January • January 18 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates purchase the contract of first baseman
Hank Greenberg from the
Detroit Tigers for $75,000. A future
Baseball Hall of Famer and all-time Tiger great, Greenberg, now 36, led the
American League in homers with 44 in , but he has become estranged from Detroit's front office. The Pirates will pair him with sophomore
Ralph Kiner, who led the
National League with 23 home runs in 1946. They also will shorten the left-field dimensions in
Forbes Field; the "porch" favoring the two right-handed sluggers will be initially nicknamed "Greenberg Gardens," then "Kiner's Korner." 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 and
Johnny 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, with
Jackie Robinson poised to break the
baseball color line, catcher
Josh Gibson of the
Homestead Grays, known as "the black
Babe 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, Gibson passes away months after leading the
Negro National League in homers in —the 11th time he's done so in 13 seasons. Author of as many as 962 home runs overall, (See
Deaths for this date below.) and husband
Leo Durocher in 1949 • January 21: • A rule change implemented by the
Baseball Writers' Association of America that allows voting only for players after 1921 produces four new members of the
Hall of Fame:
Mickey Cochrane,
Frank Frisch,
Lefty Grove and
Carl Hubbell.
Pie Traynor misses selection by only two votes. •
Brooklyn Dodgers manager
Leo Durocher and actress
Laraine Day wed in
El Paso, Texas, publicly defying a
California 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. • January 25 – The
New York Yankees sign free-agent first baseman
George McQuinn, who was released by the
Philadelphia Athletics 16 days earlier. A slick fielder and line-drive hitter, McQuinn, 36, is a four-time
AL All-Star who had slumped badly with Philadelphia in 1946. As a Yankee in 1947 and , he'll make two more All-Star squads and earn a
World Series ring.
February • February 1 –
Commissioner of Baseball Happy 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 on
Opening 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 of
Hal Trosky comes to an end when he's released by the
Chicago White Sox. Though overshadowed by fellow first basemen
Lou Gehrig and
Jimmie Foxx, Trosky, 33, was one of the
American League's most feared batsmen of the 1930s, once (in )
driving in 162 runs on the strength of 42 homers as a member of the
Cleveland Indians. But debilitating
migraine headaches impaired his durability, then caused him to miss three full seasons before attempting a final comeback with the 1946 Pale Hose. • February 14 – The
Philadelphia Athletics deal right-handed pitchers
Lum Harris and
Lou Knerr to the
Washington Senators for outfielder/first baseman
George Binks. • February 19 – The
Boston Red Sox sign free-agent catcher
Frankie "Blimp" Hayes, released by the
White Sox six days earlier. Former "iron-man" Hayes, 32, is only 2+ years removed from his remarkable season, in which he started all 155 of the
Athletics' games behind the plate, and only missed 18 innings of action all season. He then followed that in by starting a combined 151 games for the Athletics and
Indians. 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 in
Cuban League annals sees the
Alacranes del Almendares overcome a six-game, late-season deficit to defeat their archrivals, the
Leones del Habana, in a three-game, season-concluding sweep. American left-hander
Max Lanier, one of the players suspended indefinitely by MLB in May 1946 for "jumping" the
reserve clause to sign with the "outlaw"
Mexican League, wins two of the contests, including the clincher on a single day of rest.
