January • January 3 – The
Chicago Cubs purchase the contract of 34-year-old knuckleballer
Willie Ramsdell from the
Cincinnati Reds. With his 17 losses in , Ramsdell tied for the
National League lead in that dubious category with
Paul Minner (Cubs) and
Ken Raffensberger (Reds). • January 16 – The
Boston Braves release
outfielder–manager Tommy Holmes, 34, from his players' contract. He had
batted only .172 in 1951 in 32 games, mostly as a
pinch hitter. • January 31 –
Harry Heilmann with 203 votes, and
Paul Waner with 195, become the newest members of the
Hall of Fame.
February • February 6 – The
Cleveland Indians sign veteran outfielder
Pete Reiser as a free agent. Reiser, 32, was a
National League batting and
stolen base champion and a "five-tool" star for the pre-
World War II Brooklyn Dodgers, but a plethora of serious injuries—shoulder separations, broken bones (including a skull fracture), and concussions, most of them sustained when he ran fearlessly into outfield walls in pursuit of fly balls—has wrecked his career. Released in November 1951 by the
Pittsburgh Pirates, his third NL team, Reiser will hit only .136 in 34 games for Cleveland in 1952, most of them as a pinch hitter, through July 5 in what is his last year as an active player. • February 14 – The
St. Louis Browns and
Detroit Tigers make a seven-player trade, in which the Browns send left-handed pitcher
Dick Littlefield, catcher
Matt Batts, first baseman
Ben Taylor and outfielder
Cliff Mapes to Detroit for southpaws
Bob Cain and
Gene Bearden and first baseman
Dick Kryhoski. Ironically, in Cain the Browns obtain the Tiger pitcher who faced ,
Eddie Gaedel in
Bill Veeck's legendary stunt on August 19, 1951. • February 16 – Hall of Famer
Honus Wagner, 77, retires after 40 years as a major league player and coach. He receives a pension from the
Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he spent most of those years. • February 21 & 26 –
Thomas Fine of
Cuba's
Leones de la Habana hurls the first
no-hitter in
Caribbean Series history, a 1–0 masterpiece against
Al Papai and
Venezuela's
Cervecería Caracas. Through 2013, it has been the only no-hitter pitched in Series history. Five days later, Fine is only three outs from consecutive no-hitters before he allows a single in the ninth inning of the Habana club's 11–3 victory over
Panama's
Carta Vieja Yankees. Fine's 17 consecutive hitless innings pitched record remains the longest in Caribbean Series history.
March • March 1 – With the opening of
spring training, MLB umpires are sent to the 16 clubs' camps to warn players against fraternizing with fans and opposing players. League presidents institute fines of $5 (initial offense) and $25 (repeat offenses) for violation of the rule. The warning, which is chiefly to combat
gambling on game outcomes, is instituted in the wake of the
1951–1952 college basketball "point-shaving" scandal. • March 20 –
Philadelphia Phillies manager
Eddie Sawyer, who took a hard line with his players by imposing an "austerity program" at the club's
spring training camp—banning wives, automobiles, clubhouse card games, and golf (among other things), and enforcing a strict curfew—is so pleased by the Phils' improved performance that he relaxes some (though not all) of the restrictions he had implemented. However, the club gets off to a sluggish 4–7 April start and Sawyer will resign before June is out. • March 24 – The
Chicago White Sox deal third baseman
Bob Dillinger, 33, a .306 lifetime hitter and three-time
American League stolen base leader, but frequently scorned as an indifferent fielder, to the
Sacramento Solons of the
Pacific Coast League for a
player to be named later and $10,000. He never plays in the major leagues again.
