Major League Baseball Season Recap 1931

World Series – St. Louis Cardinals NL over Philadelphia A’s AL 4 games to 3

Awards –
MVP Awards – NL Franky Frisch AL Lefty Grove

1931,The pennant races left little intrigue in 1931 as Philadelphia Athletics won 107 games for their third staight AL pennant and the St. Louis Cardinals tallied 101 wins and easily captured the Senior Circuit. However the Redbirds won the World Series rematch from 1930 in seven games as Burleigh Grimes and Bill Hallahan each won a pair of games. Philadelphia pitcher Lefty Grove (31-4, 2.06 ERA, 175 K) was named AL MVP and led the majors in wins, ERA, and strikeouts for the second stright season. St. Louis infielder Frankie Frisch hit .311 and led the National League with 28 steals to earn the Most Valuable Player award in his league. Yankee hitters Lou Gehrig (.341, 46 HR, 184 RBI, 17 SB) and Babe Ruth (.373, 46 HR, 163 RBI) had marvelous seasons at the plate while A’s CF Al Simmons won the batting title with a .390 average. Chick Hafey, Jim Bottomley, and Bill Terry finished the season in a virtual tie for the NL batting title with Hafey edging the other two by only a point.

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January 5, 1931

Lucille Thomas becomes the first woman to purchase a professional baseball team

January 19, 1931

Brooklyn Robins purchase the contract of catcher Ernie Lombardi from the Oakland Oaks

January 20, 1931

New York Yankees sign future Hall of Famer Joe Sewell

January 26, 1931

Another Oakland Oaks star, Buzz Arlett, long coveted by Major League teams and long withheld by Oakland, is sold to the Philadelphia Phillies.

January 26, 1931

The Boston Braves release veteran pitcher Johnny Cooney. He had held out in 1930, insisting he could bat well enough to stay. After several years in the minors, Cooney will return to the National League as a Braves outfielder and be runner-up to batting champ Pete Reiser in 1940.

January 26, 1931

The International League accepts the open draft imposed by the major leagues. Until this time, the top minor leagues could control their players and refuse to sell them.

January 31, 1931

Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is born in Dallas, Texas

February 5, 1931

Hack Wilson signs for $35,000

February 15, 1931

Crescent Lake Field, the Yankees spring training site since 1925, is renamed Miller Huggins Field in honor of the team’s late manager, who passed away at the end of the 1929 season. In 1963, the facility will be called Huggins-Stengel Field, to honor another Bronx Bomber skipper, Casey Stengel, who is now piloting the National League’s expansion team which is working out in the St. Petersburg ballpark.

February 21, 1931

The Brooklyn Robins arrive in Cuba to start a series of five inter-squad games.

February 21, 1931

The Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants become the first major league teams to meet in a night game. They collect 23 hits in a 10-inning exhibition game played at Buffs Stadium in Houston, TX.

February 27, 1931

E.S. Barnard, recently reappointed American League president, dies at 57. He had succeeded Ban Johnson in 1927.

February 27, 1931

Finally cut loose by the New York Giants, for whom he refused to play in 1930 in a season-long holdout over salary terms, two-time National League batting champ Edd Roush returns to the Cincinnati Reds.

February 28, 1931

Ban Johnson dies after a long illness

March 28, 1931

Ban Johnson dies in St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of 67

April 2, 1931

Jackie Mitchell, a 17 year-old girl, strikes out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

April 12, 1931

Joe McCarthy makes his debut as Yankee manager with 6-3 win

April 14, 1931

Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Robins becomes the oldest pitcher to start an Opening Day game

April 15, 1931

4/15/1931 – The was a lot of confusion during a Dodgers game in Boston. in the top of the fifth inning, Ike Boone pinch hit for the pitcher, Earl Mattingly. Boone then went to right field in place of Babe Herman, who was said to be having trouble in the sun. Herman had been in the third slot in the batting order, so the new pitcher would be placed there on the double switch. However, before the bottom of the fifth got started, Alta Cohen was sent out to right in place of Boone, thus Cohen would be in the ninth spot in the batting order. In the top of the sixth, when the third spot in the order came up, Cohen stepped to the plate and singled but was left stranded on the bases. The Braves did not protest. In the top of the seventh, Cohen batted in his proper ninth spot in the order and singled again. This hit was part of a two-run inning but the Braves prevailed, 9-3.

