1959 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1959 throughout the world.

Champions

Major League Baseball

• World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers over Chicago White Sox (4–2); Larry Sherry, MVP
• All-Star Game (#1), July 7 at Forbes Field: National League, 5–4
• All-Star Game (#2), August 3 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: American League, 5–3

Other champions

• Oklahoma State
• Nankai Hawks over Yomiuri Giants
  (4–0)
• Little League World Series: Hamtramck National, Hamtramck, Michigan
• Pan American Games: Venezuela over Puerto Rico

Winter Leagues

• Alacranes de Almendares
• Alacranes de Almendares
• Dominican Republic League: Tigres del Licey
• Mexican Pacific League: Ostioneros de Guaymas
• Panamanian League: Coclé BBC
• Puerto Rican League: Cangrejeros de Santurce
• Venezuelan League: Indios de Oriente

Awards and honors

• Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Zack Wheat
• Most Valuable Player
  • Nellie Fox, Chicago White Sox (AL)
  • Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs (NL)
• Cy Young Award
  • Early Wynn, Chicago White Sox (AL)
• Rookie of the Year
  • Washington Senators
    (AL)
  • Willie McCovey, San Francisco Giants (NL)
• Gold Glove Award
  • (P) Bobby Shantz, New York Yankees (AL); Harvey Haddix, Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)
  • (C)
    Milwaukee Braves
    (NL)
  • (1B)
    Cleveland Indians (AL); Gil Hodges, Los Angeles Dodgers
    (NL)
  • (2B) Nellie Fox, Chicago White Sox (AL); Charlie Neal, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
  • (3B) Frank Malzone, Boston Red Sox (AL); Ken Boyer, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
  • (SS) Luis Aparicio, Chicago White Sox (AL); Roy McMillan, Cincinnati Reds (NL)
  • (LF)
    Cleveland Indians (AL); Jackie Brandt, San Francisco Giants
    (NL)
  • (CF) Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers (AL); Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants (NL)
  • (RF)
    Milwaukee Braves
    (NL)

MLB statistical leaders

Major league baseball final standings

Events

January

• January 13 –
  Milwaukee Braves, resigns to become GM of the cellar-dwelling Philadelphia Phillies, replacing Roy Hamey. Quinn has headed the Braves' front office since 1945, when they played in Boston. Hamey rejoins the New York Yankees as assistant to GM George Weiss
  .
• January 14 – Former
  Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin, 52, succeeds Will Harridge as president of the American League. Harridge, who had spent 28 years as the AL's chief executive, becomes board chairman. One day later, Hall of Fame field manager Bucky Harris, 62, succeeds Cronin as general manager of the Boston Red Sox
  .
• January 25 – MLB front-office shuffles continue as
  Milwaukee Braves. Hall of Fame former catcher Rick Ferrell
  takes over Detroit's GM job.
• January 30 – The
  Cincinnati Redlegs trade catcher Smoky Burgess, pitcher Harvey Haddix, and third baseman Don Hoak to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for third baseman Frank Thomas, pitcher Whammy Douglas, outfielders Jim Pendleton and Johnny Powers
  , and cash considerations.

• February 7 – Baseball mourns all-time great
  Hall of Fame
  in 1937. (See Deaths entry for this date below.)
• February 11 – Although
  Cincinnati Redlegs in April 1953 to disassociate itself from Communism. Fans and media will intermittently refer to the team as the "Redlegs" into the early 1960s, however, and the word "Reds" will not return to the team's logo until a uniform makeover in 1961.^[1]
• February 14 – The San Francisco Giants sell the contract of Whitey Lockman to the Baltimore Orioles.
• February 28 – Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees ends his holdout after one day. Mantle agrees to a salary of $72,000 and a bonus of $2,000. He had been asking the Yankees for $85,000 after batting .304 with 42 home runs and 97 RBI in 1958.

March

• March 10 – After five years out of the spotlight, Bill Veeck returns to baseball, purchasing 54 percent majority interest in the Chicago White Sox from Dorothy Comiskey Rigney. The transaction caps the long-running feud between Dorothy and her brother Chuck, who owns the remaining 46%. It also marks the end of the Comiskey family's nearly six-decade-long control of the Pale Hose franchise.
• March 21 –
  Cleveland Indians to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Tito Francona
  .
• March 25 – In a trade that benefits both clubs, the St. Louis Cardinals obtain Bill White and Ray Jablonski from the San Francisco Giants for "Toothpick" Sam Jones and Don Choate. Veteran hurler Jones, 33, will lead the National League in games won (21), shutouts (four) and earned run average (2.83) in 1959. White, a 25-year-old first baseman who as a Giant was caught between incumbent Orlando Cepeda and prospect Willie McCovey — both future Hall of Famers — becomes a regular and team leader with the Cardinals, who is selected for eight All-Star Games, wins six Gold Glove Awards, and plays a prominent role in the Redbirds' 1964 world-championship season and the racial integration of their spring training living quarters. After his playing days, White achieves further prominence as a broadcaster for the New York Yankees (1971–1988), then president of the National League (1989–1994).

