Major League Baseball Season Recap 1939

Off the field…

“The Daughters of the American Revolution”, a colonial patriotic society in the United States open to women having one or more ancestors who aided the cause of the Revolution refused to allow Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Anderson was the first African American to be named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, as well as the first black woman to perform at the White House. In protest of their protest, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her DAR membership and sponsored Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

On August 12th, Louis B. Mayer and his staff at MGM released what is considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made, the classic musical version of “The Wizard of Oz”. Although the lavish production of L. Frank Baum’s children’s book originally lost a million dollars on its initial release, its musical score, technical artistry, star-making performance from Judy Garland, and unexpected TV success turned it into a perennial classic.

In the American League…

On May 2nd, New York Yankee Lou Gehrig, also known as “The Iron Horse” voluntarily benched himself “for the good of the team” ending his consecutive-game streak at 2,130. After being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (later renamed Lou Gehrig’s Disease) the ailing first baseman continued to struggle while batting .143 with a single run batted in. Soon after, the thirty-six year-old star retired, but remained with the team as the captain. Later that season (on the Fourth of July) a tearful Gehrig spoke to 61,808 fans at Yankee Stadium stating, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” After his moving speech, his uniform #4 was retired.

The New York Yankees hit a whopping eight homeruns in the first game of a June 28th doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics, and then followed up with five more in the second. Both totals set a Major League record for most homeruns in a game as well as their total of fifty-three total bases in a doubleheader. To no surprise, the Bronx Bombers swept the series winning the opener 23-2 and taking the night-game 10-0.

In the National League…

St. Louis Cardinals standout Johnny Mize equaled a National League record on July 3rd after hitting four extra-base hits including a double, triple, and two home runs during a 5-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

In New York, nine players from the Giants and Dodgers combined for nine home runs in a 10-6 Brooklyn win at the Polo Grounds. The home run derby fell one round-tripper short of the record for two teams in one game set in 1923.

On September 21st, the National League announced that for the first time in the twentieth century games would be moved from one city to another in order to top one million paid attendance. As a result, a double header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies was swapped from the “City of Brotherly Love” to “The Big Apple”.

Around the league…

On June 12th, the greatest line-up in the history of baseball assembled in Cooperstown, New York for the official dedication of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, and Connie Mack all accepted their plaques and a special six-inning game was also held at the adjacent Doubleday Field featuring the talents of many future members.

The first telecast of a Major League Baseball game took place at Ebbets Field on August 26th as the Cincinnati Reds took on the home team Brooklyn Dodgers in a double header. Announcer Red Barber broadcasted the play-by-play on Channel W2XBS as the two teams split with the visitors taking the first game 5-2 and the “Bums” taking the second game 6-1.

An “off-season” experiment known as “The National Professional Indoor Baseball League” debuted in November to poor reviews. Headed by president Tris Speaker, the league boasted ten clubs, one in each Major League city except Washington. Unfortunately, the novel concept of playing baseball indoors during the winter months failed miserably at the ticket gates and the league was disbanded within a month.

“Hell Lou (Gehrig), it took them 15 years to get you out of the ball game (on his retirement). Sometimes they get me out in 15 minutes.” – Lefty Gomez

World Series – New York Yankees AL over Cincinnati Reds NL 4 games to 0

MVP Awards –

NL Bucky Walters

AL Joe DiMaggio

All-Star Game – July 11th – A.L. 3 over N.L. 1, played at Yankee Stadium I (AL)
AL Starter Red Ruffing NL Starter Paul Derringer

National League All-Stars

American League All-Stars

All-Star Managers

All-Star Game Ball Park

The stories that shapped the year:

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

January 13, 1939

New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert dies from phlebitis

January 14, 1939

Hilario “Sandy” Valdespino is born in San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba. The reserve outfielder bats .244 for the Astros during the first five months of the 1969 season before being traded. He had been in the 1965 World Series during his rookie season with the Minnesota Twins.

January 17, 1939

New York Yankees Elect Ed Barrow as President

January 24, 1939

Baseball writers select Eddie Collins, Willie Keeler and George Sisler to the Hall of Fame

February 1, 1939

Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson at Fenway Park, circa 1939.

