October 7, 1944, St Louis Browns starter Sig Jakucki had been away from baseball for five years, but returned to win 13 games in 1944. He lasted only three innings giving up four runs. Stan Musial hit a two-run homer in the first, and the Browns never recovered. Harry Brecheen went the distance for the…
Dixie Walker, an outfielder on the seventh-place Dodgers, wins the National League batting crown with a .357 batting average, finishing ten points higher than runner-up Stan Musial. In 1947, the ‘People’s Cherce’s younger brother, Harry ‘the Hat,’ will also lead the Senior Circuit, hitting .363 in the year when he is traded, after playing ten games for St. Louis, to Philadelphia.
The Browns, for the first and only time in their history, clinch the American League pennant when they beat the defending world champion Yankees at Sportsman’s Park, 5-2. A pair of two-run homers hit by Chet Laabs, an All-Star outfielder in 1943 who has seen limited duty this season due to his job at a wartime defense plant, provides most of the team’s offensive output.
The Cardinals finally clinch the National League flag with a 5 – 4 win over Boston. Twenty games ahead on September 1st, the Cards then blew 15 of the next 20 games. They will finish with 105 victories and their 3rd title under Billy Southworth, whose clubs have won 316 games in 3 years. Pittsburgh finishes 14 1/2 games behind.
1944 – The West takes the 1944 East-West Game, 7 – 4, behind the Radcliffe brothers. Ted Radcliffe socks a two-run homer while Alec Radcliffe drives in two as well and flashes a good glove; the brothers combine for five hits.
Red Barrett of the Boston Braves throws only 58 pitches in shutting out the Cincinnati Red
On July 23, 1944, In the eighth inning of the second game of a doubleheader, Giants manager Mel Ott orders his pitcher Andy Hansen to issue an intentional walk with the bases loaded to Bill Nicholson. The free pass to Swish, who has hit four consecutive home runs in the twin bill, doesn’t work when the Cubs…
On July 20, 1944 — Browns’ hurler Nels Potter is banned for ten days, becoming the first pitcher ever to be suspended for throwing a spitball. The spitball, shine ball, and emery ball were outlawed by the major league’s Joint Rules Committee in 1920, which allowed the seventeen pitchers using the doctored pitches at the…
A .300 hitter as a rookie for the Tigers in 1943, Dick Wakefield finishes Navy air training and then is released from the service pending assignment. He rejoins the Tigers and will hit .355 the rest of the season, pushing Detroit near the flag despite the loss of 12 of its first 13 home games. In the first week after the All-Star Game, Wakefield homers twice, and goes 9 for 24.
At Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, Phil Cavaretta sets an All-Star Game record by reaching base five consecutive times. The 27 year-old Cub first baseman’s triple, single, and three walks help the National League beat the Junior Circuit, 7-1.
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