Leon Day, pitching for the Newark Eagles, throws an Opening Day no-hitter against the Philadelphia Stars, winning, 2 – 0. It is the last 9-inning no-hitter in the Negro Leagues.
On January 2, 1946 The Chicago White Sox buy pitcher Alex Carrasquel and shortstop Fred Vaughn from the Washington Senators. Carrasquel will make only three appearances for the White Sox before The Venezuelan right-hander rejects the deal and signs a three-year contract to hurl in Jorge Pasquel’s Mexican League, becoming the first major leaguer to jump to a team south of the…
1945 – Happy Chandler, who had continued to serve in the U.S. Senate after becoming commissioner, resigns his political office. He will move the commissioner’s quarters to Cincinnati.
1945 – Hank Greenberg hits three doubles to lead the Detroit Tigers to an 8 – 4 victory over the Chicago Cubs, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead in the World Series.
George Stirnweiss of the Yankees gets 3 hits on the final day to raise his batting average to .309. The White Sox’s games are washed out, depriving the veteran Tony Cuccinello of a shot at the batting title. The only other .300 hitter playing full time is Johnny Dickshot. Neither Cuccinello nor Dickshot will ever play another game in the majors. Only Elmer Flick in 1905 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1968 ever lead the American League with a lower average than Stirnweiss, but the latter also leads the league with 195 hits, 107 runs, 22 triples, 301 total bases, 33 stolen bases, and a .476 slugging percentage.
Eddie Stanky draws a walk his first time at bat, his 148th walk of the year, from Hugh Mulcahy, to break Jimmy Sheckard’s mark. The Dodgers beat the Phils 4 – 1.
Paul Gillespie becomes the first of only two players in baseball history ever to hit home runs in their first and last big league at bats. The wartime Cubs reserve catcher went deep against the Giants at the Polo Grounds on September 11, 1942 and ends his career homering at the spacious Forbes Fields, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Only 281 patrons are in attendance at Crosley Field to watch the hometown Reds beat New York, 3-2. The Thursday crowd will be the smallest gathering of fans during the 58-year history of the Cincinnati ballpark.
In the nightcap of a twin bill at Shibe Park, Dick Fowler gets his only victory of the season when he no-hits the Browns, 1-0, becoming the first Canadian to throw a major league no-hitter. The A’s 24 year-old right-hander from Toronto will compile a 66-79 record during his ten-year tenure with the A’s.
1945 – Punching umpire Joe Rue earns an indefinite suspension for the A’s C Greek George. George will not play in the majors again‚ though his lifetime batting average of .177 might be the main cause.
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