April • April 1 – The 49-year-old
Pacific Coast League begins its 180-game regular season as a member of an experimental level within
Minor League Baseball called the "Open Classification." Elevated from
Triple-A status, the PCL's "Open" designation marks its first step in a bid to become the third major league. In addition, the ability of MLB teams to draft PCL players is restricted, and member clubs are discouraged from signing working agreements with big-league "parent" organizations. • April 4 – Pitcher
Dave Hoskins, a 34-year-old veteran of the
Chicago American Giants and
Homestead Grays of the
Negro leagues, becomes the first Black player in the
Double-A Texas League when he takes the mound for the
Dallas Eagles. Enduring death threats and
Jim Crow laws during the season, Hoskins will post a
22–10 (
2.12) record, leading the Dallas franchise to its first TL pennant since 1936. • April 8 – The
Boston Braves trade stalwart veteran third baseman
Bob Elliott to the
New York Giants for pitcher
Sheldon Jones and $50,000. Known in Boston as "Mister Team" and 's
National League MVP, Elliott, 35, is one of the few remaining members of the
1948 NL champion Braves. • April 19 – In their second meeting of 1952, the
Brooklyn Dodgers gain their second straight victory over the arch-rival
New York Giants, 11–6, backed by five Brooklyn home runs. Despite giving up four homers today,
Ralph Branca earns the complete-game triumph; it's the first time he's faced the Giants since giving up the pennant-deciding "
Shot Heard 'Round the World" home run to
Bobby Thomson on October 3, 1951. Thomson goes hitless in four at bats, with one base on balls, today. • April 22 – At
Crosley Field, three members of the
St. Louis Cardinals are ejected, including manager
Eddie Stanky, in a 2–1 loss to the home-standing
Cincinnati Reds. Stanky's third-inning eviction features a shoving match with home plate umpire
Scotty Robb. NL president
Warren Giles, present in the stands, rules two weeks later that Robb instigated the physical contact, issues a reprimand, and fines the umpire—and triggers Robb's immediate resignation. • April 23 –
Bob Cain and the
St. Louis Browns defeat
Bob Feller and the
Cleveland Indians, 1–0, in a game in which both pitchers throw a one-hitter. This was only the second double one-hitter in the modern era (since ). • April 29 – At
Shibe Park, third baseman
Al Rosen of the
Cleveland Indians socks three home runs and drives in seven and his club lashes 25 hits in all—an MLB high for 1951—as Cleveland thrashes the
Philadelphia Athletics, 21–9. • April 30 • Veteran Negro leagues catcher
Quincy Trouppe makes his major league debut with the
Cleveland Indians. At 39 years of age, he is one of the oldest rookies in major league history. Three days later, Trouppe is behind the plate when relief pitcher
Toothpick Sam Jones enters the game, forming the first black battery in
American League history. • In the seventh inning at
Fenway Park,
Ted Williams of the
Boston Red Sox hits a game-winning, two-run
home run off
Dizzy Trout of the
Detroit Tigers to break a 3–3 tie on "Ted Williams Day." It is Williams' final game of the season before he departs for the
Korean War to serve as a
Marine fighter pilot. He plays only six contests in 1952 and goes four-for-ten, with today's blast his only home run of the campaign.
May • May 3 • The
New York Yankees acquire outfielder
Irv Noren and shortstop
Tom Upton from the
Washington Senators for pitcher
Spec Shea, infielder
Jerry Snyder, and outfielders
Jackie Jensen and
Archie Wilson. Noren becomes a valuable lefthanded-swinging outfielder in
Casey Stengel's "platoon" system. Jensen gets to play regularly in his 1½ years as Washington's starting right fielder before he's traded to the
Boston Red Sox after the campaign. • The Senators also trade outfielder
Sam Mele to the
Chicago White Sox for infielder
Mel Hoderlein and outfielder
Jim Busby. • May 9 – The
White Sox score three runs in the top of the 16th inning, then hold the
Detroit Tigers off the scoreboard in the home half to claim an 8–5 win at
Briggs Stadium. Future Hall-of-Famer
Minnie Miñoso's triple is the key blow in the ChiSox' triumph. • May 13 –
Ron Necciai of the
Class-D Bristol Twins strikes out 27 batters while firing a 7–0, nine-inning
no-hit victory against the
Welch Miners in an
Appalachian League game. Four of the Welch hitters reach base on a
walk, an
error, a
hit by pitch, and a
passed ball charged to Twins' catcher
Harry Dunlop on a swinging third strike. But 27 strikeouts are recorded on the night, including four in the ninth inning, as a result of Dunlop's miscue, while one batter is retired on a
grounder in the second inning. • May 15 – After pitching four no-hitters in the minors, 33-year-old
Virgil Trucks of the
Detroit Tigers pitches his first in the majors, a 1–0 blanking of the
Washington Senators.
