January on the cover of
TIME, July 29, 1929 • January 23 –
Guido Rugo, one of the "Three Little Steam Shovels", the
construction magnates who bought the
Boston Braves in 1944, sells his interest to majority partner
Lou Perini and minority partner
Joe Maney. • January 26 – The
BBWAA votes retired sluggers
Jimmie Foxx and
Mel Ott into the
Baseball Hall of Fame. At 534 and 511 career home runs respectively, they are the only men to crack the 500-homer mark—apart from
Babe Ruth and his legendary 714 blows.
February • February 3 – The 75th birthday of the
National League draws 16 of the 23 living members of the
Hall of Fame, along with other dignitaries, to a celebration in
Manhattan. The attendees include both NL stalwarts such as
Fred Clarke,
Hugh Duffy,
Rogers Hornsby,
Carl Hubbell,
Kid Nichols,
Mel Ott and
Pie Traynor, and rival
American League stars such as
Ty Cobb,
Mickey Cochrane,
Eddie Collins,
Jimmie Foxx,
Charlie Gehringer and
Tris Speaker—plus
Cy Young, whose 511 career wins were composed of 290 in the NL, and 221 in AL. With 1951 also marking the 50th birthday of the "Junior Circuit", both major leagues will commemorate their diamond and golden jubilees with patches stitched to the shirtsleeves of players' uniforms. • February 5 –
California governor
Earl Warren dispels the rumor that he is a candidate for the position of
Commissioner of Baseball. • February 26 – At
Caracas,
Puerto Rico wins the
1951 Caribbean Series as the pitching of
Rubén Gómez and two homers from
Luis Olmo propel the
Cangrejeros de Santurce to their fifth victory in six games.
Cuba and the
Leones del Habana (4–2) place second. An ecstatic crowd of 40,000 greets the Santurce club at the airport on its return to Puerto Rico.
March • March 10 – The owners of the
St. Louis Browns reveal plans to mortgage
Sportsman's Park and a minor-league facility in
San Antonio, Texas, to raise $600,000 to pay off debts, amid rumors the
American League club may be sold and moved elsewhere. • March 12 – For the second time in three months,
Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler loses his bid for a new contract when he fails to secure the required support of 12 of the 16 MLB owners. The final tally is nine for Chandler, seven against. The former U.S. Senator, who became baseball's second permanent "czar" in April 1945, will serve as "lame duck" commissioner until he steps down July 14. • March 21 – During spring training,
Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed-throwing first baseman
Dale Long appears as a catcher in an exhibition game at
San Diego, after Pirates general manager
Branch Rickey decides to flout tradition. The experiment goes nowhere, with Long appearing almost exclusively as a pinch hitter and playing seven innings at first base before he's sent to the
St. Louis Browns on
waivers June 1. Long eventually catches catch two innings in as a member of the
Chicago Cubs, using his first baseman's mitt. • March 30 –
Johnny Vander Meer, who had made history as the first and only pitcher in major league history to toss two consecutive no-hitters, is released by the
Chicago Cubs. He signs as a free agent with the
Cleveland Indians on April 6.
April • April 1 – The
Cleveland Indians trade third baseman
Fred Marsh and $35,000 to the
St. Louis Browns for second baseman
Snuffy Stirnweiss and shortstop
Merl Combs. • April 17 • Nineteen-year-old rookie
Mickey Mantle makes his MLB debut playing right field and batting third for the
New York Yankees in
The Bronx against the
Boston Red Sox. His sixth-inning
single off
Bill Wight produces his first-ever
hit,
RBI and
run scored. The Yanks shut out Boston 5–0 behind
Vic Raschi. • At
Shibe Park, the
Philadelphia Athletics and the
Washington Senators play the first
Opening Day night game in
American League history. The Senators prevail, 6–1, behind the solid pitching of Cuban 40-year-old
Connie Marrero, as his
batterymate Mickey Grasso hits a three-run home run. Marrero pitches nine strong innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits and two walks while striking out six batters.
Bobby Shantz is the losing pitcher. Marking another milestone, this is the Philadelphia AL franchise's first Opening Day with someone other than legendary
Connie Mack at the helm; he had managed the Athletics for 50 years and 7,466 games before his retirement in October 1950 at age 87.