March • March 1: • New
managers in
spring training camps are
Billy Herman with the
Pittsburgh Pirates,
Muddy Ruel with the
St. Louis Browns,
Bucky Harris with the
New York Yankees, and
Johnny Neun with the
Cincinnati Reds. Neun had ended the 1946 season as manager of the Yankees after both
Joe McCarthy and
Bill Dickey had quit. • Brooklyn's
Catholic Youth Organization withdraws from
Ebbets Field's "
Knothole Gang" to protest
Leo Durocher's personal conduct in his affair with and marriage to
Laraine Day. Reports critical of Durocher's off-field friendships with gamblers have also been in the headlines since the autumn of 1946. • The
Chicago 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 the
Boston Braves. Lee, 37, won 20 and 22 games for the
National League-champion
1935 and
1938 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 the
Texas League before drawing his career-ending release on September 19. • March 22 – The
Chicago White Sox claim veteran pitcher
Hiram Bithorn on
waivers from the
Pittsburgh Pirates. The first
Puerto Rican to play in Major League Baseball, Bithorn, 31, will pitch in only two innings for the White Sox (going
1–0,
0.00) before being idled by a sore arm. • March 24 –
Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler convenes a hearing in
Sarasota, Florida, in response to the public feud between
New York Yankees president and co-owner
Larry MacPhail and
Brooklyn Dodgers manager
Leo 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. Walker, a former NL batting champion and three-time
All-Star, is one of the Dodgers' most popular veterans, nicknamed ''The People's Cherce.''
April • April 2 – The
Boston Red Sox sell the contract of right-fielder
Catfish Metkovich to the
Cleveland Indians. • April 6 – The
New York Yankees sign pitcher
Lew Burdette, 20, as an amateur free agent. • April 9: •
Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler drops a bombshell on the
Brooklyn Dodgers, suspending manager
Leo 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 starlet
Laraine Day, and public feud with powerful
New York Yankees co-owner
Larry MacPhail. 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. • April 16 – The
Cincinnati Reds sell the contract of veteran
utilityman and former
NL All-Star second baseman
Lonny Frey to the
Chicago Cubs. • April 18: •
Burt Shotton, 62, a long-time associate of
Branch Rickey's, is appointed to serve as manager of the
Brooklyn Dodgers during
Leo Durocher's season-long suspension. Rickey turns to Shotton after
Joe 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 the
Philadelphia Phillies in after compiling a 370–549–4 (
.403) record over six full baseball seasons. Having hung up his uniform when he stepped down as a
Cleveland Indians coach in , he will manage the Dodgers in street clothes. • In Shotton's first game today, Brooklyn falls to the
New York Giants, 10–4, at the
Polo Grounds for its first defeat of 1947.
Jackie Robinson, however, collects his first National League home run, hit in the third inning off
Dave Koslo. • The
St. Louis Cardinals sell the contract of pitcher and
1942 World Series hero
Johnny Beazley to the
Boston Braves. Beazley, struggling to recover from a sore arm suffered while playing baseball during his
United States Army service in
World War II, will pitch in only 13 games for the Braves from this season through May 1949. • April 22: • On a cold afternoon at
Ebbets Field, in the opener of a three-game series,
Ben Chapman, manager of the
Philadelphia Phillies, leads his team in racist chants directed at
Jackie Robinson of the
Brooklyn 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 Commissioner
Happy Chandler chastises him. Brooklyn will sweep all three low-scoring games; Robinson scores four of their eight total runs. •
Cleveland Indians fireballer
Bob Feller one hits the visiting
St. Louis Browns and triumphs 5–0.
Al Zarilla's seventh-inning single spoils the no-hitter; Feller walks one and fans ten hitters. • April 23 –
Cleveland sells the contract of minor-league slugger
Gus Zernial to the
Chicago White Sox. Outfielder Zernial will require two more years of seasoning at
Triple-A, but when he arrives in the majors in , he'll blast 237 homers over an 11-season career. • April 24 –
Johnny Mize belts three home runs and
Walker Cooper adds another, but the
New York Giants fall to
Johnny Sain and the
Boston Braves, 14–5, at
the "Wigwam". The Braves collect 21 hits, led by
Danny Litwhiler's four safeties; Litwhiler also hits Boston's only homer of the day. • April 27 – It is
Babe Ruth Day at
Yankee Stadium. Battling
throat cancer, Ruth speaks to the packed house, proclaiming, "The only real game, I think, in the world is baseball." • April 29 – After signing with the
New York Yankees the previous winter,
Joe Medwick is released despite never playing a single game with the Bombers. On May 25, the future
Hall of Famer, now 35, will rejoin his original team, the
St. Louis Cardinals, as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter.