March 8, 1939

Jim Bouton is born in Newark, NJ. The righthander had a blazing fastball when he pitched in the World Series for the Yankees in 1964

March 15, 1939

1939 Spring Training Game Audio New York Yankees vs Cincinnati Reds

March 21, 1939

Tommy Davis is born in Brooklyn, NY

March 22, 1939

Rookie outfielder Pete Reiser starts his second spring training game for the Brooklyn Dodgers

March 24, 1939

Joe McCarthy and Jacob Ruppert at spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida – 1939.

March 29, 1939

Leo Durocher at spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas – 1939.

April 1, 1939

Future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro is born

April 6, 1939

A howling windstorm of 50 mph does not deter the Red Sox and Reds from playing an exhibition game in Florence‚ SC, but the weather and the rock-hard infield results in the game being called in the 9th inning when all 54 baseballs have disappeared. “Grounders were actually blown off the ground and over the outfield fences‚” observed Lou Smith in the Cincinnati Enquirer. The score is 18 – 18 when the game ends with both teams covered with grime.

April 14, 1939

Ted Williams hits grand slam in spring training

April 17, 1939

On the morning of Opening Day in Washington, DC, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New York Yankees visit Abner Doubleday’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Roosevelt is also scheduled to throw out the first pitch at Griffith Stadium, but the game is rained out and Vice President John Nance Garner will do the honors four days later.

April 18, 1939

The five-year ban on broadcasting games played by the New York major league teams ends when Red Barber, hired away from the Reds by Larry McPhail, calls Brooklyn’s 7-3 loss to the Giants at Ebbets Field. In 1934, the two National League teams and the Yankees agreed not to air their games on the radio, fearing the exposure would reduce the number of fans attending games.

April 20, 1939

For the first time in club history, the A’s wear numbers on their uniforms

April 20, 1939

Ted Williams Doubles in his major league debut vs Yankees

April 23, 1939

Rookie Ted Williams goes 4 for 5, including his first major-league home run, but the Boston Red Sox lose to the Philadelphia Athletics, 12 – 8, at Fenway Park.

April 29, 1939

On a chilly Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig comes to the plate in the fourth inning and singles off Washington hurler Ken Chase for his 2,721st and last hit, the most ever in franchise history. The ‘Iron Horse’s’ record will stand for over 70 years until Derek Jeter, another 35 year-old team captain, surpasses the mark in 2009.

April 30, 1939

At Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig’s streak and career come to end as the ‘Iron Horse’ plays his final game, going 0-for-4 in a 3-2 loss to the Senators. The ailing Yankees first baseman, who has only four hits this season, played in 2,130 consecutive games and compiled a .340 batting average with 490 home runs during his 17 Hall of Fame seasons with the Yankees.

May 1, 1939

At Comiskey Park, the White Sox defeats the Cubs and Dizzy Dean, 4 – 1, in an exhibition game to benefit Monty Stratton

May 2, 1939

Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games comes to an end

May 4, 1939

In his first-ever at-bat in the city of Detroit, Boston Red Sox rookie Ted Williams becomes the first player to hit a home run which totally clears the right field seats at Briggs Stadium.

May 8, 1939

Chuck Klein hits a pinch triple with the bases loaded off the Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer, and the Phils win, 8 – 7.

May 8, 1939

At Ebbets Field, Cards veteran Pepper Martin breaks up a pitching duel between Brooklyn’s Red Evans and Bob Weiland by swiping home in the 6th inning. Martin’s two-out steal is the only run of the game as the Cards win, 1 – 0.

May 8, 1939

In a 4 – 2 Cubs win at the Polo Grounds, Cubs first sacker Phil Cavarretta breaks his leg sliding into a base. He’ll be out of action until July 25th, and will appear in just seven more games this year, all as a pinch hitter.

May 10, 1939

Bill Klem, behind the plate at the Reds game in Cincinnati, celebrates his 35th anniversary as a National League umpire. He then calls the 10 – 5 Reds loss to Brooklyn.

May 10, 1939

Phillies’ backstop Dave Coble catches a ball thrown from the top of Philadelphia’s City Hall. The rookie catcher handles the 521-foot dropped ball cleanly but likens the experience of a man jumping into his arms.

May 14, 1939

On Feller Day – Bob Feller mother is hit by a foul tip thrown by her son

May 16, 1939

Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Athletics play the first night game in American League history

May 17, 1939

The first baseball game ever televised – Princeton against Columbia at the Baker Bowl – is watched by a handful of viewers via W2XBS in New York City. Bill Sternannounces the ten-inning victory of visiting Princeton, 2 – 1. Reviewing the game the next day, the New York Times reports: “it is difficult to see how this sort of thing can catch the public fancy.”