Jimmy Dykes, Mack's former stalwart third baseman, runs the Philadelphia bench this season. • At
Sportsman's Park, the
St. Louis Browns are drubbed, 17–3, by the
Chicago White Sox in the Brownies' 1951 inaugural. It's a banner day for the last letter of the alphabet, as the ChiSox'
Al Zarilla and
Gus Zernial each collect four
RBIs. • April 23 – In 16 innings, the
Brooklyn Dodgers edge the
Boston Braves at
Ebbets Field, 2–1. • April 30 – Three
American League clubs combine on a trade, in which the
Chicago White Sox obtain future
Baseball Hall of Famer
Minnie Miñoso from the
Cleveland Indians and fellow outfielder
Paul Lehner from the
Philadelphia Athletics. Simultaneously, the ChiSox send catcher
Gus Niarhos and outfielder
Dave Philley to Philadelphia, and the Indians obtain pitcher
Lou Brissie from the Athletics in exchange for pitcher
Sam Zoldak and catcher
Ray Murray.
May • May 1 • On Mother's Day, New York Yankees rookie
Mickey Mantle hits the first home run of his MLB career off
Randy Gumpert in an 8–3 victory over the
Chicago White Sox at
Comiskey Park. In the same game, Cuban third baseman and former Negro leagues star
Minnie Miñoso becomes the
first black player in White Sox franchise history. In his first MLB
at-bat, Miñoso homers off Yankees' starter
Vic Raschi. • Umpire
Frank Dascoli banishes all 11 players on the
Chicago Cubs bench during the fourth inning of the game against the
New York Giants, after the Cubs players allegedly call Dascoli "Rabbit Ears".
Bill Serena and
Smoky Burgess are later allowed to return to the game to
pinch hit for the Cubs. • May 4 – Leading off today's game at the
Polo Grounds,
Pete Castiglione of the
Pittsburgh Pirates triples off
Sal Maglie, then scores one out later on a fielder's choice. Castiglione's is the only hit Maglie will allow, as he spins a 5–1 complete-game victory for his
New York Giants. Maglie's will be one of 11 one-hitters thrown by MLB hurlers in 1951. • May 6 – In the second game of a
doubleheader at
Braves Field,
Cliff Chambers pitches a
no-hitter, as the
Pirates top the
Boston Braves, 3–0. • May 7 – Pitching for the
Cleveland Indians,
Johnny Vander Meer gives up eight hits and six runs, all of them earned, while striking out two and walking one. Vander Meer, a four-time all star, is relieved by
Jerry Fahr after allowing a single to
Frank Sacka in Cleveland's 11–10 loss to Washington. It will be Vander Meer's final appearance in the major leagues. • May 10 – The
Cleveland Indians obtain veteran outfielder
Sam Chapman from the
Philadelphia Athletics for infielder
Lou Klein and outfielder
Allie Clark. • May 14 – The
New York Yankees trade third baseman
Billy Johnson to the
St. Louis Cardinals for first baseman
Don Bollweg and $15,000. Johnson, 32, has won four
World Series rings as a Yankee since . • May 15 • The
Detroit Tigers trade right-hander
Saul Rogovin to the
Chicago White Sox for southpaw
Bob Cain. On August 19, 1951, Cain will be on the mound at
Sportsman's Park during
Bill Veeck's most famous promotional stunt. • At
Fenway Park, the
Boston Red Sox celebrate the franchise's 50th anniversary and honor members of the
1901 Boston Americans. Overall, 29 old-timers who played,
managed, or
umpired in the American League in that first year attend, including
Bill Bradley,
Tom Connolly,
Wid Conroy,
Hugh Duffy,
Clark Griffith,
Dummy Hoy,
Connie Mack,
Ollie Pickering,
Billy Sullivan and
Cy Young. Eight of them participated in the
first-ever game of the American League, played in Chicago on April 24, 1901. The regular game that follows the ceremony features the 300th career home run of
Ted Williams • May 16 – The contract of third baseman
Bob Dillinger, a speedy .300 hitter and former
American League All-Star notorious for lackadaisical play in the field, is sold to the
Chicago White Sox by the
Pittsburgh Pirates. • May 17 • The
Boston Red Sox trade pitchers
Jim Suchecki and
Jim McDonald (
"player to be named later"/PTBNL), catcher
Matt Batts and $100,000 to the
St. Louis Browns for catcher
Les Moss. • The
Pittsburgh Pirates trade shortstop
Stan Rojek to the
St. Louis Cardinals for first baseman
Rocky Nelson and outfielder/infielder/pitcher
Erv Dusak. • May 28 • After starting his MLB career 0-for-12, rookie
New York Giants outfielder
Willie Mays gets his first major league hit, a home run off
Boston Braves ace
Warren Spahn at the
Polo Grounds. • The
Giants sell the contract of second-year outfielder
Jack Maguire to the
Pittsburgh Pirates.