Vic Wertz's two-out home run in the ninth inning off
Bob Porterfield wins the game at
Briggs Stadium. • May 21 – At
Ebbets Field, the
Brooklyn Dodgers set a Major League record by scoring 15 runs in the first inning of a 19–1 pounding of the
Cincinnati Reds. All nine Dodgers in the starting lineup both score a run and bat in a run in that first inning. • May 23 – The
Cincinnati Reds trade left-hander
Kent Peterson and outfielder
Johnny Wyrostek to the
Philadelphia Phillies for pitcher
Bubba Church. • May 26 –
Ron Necciai's teammate on the
Class-D Bristol Twins, 18-year-old right-hander
Bill Bell, throws his second consecutive
no-hit game, striking out 17 and walking 11 in defeating
Kingsport. Bell will throw a third
Appalachian League no-hitter on August 25, a seven-inning triumph over
Bluefield. Like Necciai, he will be called up by the parent
Pittsburgh Pirates in September for a taste of major league competition. • May 28 –
New York Giants sophomore centerfielder
Willie Mays goes hitless in four at bats, dropping his 1952
batting average to .236 in 34 games. But his Giants defeat the
Brooklyn Dodgers 6–2 at
Ebbets Field, improving their record to 26–8 (
.765) and they extend their lead over Brooklyn to 2½ games. After Mays is called into
Korean War military service the following day, the Giants will finish second in 1952 and fifth in before Mays' return to baseball in . • May 29 –
Boston Red Sox pitcher
Mickey McDermott faces 27 batters and fires a one-hitter to beat the Washington Senators, 1–0, at Fenway Park.
Mel Hoderlein's fourth-inning single is the only Washington hit and he is thrown out while trying to stretch his single into a double. • May 30 • After the
Boston Braves (13–22 and seventh in the
National League) drop a
Memorial Day doubleheader to the
Brooklyn Dodgers, they fire second-year manager
Tommy Holmes. To replace him, they summon veteran
Charlie Grimm from
Triple-A Milwaukee to take the reins. Holmes, who went 61–69 (
.469) in just under a full calendar year as the Braves' pilot, returns to the playing ranks June 17 when he signs with the Dodgers as a free agent. • In an unlikely doubleheader sweep at
Yankee Stadium, the
Philadelphia Athletics take two from their hosts, the Yankees, 2–1 behind
Bobby Shantz' 14-inning complete game, and 4–2 behind hurlers
Bob Hooper and
Carl Scheib. • The last-place
Pittsburgh Pirates split their twin bill with the
St. Louis Cardinals at
Forbes Field, improving their season mark to 9–33 (.214). En route to a 42–112 final record, the Bucs have already endured losing streaks of ten, eight and six games.
June • June 1 – At
Sportsman's Park, the
New York Giants drop a
doubleheader to the
St. Louis Cardinals, 8–7 and 8–2, while the
Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the
Chicago Cubs 3–2 at
Wrigley Field behind the pitching of
Ben Wade and
Joe Black. The Dodgers (27–10) move into first place in the
National League by a game over the Giants (27–12). • June 3 – The second-place
Boston Red Sox (23–18) and last-place
Detroit Tigers (13–27) make a nine-player trade and sports headlines: Boston sends pitcher
Bill Wight, first baseman
Walt Dropo, third baseman
Johnny Pesky, infielder
Fred Hatfield, and outfielder
Don Lenhardt to Detroit for pitcher
Dizzy Trout, third baseman
George Kell, shortstop
Johnny Lipon, and outfielder
Hoot Evers. Dropo, Pesky, Trout, Kell and Evers are former
American League All-Stars, and Kell is en route to the
Baseball Hall of Fame. However, none of the traded players will make a significant mark with his new club. • June 4 – The
Cleveland Indians'
Larry Doby hits for the cycle in a 13–11 loss to the
Red Sox at
Fenway Park. The future Hall of Famer drives in six runs. On the Boston side, second baseman
Billy Goodman goes five for five (all singles), scores four runs, and knocks in three. Doby's is the only "cycle" in the majors this season. • June 10 •
Rogers Hornsby's second tour of duty as dugout boss of the
St. Louis Browns ends after only 51 games (and only 22 victories), when owner
Bill Veeck replaces him with
player-manager Marty Marion. The Browns' players celebrate the firing by presenting Veeck with a trophy after tonight's 7–4 victory over the
Boston Red Sox to thank the owner for "emancipating" them from the irascible Hornsby's reign. • The
Red Sox and
Washington Senators do a three-pitcher deal, with Boston sending
Randy Gumpert and
Walt Masterson to Washington for
Sid Hudson. • On the strength of home runs from
Sam Mele,
Héctor Rodríguez and
