The Baseball Writers Association of America selects New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto as the American League MVP

The Baseball Writers Association of America selects New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto as the American League MVP

ByBaseball

The Baseball Writers Association of America selects New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto as the American League MVP. He posted a .324 batting average with 200 hits and 125 runs, but drove in just 66 runs. Rizzuto, who receives 16 of 23 first-place votes, easily outpoints runner-ups Billy Goodman of the Boston Red Sox and teammate Yogi Berra.

Walter O'malley

Walter O’Malley succeeds Branch Rickey as president of the Dodgers

ByThis Day in Baseball

Walter O’Malley succeeds Branch Rickey as president of the Dodgers. O’Malley, who had offered to buy Rickey’s share of the club to become majority owner, is forced to pay more money when ‘the Mahatma’, in a final act of defiance about being told to leave the organization, offers his share of the team to a friend for a million dollars, a deal the new president believes, but can’t prove, to be as “fraudulent as a four-dollar bill.”