Willie Mays, who was originally issued uniform #14 when he was called up from
Minneapolis on May 25, inherits Maguire's #24 and will immortalize the digit for the remainder of his
Hall-of-Fame career. • May 30 – On
Memorial Day, the
Chicago White Sox sweep the
St. Louis Browns in a
Comiskey Park doubleheader, 5–2 and 8–1, to extend their winning streak to 14 games dating to May 15. Under first-year manager
Paul Richards, the ChiSox are the early surprises of the
American League, ending today with a 26–9 (
.743) record and a two-game lead over the
New York Yankees in the early-season pennant race. In contrast, the
1950 Pale Hose had gone 60–94 and finished sixth.
June • June 4 •
Gus Bell of the
Pittsburgh Pirates hits for the cycle,
drives in three
runs and scores two more, to lead Pittsburgh to a 12–4 victory over the
Philadelphia Phillies at
Shibe Park. His is the only "cycle" of 1951's
NL or
AL season. • July 10 – Exploding for a record four
home runs, the
National League trounces the
American League, 8–3, at the annual
All-Star Game, at
Briggs Stadium in
Detroit.
Pittsburgh Pirates' slugger
Ralph Kiner hits a home run for the third Midsummer Classic in a row. • July 12 •
New York Yankees hurler
Allie Reynolds pitches a
no-hitter against the
Cleveland Indians in a 1–0 win. • It takes 17 innings to settle a "Battle of the Soxes," but the
Boston Red Sox defeat the
Chicago White Sox, 5–4, at
Comiskey Park. Boston's
Ellis Kinder throws ten innings of shutout relief, and Chicago's starting pitcher,
Saul Rogovin, goes all 17 innings and ends up with the loss. The win is the Red Sox' seventh straight and gives them a 1½-game lead in the AL standings. • July 14 • Although he had vowed to serve out his term "until the last second" when it expires on April 30, 1952, lame-duck
Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler resigns, leaving the post temporarily vacant. Prominent names such as retired
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur are floated as possible successors, but it's quickly reported that MLB owners wish to promote someone from inside the game to replace
Kentucky politician Chandler. • After pitching for
Bill Veeck in
Cleveland in 1948–1949, 45-year-old free agent
Satchel Paige rejoins him with the
St. Louis Browns. • July 15 – Left-hander
Sam Zoldak of the
Philadelphia Athletics one-hits the
Chicago White Sox, while getting two "knocks" and two
RBIs himself.
Chico Carrasquel's third-inning
single is Chicago's only hit—and Zoldak picks him off first base. The 5–0 win enables the lowly Athletics to sweep the twin bill at
Comiskey Park. • July 19 –
Paul Lehner is claimed off
waivers by the
Cleveland Indians, enabling the veteran outfielder to play for four of the eight American League teams during the 1951 regular season. • July 21 – The
Chicago Cubs (35–45, seventh in the NL) change pilots, replacing former
Hall-of-Fame second baseman
Frankie Frisch with a
player-manager, 35-year-old first baseman
Phil Cavarretta. The move signals the end of Frisch's 16-year managing career. • July 22 – The
New York Yankees sweep a Sunday doubleheader from the
St. Louis Browns at
Sportsman's Park, 9–0 and 7–3, and the
Boston Red Sox defeat the
Detroit Tigers, 10–9 at
Briggs Stadium, in their single game. Coupled with the
Chicago White Sox' twin defeats at the hands of the
Washington Senators at
Griffith Stadium, 7–6 and 11–5, the Yankees pull into a virtual tie for first place with the Red Sox and White Sox. • July 23 – A "ding-dong" affair at
Forbes Field sees the
Boston Braves score seven runs in the first inning, and the
Pittsburgh Pirates respond with six tallies of their own. The Bucs take the lead 14–11 after six innings, but Boston battles back with four runs in the seventh and eighth, and pulls out a 15–14 win. Of the Braves' 22 hits, the winning blow is an eighth-inning single by
Roy Hartsfield. • July 28 • The
Philadelphia Phillies' starting rotation fires its fourth straight complete-game shutout, all during its mid-summer "Western swing." Today, at
Wrigley Field,
Russ Meyer spins a seven-hitter to defeat the
Chicago Cubs, 1–0. The defending NL champion Phils, who haven't allowed a run since the ninth inning of their July 24 contest against the
St. Louis Cardinals, will extend their scoreless-innings-pitched streak to an MLB-season-high 42 into tomorrow, when it's broken by Chicago in the sixth frame of the opening game of a doubleheader. •
Clyde Vollmer, who started the month on the
Boston Red Sox' bench, continues his slugging fireworks against the
Cleveland Indians. Vollmer singles in the tying run in the 15th inning and then in the 16th hits a grand slam off reliever
Bob Feller for an 8–4 Red Sox win. The slam is the latest hit in a game in major-league history.