April 22, 1931

Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees collides with Charlie Berry, Boston Red Sox catcher and former pro football player, while trying to score on a sacrifice fly. Ruth is carried off the field at Fenway Park and taken to a hospital.

April 24, 1931

1931 – Three days before his 35th birthday, Chicago’s player-manager Rogers Hornsby is again undaunted by Forbes Field’s forbidding expanse. Hornsby hits three consecutive home runs to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10 – 6. This is the final season in which Hornsby will allot himself significant playing time – 357 at-bats in 100 games. The hyphenate portion of his career will extend through 1937, but his on-field appearances will come primarily off the bench and never again will he amass as many as 100 at-bats in a season. Regarding today’s display, Fred Wertenbach of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “For the enlightenment of those fans not among the 15,000 at yesterday’s slaughter, the great Rogers crashed three successive long, legitimate and unsullied homers over the distant Forbes Field ramparts, two off Larry French and the third off Claude Willoughby. Mr. French tried to southpaw Hornsby in the 3rd à la screw ball. Two men were on at the time. He pitched a bit low. Hornsby drove it over the left field wall, about the seventh panel up from the scoreboard. The score then became Cubs 3, Pirates 5. In the 5th, Larry faced Hornsby again with two on. ‘Huh! He hits ’em low; I’ll try one high outside,’ Larry reasoned. Bang! The ball cleared the screen in right, and the score in a trice became 6 – 5, Cubs. The 6th frame saw Willoughby, a right-hander, ready to benefit from French’s experience, the latter having left the scene. ‘This guy hits ’em low, he hits ’em high – my play is to curve him to death,’ was the ex-Phillie’s logic. Kiki Cuyler was on second. Wham! A curve, waist high, was interrupted as it came up to the plate, and diverted over the scoreboard in left. Two more runs added to the Cub total, making eight driven in by Rogers.”

April 26, 1931

Lou Gehrig is ruled out for passing a runner and loses a homerun

April 29, 1931

Wes Ferrell of the Cleveland Indians pitches a 7 – 0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns

May 4, 1931

In an effort to put less strain on his leg, Babe Ruth plays first base as Lou Gehrig moves to right field. Gehrig commits a costly error in the outfield helping the Washington Senators beat the Yankees, 7 – 3.

May 6, 1931

Furtue Hall of Famer Willie Mays is Born

May 16, 1931

The A’s move into first place to stay with a 12 – 5 win over the Indians at Cleveland. Philadelphia scores nine runs in the last two innings to give the win to Lefty Grove.

May 16, 1931

At Detroit, Tommy Bridges gives up three hits in stopping the Yankees, 3 – 1, and dropping the Bombers to second place as they will not retake first.

May 18, 1931

Babe Herman of the Brooklyn Robins hits for the cycle for the first of three times in his career, which will become a major league record. Brooklyn beats the Cincinnati Reds, 14 – 4.

May 21, 1931

Carl Hubbell stop the Braves, 3 – 0, in the opener and Giants pitcher Bill Walker matches the King with a 6 – 0 whitewash in the nitecap.

May 22, 1931

Dazzy Vance is knocked cold by a line drive while leading the Phillies, 3 – 2, with two outs in the 9th inning. Jack Quinn gets the last out for Brooklyn.

May 23, 1931

Cleveland’s Earl Averill cracks 3 doubles and a home run in a 10 – 5 win over Chicago. Averill is the second Indian this year to hit 4 extra-base hits in a game. Joe Vosmik‚ who did it earlier‚ has a pair of doubles today.

June 4, 1931

1931 – After hitting safely in his last 8 times at bat‚ Oscar Melillo‚ the slick-fielding but light-hitting 2B of the Browns‚ is stopped by Red Ruffing of the Yankees. St. Louis wins, 8 – 6.

June 7, 1931

In their one-day road trip to Detroit made necessary by the Sunday prohibition of baseball in Philadelphia, the A’s trounced the Tigers, 12-2. The ‘Mackmen’ strand 18 baserunners during the Navin Field contest.

June 10, 1931

Rabbit Maranville scores 5 runs in the Braves’ 13 – 4 victory over the Cardinals.

June 15, 1931

1931 – Cut-down day for major league rosters includes the retirement of Eddie Collins and Harry Heilmann. Collins becomes a coach for the Philadelphia Athletics and Heilmann will return briefly to the Cincinnati Reds next season.