April

• April 10 – Sal Maglie's major league career comes to an end as the St. Louis Cardinals release the former 20-game winner right before the start of the season.
• April 11 – On Opening Day, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale hits a home run, becoming the only pitcher to hit more than one career homer in opening games. (He will hit 29 long balls over his 14-year career.) Drysdale's historic blast doesn't prevent the Dodgers from losing their game, 6–1, to the Chicago Cubs.
• April 17 – Detroit Tigers' Al Kaline belts his 100th career home run.
• April 22 – The
  Municipal Stadium. The White Sox score 11 of those runs in a wild seventh inning in which they collect only one hit. Ray Boone and Al Smith lead off the inning by reaching on errors. Johnny Callison then collects the hit, a single that scores Boone; on the play, Smith scores and Callison reaches third on a Roger Maris error. Eight of the next nine runs score on ten bases on balls; Callison is hit by a pitch to force in the remaining run. The KC "wild men" are relievers Tom Gorman, Mark Freeman and George Brunet
  .

• May 3 – The
  Briggs Stadium, with renowned "Sunday slugger" Charlie Maxwell
  belting four home runs. Under Dykes, Detroit will perk up to go 74–63 for the rest of 1959.
• May 10 – Jim Hearn of the Philadelphia Phillies gives up two runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the game is suspended. On May 22, the Phillies release Hearn, ending the pitcher's 13-year MLB career. The suspended game is completed July 21, with the Pirates winning 6–4, and Hearn is tagged with the loss almost two months after he retired from baseball.
• May 12 –
  Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium
  .
• May 20 – The
  Cleveland Indians
  , who won 111). The Yankees will battle back in 1959 but finish third, 15 games behind the pennant-winning White Sox.
• May 26 –
  Félix Mantilla reaches on a Don Hoak error. Haddix would lose the game on a Joe Adcock
  hit (a baserunning mistake caused it to be changed from a three-run home run to a one-run double) later in the inning.
• June 10 –
  four home runs in a game. He hits all four home runs in consecutive at-bats, as the Indians top the Baltimore Orioles
  , 11–8.

• June 8 – The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds exchange right-handed pitchers, with Cincinnati obtaining Jim Brosnan for Hal Jeffcoat. The trade occurs as aspiring writer Brosnan, 30, is working on a breakthrough memoir, The Long Season, the first account of a baseball season as seen through the eyes of a player. Upon publication in 1960, the book is criticized by the baseball establishment, but well-received by critics.^[2]
• June 12 – The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Tokyo.
• June 14 –
  Milwaukee Braves
  6–0.
• June 18 – At
  Memorial Stadium‚ Chico Carrasquel drives in two runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to give the Baltimore Orioles a 7–6 win over the visiting Detroit Tigers
  .
• June 21 – At
  Milwaukee Braves' 13–3 victory over the San Francisco Giants
  . For Aaron, Major League Baseball's future home run king, it will be the only three-home run game of his career.
• June 30 – The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs are involved in a bizarre play at Wrigley Field in which two balls are in play at the same time. With one out in the fourth inning, Stan Musial is at the plate with a 3–1 count. The next pitch from the Cubs' Bob Anderson evades catcher Sammy Taylor and rolls to the backstop. Home plate umpire Vic Delmore calls ball four on Musial, much to the chagrin of Anderson and Taylor, both of whom argue that Musial had foul tipped the ball. With the ball still in play and Delmore arguing with both Anderson and Taylor, Musial attempts to run for second. Meanwhile, Cubs third baseman Alvin Dark runs to the backstop and retrieves the ball despite it having ended up in the hands of field announcer Pat Pieper. However, Delmore unknowingly pulls out a new ball and gives it to Taylor. Anderson sees Musial attempting to advance to second and throws the ball to second baseman Tony Taylor, only for it to sail into the outfield. At the same time, Dark throws the original ball to shortstop Ernie Banks. Musial sees Anderson's ball go over Tony Taylor's head and attempts to advance to third, unaware that Dark's throw has reached Banks, who tags Musial. After a delay, Musial is declared out. Both teams play the game under protest; the Cardinals drop theirs after defeating the Cubs 4–1.

July

• July 2 – Pinky Higgins, manager of the Boston Red Sox since 1955, is fired with his club 31–42 and ensconced in the American League basement. After coach Rudy York handles the club July 3 in Baltimore, Washington Senators coach Billy Jurges, the former standout National League shortstop, is named Higgins' replacement.
• July 7 – In the season's first All-Star Game, held at Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the National League tops the American League 5–4. The NL rallies for two eighth-inning runs, with key hits from Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, to defeat Whitey Ford.
• July 8 – The Cincinnati Reds fire manager Mayo Smith only 80 games into his first year, and replace him with former Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals skipper Fred Hutchinson, who had been managing the Reds' Triple-A Seattle affiliate.
• July 21 – In his MLB debut, Pumpsie Green pinch-runs for veteran Vic Wertz during the eighth inning of a Boston Red Sox 2–1 loss at Comiskey Park, Chicago. Green is left stranded at first, then stays in the game and plays an inning of defense at shortstop. He becomes the first Black player to appear in an official game for the Red Sox, the last of the 16 big-league clubs prior to expansion to break the color barrier.
• July 27 – New York attorney William Shea announces the formation of a third major league, the Continental League, to begin play in 1961. One of the charter teams for the league would be placed in New York. The Continental League will disband August 2, 1960 on promises that four of its franchises would be accepted to the National League and American League as expansion franchises.
• July 28:
  • The
    Cleveland Indians into first place in the American League
    standings. Although Cleveland will challenge them into late September, the White Sox hold on to take their first pennant in 40 years.
  • The Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee of the United States Senate, headed by Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, holds hearings in Washington, D.C., for two bills that would change or codify baseball's anti-trust exemption. It is the fifth time in nine years that baseball has been investigated by the U.S. Congress.
• July 30 – The red-hot
  Kansas City Athletics win their tenth straight game—and 14th out of their last 16—by defeating the Washington Senators, 4–1. The streak, which began July 14, enables the chronic second-division
  ball club to climb above .500 at 50–49 and will represent a rare high point in its dismal, 13-season tenure in Kansas City.