Mickey McDermott pitches all 16 innings for the Sox, striking out 15 and walking one. •
Billy Evans, general manager of the
Detroit Tigers since January 1, 1947, announces his resignation, effective October 1.
Charlie Gehringer, the Tigers'
Hall of Fame former second baseman, will succeed him.
August • August 1 • The regular season's penultimate month dawns with the
Brooklyn Dodgers (63–32) leading the
New York Giants (56–44) by 9½ games (12 in the loss column) in the
National League standings. In the
American League, the
New York Yankees (59–35) lead the second-place
Cleveland Indians (58–38) by two lengths and the third-place
Boston Red Sox (57–39) by three. • Outfielder
Bob Cerv makes his major league debut for the
Yankees, pinch hitter for shortstop
Jerry Coleman in a 9–8 loss to the
Detroit Tigers. • August 7 –
Dick Sisler's
RBI single in the home half of the 15th gives the
Philadelphia Phillies a 1–0 triumph over the
Boston Braves. Defending NL champion Philadelphia is 55–51 and, at 13½ games, well out of the 1951 pennant race. • August 9 – The
Brooklyn Dodgers complete a three-game,
Ebbets Field series sweep of the second-place
New York Giants, 6–5.
Roy Campanella bashes two homers, including the game-winner in the seventh inning off
Sheldon Jones, and
Clyde King picks up his second victory in as many games. The Giants now trail the Dodgers by 12 games—15 in the loss column—with 45 games left in the regular season. • August 11 –
Robin Roberts of the
Philadelphia Phillies beats the
Giants, 4–0, briefly dropping the New Yorkers a season-high 13 games behind the first-place
Brooklyn Dodgers. However, the Dodgers lose a half-game of their lead when they come up short in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader, 8–4, to the
Boston Braves. • August 12 – The
Giants sweep the
Phillies in a
Polo Grounds Sunday twin bill, 3–2 and 2–1. The victories begin the Giants' 16-game winning streak and a phenomenal 37–7 (
.841) stretch run that enables them to tie for the NL pennant on the regular season's final day. • August 15 – The visiting
Cleveland Indians defeat the
St. Louis Browns, 9–4, behind
Early Wynn for their 13th victory in a row. Cleveland (72–39–1) maintains its 2½-game advantage over the
New York Yankees. • August 18 – The last-place
St. Louis Browns set a record for most runs scored by the home side in venerable
Sportsman's Park, humbling the visiting
Detroit Tigers, 20–9.
