Andy Dunning, 80, 19th century pitcher who played with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1889 and for the New York Giants in 1891.
July[]
July 3 – Fred Tenney, 80, first baseman and manager whose career lasted 17 seasons from 1894 to 1911, who was ranked behind only Hal Chase among first basemen of the Deadball Era, being also considered the originator of the 3-6-3 double play, while leading the National League in putouts in 1905 and 1907–1908 as well as in assists each year from 1901 through 1907, setting a major-league record with 152 in 1905 that lasted until Mickey Vernon topped it in 1949, hitting over .300 seven times and retiring with a .294/.371/.358 slash line, including 2,231 hits, 1,134 runs scored and 688 runs batted in.[11]
July 11 – Dutch Leonard, 60, left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers over eleven seasons from 1913 to 1925, who earned two World Series rings with Boston in 1915 and 1916, while leading the major leagues with an earned run average of 0.96 in 1914, setting a modern-era season record that still stands.[12]
August[]
August 1 – Phil Douglas, 62, hard-throwing pitcher who posted a 94–93 record and 2.80 earned run average for five teams in a nine-year career, winning 15 games with a 2.08 ERA in the 1921 season and then two wins in the 1921 World Series to help the New York Giants win the series, going 11–4 with a National League leading 2.63 ERA in 1922, before being banned for life under Commissioner Landis due to a quarrel with Giants manager John McGraw.[13]
August 8 – Bob Neighbors, 34, shortstop for the 1939 St. Louis Browns, who later served as a pilot in the Korean War and was shot down, making him the most recent major leaguer to be killed in battle.[14]
August 13 – Hal Haid, 54, relief pitcher who played with the St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Braves and Chicago White Sox over parts of six seasons spanning 1919–1933.
August 19 – George McAvoy, 68, pinch hitter who appeared in one game with the 1914 Philadelphia Phillies.
August 20 – Red Owens, 77, second baseman who played in 1899 with the Philadelphia Phillies and for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1905.
August 20 – Ned Pettigrew, 71, who pinch-hit in two games for the Buffalo Blues of the outlaw Federal League in 1914.
August 21 – Jack Ryan, 83, big league catcher who played from 1889 through 1913 for six clubs in three different leagues, completing a career that lasted four decades, a feat which has been attained by only 29 players in Major League history.
August 25 – Harry Maupin, 80, 19th century pitcher who played in 1898 with the St. Louis Browns and for the Cleveland Spiders in 1899.
August 30 – Arky Vaughan, 40, Hall of Fame and nine-time All-Star shortstop, who hit .300 or better in each of his first 10 major league seasons, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1932 to 1941, winning the National League batting crown with a .385 average in 1935, while leading the league in runs and triples three years apiece, as well as stolen bases once; died tragically when a sudden storm capsized his fishing boat on Lost Lake, near his Northern California home.[15]
September[]
September 3 – Bert Daly, 71, backup infielder for the 1903 Philadelphia Athletics.
September 4 – Butch Schmidt, 66, first baseman who played for the New York Highlanders and Boston Braves in a span of four seasons from 1909 to 1915, being also a member of the 1914 Miracle Braves, the first MLB club ever to win a World Series in just four games.
September 8 – Ed Hearne, 64, shortstop who played briefly with the Boston Red Sox in 1910.
September 13 – Al Clauss, 61, pitcher for the 1913 Detroit Tigers.
September 16 – Earl Sheely, 59, first baseman who posted a .300 batting average with the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Braves in nine seasons between 1921 and 1931, serving later as a scout for the Boston Red Sox and general manager for the Triple-A Seattle Rainiers, earning a Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame induction for his contributions to the league over the years.[16]
September 28 – Zeke Wrigley, 78, 19th century shortstop who played from 1896 through 1899 for the Washington Senators, New York Giants and Brooklyn Superbas.
October 4 – Bill Zimmerman, 65, German outfielder who played for the Brooklyn Robins in 1915.
October 8 – Joe Adams, 74, pitcher for the 1902 St. Louis Cardinals, who later became a successful manager in the minor leagues, being a mentor for future Hall of Famers Frank Chance and Ray Schalk, among others, while earning the nickname of Godfather of the Eastern Illinois League, according to the 1908 Spalding Guide.[17]
October 11 – Roy Beecher, 68, pitcher for the New York Giants from 1907 to 1908.
October 14 – Jim Banning, 87, 19th century catcher who played for the Washington Nationals of the National League in parts of two seasonsd from 1888 to 1889.
October 17 – Vince Shields, 51, Canadian pitcher for the 1924 St. Louis Cardinals.
October 22 – Howard McGraner, 63, pitcher who played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1912.
October 26 – Tom Angley, 48, backup catcher for the Chicago Cubs in its 1929 season.
October 26 – Mike Murphy, 64, catcher who played with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1912 and for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1916.
October 28 – Bob Lawson, 77, pitcher who played with the Boston Beaneaters in 1901 and for the original Baltimore Orioles in 1902.
November[]
November 1 – Wally Clement, 72, outfielder who played in 1908 with the Philadelphia Phillies, and for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1909.
November 1 – Ed McNichol, 73, pitcher for the 1904 Boston Beaneaters.
November 3 – Frank Smith, 73, pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Terrapins and Brooklyn Tip-Tops during 11 seasons spanning 1904–1915, while pitching two no-hitters and winning over 20 games twice, ending his career with a 139–111 record and 2.59 ERA in 2,274 innings.
November 20 – Fred McMullin, best known for his involvement in the 1919 World Series Black Sox Scandal, died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 61. McMullin, a reserve infielder with the Chicago White Sox, was one of the eight White Sox players that were banned from baseball for gambling on the series, won by the Cincinnati Reds. McMullin began his major league career in 1914, as a shortstop for the Detroit Tigers before making the Chicago club in 1916. Afterwards, he was a member of the 1917 World Series Champion White Sox. In his final years, he suffered from arteriosclerosis, a heart ailment. Just over a month after his 61st birthday, he had a stroke that caused hemorrhaging in the brain and died a day later.[18]
November 26 – Warren Gill, 73, first baseman who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its 1908 season.
November 29 – Arlie Latham, 92, who played for the Buffalo Bisons, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators and New York Giants in a span of 17 seasons from 1880 to 1909, a colorful man known for his practical jokes and by setting the MLB career record to date for the most errors at third base, with 822, while ranking seventh on the all-time list for stolen bases with 742, ending his career with a .269 batting average, 1,478 runs scored, 836 hits, 27 home runs and 563 and runs batted in.[19]
December[]
December 6 – Don Hurst, 47, first baseman who played from 1928 through 1934 for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, leading the National League with 143 RBI in 1932.
December 14 – Frank Hansford, 77, pitcher for the 1898 Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
December 28 – Deacon Jones, 60, pitcher who played from 1916 to 1918 for the Detroit Tigers.
December 29 – Bob Meinke, 65, shortstop who appeared in two games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1910.