May • May 2 – Future
Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller tosses his second one-hitter in ten days with his 2–0 victory over the
Boston Red Sox at
Cleveland 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. Feller's third straight complete-game, shutout win lowers his
earned run average to 0.26 for 1947. • May 3: • The
Brooklyn Dodgers trade pitchers
Hank Behrman,
Kirby Higbe and
Cal McLish, catcher
Dixie Howell, and infielder
Gene Mauch to the
Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder
Al Gionfriddo and $100,000. Higbe had been among those Dodgers seeking a trade rather than play alongside
Jackie Robinson; Howell, on the other hand, had congratulated Robinson on his promotion to the Dodgers. • Right-hander
Cliff Fannin of the
St. Louis Browns issues 11
bases on balls and allows ten hits in 10 innings of work in today's start against the visiting
Cleveland Indians. Yet he loses the contest by a score of only 4–3. Cleveland leaves 17 on base over the 11-inning game. • The
Pittsburgh Pirates sell the contract of veteran left-hander
Ken Heintzelman, 31, to the
Philadelphia Phillies. • May 13: •
Ted Williams hits two home runs over
Fenway Park's
Green Monster for the first time in his career, as the
Boston Red Sox drub the
Chicago White Sox, 19–6. Earlier in the day, Williams had promised a boy in a local hospital that he'd hit a homer for him. Also today,
Bobby Doerr hits for the cycle for the second time in his career, becoming the first member of the Bosox to achieve this feat. Doerr smacks a
double and a
single in a nine-run eighth inning to complete his cycle. • May 16 – The
Boston Braves sign eight-time
NL All-Star first baseman
Frank McCormick, 35, who had been released by the
Philadelphia Phillies two days earlier. • May 17 – During today's game at
Forbes Field, veteran
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman
Hank Greenberg asks baserunner
Jackie Robinson if he's injured after an earlier collision between the two. Greenberg then gives rookie Robinson a
pep 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 the
New 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. • May 20 – The
Boston Red Sox obtain starting catcher
Birdie Tebbetts from the
Detroit Tigers for fellow backstop
Hal Wagner. • May 26 – In
the Bronx,
Joe DiMaggio goes three for four, including his fourth home run, scores three times, and drives in four to lead the
New York Yankees to a 9–3 victory and a four-game sweep of the defending
American League champion
Red Sox. Outscoring the Bosox 40–5 over the four contests, the Yankees vault ahead of them into second place, three games behind the league-leading
Detroit Tigers. Moreover, their rough treatment of
Tex Hughson and
Dave Ferriss betrays the arm troubles and performance declines that will beset Boston's ace starting pitchers. • May 30 – In a
Memorial Day doubleheader at
Shibe Park, the
Philadelphia Athletics shock the
Yankees by shutting them out twice, 1–0 and 4–0, behind hurlers
Dick Fowler and
Joe Coleman. In ,
Connie Mack's Athletics had lost 105 of 154 games, but they will rebound this season to post their first over-.500 campaign since .