Al Zarilla, the
Chicago White Sox score 12 runs in the fourth inning at
Shibe Park and rout the
Philadelphia Athletics 15–4. • June 11 • The
Browns' joy is short-lived. Boston catcher
Sammy White clouts a
walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning off
Leroy "Satchel" Paige to give the
Red Sox an 11–9 victory over the Brownies at
Fenway Park. • During that uprising, the Red Sox end Paige's personal streak of 27 innings pitched of scoreless relief, compiled over 12 appearances and dating to May 8, third-longest in MLB in 1952. Piersall's mocking antics will be among multiple public displays of a serious disorder that result in his treatment in a
Boston-area mental hospital later in 1952; his story will be told in a
memoir and feature film five years later. • June 15 • The
St. Louis Browns acquire shortstop
Willy Miranda and outfielder
Al Zarilla from the
Chicago White Sox for third baseman
Leo Thomas and outfielder
Tom Wright. Zarilla, a 33-year-old veteran, returns to St. Louis, where eight years before he was a member of the
1944 Browns, the city's only
American League champion. • Infielder
Tommy Brown, only 24 years old but already in his eighth National League season, changes address for the second time in two years when the
Philadelphia Phillies sell his contract to the
Chicago Cubs. • June 16 – Colorful, well-traveled, 44-year-old right-hander
Bobo Newsom changes uniforms for the final time, when he's released by the
Washington Senators and signed by the
Philadelphia Athletics. Since he first arrived in the majors in , Newsom has pitched for nine different franchises, playing multiple stints for four of them (the Senators and Athletics included).
Retrosheet and
Baseball Reference list 23 different transactions over Newsom's long career, which will finally end in November 1953 with him posting a 211–222 record in 600 MLB games, including three 20-victory and three 20-loss seasons. • June 19 –
Carl Erskine of the
Brooklyn Dodgers tosses a 5–0
no-hitter against the
Chicago Cubs at
Ebbets Field. Erskine will pitch his second career no-hitter on May 12, against the
New York Giants, 3–0, also at Ebbets Field. • June 20 – In a night game at
Sportsman's Park, the
St. Louis Browns and
Washington Senators play to an 18-inning, 5–5 tie before a curfew halts the game.
Satchel Paige of the Browns, age 46, throws ten shutout innings in relief. Each team has 14 hits. While the statistics will count for the players, the game will have to be replayed from scratch. • June 22 – The
Boston Braves'
Sid Gordon hits a two-run
homer over the left-field fence at
Braves Field and wins a 100-pound bear cub as the prize for being the first Boston player to homer on "State of Maine Day". After the game, Gordon is presented with the animal in the Braves' clubhouse. • June 23 – The fan attendance crisis suddenly plaguing
minor league baseball is dramatized when the
Toledo Mud Hens of the
Triple-A American Association—facing bankruptcy—transfer to
West Virginia in midseason and change their name to the
Charleston Senators. A Toledo institution since 1916, the Mud Hens have consistently finished among the bottom three teams in the Association's standings during the
post-war period and their attendance has plummeted from 234,000 in 1946 to only 99,000 in 1951. • June 25 – At
Comiskey Park,
Chicago White Sox shortstop Chico Carrasquel fractures his little finger during a 9–6 loss to the
Washington Senators‚ which drops Chicago four games out of first place. Carrasquel will reinjure it on July 9 and be out of the lineup until August 19. The injury to Carrasquel will prove to be a key factor in the team's disappointing third-place finish. The White Sox will reacquire slick-fielding shortstop
Willy Miranda from the
Browns on June 28—thirteen days after they traded him—in an effort to plug the gap. • June 27 –
Eddie Sawyer, who managed the "
Whiz Kid"
Philadelphia Phillies to only the second pennant in club history (and first since ), resigns after the club's 6–0 triumph over the
New York Giants at
Shibe Park. Sawyer, 41, remains with the Phils as special assignment scout for owner
R. R. M. Carpenter Jr. In all or parts of his five seasons as their skipper, Sawyer's Phillies went 296–292 (
.503). His replacement is veteran former
American League pilot
Steve O'Neill, 61, who last managed the
1951 Boston Red Sox. Under O'Neill, the 1952 Phillies (now 28–35) will rally to go 59–32 (
.648) to finish 87–67 and in the
National League's
first division.
