During a road trip in Boston, Reds backup catcher Willard Hershberger is found dead in his room after taking his own life at the Copley Plaza Hotel. Having talked with his fragile player for hours after the game, Cincinnati skipper Bill McKechnie thought he had consoled the worn out backstop, who was distraught about leaving runners on base in every at bat with his 0-for-5 performance at the plate.
In Detroit, the Red Sox pound 14 hits in beating the Tigers, 12 – 9. Shortstop Joe Cronin is 4 for 5 and hits for the cycle, the 5th in Sox history. Cronin cycled in 1929, not the first player to cycle twice, but the first to do it a decade apart. His 8th-inning homer, off Archie McKain, follows a Doc Cramer triple and ices it for the Sox. Boston also gets homers from Dom DiMaggio and catcher Jimmie Foxx, his 23rd. Ted Williams, pinch-hitting in the 4th, draws a walk. Jack Wilson beats Tom Seats, with both pitching in relief.
1940 – Veteran Lou Finney hits so well for the Red Sox early in the season that manager Joe Cronin must make a place for him in the lineup. With rookie Dom DiMaggio joining Ted Williams and Doc Cramer in the OF, Cronin puts Finney at 1B when Jimmie Foxx volunteers to catch. The experiment lasts but a few games.
New York P Spud Chandler beats the White Sox with his bat, knocking in six runs with a single and two home runs, one a grand slam off Pete Appleton. The six RBI ties the American League record held by Appleton, George Uhle and Wes Ferrell.
The Brooklyn Dodgers beat Boston, 6 – 2, in 20 innings lasting 5 hours and 19 minutes. The two teams’ epic marathon ties record-setters of 1920 and 1939.
Ab Wright of Minneapolis (American Association) follows one home run in a morning game of a holiday doubleheader with four home runs and a triple – 19 total bases – against St. Paul.
Johnny Vander Meer, plagued with control problems, is optioned by the Reds to Indianapolis. Vandy was ineffective in the Reds’ pennant drive last year and was knocked out in his only two starts this year.
On June 27, 1940 To honor the lyricist of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Jack Norworth Day is celebrated at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Neither Norworth nor his partner Albert Von Tilzer, who wrote the music, had ever seen a game when they created the song in 1908.
1940 – Sam Chapman is 5 for 5, including a grand slam, to lead the Browns to a win over the A’s.
On June 25, 1940 The Cubs score five times in the 13th to beat the Dodgers, 8 – 3. Claude Passeau pitches four innings of relief for the win. It’s the Dodgers’ 7th loss in nine games. @ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IGp1c3QgY2xpY2sgdGhlIHRhZ3MhICAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsImxpbmtfdG9fdGVybV9wYWdlIjoib24iLCJzZXBhcmF0b3IiOiIgfCAiLCJjYXRlZ29yeV90eXBlIjoicG9zdF90YWcifX0=@
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