1938 – White Sox shortstop Luke Appling, sliding into second base in an exhibition game against the Cubs, fractures his right leg in two places and will miss almost half the season. He will return on July 8th.
1938 – Commissioner Landis frees 74 St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, among them Pete Reiser, in yet another attempt to halt the farm system cover-up. Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Larry MacPhail makes a pact with his St. Louis counterpart, Branch Rickey, to take the as-yet unknown Reiser and swap him back in the future, but the young outfielder’s ability is too great to hide.
1938 – In a trade of first basemen, the Washington Senators send slick-fielding Joe Kuhel to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for easy-going hitter Zeke Bonura.
The University of Illinois suspends Lou Boudreau for taking illegal payments from the Indians, but the 19 year-old hoopster will go on to have a 15-year Hall of Fame baseball career in the big leagues as a player-manager for Cleveland and the Red Sox. Also, as a broadcaster, he will be traded to the Cubs by radio station WGN to become the team’s skipper.
On January 18, 1938 Curt Flood is born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Oakland, California, Flood played in the same outfield in West Oakland’s McClymonds High School as Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. All three would eventually sign professional contracts with the Cincinnati Reds He is a seminal figure in MLB history for refusing…
Before a gathering of writers, players and executives in Baltimore, Jimmie Foxx, Chuck Klein and Charlie Keller, representing the American League, National League and International League respectively, try out the balls to be used in the new season. The Sporting News reports that “… regarding the dead ball, as adopted by the National League, and the lively ball, as retained by the American and International Leagues… the NL ball has a distinctly ‘dead’ sound coming off the bat, compared to the livelier AL ball.”
The National League extends permission for night baseball but the American League refuses to permit arc light games.
Five of baseball’s pioneers are added to the Hall of Fame: Connie Mack‚ John McGraw‚ Morgan G. Bulkeley‚ Ban Johnson‚ and George Wright.
1937 – It is announced that Ford Frick has been reelected President of the National League for 3 years.
10/3/1937 – In a double header at Pittsburgh, Woody Jensen led off the lid-lifter for the Pirates and went three for four in the game. In the second game, Jensen led off the bottom of the first inning by flying out. Then Reds manager Bobby Wallace talked with umpire Charlie Moran. Lloyd Waner had been penciled into his usual leadoff position for game two. Moran called Waner out and Jensen, the number two hitter, was told to bat and was put out again. There was no reason for Wallace to speak up since Jensen was already out.
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