Hank Arft paces the Brownies with five
runs batted in. Detroit pitcher
Hank Borowy faces nine hitters: he allows five hits and four walks and does not retire a man. The Browns will be 1951's lowest scoring American League team, and finish 15th of the 16 MLB clubs in that category. When the 57-year-old ball yard closes in May 1966, the Browns' 20 runs will still stand as the most tallied there by any
St. Louis-based team—even the powerful
Cardinals. But the Browns' feat will be obscured within 24 hours on August 19. • August 19 – Showman
Bill Veeck, the
Browns' maverick owner, pulls off one of the greatest stunts in baseball history. In the second game of a doubleheader against the
Tigers, Veeck sends
Eddie Gaedel to the plate as a
pinch-hitter for leadoff man
Frank Saucier in the home half of the first. At tall, Gaedel becomes the shortest player in baseball annals. Due to his extremely small strike zone, Gaedel
walks on four consecutive pitches and is immediately replaced by a
pinch-runner. AL president
Will Harridge— saying Veeck is making a mockery of the game—voids Gaedel's contract the next day. Detroit goes on to win the game, 6–2. • August 24 – Just five days after the
Gaedel stunt,
Veeck stages another headlining promotion, "
Grandstand Managers Night," at
Sportsman's Park. A select group of 1,000 fans seated in a special section of the ballpark and equipped with YES and NO placards decides game strategy — while the
St. Louis Browns' veteran manager,
Zack Taylor, sits in a rocking chair, smoking a pipe, in the Brownie dugout. The "grandstand managers" even help Taylor make out his lineup card. The promotion has mixed results: a paltry 3,925 attend the contest, but the 38–81 Browns defeat the 49–75
Philadelphia Athletics, 5–3, with
Ned Garver improving to 15–8 on the season. • August 27 – The
New York Giants extend their winning streak to 16 games, sweeping the
Chicago Cubs in a
Polo Grounds doubleheader, 5–4 (12 innings) and 6–3. The Giants have now shaved the
Brooklyn Dodgers' National League lead to five games, six in the loss column. • August 29 • With four-plus weeks remaining in the regular season, there is a torrid pennant race in the American League. The
Cleveland Indians and
New York Yankees have been trading blows all this month; today Cleveland, which held a three-game lead as recently as August 23, falls into a dead heat with the Yankees at 80–47, when they fall to the
Philadelphia Athletics, 3–0, and the Yankees overwhelm the
St. Louis Browns, 15–2. • In an attempt to bolster their pitching staff, the
Yankees acquire four-time 20-game winner
Johnny Sain from the
Boston Braves for rookie right-hander
Lew Burdette, who has spent 1951 pitching in
Triple-A. The trade helps both clubs: Sain, 33, contributes to three consecutive
World Series championships (1951–1953), while Burdette, 24, blossoms into a top hurler who wins 179 games in a Braves' uniform; his three complete-game victories will lift the
Milwaukee Braves to the
1957 World Series title over the Yankees themselves.
September • September 1 –
New York Giants outfielder
Don Mueller hits three home runs and drives in five runs in an 8–1 victory over the
Brooklyn Dodgers at
Polo Grounds.
Sal Maglie is the winning pitcher. Dodgers starter
Ralph Branca‚ coming off two consecutive
shutouts‚ lasts only four innings. The only run for Brooklyn comes on a
hit by pitch, when Maglie hits
Jackie Robinson with the
bases loaded in the third inning. The Giants'
Whitey Lockman is plunked twice, by Dodgers relievers
Bud Podbielan and
Phil Haugstad. In a flashy fielding play, shortstop
Alvin Dark and second baseman
Eddie Stanky combine in the fifth inning on a
triple play off a liner by Dodgers shortstop
Pee Wee Reese. • September 3 –
Labor Day doubleheaders see the
Dodgers sweep the
Boston Braves and the
Giants split with the
Philadelphia Phillies. Meanwhile, the
Cleveland Indians sweep the
Chicago White Sox and the
New York Yankees split with the
Philadelphia Athletics. The standings: in the
National League, the Dodgers (84–47) lead the Giants (79–54) by six games; and in the
American League, Cleveland (84–49) holds a half-game edge over New York (82–48). • September 7 – In one of 1951's longest games, the
Cincinnati Reds defeat the visiting
Chicago Cubs 7–6 in 18 innings. Catcher
Dixie Howell's sacrifice fly plates the Reds' winning run. • September 13 – The
St. Louis Cardinals become the first team in modern Major League history to play two different teams on the same day. Due to a rain-out, the Cardinals are forced to play the
New York Giants in an afternoon game prior to their scheduled night contest against the
Boston Braves. • September 14 – At
Fenway Park,
Bob Nieman of the
St. Louis Browns becomes the first player in history to hit two
home runs in his first two MLB
plate appearances. Nieman will be joined by
Bert Campaneris (1964),
Mark Quinn (1999),
J.P. Arencibia (2010) and
Trevor Story (2016) in the select group of players who have hit two homers in their debut game. • September 17 – A crucial, three-game series between the American League's two top teams in
The Bronx concludes, turning the tide of the
pennant race. The
New York Yankees (now 89–53) defeat the
Cleveland Indians, 2–1, when
Phil Rizzuto's ninth-inning
bunt single scores
Joe DiMaggio from third base with the winning run.