July • July 1 – After 18 innings of play, the
Cleveland Indians and visiting
St. Louis Browns remain knotted 2–2. Then, in the top off the 19th, the Browns break through to take a 3–2 lead on
Jim Delsing's RBI single. But in the bottom of the 19th, the Indians re-tie the game on
Al Rosen's double, then win it 4–3 on recently acquired
Hank Majeski's pinch single. The decisions go to two notable pitchers: the winner, left-hander
Lou Brissie, is a
World War II combat veteran who wears a brace to support his badly wounded left leg; the loser, eventual
Baseball Hall of Famer
Satchel Page, is a 46-year-old veteran of the
Negro leagues. Brissie throws ten innings of one-run relief, while Paige goes 10 and allows just two runs on eight hits and eight bases on balls. • July 4 • The standings at the end of today's holiday doubleheaders, which mark the midpoint of the MLB season, show the arch-rival
Brooklyn Dodgers and
New York Giants again fighting for supremacy of the
National League, with Brooklyn (49–21) three games in front of the Giants (46–24). In the
American League, the
New York Yankees (43–28) hold a 2½-game advantage over the
Chicago White Sox (43–33). • Not even two years removed from battling for the 1950 AL
pennant, the
Detroit Tigers (23–49) languish in last place in the Junior Circuit, 20½ games behind the Yankees. In response, the Tigers fire manager
Red Rolfe, and replace him with an active player, 32-year-old pitcher
Fred Hutchinson, who has won 95 games for Detroit over his nine years with the team. The move launches Hutchinson's 12-year career as a big-league skipper, which will include recognition as
MLB Manager of the Year () and a
National League pennant-winning season ().
Hank Sauer • July 8 – In a rain-shortened affair at
Shibe Park, home of the
Philadelphia Phillies, the
National League tops the
American League, 3–2 (five innings), in the
All-Star Game.
Jackie Robinson and
Hank Sauer each
homer for the NL. • July 15 •
Detroit Tigers first baseman Walt Dropo collects seven consecutive hits over the course of
doubleheader against the
Washington Senators. Combined with the five consecutive hits he recorded on July 14, Dropo establishes the
American League and
Major League record for consecutive hits in consecutive
plate appearances with twelve base hits. •
Eddie Joost of the
Philadelphia Athletics becomes the second player (after
Boston's
Sammy White on June 11) to hit a
walk-off grand slam against
St. Louis Browns pitcher
Satchel Paige this season, in a 7–6 victory at
Shibe Park. Paige is the first pitcher in Major League history to surrender two walk-off homers in the same season, according to the
Elias Sports Bureau. Other pitchers will join Paige in the coming years:
Lindy McDaniel in ,
Lee Smith in and
Francisco Rodríguez in . • July 19 –
Joe Reliford, the 12-year-old
batboy for the
Fitzgerald Pioneers of the
Class D Georgia State League, is allowed by the home-plate umpire to pinch hit in an official game; Fitzgerald is trailing 13–0 in the eighth inning at the time. After grounding out sharply to third base, Reliford plays an inning of defense in centerfield. He becomes the youngest player to ever appear in
Minor League Baseball, and also breaks the
color line in the
segregated GSL. In the aftermath of his appearance, the league fires the umpire, Fitzgerald's manager is suspended for five games, and Reliford is relieved of his batboy job. • July 23 – The
Washington Senators, one of the surprise teams of the
American League, win their ninth game of their last 11 with a 16-inning, 5–2 triumph over the
Detroit Tigers at
Briggs Stadium. Starting pitcher
Spec Shea allows only one earned run over 14 frames before he's relieved by eventual winner
Sandy Consuegra. Washington is now 50–40, in third place and only 5½ games behind the
New York Yankees. • July 28 – The
Chicago White Sox and
St. Louis Browns pull off a four-player
waiver deal, in which the White Sox acquire catcher
Darrell Johnson and outfielder
Jim Rivera from St. Louis for rookie catcher
Jay Porter and outfielder
Ray Coleman. Porter is a 19-year-old "
bonus baby" and considered a top prospect.