June 16, 1931

George Watkins and Frankie Frisch hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the 9th

June 17, 1931

Future Hall of Famer Tommy Connolly announces his retirement

June 21, 1931

George Earnshaw notches the 12th consecutive victory for the A’s, 6 – 5, at Chicago.

June 24, 1931

Bill Sweeney, Red Sox 1B, makes 21 putouts, one fewer than Hal Chase’s 1906 record. Boston outfielders have no putouts as the Red Sox lose, 7 – 3, in Cleveland.

June 24, 1931

George Watkins hits 3 homeruns to lead the Cardinals to a double header sweep

June 25, 1931

Dazzy Vance retires the first 18 Cardinal batsmen before George Watkins leads off the 6th with a bunt single

June 28, 1931

Records for catching fly balls are set in a doubleheader as the A’s beat the Tigers, 9 – 1 and 5 – 1. The Detroit outfielders make 24 putouts, and Philadelphia adds 19 for a 2-team total of 43 in the two games.

June 30, 1931

The Athletics buy veteran Waite Hoyt from Detroit.

June 30, 1931

The New York Giants’ Ethan Allen pinch-hits a grand slam off the Cubs’ Pat Malone to tie the game, but Chicago scores again to win at the Polo Grounds, 11 – 10. Sparky Adams also homers in the game, his first since 1925. He had been to bat 3,104 times without a round-tripper.

July 2, 1931

Babe Ruth homers to drive in a run for the 11th consecutive game as the Yankees drub Detroit, 12 – 1. Ruth has 18 RBI in the string.

July 7, 1931

The White Sox outlast and outslug the Browns, beating St. Louis in 12 innings, 10-8. During the Sportsman’s Park contest, not a single strikeout is recorded by the five pitchers who take the mound, making it the longest game in major-league history without a strike three.

July 9, 1931

Freddie Lindstrom breaks his ankle sliding into third base

July 12, 1931

The largest crowd in the history of Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis witness a record 32 doubles hit in a double header

July 18, 1931

1931 – John McGraw is ejected from a game in St. Louis after he rages over an out call on the Giants’ Chick Fullis. A telegram McGraw receives before the next game causes another tantrum, as National League president John Heydler fines him $150 and suspends him for three days.

July 24, 1931

For the second time in ten days, Babe Herman hits for the cycle. The Dodger outfielder joins “Long John” Reilly and Bob Meusel as one of only three ‘tricyclists’ to have accomplished the feat of collecting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game three times.

July 25, 1931

Pittsburgh’s Larry French pitches a 14-inning game, the longest National League contest of the season, to beat Brooklyn, 3 – 2.

July 25, 1931

Lefty Grove, going the distance, wins his 20th game of the season when the A’s beat Cleveland at Shibe Park, 6-3. The Philadelphia southpaw, who improves his record to 20-2, is the second quickest player to reach the milestone, with Rube Marquard (Giants, July 19, 1912) being the only hurler to have accomplished the feat earlier in a season.

July 26, 1931

The Yankees split a doubleheader with the White Sox, taking the second game, 22 – 5, with nine batters scoring two or more runs each.

July 27, 1931

1931 – Riggs Stephenson, Cubs outfielder, breaks an ankle in a game with the Phillies, as Chicago loses, 6 – 5, at Wrigley Field.

July 28, 1931

The White Sox record an American League-record 12 hits in the 8th inning against the Yankees

July 29, 1931

Cleveland’s Wes Ferrell shuts out Washington, 6 – 0, scattering 10 hits, as the Senators leave 15 runners on base.

August 2, 1931

The Red Sox and the third-place Yankees split a Sunday doubleheader before a record crowd of 40,000, played at Braves Field because of religious restrictions involving Fenway Park. Former Boston P Red Ruffing wins the first game, 4 – 1, and ex-New Yorker Wilcy Moore blanks his former mates, 1 – 0, in the nightcap. Moore allows just three singles in topping George Pipgras. The Yanks will go 308 games before being shut out again.

August 2, 1931

Washington beats the A’s, 10 – 6, to knock Philadelphia’s lead in the American League down to 14 games.

August 3, 1931

The A’s Lefty Grove beats the Senators, 3 – 2, giving up 11 hits. Grove has now won 13 straight games.