June • June 8 – In the first game of a Sunday
doubleheader,
Comiskey Park hosts a marathon pitchers duel, as the
Washington Senators and the
Chicago White Sox grapple for 17 scoreless innings before the Senators break through with a run in the top of the 18th on
Al Evans's
triple and
Sherry Robertson's
sacrifice fly, then hold on for a 1–0 victory. Starters
Walt Masterson (16 shutout frames) and
Frank Papish (13 innings) depart before the game is decided. The official time of the game, the longest in the majors in 1947, is 3:30. Masterson begins MLB's longest consecutive-scoreless-innings-pitched streak of 1947 (34) before it ends on June 27 against the Pale Hose at
Griffith Stadium. • At the
Polo Grounds, the
Pittsburgh Pirates blow an 8–1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when the
New 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 by
Mickey Witek and
Walker 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. • June 11 – In the process of batting .381 during the month of June, • June 22 –
Cincinnati's Ewell Blackwell just misses pitching back-to-back
no-hitters when
Eddie Stanky of the
Brooklyn Dodgers singles with one out in the ninth inning. Stanky's hit ends Blackwell's hitless-inning skein at 19. Blackwell also allows a single to
Jackie 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 the
New York Giants hits a home run in his sixth consecutive game to tie a record set by
George Kelly in 1924. Cooper had two homers in the first game of the streak, while his shot today helps his brother
Morton defeat the
Philadelphia Phillies, 14–6, for his first victory in a Giants uniform. • June 29 – At
Shibe Park,
Ferris Fain lines an
inside-the-park grand slam in the fifth inning, as the
Philadelphia Athletics top the
Boston Red Sox, 6–5. • June 30 – The visiting
Brooklyn Dodgers lash 14 hits, including three each by
Arky Vaughan,
Carl Furillo and
Pee Wee Reese, to defeat the
Philadelphia Phillies, 7–4, and move into a tie for first place with the idle
Boston Braves. They'll remain in the NL's top spot for the remainder of the 1947 season.
July • July 5: • Not quite three months after
Jackie Robinson's
National League debut,
Larry Doby, 23, becomes the first black player in the
American League,
pinch-hitting for
Bryan Stephens in the seventh inning of the
Cleveland Indians' game against the
Chicago White Sox at
Comiskey Park. Facing right-hander
Earl Harrist, Doby strikes out. He registers his first AL hit the following night. • Doby, then an infielder, had been a standout player with the
Newark Eagles of the
Negro National League: in he had led the NNL in
hits,
triples and the modern metric of
OPS (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 the
Montreal Royals. Cleveland owner
Bill Veeck, though a champion of
integration, rushes Doby to the Indians only two days after signing him, bypassing the painstaking preparations
Branch Rickey had undertaken for Robinson's debut. • Doby initially endures ostracism from white teammates and bats only .156 with five hits and a base on balls in 33
plate appearances, almost exclusively as a pinch hitter, in 1947. However, he will earn a regular job in when he moves to the outfield, bats .301 in 121 games, and becomes the first black player to earn a
World 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–), be selected to seven
All-Star teams, blast 253 home runs (leading the AL in both and ), then become MLB's second black manager (), and be elected to the
Hall of Fame (). 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.” and outfielder
Willard Brown, Thompson, 21, becomes the Browns' first black player today at
Sportsman's Park, starting against the
Philadelphia Athletics and going hitless in four at bats in a 16–2 defeat. • Two days later, on July 19, the 32-year-old
Willard Brown, who'll be elected to the
Hall of Fame in to recognize his brilliant career with the Monarchs, makes his debut with St. Louis, going 0-for-3 as the starting centerfielder against the
Boston 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 a
doubleheader with the visiting Red Sox. The Browns stun the Bosox by sweeping the twin bill, but Thompson and Brown go a combined 3-for-17. • July 18 –
Ralph Branca, 21-year-old
Brooklyn Dodgers right-hander, notches a one-hit shutout against the
St. Louis Cardinals at
Ebbets Field.
Enos Slaughter's eighth-inning single is the Redbirds' only hit. The top of Brooklyn's batting order,
Eddie Stanky and
Jackie Robinson, give Branca the support he needs, combining to go 5-for-8, scoring five runs, and driving in five. • July 20 –
Cardinals outfielder
Ron Northey's long drive is simultaneously ruled "in play"
and over
Ebbets Field's center-field fence by umpires
Larry Goetz and
Beans Reardon in the top half of the ninth of today's game against the
Dodgers. 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 manager
Eddie 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 president
Ford 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. It will be replayed in full on August 18, and the Dodgers will triumph, 12–3. • July 25 – Sidewinder
Ewell Blackwell wins his 16th straight
decision dating to May 10, going all nine innings in a 5–4
Cincinnati Reds victory over the
Philadelphia Phillies. His complete game is his 15th of this 16-victory span. At
18–2, 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 the
New York Giants at
Crosley Field.