May 23, 1939

P Boots Poffenberger is suspended by the Dodgers and fined $400 for breaking training rules. Brooklyn acquired Boots over the winter.

May 27, 1939

Charlie Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers hits for the natural cycle, in a 12 – 5 win against the St. Louis Browns.

May 27, 1939

5/27/1939: Hank Greenberg of the Tigers hit a two-run home run off Browns pitcher George Gill in the bottom of the third inning. The game was rained out after 3-1/2 innings with Detroit leading 4-3.

May 28, 1939

Over two successive games, George Selkirk hits four homers in four at-bats against the same pitcher. The Yankee outfielder victimized A’s starter Robert Joyce with two homers yesterday and continued the assault against him today with two more round-trippers when the right-hander comes into the game in relief.

May 29, 1939

The Cubs get Claude Passeau from the Phillies for Kirby Higbe‚ Joe Marty‚ Ray Harrell and $50‚000.

June 1, 1939

Four years after participating in the first major league night game as the visiting team in Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, the Phillies host their first evening tilt, bowing to Pittsburgh at Shibe Park, 5-2. The team’s loss to the Bucs is not the first MLB contest played at night in Philadelphia, or at Shibe Park, because the A’s, who share the ballpark with the NL team, lost to Cleveland playing under the lights two weeks ago in the first night game in American League history.

June 1, 1939

Speaking to the Knights of Columbus in Cleveland, Yankee coach Johnny Schulte shares a team secret, telling the group of Lou Gehrig’s scheduled examination at the Mayo Clinic. At first, the ailing first baseman denies the statement as a rumor, but a few days later confirms the impending visit to Rochester, Minnesota.

June 3, 1939

Joe Sprinz fractures his upper jaw in twelve places and has five teeth knocked out attempting to catch a ball dropped 800 feet from a Goodyear blimp. ‘Mule,’ a catcher with the PCL’s San Francisco Seals, had been participating in Baseball Day at the Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay when the ball hit his upraised glove and was driven into his face, resulting in a two-month stay in the hospital.

June 4, 1939

6/4/1939 – In the first game of a doubleheader with Washington visiting St. Louis, the Browns batted out of turn in the second inning. They had made several lineup changes this day in an effort to end their 11-game losing streak and John Berardino mistakenly batted in Joe Glenn’s spot. The Senators pointed out the error and Glenn was ruled out, making Berardino the next correct batter. Beradino then made an out. The Browns survived this error and ended their losing streak by sweeping the doubleheader. We would like to find details of Berardino’s two plays. Please e-mail the webmaster if you have some information.

June 6, 1939

Bert and George Bebble and Carl Stotz form the Little League organization in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The three youth teams in the league have uniforms thanks to a $35 donation.

June 6, 1939

The New York Giants hit five home runs in the 4th inning to defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 17 – 3, at the Polo Grounds. With two out, Harry Danning, Al Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo and Jo-Jo Moore connect as the Giants score eight runs in the inning.

June 6, 1939

Carl Stolz’s dream of providing a wholesome baseball experience for local boys as a means of teaching the concepts of sportsmanship, fair play, and teamwork becomes a reality when the first Little League game is played, with Lundy Lumber defeating Lycoming Dairy in Williamsport, PA, 23-8. Allen “Sonny” Yearick, a participant in the inaugural game, will be the first graduate of the fledgling youth league to play professional ball, becoming a farmhand in the Boston Braves organization in 1948.

June 7, 1939

1939 – In his first at bat since April 29, Joe DiMaggio hits a triple to pace the New York Yankees to a 5 – 2 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park.

June 8, 1939

At Shibe Park, the Yankees use the long ball to rout the hometown A’s 22-3. The Bronx Bombers set a franchise record, a mark which will not be tied for 68 years, hitting eight home runs during the contest.

June 12, 1939

The official dedication of the Baseball Hall of Fame

June 12, 1939

In front of a record crowd of 23,864 fans at Ruppert Stadium, Lou Gehrig plays his last game in a Yankee uniform when he participates in an exhibition contest against the Kansas City Blues (AA), the team’s American Association farm club. The ‘Iron Horse’, playing only three innings and batting eighth, grounds out weakly to second base in his only at-bat.