August 3, 1931

At Wrigley Field, Bob Smith shuts down the Reds, 8 – 0, to hand Cincinnati its 4th straight shutout. The four shutout losses in a row ties the National League mark for the century. The Reds lost on July 30 (0 – 5), August 1 (0 – 1), and August 2 (0 – 3) to the Pirates. Si Johnson takes the loss today.

August 4, 1931

The Reds finally score, but lose to the Cubs, 4 – 2, in the first of two. Guy Bush beats Larry Benton. Chicago takes the nitecap, 7 – 3, behind Les Sweetland as Jack Ogden is pinned with the loss. Rookie OF Vince Barton has five hits in the two games, including a pair of homers in game 2.

August 4, 1931

Pittsburgh’s Heinie Meine gives up three Cardinal runs in the 6th inning, halting a scoreless streak by Buc hurlers at 45 innings. The Pirates’ streak includes shutouts over New York and Cincy in four consecutive games. The Cards win today, 7 – 1.

August 5, 1931

For the second time in his career, Jim Bottomley has six hits in six at bats, as the Cards defeat Pittsburgh 16 – 2 on 23 hits. In the opener, Bottomley contributes four hits, but St. Louis loses to the Bucs, 5 – 4.

August 5, 1931

The Cubs edge the Reds, 3 – 2 at Wrigley Field, when Leo Durocher boots a ground ball hit by Kiki Cuyler. It ends a string of 251 errorless chances in 53 games for Durocher.

August 8, 1931

1931 – The Washington Senators’ Bobby Burke no-hits the Boston Red Sox, 5 – 0, in Washington, walking five and striking out eight.

August 9, 1931

1931 – After the White Sox take the opener, 4 – 2, over the Browns, Dick Coffman pitches the Browns to a 1 – 0 win, allowing on a 5th-inning single by John Kerr. Bob Weiland takes the loss.

August 11, 1931

 Lefty Grove reaches 14 straight wins‚ beating the Browns‚ 8 – 1.

August 12, 1931

1931 – The Giants land highly-regarded Len Koenecke from Indianapolis for OF Harry Rosenberg‚ and pitchers Joe Heving and Jack Berly. Koenecke will have a decent season in 1932 before going to Brooklyn. He will die tragically in 1935.

August 13, 1931

Tony Cuccinello wakes up the last-place Reds by going 6 for 6as Cincy wins the first game of a doubleheader against Boston, 17 – 3

August 15, 1931

1931 – Lefty Grove wins his 15th straight, beating the Indians, 4 – 3.

August 18, 1931

Paul Waner chalks up five hits to lead Pittsburgh to a 14 – 5 win over the Phils.

August 18, 1931

In New York’s 5 – 4 loss at Detroit, Lou Gehrig is hitless as he plays his 1,000th consecutive game. He is 307 short of Everett Scott’s record streak.

August 19, 1931

At Chicago, Lefty Grove (25-2) wins his 16th consecutive game, 4 – 2, tying the American League record set by Walter Johnson and Joe Wood in 1912. Grove holds the Sox scoreless till the 9th, while the A’s score in the 2nd, 3rd and 8th off Red Faber. Grove has completed all but one of the wins.

August 19, 1931

The Giants score single runs in each of the last three innings to beat the Reds, 6 – 5. Giants Shanty Hogan is the first catcher to start three double plays (only one other catcher, Damian Miller in 1999) will match him). The three DPs ties a major-league record for catchers.

August 20, 1931

Tony Freitas, who will win 342 minor league games, is let out of jail to pitch for Sacramento (Pacific Coast League). He wins, and then returns to finish a five-day sentence for speeding.

August 20, 1931

At St. Louis, Lou Gehrig hits his 33rd homer in the 4th to tie Babe Ruth for the major league lead, but the Babe answers in the 9th with his 34th, a grand slam over the RF roof, to give the Yanks a 7 – 3 win over the Browns. Lefty Gomez almost has New York’s first shutout of the season, but he weakens in the 9th.

August 21, 1931

Babe Ruth becomes the first major leaguer to hit 600 career home runs 

August 23, 1931

In St. Louis, the league-leading Cardinals go to 78-44 by sweeping the Braves. The Birds pound Boston, 16 – 1, in the opener as Chick Hafey drives in eight runs on 5 for 5 hitting, including two home runs. One of the homers is a grand slam. St. Louis takes the nitecap, 1 – 0, in 11 innings, winning on Jim Bottomley’s home run.

