1941 – Hank Gornicki of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches a one-hitter in his major league debut, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 6 – 0. Stan Benjamin’s single is the lone hit. For the Cardinals, it is their eighth victory in a row.
1940 – Jimmie Wilson is named as the new Chicago Cubs manager. He gets his reward for managing the woeful Philadelphia Phillies in the 1930s and for his late-season role filling in at catcher with the Cincinnati Reds.
1940 – Unwilling to yield to the players’ demands during the season, Cleveland Indians owner Alva Bradley finally fires manager Oscar Vitt and replaces him with Roger Peckinpaugh. It is Peckinpaugh’s second time as Cleveland’s field boss.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic candidate who broke with tradition to run for an unprecedented third term, is re-elected, defeating Wendell Willkie by a comfortable margin. The unlikely dark horse Republican candidate had once served as the Dodgers’ lawyer, but the independent-minded barrister’s involvement in politics proved not to be beneficial for a team that was in constant chaos at the time.
The Sullivans become the first father and son to have played in a World Series when Billy Jr. is the Tigers backstop in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Crosley Field. The Detroit catcher’s dad, Bill Sr., appeared in the postseason in 1906, playing the same position for the White Sox when he went 0-for-21 in the Hitless Wonders’ six-game triumph over the Cubs.
1940 – Besides Bobo Newsom (21-5), Schoolboy Rowe (16-3), and Tommy Bridges (12-9), the Tigers’ pitching staff combines for a losing record. Needing one victory to gain the title, manager Del Baker decides to withhold Newsom and Rowe and picks Floyd Giebell, an obscure rookie just called in from Buffalo. Giebell shuts out the Indians, 2 – 0, to beat Bob Feller, who gives up just 3 hits. Not eligible for the World Series, Giebell will never win another game in the major leagues. During the game, unruly Cleveland fans shower the field with fruit and vegetables. At one point, a basket of green tomatoes is dropped onto Tigers C Birdie Tebbetts’ head while he sits in the bullpen.
Walker Cooper, recently called up from Columbus (American Association), and Mort Cooper, pitching in relief, make up a brother battery in the Cards’ 4 – 3 win over the Reds.
1940 – With the Tigers, Indians, and Yankees neck-and-neck, the Tigers boost their lead to 2 games, as Schoolboy Rowe shuts out Cleveland, 5 – 0. Rowe, seemingly washed up after anchoring the staff through Tiger championships in the mid-1930s, will finish at 16-3.
The A’s are mired deep in the cellar, but Connie Mack hits all the right buttons today. He sends four pinch hitters to the plate in the 9th inning versus Detroit, and all four deliver hits.
A rhubarb at Ebbets Field results in a suspension and fine for Leo Durocher for “inciting a riot.” Perhaps better known from the game is the photo showing an obese Brooklyn fan astride George Magerkurth, pummeling the veteran umpire.
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