On January 31, 1947, Hall of Famer – Lynn Nolan Ryan is born in Refugio, TX . He will make his major league debut in 1966 with the New York Mets, kicking off a major league record 27-year career. Ryan will win 324 games with the Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers and…
Houma (LA) Indians Bill Thomas, who pitched in all four games that his team won in the final round, is among the five persons, including two of his teammates and his manager, who are put on baseball’s ineligible list for allegedly betting on the 1946 Class D Evangeline League playoffs. The 41 year-old right-hander, the all-time minor league winningest pitcher with 383 wins, will be reinstated in 1949.
1947 – A rule change that allows voting only for players who were active after 1921 produces four new Hall of Fame members: catcher Mickey Cochrane, second baseman Frankie Frisch, and pitchers Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell, all former Most Valuable Players and World Series winners. Pie Traynor misses selection by two votes. Hubbell was forbidden by Ty Cobb to throw his screwball in Detroit’s farm system, but used it to win 253 games for the New York Giants; Frisch went to the World Series eight times and batted .316 over 19 seasons; Grove won 300 games, and his battery-mate Cochrane retired with .320, the highest lifetime batting average of any catcher.
On January 20, 1947, Negro Leagues legend Josh Gibson, suffers a stroke at a movie theater, dying a few hours later at his mother’s house at the age of 35. The stroke was believed to be caused by a brain tumor. He will be put to rest in an unmarked grave in Allegheny…
On January 18, 1947, the Detroit Tigers sell star first baseman Hank Greenberg to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1946, Greenberg led the American League with 44 home runs and 127 RBIs, but will slump to 25 home runs and 74 RBIs with the Pirates. Greenberg will retire after the 1947 season. Due to a misunderstanding…
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