August • August 9 – Pitcher,
World War II combat veteran, and former
Prisoner of War Phil Marchildon of the
Philadelphia Athletics registers his fourth consecutive
complete game victory and goes three-for-four at the plate (including a home run) to defeat the
Washington Senators, 8–1, at
Shibe Park. Marchildon, who served as a
flying officer in the
Royal Canadian Air Force, survived being shot down over the
Baltic Sea, hypothermia, and nine months as a POW after a bombing mission over
Nazi Germany on August 16, 1944. His harrowing experiences led to recurring nightmares when he returned to civilian life and baseball in 1945. After winning 13 games for a 105-loss Philadelphia team in , Marchildon, 33, comes back this season to post a
19–9,
3.22 record in 35
starts; his 19 wins are tied for second in the
American League. • August 12 – Right-hander
Al Gettel of the
Cleveland Indians hurls a one-hit shutout, and he and his teammates amass 15 hits and 11 runs, as Cleveland overwhelms the visiting
Detroit Tigers.
Eddie Mayo's first-inning double is the spoiler. • August 13 – The
St. Louis Browns'
Willard Brown,
pinch hitting with a man on base in the bottom of the eighth at
Sportsman's Park, lashes a
Hal Newhouser pitch off the center-field wall, then legs out a game-tying
inside-the-park homer—becoming the first African-American player to hit a home run in American League history. The Browns go on to overcome the Tigers, 6–5. • August 20: • At
Ebbets Field, the onrushing
St. Louis Cardinals ensure a split of their four-game series with the first-place
Brooklyn Dodgers with a 12-inning, 3–2 victory.
Whitey Kurowski's homer off Brooklyn relief ace
Hugh 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 the
National League race. However, an 11th-inning incident—in which St. Louis'
Enos Slaughter spikes
Jackie 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. •
Washington Senators relief pitcher Tom Ferrick loses both games of a doubleheader with the
Cleveland Indians. While pitching with
St. Louis the previous season, Ferrick had won both games of a doubleheader against the
Philadelphia Athletics on August 4. • August 23 – The
St. Louis Browns release both
Willard Brown and
Hank Thompson and they return to the
Kansas City Monarchs of the
Negro American League. Brown had
batted only .179 (12-for-67) with one homer and six
runs batted in in 21 games; In Thompson will break the
New York Giants'
color barrier, while Brown continues to star for the Monarchs. The Browns' next black player will be
Hall of Famer Leroy "Satchel" Paige on July 18, 1951. • August 26 – The
Brooklyn Dodgers'
Dan Bankhead becomes the National League's first black pitcher. He homers in his debut
plate appearance, but doesn't fare well on the mound. In 3 innings of relief, he gives up ten hits and six earned runs to the
Pittsburgh Pirates, who win the game, 16–3. • August 28 – Two relief pitchers—
Clyde Shoun of the
Boston Braves and
Eddie Erautt of the
Cincinnati Reds—distinguish themselves in one of the National League's longest games of 1947, going ten and 9 innings respectively in today's 16-inning marathon at
Braves Field. The game ends on a sour note for Erautt, as he walks
Tommy Holmes with the bases loaded to seal an 8–7 Boston victory.