August • August 3 – The woeful (28–76)
Pittsburgh Pirates deal the second-place
New York Giants a shocking Sunday doubleheader setback at the
Polo Grounds, taking the twin bill by scores of 7–0 and 10–8 (six innings, called due to darkness). Pittsburgh's winning pitchers,
Murry Dickson and
Howie Pollet, are both veterans of the
St. Louis Cardinals' contending teams of the 1940s. The two losses, coupled with
Brooklyn's doubleheader sweep of the
Chicago Cubs, drop the Giants (60–37) to 6½ games behind the front-running Dodgers. • August 5 – Hall-of-Fame hitter
Rogers Hornsby, whose departure from the
St. Louis Browns' managerial job in June was controversially celebrated by his former players, gets another chance to manage in the major leagues. The
Cincinnati Reds, who are 42–61 and seventh in the
National League, name Hornsby, 56, the replacement for former skipper
Luke Sewell, who was fired July 30. Hornsby, considered the greatest right-handed hitter in NL history (.358 lifetime
batting average), coaxes the 1952 Reds to a 27–24 record through season's end. Cincinnati will be the seventh and final stop in Hornsby's MLB managerial career. • August 8 –
United States Air Force Major Bob Neighbors, a former shortstop who played six pro seasons (1936–1941)—including seven September 1939 games with the
St. Louis Browns—before becoming a
USAAF pilot during
World War II, does not return from a bombing mission during the
Korean War. Missing and presumed killed in action, Neighbors, 34, is believed to be the only MLB player who lost his life during the Korean conflict. (See
Deaths entry for this date below.) • August 10 – In his first MLB appearance, 20-year-old minor-league phenom
Ron Necciai, called up by the
Pittsburgh Pirates, gives up five runs in the top of the first inning to the
Chicago Cubs before settling down to work six full frames. He's tagged with seven earned runs and the 9–5 loss. Necciai had gained fame May 13 by striking out 27 batters in a nine-inning game in the
Class D Appalachian League, and 281 hitters in only 169 innings pitched through August 1952. He will win only one of seven MLB
decisions in 12 appearances, then, plagued by ulcers, be out of baseball by 1956. • August 14 – The two tail-enders in the
American League, the seventh-place
St. Louis Browns and eighth-place
Detroit Tigers, exchange eight players in a late-season
waiver deal. The four-for-four trade sees St. Louis send pitchers
Bud Black,
Ned Garver (a 20-game-winner in 1951) and
Dave Madison, along with outfielder
Jim Delsing, to Detroit for hurlers
Dick Littlefield and
Marlin Stuart and outfielders
Don Lenhardt and
Vic Wertz. • August 16 – In a game that lasts only 6 innings before it's halted by rain, the
Brooklyn Dodgers pile up 15 runs and 15 hits, put up "crooked numbers" in four innings, and blank the visiting
Philadelphia Phillies, 15–0. • August 18 – The second-place
Cleveland Indians, only two games out of the
American League lead, acquire relief pitcher
Ted Wilks and shortstop
George Strickland in a
waiver deal with the
Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder
John Beradino, $50,000, and a "
PTBNL." Wilks is one of the
National League's premier relievers. Beradino, an actor as well as a ballplayer, is destined to become a daytime television star as
Dr. Steve Hardy of
General Hospital. • August 23 •
Bob Elliott of the
New York Giants is ejected for arguing a strike call during an at-bat against the
St. Louis Cardinals at
Sportsman's Park.
Bobby Hofman completes Elliott's at-bat. Hofman strikes out and is also ejected for arguing. • The
New York Yankees break a virtual tie for first place with the visiting
Indians when
Vic Raschi outduels future
Hall-of-Famer Early Wynn 1–0.