August 23, 1931

In his attempt to break Walter Johnson’s consecutive game winning streak of 17 games, Lefty Grove loses when Browns’ hurler Dick Coffman throws a three-hit shutout

August 25, 1931

1931 – At Chicago, the Yankees record their first shutout of the season when Herb Pennock blanks the White Sox, 6 – 0. Ben Chapman has a good day with a triple, single, two runs scored and his 50th and 51st stolen bases of the year. In addition, he beats the Sox’s Carl Reynolds in a pre-game 100-yard dash.

August 29, 1931

Lefty Grove fans the side in the 1st inning, hands out a walk to Lou Gehrig to start the 2nd, and records three more K’s. Lefty has two K’s in the 3rd but develops a blister from gripping the ball. Gehrig knocks Grove out of the box with a 6th-inning grand slam, but the A’s lefty still wins, 7 – 4. Lou now has 142 RBIs. Jimmie Foxx knocks in five runs for the A’s.

August 29, 1931

In his second major league plate appearance, Chicago’s Billy Herman fouls a ball off his head and has to be carried off the field. The Cubs beat the Reds, 14 – 5.

August 30, 1931

1931 – At Boston, Ben Chapman and Lou Gehrig each have four hits and together total nine RBIs as the Yanks roll over the Red Sox, 14 – 4. One of Gehrig’s hits is a homer, his 37th, and two of Chapman’s leave the park. Hal Rhyne has four hits for Boston.

August 31, 1931

Wes Ferrell of Cleveland hits two home runs, as he beats the White Sox, 13 – 5, at Chicago. He will end his career with a record 37 home runs as a hurler, plus one as a pinch hitter.

August 31, 1931

Against the Senators’ Lloyd Brown, Lou Gehrig belts his second grand slam homer in three days, but the Senators hang onto 2nd place by beating the Yankees, 6 – 5.

August 31, 1931

In his attempt to break Walter Johnson’s consecutive game winning streak of 17 games, Lefty Grove loses as Browns hurler Dick Coffman throws a three-hit shutout against the A’s. Reserve Jimmy Moore, playing in place of the absent Al Simmons, misjudges a fly ball which leads to the decisive run and subsequently to Lefty’s meltdown in the locker room.

September 1, 1931

Lou Gehrig hits his third grand slam in five days and his sixth home run in consecutive games when he connects in a 5 – 1 second-game win over the Red Sox. The blast‚ his 40th of the year‚ comes in the 3rd inning off Ed Morris. Gehrig connects in the opening 11 – 3 win against Milt Gaston‚ belting his 39th homer in the 7th inning. Lou finishes the day with 6 RBI and has knocked in 21 runs in the past 6 games.

September 1, 1931

Giants rookie Jim Mooney notches his fourth win since being called up three weeks ago‚ beating the Braves, 4 – 0. It is his second shutout.

September 1, 1931

Lou Gehrig, for the third time in four days, hits a grand slam. The Bronx Bomber first baseman’s third-inning base-loaded home run off Ed Morris proves to be the difference in New York’s 5-1 victory over Boston at Yankee Stadium.

September 1, 1931

Lou Gehrig, for the third time in four days, hits a grand slam. The Bronx Bomber first baseman’s third-inning base-loaded home run off Ed Morris proves to be the difference in New York’s 5-1 victory over Boston at Yankee Stadium.

September 5, 1931

At Boston, George Earnshaw loses a no-hitter in the 8th inning when Marty McManus’s roller gets away from SS Dib Williams. Earnshaw ends with a 8 – 0 one-hitter. The A’slose the nitecap, 6 – 3, to Wilcy Moore.

September 5, 1931

The Cardinals lead drops to 5 1/2 as the 2nd-place Giants whip Brooklyn, 5 – 1 and 10 – 1. New York’s Fred Fitzsimmons wins the opener, pitching seven innings, giving up three hits and stroking a home run. In the 7th inning, Fitzsimmons is struck on the head by a pitch from Cy Moore, which ruptures a blood vessel and keeps the knuckleballer from making his next start.