• August 3 – At the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the American League defeats the National League 5–3 in the second All-Star Game of 1959. The Junior Circuit is powered by home runs from Frank Malzone, Yogi Berra and Rocky Colavito, while Frank Robinson and Jim Gilliam homer for the Nationals. The winning pitcher is 20-year-old Jerry Walker.
• August 5 – The
  Cleveland Indians at Griffith Stadium. The Senators rebound to take the nightcap, 9–0, behind Tex Clevenger's seven-hitter, but they will drop four more games in a row. Washington is in the midst of a calamitous midsummer collapse that sees them lose 22 of 24 games and plunge from fifth place (July 17) to the basement of the eight-team American League
  (August 9).
• August 18 – Hall of Fame executive Branch Rickey, 77, in semi-retirement since October 1955, sells his minority interest in and resigns as chairman of the Pittsburgh Pirates to become president of William Shea's Continental League. The new loop already has granted franchises to Denver, Houston, Minneapolis–Saint Paul and Toronto, as well as New York City. Rickey and a committee of CL owners hold a summit meeting in New York with Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick, the AL and NL presidents, and a delegation of MLB owners to discuss the possible entry of the Continental circuit into Organized Baseball as a third major league.
• August 25 – The first-place Chicago White Sox add left-handed power to their batting order by acquiring first baseman Ted Kluszewski from the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Harry Simpson and a minor leaguer. The trade will enable Kluszewski, nearly 35, to play in his first World Series—in which he will star (.391, 3 HR, 10 RBI in six games) in a losing cause.
• August 30 – In his 50th appearance of the season, Pittsburgh Pirates relief ace Roy Face wins his 17th consecutive decision—without a loss—in a 7–6 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field. Face finally loses a game in his 54th outing, against the Los Angeles Dodgers September 11, but logs his 18th and final victory of 1959 on the 19th. His 18–1 mark yields a .947 winning percentage, which still stands as the best among hurlers with 13 or more decisions.
• August 31 – Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers equals Bob Feller's record of 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game during a 5–2 triumph over the San Francisco Giants. Koufax also breaks Dizzy Dean's National League standard of 17 Ks, set in 1933.

September

• September 12 – Ken Boyer of the St. Louis Cardinals triples and homers in a 6–4 victory over the Chicago Cubs, extending his hitting streak to 29 games, longest in the majors since 1950. The streak ends the next day.
• September 18 – A season-long feud with general manager "Frantic"
  Cleveland Indians manager Joe Gordon to announce that he will quit his post after the 1959 season ends. The Indians are still mathematically in pennant contention, although 51⁄2 games behind the Chicago White Sox
  .
• September 22:
  • At
    Indians 4–2 to clinch the American League pennant. Back-to-back home runs from Al Smith and Jim Rivera in the sixth inning give eventual Cy Young Award winner Early Wynn his 21st victory. The pennant is the first for the White Sox since 1919; that team went on to throw the World Series in what would come to be known as the Black Sox Scandal
    .
  • With Cleveland now eliminated from the race,
    New York Giants but now a "color commentator" on "Game of the Week"
    telecasts.
• September 23 – When contract negotiations break down between
  Indians' general manager reverses course and rehires Joe Gordon as his manager, giving him a two-year contract and a raise in salary. "I made a mistake," Lane tells the press. Gordon returns to the Tribe helm for 1960, but on August 3, Lane will fire Gordon again — part of a bizarre "trade" of managers with the Detroit Tigers
  .
• September 27 – A wild
  Milwaukee Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers (each 85–68), and the San Francisco Giants (83–69)—within reach of the championship. A three-way tie is possible, should the Giants win their doubleheader and their foes lose their single games. But the Giants' hopes are crushed when the Braves and Dodgers win and they're swept by the St. Louis Cardinals. Los Angeles and Milwaukee will continue their regular season with the third NL tie-breaker series
  in 14 years, all of them involving the Dodgers.
• September 28 – Charlie Grimm, known as "Jolly Cholly," is named to replace Bob Scheffing, whose nickname is "Grump," as manager of the Chicago Cubs for 1960. For the affable, 61-year-old Grimm, the appointment represents his third term as skipper of the Cubs, for whom he piloted NL champions in 1932, 1935 and 1945.
• September 28–29 – The
  Milwaukee Braves in two straight games in a best-of-three playoff series, 3–2 and 6–5, to reach the World Series. In the clinching contest, played in Los Angeles, the Dodgers stage a stirring three-run, ninth-inning rally to tie the score at five, then plate the winning tally in the 12th on a single by Carl Furillo and an error by Braves' shortstop Félix Mantilla
  .
• September 30 – Bill DeWitt, 57, former owner and general manager of the St. Louis Browns and currently a senior member of the Commissioner of Baseball's staff, becomes president and de facto GM of the Detroit Tigers.