June 21, 1939

The New York Yankees announce Lou Gehrig’s retirement, based on the report that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The 36-year-old star will remain with the team as captain.

June 25, 1939

Cleveland batters Ben Chapman, Hal Trosky and Jeff Heath homer in the seventh inning to tie a major-league record, while beating Philadelphia, 8 – 4.

June 26, 1939

The Yankees play their first night game in franchise history, losing to Connie Mack’s A’s, 3-2

June 27, 1939

The Dodgers and Bees play a 23-inning, 2 – 2 game at Boston, called on account of darkness

June 28, 1939

The Yankees hit 13 homeruns in a doubleheader collecting a record 53 total bases

June 28, 1939

At Shibe Park, Lou Gehrig receives a tremendous standing ovation from the Philadelphia crowd when he brings out the lineup card to the umpires prior to the second game of a twin bill. A’s manager Connie Mack, who rarely leaves the dugout, goes to home plate to shake the hand of the terminally ill Yankee captain.

July 2, 1939

In a doubleheader with the Dodgers before 51,435 at the Polo Grounds, the fireworks start two days early. The Dodgers take a uneventful opener, 3 – 2, but in the 4th inning of the nitecap, Dodger player-manager Leo Durocher ends the inning by grounding into a double play and spikes 1B Zeke Bonura as he crosses the bag. Bonura takes off after Durocher, chases him down the right field line, and throws his mitt at him. He finally wrestles him to the ground. Both players are ejected, and the Giants go on to win, 6 – 4. To Bonura’s charge of intentional spiking, the Lip retorts, “If that big clown hadn’t got his foot in my way, I wouldn’t have been close to him.”

July 3, 1939

Cleveland’s Ben Chapman ties the modern major-league record with three triples, as Bob Feller notches his 13th victory, 4 – 2.

July 3, 1939

Cardinal first baseman Johnny Mize accumulates 13 total bases, hitting two home runs, a triple, and a double. The ‘Big Cat’s’ offensive output contributes to the Redbirds’ 5-3 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

July 4, 1939

Lou Gehrig’s rumber retired at Yankee Stadium

July 4, 1939

Boston Red Sox third baseman Jim Tabor slugs two grand slams in a 17-7 win over the Philadelphia A’s

July 5, 1939

Yankees rookie P Atley Donald wins his 10th game without a loss.

July 7, 1939

The Sacramento Solons (Pacific Coast League) beat San Francisco, 5 – 4, in an exhibition game played inside Folsom Prison.

July 8, 1939

Prior to the first game of a doubleheader with the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, a wall of Japanese beetles forms in front of the home dugout. Although over 5000 insects will be captured, the problem will return later in the month.

July 9, 1939

The Red Sox sweep a 5-game series in Yankee Stadium

July 11, 1939

Bob Fellers steals the show at 1939 All Star Game

July 14, 1939

The New York Yankees tie the American League record with only one assist, as Red Ruffing wins 8 – 3 over the Detroit Tigers.

July 15, 1939

A disputed call on a fly ball down the LF foul line at the Polo Grounds touches off a melee in which New York Giants Billy Jurges and umpire George Magerkurth spit at each other. Both will be fined $150 and suspended for 10 days. National League President Ford Frick announces that two-foot screens are to be installed inside all foul poles to prevent future arguments. The American League will eventually also adopt the rule. The Giants lose, 8 – 4, to the Cincinnati Reds, and will add another eight in a row to take them out of contention.

July 16, 1939

Bees All-Star SS Eddie Miller collides with teammate OF Al Simmons and fractures a bone in his ankle. He will be out for the season.

July 18, 1939

The Red Sox send 21 year-old farmhand Pee Wee Reese to the Dodgers for $35,000 and a player to be named later

July 22, 1939

1939 – A Boston Bees fan, outraged when Al Lopez drops a pop foul, his second and the team’s seventh error of the game, jumps from the stands to punch the Boston catcher.

July 23, 1939

Using yellow dyed balls, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 5-2 at Sportsman’s Park. The experimenting with the use of the colored sphere, which is designed to make the ball easier to see for the players and the fans, started in Brooklyn last week and will be tested once more, in a September game played at Wrigley Field.