September 5, 1931

In Cincinnati, the Cubs lose, 4 – 3, in 10 innings. Hack Wilson, in the Cubs doghouse for drinking and not hitting, is left in the bullpen to warm up pitchers when manager Rogers Hornsby, short of outfielders, inserts pitcher Bud Teachout in LF. On the train back to Chicago that night, Wilson starts arguing with two writers. When Pat Malone wanders by, he joins in the argument and, with his encouragement, Wilson punches out both writers. Malone will be fined $500 for his actions while club president Bill L. Veeck will suspend Wilson without pay for the rest of the season. In 112 games, Wilson hit just .261 with 13 home runs, and the Cubs will send the slumping slugger to St. Louis over the winter.

September 6, 1931

Homestead Grays ace Smokey Joe Williams fashions a 2-hit‚ 6 – 2 win over the St. Louis Stars in the Negro National League Championship Series. The Grays will win in 6 games.

September 6, 1931

The visiting Cardinals tighten their hold on first place by shutting out the Reds twice‚ winning 3 – 0 and 7 – 0. Flint Rhem allows 3 hits in the opener to beat Si Johnson‚ then Syl Johnson wins the nitecap over Larry Benton. The Reds are credited with a triple play in the 6th inning of game 2‚ going from LF Nick Cullop to C Lena Styles to 3B Joe Stripp to SS Leo Durocher to 2B Tony Cuccinello. Cooch’s last out is a hidden ball trick and since the ball is never returned to the pitcher‚ a triple play is recorded. It’s Cooch’s third successful hidden ball trick in two years‚ and the second in which Durocher assists. It is also Cooch’s third triple play in two years.

September 7, 1931

In the morning game of a doubleheader in Philadelphia, the Yankees begin with eight walks and score eight times in the 1st inning on only two hits. Ed Rommel, the 4th pitcher in the frame, retires Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ben Chapman on strikes. The Yanks win, 15 – 3. In the second game, Ruth and Gehrig bang 6th-inning homers off Waite Hoyt, and Ruth adds another blow off Hoyt in the 9th, his 40th. The Yanks roll, 9 – 4, over the first-place A’s.

September 7, 1931

The Pirates sweep a holiday pair from the Reds, 6 – 1 and 4 – 3, scoring three in the 8th of the p.m. game. The Bucs lose SS Tommy Thevenow when he fractures his ankle in two places sliding in the 6th inning of the opener.

September 7, 1931

Van Lingle Mungo, Uncle Robby’s last find as a pitcher, reports to Brooklyn from Hartford and shuts out Boston, 2 – 0, in his first start. He fans seven and hits a triple and a single to drive in both runs. Ancient Tom Zacharytakes the loss. Brooklyn also take the opener, 5 – 4, in 10 innings on Fresco Thompson’s RBI single.

September 8, 1931

1931 – Bill Harris, 31, who last pitched in the majors for the Reds, in 1924, makes his first appearance for Pittsburgh and shuts out Cincinnati, 3 – 0.

September 9, 1931

1931 – To raise funds to help the unemployed in the Depression, the Yankees, Giants, and Robins agree to a series of benefit games. Sixty thousand fans, paying regular prices, raise $59,000 in the first match-up, as Babe Ruth homers and the Yankees beat the Giants, 7 – 2.

September 12, 1931

1931 – At Boston, Eddie Durham and Detroit’s Arthur “Red” Herring hook up in a 13-inning pitching duel, won by the Sox pitcher, 1 – 0.

September 13, 1931

At Wrigley Field, the Cubs win 11 – 7 over the Braves when player-manager Rogers Hornsby cracks an 11th-inning pinch grand slam. This is the first extra-inning pinch grand slam in major league history. The Cubs take the second game, 8 – 1, behind Guy Bush’s one-hitter, his second of the year. His first was against the Cards on August 9th.

September 13, 1931

Yankee Tony Lazzeri steals second base, reaches third, then steals home in the 12th to give Lefty Gomez a 2 – 1 win over Detroit in the lidlifter. New York edges the Tigers, 4 – 3, in the nitecap although Earl Whitehill holds them to six hits. One of the hits is a 2-run home run by Lou Gehrig in the 6th.

September 13, 1931

After the Giants lose, 1 – 0, to Larry Benton in the opener, Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons pitches New York to a 9 – 4 nitecap win over the Reds. Bill Terry contributes two doubles and two home runs in the win.

September 13, 1931

Cardinal P Paul Derringer has his scoreless inning streak stopped at 33, but manages to beat the Phils, 6 – 2, on six hits.