October

• October 1 – The Go-Go Chicago White Sox change character at home and hammer the Los Angeles Dodgers 11–0 in the first game of the 1959 World Series, as Ted Kluszewski slugs two home runs and drives home five runs. Chicago's Early Wynn and Gerry Staley combine for the shutout. New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel, sitting out only his second World Series since 1949, covers the game as a reporter.
• October 8 – The
  MVP
  .
• October 21 – The Players Association approves two All-Star Games in
  Kansas City Municipal Stadium and Yankee Stadium
  .
• October 24 – The
  Milwaukee Braves appoint Chuck Dressen, 64, their manager for 1960. He replaces another veteran pilot, 63-year-old Fred Haney, who stepped down October 4 after leading the Braves to a World Series title (1957), National League pennant (1958), and a flat-footed tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1959) in successive seasons. Haney returns to Los Angeles, where a year later he becomes the first general manager and chief architect of the expansion Angels
  .

• November 4 –
  Milwaukee Braves
  finish second and third respectively.
• November 12 –
  American League MVP Award with 295 points. Teammates Luis Aparicio (255) and Early Wynn
  (123) finish second and third respectively.
• November 18 – The
  National League MVP as the third baseman of the Boston Braves
  .
• November 21 – In the first inter-league trade without
  waivers, the NL Chicago Cubs send first baseman Jim Marshall and pitcher Dave Hillman to the AL Boston Red Sox in exchange for first baseman Dick Gernert
  . The new, annual inter-league trading period lasts from November 21 through December 15, parallel to the winter meetings, and it will be the only means for teams to trade players to the other major league without exposing them to waivers until 1977.

• December 9:
  • The
    Kansas City Athletics for catcher/utilityman Hal Smith, who will play a key supporting role in the Bucs' 1960 pennant-winning season and nearly seal Game 7 of the 1960 World Series
    .
  • In an effort to shore up their third base position, the defending AL champion Chicago White Sox trade 20-year-old top prospect Johnny Callison to the Philadelphia Phillies for veteran Gene Freese. Outfielder Callison will blossom into a four-time National League All-Star; Freese spends only one season on the South Side before being traded away.
• December 11 – In a seven-player transaction, the
  American League Most Valuable Player Award in both 1960 and 1961, breaking Babe Ruth
  's 60-home-run record in the latter year. Maris' addition helps the Yankees win five AL pennants in a row.
• December 15 – During the final day of the new interleague trading period, the
  Cleveland Indians complete a trade headlined by two veteran second basemen. The Reds send four-time National League All-Star Johnny Temple to Cleveland for second-sacker Billy Martin, pitcher Cal McLish and first baseman Gordy Coleman. The Reds become Martin's fourth team since he was banished from the New York Yankees
  on June 15, 1957.
• December 22 – The Continental League grows to seven teams with the admission of Dallas–Fort Worth; two weeks earlier, Atlanta had become the CL's sixth franchise.

Births

January

• January 5 – Milt Thompson
• January 8 –
  Craig Gerber
• January 8 – Ramón Romero
• January 9 – Otis Nixon
• January 10 – Richard Dotson
• January 11 – Lloyd McClendon
• January 14 – Jeff Keener
• January 16 – Kevin Buckley
• January 17 – T. R. Bryden
• January 21 – Ricky Adams
• January 21 – José Uribe
• January 27 – Greg Bargar
• January 30 – La Schelle Tarver

February

• February 4 – Keith Creel
• February 4 – Pat Perry
• February 7 – Carlos Ponce
• February 10 – Jack Fimple
• February 10 – Al Jones
• February 14 – Alejandro Sánchez
• February 15 – Joe Hesketh
• February 19 – Keith Atherton
• February 19 – Tim Burke
• February 20 – Bill Gullickson
• February 23 – Eddie Vargas
• February 24 – Bryan Kelly
• February 25 – Ken Dayley

March

• March 4 – Mike Brown
• March 5 – Andy Rincon
• March 6 – Karl Best
• March 9 – Shooty Babitt
• March 11 – Phil Bradley
• March 11 – Chuck Hensley
• March 13 – Luis Aguayo
• March 15 – Harold Baines
• March 16 – Charles Hudson
• March 17 – Danny Ainge

April

• April 2 – Al Nipper
• April 4 – Pedro Hernández
• April 13 – Ed Amelung
• April 18 – Rich Bordi
• April 18 – Jim Eisenreich
• April 18 – Dennis Rasmussen
• April 19 – R. J. Reynolds
• April 22 – Terry Francona
• April 25 – Tony Phillips

May

• May 2 – Brick Smith
• May 3 – Tony Arnold
• May 8 – Ricky Nelson
• May 12 – Kevin Bass
• May 12 – Willie Lozado
• May 14 – Brian Greer
• May 16 – Bob Patterson
• May 16 – Mitch Webster
• May 26 – Dann Bilardello
• May 27 – Ron Tingley
• May 28 – Steve Jeltz

June

• June 6 – Doug Frobel
• June 8 – Britt Burns
• June 11 – Mike Davis
• June 11 – Brian Gorman
• June 25 – Alejandro Peña
• June 27 – Roy Johnson

July

• July 1 – Tony Walker
• July 3 – Kurt Kepshire
• July 11 – Bert Peña
• July 13 – Mark Brown
• July 21 – Rich Barnes
• July 21 – Mark Williamson
• July 22 – Bob Porter
• July 22 – DeWayne Vaughn
• July 25 – Matt Williams
• July 27 – Joe DeSa
• July 29 – Dave LaPoint
• July 30 – Ricky Horton
• July 30 – Mike Jones
• July 31 – Mike Bielecki
• July 31 – Bob Johnson