July 23, 1939

In a 16-3 Tigers rout at Briggs Stadium, A’s catcher Harry O’Neill appears in his only major league game. In 1945, the 22 year-old backstop will die in combat on Iwo Jima, becoming one of only two big leaguers to be killed in World War II.

July 24, 1939

1939 – The Detroit Tigers release oft-injured Dixie Walker. He signs with Brooklyn, with whom he will have his most productive year.

July 25, 1939

Salisbury’s (Eastern Shore League) Count Henri S. “Hank” Bertrand de la Vigne, known as the only titled pitcher in history, wins his 11th of the year, beating Milford, 8 – 0, and striking out 11. The Count will be 14-9 for the year, but he will never make it to the majors.

July 25, 1939

With the score tied, 3 – 3, Cleveland scores 9 runs and Philadelphia 5 in a record-setting 9th inning.

July 25, 1939

New York freshman Atley Donald sets the American League rookie record for consecutive wins when he goes the distance, beating the Browns at Yankee Stadium, 5-1. The 28 year-old right-hander, who is known as ‘Swampy’ to his teammates, limits St. Louis to five hits for his twelfth straight victory.

July 26, 1939

New York Yankees tie a major league record by scoring in every inning against the St. Louis Browns

July 30, 1939

7/30/1939: The Braves were in Pittsburgh for a Sunday doubleheader and beat the Pirates in the first game, 7-5. That game had a 1:25 rain delay in the ninth inning, causing the second game to start later than planned. In the bottom of the third of game two, Johnny Rizzo hit a solo homer off Joe Sullivan. In the top of the fifth frame, the game was called due to the Pennsylvania curfew law with the Braves leading 6-3

July 31, 1939

Using yellow dyed balls, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 5 – 2, at Sportsman’s Park.

July 31, 1939

The Pirates buy baseball’s tallest player, 6′ 9″ P Johnny Gee, from Syracuse (International League).

August 2, 1939

In the ninth inning of New York’s 7-2 loss to Detroit, Joe DiMaggio makes one of the most memorable catches in Yankee Stadium history when he grabs a Hank Greenberg drive 455 feet from home plate. The 24 year-old center fielder, who seldom displays emotion, is so thrilled with the amazing catch he enthusiastically heads toward the dugout, forgetting there is still a man on base with only two outs, a rare mental error for the ‘Yankee Clipper’.

August 3, 1939

Joe Sprinz loses 5 teeth in attempts to break the altitude record

August 4, 1939

Mike Kreevich of the Chicago White Sox equals the major league record by grounding into four successive double plays against the Washington Senators.

August 6, 1939

In the first 1939 East-West Game, the East leads 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th, but Dan Wilson cracks a two-run homer off Roy Partlow to give the West the win.

August 9, 1939

Yankee third baseman Red Rolfe begins an eighteen-game scoring streak. The Penacook, New Hampshire native will score thirty runs during this period of time.

August 12, 1939

1939 – At Shibe Park‚ the Yankees bombard the feeble A’s, 18 – 4, as Steve Sundra (6-0) coasts to the win. Babe Dahlgren has 4 hits‚ including a solo homer in the 6th and a grand slam an inning later. He drives in 6 runs. Joe Gordon adds his 18th homer of the year.

August 13, 1939

The Giants hit three successive homers in the 4th inning, with Joe Moore, Alex Kampouris and P Bill Lohrman connecting. The Giants add four more home runs in the game to beat the Phils, 11 – 2.

August 13, 1939

Red Ruffing of the New York Yankees bangs out four hits and pitches a 21-0 shutout over the Philadelphia Athletics

August 14, 1939

In an evening event that attracts over 30,000 Windy City patrons to Comiskey Park, the White Sox beat the Browns, 5-2, in the first major league night game ever played in Chicago. Their crosstown rivals will take another 49 years before play under lights when the Cubs finally install illumination in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field under the threat of not being able to play postseason contests in their home ballpark.

August 16, 1939

1939 – The Giants suspend 2B Burgess Whitehead, who will show up the next day in full uniform at Yankee Stadium and ask to work out. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy refuses. Whitehead rejoins the Giants a few days later, but he will be suspended again in mid-September after leaving the team.

August 20, 1939

After dropping the opener to Chicago, 9-5, the Pirates snap a twelve game losing streak with a 5-0 victory in the nightcap. Max Butcher goes the distance in the shortened six-inning game, limiting the visitors to just two hits in the Forbes Field contest.