Eddie Lopat wins his 20th game, defeating
Bob Lemon. The Yankees take two out of three from Cleveland (now 90–56) and a one-game lead in the standings. The Indians will go only 3–5 over their final eight games, while the Yankees will finish 9–3, including a humiliating five-game sweep over the visiting, third-place
Boston Red Sox to close the season. They will clinch the pennant September 28. • September 19 –
Larry Doby draws five
walks in five
plate appearances and scores four runs in
Cleveland's 15–2 rout of the
Red Sox at
Fenway Park. • September 20 –
Ford Frick, 56, president of the
National League since 1934, is elected the third
Commissioner of Baseball and takes office immediately.
Cincinnati Reds president/general manager
Warren Giles, 55, the runner-up in the balloting, will succeed Frick as the Senior Circuit's chief executive. In Frick, MLB owners choose a baseball insider, unlike the first two Commissioners, a federal judge (
Kenesaw Mountain Landis) and a politician (
Happy Chandler). Frick and Giles also will swap headquarters, with the Commissioner's office moving from
Cincinnati to
New York City, and Giles establishing the NL's new offices in Chandler's old suite in Cincinnati's
Carew Tower. • September 25 – Defeating
Ralph Branca and
Carl Erskine, the fourth-place
Boston Braves sweep the
Brooklyn Dodgers (93–56) in a Tuesday doubleheader at
Braves Field, 6–3 and 14–2. Meanwhile, the
New York Giants (93–58) win their single game against the
Philadelphia Phillies behind
Jim Hearn, 5–1 at
Shibe Park. Brooklyn's NL lead shrinks to a single game, two in the loss column. • September 27 –
Gabe Paul, vice president and traveling secretary of the
Cincinnati Reds, is promoted to general manager, succeeding long-time mentor
Warren Giles, now president of the
National League. • September 28 •
Allie Reynolds turns in the second
no-hitter of his career, and his second this season, as the
New York Yankees blank the
Boston Red Sox, 8–0, in the first game of a
doubleheader in
The Bronx. Reynolds' no-no clinches a tie for the American League pennant. Then, in Game 2, the Yankees seal their 18th league title with an 11–3 thumping. • When the clock strikes midnight on the Friday evening of the 1951 season's final weekend, the National League pennant race is dead even. The
Brooklyn Dodgers, only 12–13 so far in September, bow to the host
Philadelphia Phillies, 4–3, as
Carl Erskine is defeated by the Phillie tandem of starter
Karl Drews and reliever
Andy Hansen.
Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones drives home the winning run in the home half of the ninth inning. The
New York Giants, 18–5 so far this month, have an open date. Both teams boast 94–58 records with two games remaining. • September 29 – The NL race remains a dead heat as both the
Dodgers (5–0, behind
Don Newcombe) and
Giants (3–0, behind
Sal Maglie) shut out the
Phillies and
Boston Braves on the road. • September 30 • The
New York Giants clinch at least a tie for the 1951
National League pennant by defeating the
Boston Braves, 3–2, behind
Larry Jansen's 22nd victory of the year.
Bobby Thomson jump-starts the Giants' scoring with a second-inning
home run. • At
Shibe Park, the
Brooklyn Dodgers overcome an early 6–1 deficit to send their game with the
Philadelphia Phillies into extra innings, 8–8. Neither team scores until the top of the 14th when
Jackie Robinson—who in the 12th had saved the Dodgers' season with a brilliant, diving catch of
Eddie Waitkus' bases-loaded line drive—belts a solo home run off Phillies' ace
Robin Roberts, pitching in relief, to give Brooklyn a 9–8 lead. The Dodgers'
Bud Podbielan then holds the Phillies off the scoreboard in the bottom of the 14th. The Brooklyn victory sets up the
second best-of-three tie-breaker series in the NL's 75-year history.
