5/21/1940: Frankie Hayes of the Athletics hit a grand slam off Browns pitcher Bob Harris in the top of the fifth inning. The game was rained out after 4-1/2 innings with Philadelphia leading 6-0.
Tiger slugger Pinky Higgins hits three consecutive home runs at Briggs Stadium. The third baseman’s offensive output contributes to Detroit’s 10-7 victory over Boston.
1940 – The Brooklyn Dodgers become the first National League team to fly when they travel by air to Chicago from St. Louis.
1940 – Picked up off the scrap heap by the Brooklyn Dodgers just months after being given his unconditional release by the Double-A Milwaukee Brewers, starting pitcher Tex Carleton throws a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field. Aside from making Brooklyn GM Larry MacPhail look like a genius, the 3 – 0 masterpiece maintains both Carleton’s and the Dodgers’ perfect start to 1940: Carleton at 2-and-0 and the Dodgers at a record-tying 9-and-0.
Ed Ford(later Whitey) of Astoria, Queens receives a trophy at the Hearst Sandlot Classic.
On Opening Day at Griffith Stadium, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s errant ceremonial first pitch smashes a Washington Post camera. Red Sox hurler Lefty Grove blanks the Senators, 1-0, after the Chief Executive tosses his wild throw.
1940 – During a 10 – 1 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Chicago White Sox second baseman Jackie Hayes catches a piece of cinder in his eye. The eye will become infected and though he finishes the season, he loses the sight in the eye. In 1943, Hayes will lose the sight in both eyes.
1940 – An inter-league exhibition All-Star Game is played in Florida for the benefit of Finland, which has been attacked by the Soviet Union. Over $20,000 is raised, but the Finlanders give up their battle within a few days of the benefit.
1940 – The Boston Bees sell outfielder Debs Garms to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Garms will get only 358 at bats for Pittsburgh but, nevertheless, will lead the National League in hitting with a .355 average. Unlike what is the case in the American League, where 400 at bats are required to be eligible for the batting title, the NL rules state that a player must appear in at least a hundred games: Garms will play in 103. Ford Frick, NL president, will clarify this in September when it is clear that Garms will not reach the 400 at bats. Pirates teammate Virgil Davis will be the nominal runner-up at .326, but will play just 99 games. Garms will drop to .264 in 1941 and he will be out of baseball a year later.
A federal judge rules in favor of Grace Comiskey, who became owner of the Chicago White Sox after the death of her husband John Louis Comiskey in 1939, helping her keep control of the team. The widow needed to go to court because the First National Bank of Chicago, the trustee of the estate, wanted to sell the team because there was no specific instruction in her spouse’s will that she should take control of the franchise.
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