Joe Collins provides the Yanks' run with a fourth-inning double and Raschi improves his record to 15–3. The following day, the Bombers increase their margin to two games when they defeat
Detroit 4–2 and Cleveland loses a marathon, 16-inning contest to
Washington, 9–8. • August 25 –
Tigers pitcher
Virgil Trucks fires his second
no-hitter of the season, a 1–0 shutout over the host
New York Yankees. Previously, Trucks held the
Washington Senators without a hit on May 15. Trucks is one of five pitchers to throw two no-hitters in a season, the others being
Johnny Vander Meer (1938),
Allie Reynolds (1951),
Nolan Ryan (1973) and
Roy Halladay (2010, with one of his no-hitters coming in the postseason). Hurling for the 50–104, cellar-dwelling 1952 Tigers, Trucks will post a career-worst 5–19
won–lost record, but two of his five victories will be no-hitters and a third triumph will be a July 22 one-hitter, also against Washington. • September 16 – In the
American League's second-longest contest of 1952, the
Chicago White Sox outlast the
Boston Red Sox 4–3 in 17 innings. The Bosox are in the midst of a horrific 7–20 month of September that drops them two games under .500 by season's end. • September 21 • Mired in the midst of a ten-game losing streak, the seventh-place
Boston Braves drop their final home game, 8–2, to the visiting, pennant-bound
Brooklyn Dodgers to fall to a 63–85 mark. The contest is witnessed by 8,822 fans at
Braves Field, bringing the year's attendance to 281,278—by far the worst in the majors (and over 237,000 fans fewer than the next-worst team, the
St. Louis Browns). Few, if any, know it, but today's spectators have seen the last
National League game to be played in
Boston: the Braves will abruptly relocate to
Milwaukee in the midst of
spring training in 1953. • The
Hollywood Stars win the 1952
Pacific Coast League title in the PCL's first season at the "Open Classification" level. One of two clubs in
Los Angeles, the Stars finish third in attendance, behind the league-leading
Angels and the
Portland Beavers. Its "Open" designation, intended to help the PCL attain major-league status, will last through 1957, when the
Dodgers and
Giants invade California. • September 23 – The
Brooklyn Dodgers (95–54) clinch their ninth-ever
National League championship (since 1890), coming back from a 4–1 deficit to edge the
Philadelphia Phillies 5–4 in the first game of an
Ebbets Field double-header.
Johnny Rutherford is the unsung hero, throwing a complete game in what will be his final regular-season MLB appearance. • September 26 – The
New York Yankees (94–58) clinch their fourth straight
American League pennant, defeating the
Philadelphia Athletics in 11 innings, 5–2, at
Shibe Park.
Billy Martin's RBI single is the winning blow. It's the Bombers' 19th AL flag in the past 32 seasons. They will face the
Brooklyn Dodgers for the fourth time since 1941 in the
1952 World Series. • September 27 • At
Ebbets Field, rookie third baseman
Eddie Mathews of the
Boston Braves slugs three home runs in his club's penultimate game, leading Boston to an 11–3 victory. Mathews, 21, will earn a place in the
Baseball Hall of Fame, belting 512 career homers in a 17-year career; he will also be known as the only man to play for the Braves in Boston (1952), Milwaukee (1953–1965) and
Atlanta (1966). •
Billy Meyer, manager of the
Pittsburgh Pirates since 1948, announces he will retire after the season "for a healthier job." Meyer, 59, won the
The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award, but his 1952 team is on the verge of a 42–112 debacle. He remains with the Pirates as a scout until his 1957 death, with the team retiring his uniform #1 in 1954.
October 's Series-saving, Game 7 catch • October 1 – In Game 1 of the
1952 World Series, the
Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the
New York Yankees, 4–2, at
Ebbets Field behind relief ace
Joe Black, who started only two games during the regular season. • October 7 – The
New York Yankees defeat the
Brooklyn Dodgers, 4–2, in the decisive Game 7 of the
World Series to win their fourth straight World Championship title – tying the mark they set between 1936 and 1939 and fifteenth overall.
Billy Martin saves the day by snaring a two-out, bases-loaded infield pop off the bat of
Jackie Robinson.