August

• August 3 – Jim Gott
• August 3 – Mike Jeffcoat
• August 8 – Dave Meier
• August 9 – Jim Adduci
• August 13 – Tom Niedenfuer
• August 14 – Don Carman
• August 14 – Dale Scott
• August 17 – Jeff Moronko
• August 17 – Brad Wellman
• August 18 – Terry Blocker

September

• September 2 – Drungo Hazewood
• September 5 – Jamie Nelson
• September 8 – Glen Cook
• September 9 – Tom Foley
• September 10 – Bruce Robbins
• September 12 – Scotti Madison
• September 16 – Tim Raines
• September 18 – Ryne Sandberg
• September 21 – Danny Cox
• September 22 – Wally Backman
• September 22 – Lee Graham
• September 22 – John Stefero
• September 23 – Jim Winn
• September 25 – Geno Petralli
• September 26 – Rich Gedman
• September 26 – J. P. Ricciardi
• September 28 – Todd Worrell

October

• October 2 – Dave Beard
• October 5 – Rod Allen
• October 6 – Oil Can Boyd
• October 6 – Greg Walker
• October 8 – Jack Hardy
• October 8 – Bryan Little
• October 8 – Mike Morgan
• October 9 – Ray Krawczyk
• October 10 – Don Gordon
• October 10 – Les Straker
• October 10 – Jim Weaver
• October 11 – Pat Dodson
• October 16 – Brian Harper
• October 16 – Kevin McReynolds
• October 20 – Don Heinkel
• October 21 – George Bell
• October 23 – George Hinshaw
• October 24 – Mike Brewer
• October 24 –
  Dave Johnson
• October 24 – Junior Ortiz
• October 29 – Jesse Barfield
• October 30 – Dave Leeper

November

• November 5 – Craig McMurtry
• November 5 – Lloyd Moseby
• November 6 – Leo Hernández
• November 7 – Rich Rodas
• November 13 – Dave Shipanoff
• November 17 – Brad Havens
• November 17 – Brian Milner
• November 18 – Jeff Heathcock
• November 21 – Jeff Barkley
• November 21 – Scott Terry
• November 23 – Brook Jacoby
• November 24 – Tom Dunbar
• November 26 – Mike Moore
• November 28 – Jeff Datz
• November 29 – Brian Holton

December

• December 6 – Larry Sheets
• December 16 – Paul Noce
• December 17 – Bryan Clutterbuck
• December 17 – Marvell Wynne
• December 22 – Orlando Isales
• December 23 – Frank Eufemia
• December 29 – Mike Brown

Deaths

January

• January   1 – Neck Stanley, 53, left-hander whose pitching career in the Negro leagues spanned 1928 to 1948 and included 12 seasons as a member of the New York Black Yankees.
• January   2 – Bert James, 72, outfielder for the 1909 St. Louis Cardinals.
• January   8 –
  Cleveland Naps in its 1914 season
  .
• January 14 – John Ganzel, 84, player-manager who played at first base for five major league teams in seven seasons and for several minor league clubs in 14 seasons, managing also the 1908 Cincinnati Reds and during 16 seasons in the minors, while being credited as the first player to hit one home run in the New York Yankees franchise history as a member of the 1903 New York Highlanders.^[3]
• January 21 –
  New York Giants and Brooklyn Tip-Tops over twelve seasons from 1904 to 1915, collecting a career record of 139-90 and 2.47 ERA in 357 games, including a 12-0 record in his first dozen decisions, two 20-win seasons, 27 shutouts, 152 complete games, and a 10-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1908.^[4][5]
• January 22 – Ken Williams, 68, left fielder whose 14-season major league career included stints with the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox spanning 1915–1929, leading the American League with 39 home runs and 155 RBI in 1922, while adding 39 stolen bases to become the first big leaguer to reach the 30 HR/30 SB plateau in the same season.^[6]
• January 24 – George Payne, 69, pitcher for the 1920 Chicago White Sox.
• January 28 –
  Washington Senators
  spanning five seasons from 1924 to 1929, being also a member of Yankees teams that won American League pennants in 1926 and 1927.
• January 30 – Toots Shultz, 70, pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies in parts of two seasons from 1911-12.

February

• February   7 –
  runs batted in to become the first Triple Crown winner in American League history; he won two more RBI titles and compiled 17 seasons with a .300 average or better; in the field, he led in putouts five times, assists three times, double plays five times and fielding percentage four times; became player/manager for the Bronchos in 1903, with the team renaming itself the Naps in his honor through 1914.^[7]
• February 12 – Dode Paskert, 77, one of the finest defensive center fielders of the dead-ball era and a reliable leadoff hitter who played from 1907 through 1921 for four National League clubs, batting third in the lineup in each game of the 1915 World Series for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Boston Red Sox, while batting clean-up for the Chicago Cubs in each game of the 1918 World Series, also against the Red Sox.
• February 14 – Eddie Higgins, 70, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1909 to 1910.
• February 15 –
  Bruce Caldwell, 53, two-sport athlete who played as an outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball for the 1928 Cleveland Indians and 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers, as well as a running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants
  in 1928.
• February 15 – Lefty Houtz, 83, 19th century third baseman for the 1899 Cincinnati Reds.
• February 16 –
  Newark Pepper of the outlaw Federal League
  in its 1915 season.
• February 20 – William Pierson, 59, pitcher who played with the Philadelphia Athletics in parts of three seasons spanning 1918–1924.
• February 21 –
  Washington Senators
  over three seasons from 1903 and 1905.
• February 27 – Howie Fitzgerald, 57, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox in a span of two seasons from 1922 to 1924.