September • September 1 –
Jack Lohrke leads off the eighth inning with a home run off
Red Barrett, giving the
New York Giants and pitcher
Larry Jansen a 2–1 victory over the
Boston Braves in the opening game of a
Labor Day doubleheader at the
Polo 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 the
1936 New York Yankees. The Giants win the nightcap, 12–2; they will finish the season with 221 homers but struggle to finish fourth. • September 3 –
Bill McCahan of the
Philadelphia Athletics no-hits the
Washington Senators in a 3–0 victory. A second-inning
error by first baseman
Ferris Fain spoils McCahan's bid for a
perfect game. • September 14 – Rookie outfielder
Vic Wertz of the
Detroit Tigers hits for the cycle, going five-for-six in a 16–6 rout of the
Senators at
Griffith Stadium. Wertz, 22, joins
Bobby Doerr (May 13) as the only big-leaguers to register a "cycle" in 1947. 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. • It marks the return of the Yankees' 50-year-old manager,
Bucky Harris, to the Fall Classic after an absence of 22 years; the "Boy Wonder" playing skipper of the
Washington Senators had led his teams to the
1924 championship and a heart-breaking loss to the
Pittsburgh Pirates the
following season. • Above all, it features three memorable highlights. • In Game 4 on October 3 at
Ebbets Field, the Yankees'
Bill Bevens—though issuing ten
bases on balls over 8 innings—comes within one out of the first
no-hit game in World Series history, only to be foiled by
pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto's double that scores Brooklyn's tying and winning runs. • Then, in the sixth inning of Game 6 on October 5 at
Yankee Stadium,
Al Gionfriddo robs
Joe DiMaggio of extra bases, perhaps a game-tying homer, when he makes a running catch of DiMaggio's deep drive to the bullpen fence, from the plate in left-center. • And in Game 7 on October 6, Bevens and left-handed
bullpen ace
Joe Page combine for 7 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 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates hire longtime minor-league manager
Billy Meyer, 54, as their new field leader, signing him to a two-year contract for the highest salary ever paid a Pirate skipper. Meyer has compiled a highly successful record in the
New 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 baseman
Hank Greenberg, ending the future
Hall-of-Fame slugger's playing career after 13 MLB seasons and 331 home runs. • October 6 – Minutes after winning the
1947 World Series, his first championship as an executive,
New York Yankees' one-third-owner
Larry MacPhail resigns as
club president and
general manager, then confronts fellow co-owner
Dan Topping and farm system director
George Weiss at the team's victory party. The following day, Topping and co-owner
Del 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; he'll be elected posthumously to the
Hall of Fame in . Topping and Webb will co-own the Yankees until they sell the franchise to
CBS in . • October 9 – The
Washington Senators name former stalwart first baseman
Joe Kuhel, 41, their manager for 1948. Kuhel retired from the playing ranks in May 1947; he
batted .288 in 1,205 games over 11 seasons with Washington (–, –). He succeeds
Ossie Bluege, the club's manager since , who becomes the Senators'
farm system director. • October 24 – The
Cleveland Indians release pitcher
Mel Harder, a 20-year veteran who won 223 games in a Cleveland uniform. He remains with the club as its
pitching coach.
November • November 4 –
Muddy Ruel is dropped as manager of the
St. Louis Browns after one season at the helm. His team finished last in the
American League at 59–95 in 1947. Former Browns coach and interim manager
James "Zack" Taylor, 49, will take his place. • November 12 – The
St. Louis Browns select second baseman
Garvin Hamner from
Memphis of the
Double-A Southern Association in the minor league draft. Garvin is the elder brother of
Philadelphia Phillies' prospect
Granny Hamner, a future three-time
NL All-Star, and reports at the time claim the Browns mistook the two Hamners, and drafted the wrong brother. A St. Louis spokesman denies the charge. • November 17 – The cash-strapped
Browns make the first of two blockbuster trades with the wealthy
Boston Red Sox, sending hard-hitting, three-time
AL All-Star shortstop
Vern Stephens and pitcher
Jack Kramer to the Bosox for $310,000 and six players: pitchers
Joe Ostrowski,
Al Widmar and
Jim Wilson, catcher
Roy Partee, infielder
Eddie Pellagrini and outfielder
Pete Layden. Playing home games at
Fenway Park, Stephens will average 144