September 15, 1931

1931 – The Philadelphia Athletics clinch the pennant, beating Cleveland at home, 14 – 3. Every starter for the A’s has a hit and RBI. Eddie Rommel, veteran knuckleball pitcher for the A’s, is the winning hurler, as Connie Mack wins his 3rd successive pennant. It is Mack’s 9th, and last, American League championship. The A’s went into first place for good on May 5, when they started a win streak of 17 straight games and 20 of their next 21. In mid-July they won 13 straight.

September 16, 1931

World Series tickets can now be printed as the St. Louis Cardinals repeat as National League champions

September 16, 1931

At Rickwood Field, Birmingham Barons starter Ray Caldwell outduels Dizzy Dean to beat the Texas League’s Houston Buffaloes, a Cardinals farm team, 1-0, in Game One of the Dixie Series. The 43 year-old right-hander posted a 19-7 record along with an ERA of 3.45 during the regular season for the Southern Association team.

September 17, 1931

In the first of two, the Yankees and Red Ruffing rough up the Browns and George Blaeholder, 17 – 0. Bill Dickey’s grand slam is the big blow. The Yanks take the nitecap, 6 – 1, behind Lefty Gomez’s three-hitter and Babe Ruth’s 41st and 42nd homers of the year.

September 17, 1931

On his 32nd birthday, OF Earl Webb of the Red Sox ties and then sets the still-standing major-league record for two-base hits at 65. Earl doubles in the lidlifter, a 9 – 2 win over the visiting Indians, to tie George Burns’ double record at 64. Burns set his record in 1926. In the second game, a 2 – 1 Sox loss, Webb doubles off Pete Jablonowski to set the record. He doubles tomorrow and will finish the season with 67. He would have had 68, but on August 4th, the league corrected a May 1st box score, turning what had been credited as a double into a single.

September 18, 1931

In a 4 – 3 loss to the Cardinals, the Giants’ Mel Ott is beaned by Burleigh Grimes in the 5th inning. Ott suffers a brain concussion and, with the Cardinals clinching the pennant, he sits out the rest of the season.

September 18, 1931

Lefty Grove wins his 30th game, beating the White Sox, 3 – 1, on five hits. He is the first to win 30 since Jim Bagby of Cleveland in 1920 and will be the last American League hurler to do so until Denny McLain in 1968.

September 19, 1931

Lefty Grove of the Philadelphia A’s wins his 30th game of the season

September 20, 1931

1931 – Lou Gehrig drives in four runs to break his old American League RBI mark of 175, set in 1927. By the season’s end he will have a total of 184.

September 20, 1931

For the first time in 19 years, Gabby Street appears in a major league game. The 48 year-old Cardinal skipper is 0-for-1, but the backstop displays his old catching skills when he nails Brooklyn runner Babe Herman trying to steal a base.

September 24, 1931

The round-robin playoff among New York City’s three major league teams, to raise money for the unemployed, concludes with Brooklyn losing to both the Giants and the Yankees at the Polo Grounds. Again, a near capacity crowd turns out and adds $48,000 to bring the fund to $108,000. In field events held between games, Babe Ruth, normally a left-handed hitter, bats right and wins the fungo hitting contest. He breaks the old distance record held by Big Ed Walsh. Ruth’s drive lands in deep center field, 421 feet away. The old record, set 20 years earlier, was 419 1/2 feet.

September 24, 1931

Lefty Grove wins his 31st

September 25, 1931

Sam Rice drops a fly ball and the Yankees rally for five runs in the 8th to beat the Senators, 8 – 3. Babe Ruth has two solo homers to help in the win. The 3rd-place Yanks now trail the Nats by a half game.

September 25, 1931

The A’s 19-year-old rookie Lew Krausse makes his major league debut a dandy one, twirling a four-hitter to beat Boston, 7 – 1.

September 27, 1931

In a scheduled doubleheader at Ebbets Field, the Robins beat the Giants, 12 – 3, in the opener. The nitecap, called on account of darkness after three innings with no score, will turn out to be the final contest between managers Wilbert Robinson and John McGraw, one-time friends and business partners, but now bitter enemies. McGraw has the edge, 197-190, with five ties.