March

• March   7 – John Glaiser, 64, pitcher for the 1920 Detroit Tigers.
• March   8 – Don Flinn, 66, backup outfielder for the 1917 Pittsburgh Pirates.
• March   8 – Ormsby Roy, 54, infielder who appeared for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords of the Negro leagues between 1929 and 1932.
• March   9 – Fin Wilson, 70, pitcher who played from 1914 to 1915 for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League.
• March 11 –
  Boston Braves
  in a span of two seasons from 1923 to 1924.
• March 15 – Richard Muckerman, 62, principal owner of the St. Louis Browns from 1945 through 1948.
• March 16 –
  Ben Shaw, 65, catcher and first baseman who played from 1917 to 1918 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
  .
• March 17 – Howard Ehmke, 64, pitcher who played for the Buffalo Blues, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics in 15 seasons between 1915 and 1930, while compiling six 15-win seasons with a career-high 20 victories for the Red Sox in 1923, including a no-hitter in the same season, and later starting Game One of the 1929 World Series for the Connie Mack's Athletics against the Chicago Cubs, throwing a complete game victory and striking out a then series record 13 en route to the series championship.^[8]
• March 29 –
  1938 MLB All-Star Game.^[9]

• April   5 – Frank Bruggy, 67, catcher whose 14-year career included stints with the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics and Cincinnati Reds spanning five seasons from 1921 to 1925.
• April   7 – Johnson Fry, 65, pitcher for the 1923 Cleveland Indians.
• April 14 – Frank Harter, 72, pitcher who played from with the Cincinnati Reds from 1912–13 and for the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the outlaw Federal League in 1914.
• April 15 – Win Clark, 84, 19th century infielder who played for the 1897 Louisville Colonels.
• April 17 –
  Newark Bears
  of the International League.
• April 21 –
  brain hemorrhage in a ball game, retiring with a 35-54 record, a 3-0 one-hitter game against the St. Louis Browns in his rookie season,^[10] and a 3-0 no-hitter over his former Athletics team in 1947, while defeating fellow Bill McCahan, himself a no-hit pitcher in the same season.^[11]
• April 21 –
  Akron Grays and Cleveland Giants
  of the Negro National League in 1933.

• May   1 – Fritz Henrich, 59, backup outfielder for the 1924 Philadelphia Phillies.
• May   1 – Branch Russell, 63, stalwart outfielder whose decade-long tenure (1922–1931) with the St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League included a stint as playing manager of the 1926 Stars.
• May   3 –
  Willy Fetzer, 74, three-sport college athlete and head coach during more than a decade, who also played professional baseball with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League in 1906, and six seasons in Minor League Baseball spanning 1905–1910.^[12]
• May   5 – Verne Clemons, 67, backup catcher who played for the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals over parts of seven seasons between 1916 and 1924.
• May   5 – George Harney, 68, pitcher for the Chicago American Giants of the Negro National League over eight seasons between 1923 and 1931; led NNL in shutouts (1924) and saves (1926, 1927); player-manager of American Giants for part of 1928.
• May   6 – Vance McIlree, 61, pitcher for the 1921 Washington Senators.
• May   6 –
  Brooklyn Superbas in 1913 and for the Indianapolis Hoosiers and Newark Peppers
  from 1914 to 1915.
• May   8 –
  Cuban Stars West
  of the Negro National League.
• May 15 – Tiny Baldwin, 55, second baseman/shortstop for the Indianapolis ABCs, Cleveland Elites and Detroit Stars of the Negro National League in 1925 and 1926.
• May 15 – Jake Hewitt, 88, 19th century pitcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its 1895 season.
• May 15 – Fred Johnston, 60, infielder who made four game appearances for the 1924 Brooklyn Robins.
• May 18 –
  first base, and 74 at shortstop.^[13]
• May 18 –
  Scott Feldman of the Texas Rangers did the same during the 2008 season.^[14]
• May 21 – Carter Elliott, 65, shortstop for the 1921 Chicago Cubs.
• May 22 – Frank Biscan, 39, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in parts of three seasons from 1942 to 1949, one of many ballplayers whose career was interrupted by World War II.
• May 22 –
  Brooklyn Superbas
  in a span of four seasons from 1900 to 1908.
• May 25 –
  batting line in 679 games, but saving himself from anonymity by leading the National League with 10 home runs in 1907, to become an early home run king
  .
• May 26 – Ed Walsh, 78, Hall of Fame pitcher^[15] and spitball specialist who played with the Chicago White Sox from 1904 through 1916 and the Boston Braves in 1917, whose finest season came in 1908, when he became the last pitcher in MLB history to win 40 games,^[15] set an American League record-breaking 11 shutouts, and posted a 1.82 earned run average, an MLB record that still stands today,^[16] while leading the league in innings pitched four times (including a career-high 464 in the same season), in games pitched and saves five times, in starts four, and in ERA, shutouts and strikeouts twice,^[16] winning both of his 1906 World Series starts in Games 3 and 5, allowing seven hits and six runs (only one earned), and striking out 17 Chicago Cubs batters in 15 innings of work, en route to the series championship.^[15]
• May 28 – Ken Penner, 63, pitcher who played with the 1916 Cleveland Indians and for the NL-Pennant winning Chicago Cubs in 1929.
• May 29 –
  Cleveland Indians
  in the 1925 and 1927 seasons.
• May 30 – Doc Tonkin, 77, pitcher who made only one game appearance in the majors with the 1907 Washington Senators.