October in 1951 • October 1–2 – The
New York Giants and
Brooklyn Dodgers split the first two games of the
1951 National League tie-breaker series. With
Jim Hearn tossing a five-hitter and
Bobby Thomson bashing a difference-making two-run homer off
Ralph Branca, New York takes Game 1 at
Ebbets Field, 3–1. The next day, Brooklyn answers with a 10–0 whitewashing behind
Clem Labine's six-hit shutout and
Jackie Robinson's three hits and three RBI. Game 3 on October 3 will decide the league champion. • October 3 – The
Giants had been 13 games behind the
National League leading
Dodgers in mid-August, but under
Leo Durocher's guidance and with the aid of a 16-game winning streak, they complete their improbable comeback. In Game 3 of the
NL playoffs at the
Polo Grounds, Brooklyn leads 4–2 with one out in the bottom of the ninth
inning. With Giants' runners on second and third, New York's
Bobby Thomson hits reliever
Branca's third pitch for a
line-drive home run into the left-field stands to win the game, 5–4. His "
shot heard 'round the world" wins the NL pennant in
"walk off" style, and
WMCA-AM's
Russ Hodges' frantic "The Giants win the pennant!", said four times consecutively, becomes one of the most famous home run calls in baseball history. • October 4 – For the 14 clubs not in the
1951 World Series, the off-season trading period kicks off when the
Chicago Cubs deal 24-year-old catcher
Smoky Burgess and outfielder
Bob Borkowski to the
Cincinnati Reds for catcher
Johnny Pramesa and outfielder
Bob Usher. • October 8 – In a marriage of opposite personalities, showman owner
Bill Veeck names cantankerous former
Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman
Rogers Hornsby manager of the 1952
St. Louis Browns, replacing
Zack Taylor. Upon his appointment, Hornsby promises "no midgets, no gimmicks, just good baseball." • October 10 • The
New York Yankees defeat the
New York Giants, 4–3, in Game 6 of the
World Series to win their third consecutive Series championship and 14th overall. The Yanks'
Eddie Lopat goes 2–0 (
0.50) with two complete games, and
Gil McDougald drives in seven runs for the victors, while
Monte Irvin (11 hits,
.458) and
Alvin Dark (ten hits, .417) star in a losing cause. Just before today's game, Giants manager
Leo Durocher turns over to newly installed
Commissioner Ford Frick a letter that offered the Giants
manager a $15,000 bribe "if the Giants managed to lose the next three games". • In an all-pitcher, six-player transaction, the independently operated
Seattle Rainiers of the
Pacific Coast League trade
Marv Grissom and
Hal Brown to the
Chicago White Sox for
Jerry Dahlke,
Bill Fischer,
Marv Rotblatt and minor-leaguer Richard Duffy. • October 11 – The
Boston Braves trade outfielder
Bob Addis to the
Chicago Cubs for shortstop
Jack Cusick. • October 14 – The
Cincinnati Reds trade outfielder
Jim Bolger to
Buffalo of the
Triple-A International League for pitchers
Tom Acker and
Moe Savransky. • October 17 – The
Yomiuri Giants win the
Japan Series over the
Nankai Hawks. The Giants went on to win the
Central League pennant 19 times in the next 23 years, including nine in succession (1965–73). • October 22 – The third-place
Boston Red Sox, who lost 12 of their last 13 games to finish 87–67 in 1951, replace veteran manager
Steve O'Neill with infielder
Lou Boudreau, who has just completed his first season in a Red Sox uniform. Boudreau, 34, formerly was the
player-manager of the
Cleveland Indians from 1942 to 1950, and in his most famous season, , led the Indians to a
playoff victory over the Red Sox, and—ultimately—a
World Series championship. • October 24 — The
Washington Senators send slick-fielding shortstop
Willy Miranda to the
Chicago White Sox for veteran infielder
Floyd Baker.
November • November 1 –
Brooklyn Dodgers catcher
Roy Campanella is named
National League Most Valuable Player, the first of three MVP awards he will receive during his Hall of Fame career. In 1951, Campanella, 29,
batted .325, fourth in the NL, with 33
home runs and 108
run batted in in 143 games. • November 8 – Campanella's opposite number in
The Bronx,
Yogi Berra, wins the first of his three
American League Most Valuable Player Awards.