runs batted in over the next three seasons, and Kramer will win 18 games for Boston in 1948. • November 18: • One day after the massive
Vern Stephens trade, the
Browns and
Red Sox make another major, one-sided deal that favors Boston. In it, St. Louis sends pitcher
Ellis Kinder and infielder
Billy Hitchcock to the Red Sox for $65,000, pitcher
Clem Dreisewerd and infielders
Sam Dente and
Bill Sommers. Right-hander Kinder will win 23 games as a starting pitcher for the Red Sox, then become their bullpen ace during the early 1950s, leading the American League in
saves twice (, ). • The
Pittsburgh Pirates acquire first baseman
Johnny Hopp and second baseman
Danny Murtaugh from the
Boston Braves for pitcher
Al Lyons, catcher
Bill Salkeld and centerfielder
Jim Russell. The trade begins Murtaugh's long career with the Pirates, during which he will serve 15 years over four terms as their manager, and lead Pittsburgh to the
1960 and
1971 world championships. • November 20 –
Boston Braves third baseman
Bob Elliott is selected 1947's
National League Most Valuable Player by the
Baseball Writers' Association of America. Pitcher
Ewell Blackwell of the
Cincinnati Reds is the runner-up by 30 points. • November 25 –
Sam Breadon and his minority partners sell the
St. Louis Cardinals to former
United States Postmaster General Robert E. Hannegan, 44, and
St. Louis attorney
Fred 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 six
World 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. • November 27 –
Triple Crown winner
Ted Williams (.343 BA, 32 home runs, 114 RBI) of the
Boston Red Sox is edged out by
Joe DiMaggio (.315, 20, 97) for the
American League MVP Award by one point. Controversy erupts when it's reported that one
BBWAA member has failed to include Williams anywhere on his ballot. • November 30 –
Guillermo Vento becomes the first
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League player to make six hits in a single game. His record will eventually be matched by
Pete Koegel (1974),
Steve Carter (1991) and
Ramón Flores (2014).
December • December 4: • The
Boston Braves purchase the contract of veteran outfielder
Jeff Heath from the
St. Louis Browns. Heath, 32, is a two-time
American League All-Star who has
batted .291 with 97 homers over 12 seasons in the Junior Circuit. In , his .319 average and 20 homers will help power Boston to the
National League pennant. • The
New York Giants acquire first baseman and minor-league slugger
Jack Harshman from
San Diego of the
Pacific 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 between and . • December 8: • The NL champion
Brooklyn Dodgers trade four-time
NL All-Star outfielder
Dixie Walker and pitchers
Hal Gregg and
Vic Lombardi to the
Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher
Preacher Roe, third baseman
Billy Cox and utilily infielder
Gene 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 the
Dodgers' manager after serving a year-long suspension imposed by
Commissioner Happy Chandler for "conduct detrimental to baseball."
Burt Shotton, who led the 1947 Dodgers to the
National League championship as acting manager, is given a post in the Brooklyn front office. • The contract of veteran second baseman
Jerry Priddy, once a prized
New York Yankees prospect, is sold by the
Washington Senators to the
St. Louis Browns. A top-flight fielder and dangerous hitter, Priddy, 28, has been hampered by injuries during his career. • December 10: • The
Cincinnati Reds sell the contract of pitcher
Elmer Riddle to the
Pittsburgh Pirates. Former 21-game-winner Riddle, 33, is coming back from arm miseries. He'll win 12 games for the
1948 Pirates and be selected to the
1948 NL All-Star team. • The
Washington Senators trade outfielder and four-time
AL All-Star Stan Spence to the
Boston Red Sox for second baseman
Al Kozar and outfielder
Leon Culberson. • December 11: • The
Cleveland Indians deal pitcher
Red Embree to the
New York Yankees for outfielder
Allie Clark. •
Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey announces an agreement with
Florida entrepreneur Bud Holman and the
City of Vero Beach to rent 104 acres of a
decommissoned 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 – The
Detroit Tigers sell the contract of journeyman veteran outfielder
Roy Cullenbine, who socked 24 homers in 1947, to the
Philadelphia Phillies. Cullenbine, 34, will be released by the Phils in April 1948, ending his playing career. • December 29 – The
Washington Senators release catcher-coach
Rick 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 in . He'll stay in the game as a coach and front office executive, and be elected to the
Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in . ==Births==