June

• June   9 –
  Triple Crowns between 1911 and 1913, missing a third title in 1912 by a .002 in batting average.^[17]
• June 13 – Irv Higginbotham, 77, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs spanning three seasons from 1906 to 1909.
• June 14 – Ed Cotter, 54, third baseman and shortstop who appeared in three games with the Philadelphia Phillies in its 1926 season.
• June 15 – Charlie Eakle, 71, second baseman who played for the Baltimore Terrapins of the outlaw Federal League in 1915.
• June 17 – Dave Black, 67, pitcher who played with the Chicago Whales and Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League from 1914 to 1915, and for the Boston Red Sox in their 1923 American League season.
• June 17 – Jim McHale, 83, outfielder for the 1908 Boston Red Sox.
• June 20 – Speed Walker, 61, first baseman who appeared in two games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1923.
• June 22 – Hal Bubser, 63, Minor League first baseman who made three pinch-hit appearances for the Chicago White Sox in 1923.
• June 24 –
  Boston Bees of the National League toward the end of their 1938 season; older brother of Bill Hitchcock
  .
• June 24 – Joe Ogrodowski, 52, pitcher for the 1925 Boston Braves.
• June 28 – Joe Sugden, 88, 19th century catcher who played for five teams between 1893 and 1912, being a member of the Chicago White Stockings 1901 American League Champion Inaugural Roster, and later a St. Louis Cardinals scout for 31 years.
• June 30 – Clarence Berger, 64, backup outfielder for the 1914 Pittsburgh Pirates.

July

• July   3 –
  Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox
  .
• July   7 –
  New York Giants refused to play Boston
  .
• July 11 – Frank Gilhooley, 77, fourth outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in parts of nine seasons spanning 1911–1919.
• July 13 – Nick Kahl, 80, second baseman for the 1905 Cleveland Naps.
• July 13 – Chick Keating, 67, shortstop who played with the Chicago Cubs from 1913 to 1915 and for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1926.
• July 16 –
  Three-I League, retiring with the most victories (2,496) of any manager in minor league history until he was surpassed by Stan Wasiak (2,530).^[18]
• July 16 –
  New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Athletics through seven seasons spanning 1936–1943, being also a member of two Giants teams that won the National League pennant in 1936 and 1937, as well as for the 1940 World Series Reds Champion Team
  .
• July 20 –
  New York Giants in seven seasons between 1936 and 1946, winning a World Series ring with the 1940 World Champions Cincinnati Reds
  .
• July 21 –
  Cleveland Blues in a span of six seasons between 1895 and 1901, going 31-6 in his rookie season and leading the National League in W-L% (.838), while the Orioles won the pennant, and followed up with two more good seasons, posting a 25-7 record and a best W-L% (.781) in 1896 and 22-11 in 1897, as Baltimore won the pennant again in 1896 and finished a close second place in 1897.^[19]
• July 22 – Ralph Savidge, 80, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1908 and 1909 seasons.
• July 25 – Jim Boyer, 50, American League umpire who worked in 1,025 games from 1944 to 1950, including appearances in the 1947 World Series and the 1947 MLB All-Star Game.
• July 25 – Buck O'Brien, 77, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox over three seasons from 1911 to 1913, who went 20-13 for Boston in 1912, being the Opening Day starter and winner that season,^[20] later starting the first game played at Fenway Park on April 20, 1912,^[21] and also a member of the 1912 World Series Red Sox champion team.
• July 25 – Joe Schepner, 85, third baseman for the 1919 St. Louis Browns.
• July 26 – Otto Miller, 58, third baseman for the St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox in parts of four seasons from 1927 to 1932.
• July 28 –
  Washington Senators in 1932 and for the Philadelphia Phillies
  in 1933.
• July 29 –
  batting line in 950 games, while leading American League backstops in games caught (87) and fielding percentage (.972) in 1902.^[22]

• August   1 – Harvey Young, 38, diminutive (5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)) shortstop for four Negro leagues clubs between 1941 and 1944, including the Baltimore Elite Giants and Kansas City Monarchs.
• August   4 – Chappy Charles, 78, infielder who played from 1908 through 1910 for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.
• August   4 – Pop Williams, 85, pitcher who played for four National League clubs in parts of three seasons spanning 1898–1903, as most of his appearances were for the 1902 Chicago Orphans.
• August   7 –
  New York Giants and Detroit Tigers
  in a span of six seasons from 1914 to 1919.
• August   7 – Bill McGill, 79, pitcher for the 1907 St. Louis Browns.
• August   8 –
  Brooklyn Superbas
  over four seasons from 1905 to 1908.
• August 12 –
  Cleveland Indians from 1927 through 1934 and for the St. Louis Browns
  in 1935.
• August 12 – Ed Goebel, 60, outfielder for the 1922 Washington Senators.
• August 12 –
  Boston Beaneaters in 1902;^[23] elder sibling of Steve O'Neill
  and one of four brothers who played in majors.
• August 27 –
  New York Giants and St. Louis Browns over six seasons from 1921 to 1926; member of the Giants teams that won the National League pennants in 1923 and 1924; twin brother of Bubber Jonnard
  .