Gil Hodges goes hitless again and is 0-for-21 in the Series. This is the Yankees' third defeat of the Dodgers in six years. • October 14 • The
Cincinnati Reds obtain centerfielder
Gus Bell from the
Pittsburgh Pirates for catcher
Joe Rossi and outfielders
Cal Abrams and
Gail Henley. Bell will thrive in Cincinnati, making four
National League All-Star teams and slugging 160 home runs over nine seasons. • The
Brooklyn Dodgers trade slick-fielding minor-league shortstop
Billy Hunter to the
St. Louis Browns for pitcher
Bob Mahoney, shortstop
Stan Rojek, outfielder
Ray Coleman, and $95,000. • October 15 – The
Boston Red Sox remove
player-manager Lou Boudreau from their active roster, enabling him to better focus on his managerial duties. Boudreau will remain at the Bosox' helm for two more seasons. His unconditional release ends the playing career of the former star shortstop and playing skipper of the
Cleveland Indians, a future
Baseball Hall of Famer. • October 30 – The
St. Louis Cardinals release longtime star left-hander
Harry Brecheen, a two-time NL All-Star and hero of the
1946 World Series. Brecheen is immediately named a playing pitching coach by the
American League St. Louis Browns.
November • November 12 –
Bobby Shantz, who posted a 24–7 record with 152
strikeouts and a 2.48
ERA for the
Philadelphia Athletics, is selected the
American League Most Valuable Player by the
Baseball Writers' Association of America and the AL Pitcher of the Year by
The Sporting News. • November 20 –
Hank Sauer, slugging outfielder of the
Chicago Cubs who is nicknamed "The Mayor of
Wrigley Field," wins the 1952
National League Most Valuable Player Award. Sauer, 35, tied
Ralph Kiner for the Senior Circuit's home-run crown, with 37 blasts, and led the NL in RBI (121). • November 21 –
Joe Black, who posted a 15–4
record, 2.15
earned run average, and 15
saves for the pennant-winning
Brooklyn Dodgers, wins the
National League Rookie of the Year Award. • November 22 –
Philadelphia Athletics pitcher
Harry Byrd, who won 15 games and posted and a 3.31 ERA, is selected
American League Rookie of the Year. Byrd will be the last Athletics player to win the award until
Jose Canseco in . • November 28 –
International League president
Frank Shaughnessy reveals plans to form two new major leagues by merging the top teams in the
American Association and the top teams from the IL. Shaughnessy thinks that in five to six years, Major League Baseball will elevate these two leagues, along with the
Pacific Coast League, which nearly has MLB status now. • November 30 – On a local New York TV program,
Jackie Robinson of the
Brooklyn Dodgers charges that the
New York Yankees management is racist for its failure to bring up a black player. Yankees executive
George Weiss denies the allegations.
December • December 2 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates draft relief pitcher
Elroy Face from the
Montreal Royals, the top minor league affiliate of the
Brooklyn Dodgers. During a 15-year career with the Pirates, Face will lead the National League in saves three times and will be a three-time All-Star, as well as his amazing 18 relief wins in remains a major league record. • December 4 • The
Detroit Tigers trade hard-throwing pitcher
Virgil Trucks, fellow right-hander
Hal White and outfielder
Johnny Groth to the
St. Louis Browns for catcher
Jay Porter, infielder
Owen Friend and outfielder
Bob Nieman. Trucks, an 11-year Tiger veteran, threw two no-hitters in 1952 but posted only a 5–19 (3.97
ERA) record for the last-place Bengals. •
Brooklyn Dodgers' vice president
Buzzie Bavasi dismisses the
New York Yankees' reaction to the
Jackie Robinson racism charges. Commissioner
Ford Frick plans no action against Robinson. Two days earlier, Robinson had called the Yankees a racist organization for its failure to promote a black player to the parent club. • December 10 – The
Washington Senators acquire left-hander
Chuck Stobbs from the
Chicago White Sox for righty hurler
Mike Fornieles. • December 11 – The
Pittsburgh Pirates fill their managerial vacancy by promoting
Fred Haney, 56, from the
Hollywood Stars of the
Pacific Coast League. Haney will fail to lift the Bucs out of the
National League basement, going 163–299 (
.353) over three seasons. ==Movies==