On January 24, 1939, the baseball writers select Eddie Collins, Willie Keeler and George Sisler to the Hall of Fame. Sisler set a major league season-record (later broken by Ichiro Suzuki) with 257 hits in 1920 and batted .420 in 1922 on his way to a .340 career batting average. Collins batted an even .333…
On January 17, 1939, the New York Yankees elect Ed Barrow as president. Barrow replaces Jacob Ruppert, who died four days earlier. Barrow will remain Yankee president until 1945, when the team is bought by Dan Topping and Del Webb.
Hilario “Sandy” Valdespino is born in San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba. The reserve outfielder bats .244 for the Astros during the first five months of the 1969 season before being traded. He had been in the 1965 World Series during his rookie season with the Minnesota Twins.
On January 13, 1939, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert dies from phlebitis at age 62. In 1919, Ruppert purchased the land on which Yankee Stadium would eventually be built. [jetpack_subscription_form title=”Join the Community” subscribe_text=”We bring you cool stories about the game, players, ballparks and the people that shaped the game!” subscribe_button=”Join us!” show_subscribers_total=”1″]…
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