• September   3 – Emmett Bowles, 61, who made one pitching appearance for the Chicago White Sox in its 1922 season.
• September   6 – John "Yellowhorse" Morris, 57, pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs, Detroit Stars and Chicago American Giants of the Negro National League between 1924 and 1930 who won 14 games for the 1928 Stars.
• September   8 – Roy Mitchell, 74, pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds over six seasons spanning from 1910 to 1919, who was a member of the 1919 World Series Champion Reds team.
• September   9 – Terry Lyons, 50, first baseman for the 1929 Philadelphia Phillies.
• September 14 –
  Boston Braves
  of the National League in 1918.
• September 20 –
  outfield assists six times and winning a World Series title with the Boston Red Sox in 1916
  .
• September 28 – Art Brouthers, 76, third baseman for the 1906 Philadelphia Athletics.
• September 28 – Red Corriden, 72, whose career spanned from 1908 through his retirement 1n 1958, playing parts of five seasons in the majors and serving as the regular shorstop for the Chicago Cubs in 1914, playing also in the minor leagues during the 1920s, later coaching in the majors from 1932 to 1948 while managing the 1950 Chicago White Sox, being a member of five pennant-winning teams and the 1947 World Champions New York Yankees, and finally scouting for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers teams from 1951 to 1958.

October

• October 10 –
  Boston Braves in parts of six seasons spanning 1910–1920, who later became a longtime baseball head coach at UNC, where he guided the North Carolina Tar Heels to six Southern Conference titles and two Ration League titles, compiling a record of 214–133–2 while in UNC-Chapel Hill
  .
• October 13 – Dave Wills, 82, 19th century first baseman who played for the Louisville Colonels in their 1899 season.
• October 16 – Sled Allen, 72, catcher for the 1910 St. Louis Browns.
• October 16 – Herb Bradley, 56, pitcher who played 1927 through 1929 for the Boston Red Sox.
• October 16 – Frank Okrie, 62, pitcher for the 1920 Detroit Tigers; father of Len Okrie.
• October 18 – Ralph Bell, 68, pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox in their 1912 season.
• October 21 – Jesse Barber, 71, nicknamed "Phantom", outfielder whose career in Black baseball began in 1909, before the formal organization of the Negro leagues, and included multiple seasons for the Chicago American Giants.
• October 21 – Elmer Rieger, 70, pitcher for the 1910 St. Louis Cardinals.
• October 27 –
  Cleveland Naps in 1910 and for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds
  in 1914.
• October 27 – Scott Perry, 68, pitcher who played from 1915 through 1921 for the St. Louis Browns, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Athletics.
• October 29 –
  New York Highlanders in seven seasons from 1898 to 1905, before becoming a lawyer and unionizing Major League ballplayers in an organization called the Fraternity of Baseball Players, which operated during the rocky Federal League era.^[24]

• November   4 – Lefty Williams, 66, curveball specialist pitcher who recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons with the Chicago White Sox in 1919 and 1920, whose career was truncated when he and seven of his teammates were expelled from Organized Baseball for their roles in losing the tainted 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, an incident known as the Black Sox Scandal.
• November 15 – Klondike Smith, 72, English oufielder who played for the 1912 New York Highlanders.
• November 18 – Wib Smith, 73, backup catcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in its 1909 season.
• November 20 –
  batting line and 244 stolen bases
  in 1,470 games.
• November 28 –
  St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox in 14 seasons spanning 1896–1908, while helping the White Sox win the 1906 World Series over the Chicago Cubs
  in six games, for one of the greatest upsets in Series history.
• November 28 –
  New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in parts of seven seasons from 1930 to 1938, whose hitting and fielding hustle led the Giants to the 1933 World Series
  championship.
• November 30 –
  New York Giants in Game 3 of the 1922 World Series against the New York Yankees
  , en route to the series championship.

• December   5 –
  Boston Braves
  .
• December   6 –
  Washington Senators over 12 seasons from 1901 to 1911, being also the first-string shortstop of the 1902 National League Champion Pirates
  .
• December   7 – Tom McGuire, 67, pitcher who played with the Chicago Whales in 1914 and for the Chicago White Sox in 1919.
• December   9 – Ferd Eunick, 67, third baseman for the 1917 Cleveland Indians.
• December 10 –
  slugging average of .880 in the seven-game Series loss to Pittsburgh.^[25]
• December 11 – Jim Bottomley, 59, Hall of Fame first baseman and 1928 National League MVP Award winner, who in his 11-season tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals drove in 100 or more runs six years in a row from 1924 to 1929, leading the league twice in RBI, doubles and fielding putouts, and once in hits, triples and home runs, while establishing Major League records for the most unassisted double plays in a season by a first baseman with eight in 1936, and for driving in 12 runs in a nine inning game in 1924, which was matched 69 years later by fellow Cardinals outfielder Mark Whiten in 1993.^[26]
• December 11 – Doc Marshall, 84, backup catcher who played for seven teams over parts of four seasons from 1904 to 1909, being a member of the 1908 Chicago Cubs club that won the National League pennant, but he did not play in the World Series.
• December 16 – Lee Dashner, 72, pitcher for the 1903 Cleveland Naps.
• December 17 – Del Young, 74, outfielder who played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1909, and for the Buffalo Blues of the outlaw Federal League from 1914 to 1915.
• December 24 – Bill Friel, 83, infield and outfield utility who debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League in 1901, and remained with the franchise in 1902–1903 after it moved and became the St. Louis Browns.
• December 30 –
  St. Louis Browns
  .

Sources