September 27, 1931

Lou Gehrig hits a home run to tie Babe Ruth at 46 while the Yankees pound Lefty Grove, 13 – 1, and deny him his 32nd victory. Grove throws just three innings in the warmup for the World Series. Gehrig drives in two runs as he (184) and Ruth (163) combine to drive in 347 runs for the year, the most productive duo in history. Bill Dickey has four hits and ends the year with no passed balls, the only American League catcher to do so, while the Yankees are the only AL team to ever accomplish the feat.

September 27, 1931

The most desperately contested battle for individual honors takes place in the race for the National League batting title. Chick Hafey, who reported late due to a contract dispute, goes into the final doubleheader with the Reds batting .353, four points over Bill Terry, last year’s champ. Hafey gets only two hits in eight times at bat to drop to .349. Bill Terry’s Giants are playing archenemy Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. Brooklyn, in their last game as the Robins, wins 12 – 3, behind Watty Clark. Terry gets only one hit in four times at bat. The title goes to Hafey, who bats .3488 to Terry’s .3486. Jim Bottomley, Hafey’s Cardinal teammate, goes 4 for 8 and finishes at .3481. The Cards win, 6 – 2 and 5 – 3, to win 20 of 22 with the Reds.

September 27, 1931

Nick Altrock becomes the first player to appear in major league games in five different decades. The 54 year-old former left-hander accomplishes the feat as a pinch hitter when he walks and then is promptly picked off first base in the Senators’ 4-2 loss to Boston at Griffith Stadium.

October 1, 1931

A’s take game 1 of 1931 World Series – Al Simmon’s homers

October 5, 1931

1931 – An argument between fans at an illegal drinking establishment in Brooklyn, NY over who should start the next game of the World Series turns violent, resulting in the death of a patron after he hits his head on a marble table. Both the bar owner and the man who gave the fatal punch are arrested, but charges against the latter will be dismissed when an autopsy shows that the victim died of a stroke caused by advanced alcoholism, and not directly because of the blow. The bar will be closed permanently, however.

October 5, 1931

George Watkins of the Cardinals vs. Mickey Cochrane of the A’s in the 1931 World Series.

October 10, 1931

St Louis Cardinals deny Philadelphia A’s 3rd straight title

October 13, 1931

Eddie Mathews is born in Texarkana, Texas

October 15, 1931

Fred Lieb leads an all-star squad on a barnstorming trip to Hawaii and Japan

October 20, 1931

Frankie Frisch, the St. Louis Cardinals’ fiery field leader, is named National League MVP

October 20, 1931

Hall of Fame outfielder Mickey Mantle is born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma

October 23, 1931

Brooklyn Robins fire legendary manager Wilbert Robinson

October 23, 1931

Future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning is born in Southgate, Kentucky

October 26, 1931

1931 – Charles Comiskey dies at age 72. The Chicago White Sox owner and pioneer player never recovered from the betrayal of the 1919 World Series.

October 29, 1931

Southpaw Lefty Grove is named the 1931 American Leagues MVP

October 31, 1931

The Cardinals release right-hander Burleigh Grimes, the last legal spitballer

November 13, 1931

Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert buys the International League’s Newark franchise. The Bears will be very successful, sending many players to the Bronx which include Charlie Keller, Joe Gordon, and Spud Chandler.

November 30, 1931

1931 – George Gibson comes out of retirement to manage Pittsburgh. Ten years earlier he had led the Pirates to three first-division finishes.

December 1, 1931

The Chicago Cubs trade future Hall of Famer Hack Wilson and pitcher Bud Teachout to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Burleigh Grimes

December 4, 1931

1931 – Bump Hadley, Jackie Hayes, and Sam Jones are traded from Washington to the White Sox for Carl Reynolds and John Kerr.

December 9, 1931

1931 – Baseball owners, fearful of the effects of the Depression, vote to cut squads from 25 players to 23. Both leagues will stop awarding MVP trophies. The National League continues to prohibit uniform numbers. The NL loans the Phillies $35,000 and loans Judge Emil Fuchs, owner of the Braves, $20,000 secured by his stock. Fuchs’s finances are such that he won’t even pay the interest from 1935 to 1937, and will file for bankruptcy in 1938, three years after retiring from the Braves.

December 11, 1931

Veteran Burleigh Grimes is traded by the Cards to the Cubs 

December 30, 1931

Frank Torre is Born 1931

December 31, 1931

Two pitchers changes the color of their socks, when Boston sends forkballer Milt Gaston to Chicago in exchange hard-thrower Bob Weiland.