Cooperstown-bound Berra, 26, batted .294 (27 homers, 88 runs batted in) for the AL champion
New York Yankees in 1951. In the balloting, he defeats pitcher
Ned Garver by 27 points. Right-hander Garver had gone 20–12 with 24 complete games for a
St. Louis Browns squad that won only 52 games all season. • November 10 – In
Tokyo, 50,000 fans are on hand as an American All-Star team battles a Japanese
Central League All-Star team.
Joe DiMaggio hits a 400-foot home run in the eighth inning to tie the game at 1–1, then his younger brother
Dom laces an RBI-triple in the ninth and later scores to give the Americans a 3–2 victory. The Americans have won 12 games and tied one. • November 13 – The
Chicago White Sox remain active in the trade market under general manager
"Frantic" Frank Lane, dealing pitcher
Randy Gumpert and outfielder
Don Lenhardt to the
Boston Red Sox for left-hander
Chuck Stobbs and infielder
Mel Hoderlein. • November 15 –
Willie Mays, the brilliant, 20-year-old centerfielder of the
New York Giants, and
Gil McDougald, 23, versatile infielder of the
New York Yankees, win their circuits' respective
"Rookie of the Year" awards. For Mays, it is the first major honor in a Hall of Fame career. • November 23 – The
New York Yankees send young catcher
Clint Courtney to the
St. Louis Browns in exchange for pitcher
Jim McDonald. Courtney, a scrapper despite being the first major-league catcher to wear eyeglasses, had appeared in one game for New York. He'll appear in 945 more American League contests through 1961. • November 24 – The
St. Louis Cardinals fire manager
Marty Marion after only one season at the team's helm. Eight-time
NL All-Star shortstop Marion, 33, led the 1951 Redbirds to an 81–73 mark and third-place finish. • November 27 • In an eight-player trade, the
St. Louis Browns send catcher
Sherm Lollar, pitcher
Al Widmar and infielder
Tom Upton to the
Chicago White Sox in exchange for catcher
Gus Niarhos, pitcher
Dick Littlefield, first baseman
Gordon Goldsberry, shortstop
Joe DeMaestri and outfielder
Jim Rivera. Rivera, a favorite of Browns' manager
Rogers Hornsby, will be traded back to the ChiSox in eight months. Lollar will be Chicago's regular catcher for a decade, and make eight
AL All-Star teams. • The
White Sox also swap shortstops with the
Washington Senators, dealing
Tom Upton to Washington for
Sam Dente. • November 28 – The
Browns trade
Niarhos, along with outfielder
Ken Wood, to the
Boston Red Sox for catcher
Les Moss and outfielder
Tom Wright. The Browns also sign veteran free-agent shortstop
Marty Marion, fired as the
St. Louis Cardinals' manager four days earlier, as a player-coach.
December • December 5 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates reacquire first baseman
Dale Long on
waivers from the
St. Louis Browns. In March, the Pirates and Long had made headlines when he was briefly auditioned as a left-handed-throwing catcher. When that experiment was abandoned, he returned to his original position. Long will spend 1952 through 1954 in the minor leagues before winning the Pirates' first base job in and setting an MLB record for homers in consecutive games in . • December 10 – The
Cincinnati Reds and
Philadelphia Phillies pull off a seven-player trade, with the Reds dealing pitcher
Howie Fox, catcher
Smoky Burgess and infielder
Connie Ryan to the Phils for pitcher
Niles Jordan, catcher
Andy Seminick, infielder
Eddie Pellagrini and outfielder
Dick Sisler. Eventually, Burgess and Seminick will again be traded for each other as part of a six-player swap in April 1955. • December 11 • Three-time MVP and 13-time All Star center fielder
Joe DiMaggio officially retires as a member of the
New York Yankees at age 37. In a 13-season career for the club, DiMaggio posted a .325
batting average with 2,214
hits, 361
home runs and 1,537
runs batted in in 1,736 games played. A future
Baseball Hall of Famer, his
56-game consecutive-game hitting streak in the 1941 season is the longest in Major League Baseball history and will stand as one of the all-time best diamond achievements. • The
St. Louis Cardinals and
New York Giants conclude weeks of negotiation and rumors, with the Cardinals acquiring pugnacious veteran second baseman
Eddie Stanky from the Giants for pitcher
Max Lanier and outfielder
Chuck Diering. Stanky, 36, immediately signs a two-year contract to succeed
Marty Marion as manager of the Redbirds. ==Movies==