August 22, 1939

At Comiskey Park in front of 50,000 fans, the Yankees win their first night game in franchise history, defeating the hometown White Sox, 14-5. The Bronx Bombers bang out 14 hits in the evening tilt, nine of which are for extra bases.

August 25, 1939

1939 – Red Rolfe scores for the Yankees in his 18th consecutive game, giving him a total of 30 runs.

August 26, 1939

At Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, NBC televises the first major league game in history on experimental station W2XBS

August 27, 1939

1939 – In the second 1939 East-West Game, Josh Gibson drives in four and Ed Stone gets three hits to lead a 10-2 rout by the East.

August 28, 1939

1939 – Cleveland OF Jeff Heath punches a taunting fan leaning over the railing, but the umpires miss the incident and he goes unpunished.

August 29, 1939

Wheaties sponsors the first telecast of a baseball game when their ads air during the Ebbets Field contest between the Reds and the Dodgers. The commercial broadcast is available only in New York City, where an estimated 500 people own television sets.

August 30, 1939

Yankee freshman Atley Donald, who will win 12 straight games to set an AL record for the most consecutive victories thrown by a rookie, throws a recorded pitch at 139 feet per second (94.7 mph) to establish a new record for a fastball. The velocity of ‘Swampy’s’ throw was measured by a speed meter owned by the Indians and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

September 1, 1939

1939 – The Dodgers and Cubs use an open date to play a doubleheader of two rained-out games. The visiting Cubs take the opener‚ 6 – 2, behind Larry French‚ and the Dodgers take the nitecap‚ 3 – 1. In game 2‚ Gabby Hartnett sets a major league record for games caught of 1‚722. The old mark was held by Ray Schalk.

September 2, 1939

Nine players hit homers, as the Giants beat the Dodgers, 10 – 6, in the opener of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds, falling one short of the record for two teams in one game set in 1923.

September 2, 1939

When Babe Dahlgren strikes out while being given an intentional walk and George Selkirk and Joe Gordon try to steal home on successive pitches by trotting to the plate, Red Sox fans throw a barrage of garbage onto the playing field at Fenway Park to protest the Yankees making deliberate outs to take advantage of the 6:30 Sunday curfew. Umpire Cal Hubbard rules the Boston crowd’s action makes it impossible to continue the game and awards the game as a forfeit to the Yankees with a 9 – 0 ‘official’ score.

September 3, 1939

1939 – With the 6:30 Sunday curfew approaching, the Yankees start making deliberate outs, stalling to avoid a loss in Boston. Irate Fenway Park fans litter the field with cushions and debris. Umpire Cal Hubbard forfeits the game to the Yankees, but American League President Will Harridge subsequently overrules him, calling the game a 5 – 5 tie and fining the Yankees for their tactics.

September 4, 1939

1939 – After Labor Day games, the Reds lead the Cards by 4 games. In the American League, the Yankees are 14 ½ ahead.

September 8, 1939

Bob Feller becomes the youngest modern-era player to win 20 games

September 9, 1939

Jimmie Foxx of the Boston Red Sox undergoes an appendectomy, sidelining him for the rest of the season

September 16, 1939

The New York Yankees clinch their fourth successive pennant

September 17, 1939

American League President Will Harridge overturns umpire Cal Hubbard’s decision to award the Yankees with 9-0 forfeited victory over the Red Sox, ordering the contest to be replayed from the seventh inning. The Red Sox fans, protesting the deliberate outs New York was making to take advantage of the 6:30 Sunday curfew, had thrown a barrage of garbage onto the playing field which made it impossible to continue the Fenway Park contest.

September 17, 1939

Ted Williams hits a home run off Thornton Lee, one of 31 homers he will hit in his rookie season. Williams will homer off Thornton’s son, Don Lee, 21 years later.

September 17, 1939

The Dodgers pull within one game of the 3rd-place Cubs, taking two at Wrigley Field. A yellow-dyed ball is used in the first game.

September 19, 1939

September call-up Elmer Gedeon collects all three of his major league hits of his five-game career in the Senators’ 10-9 victory over the Indians at Griffith Stadium. The Washington starting center fielder is the first of two major leaguers to be killed in World War II when his plane was shot down over France in 1944.

September 21, 1939

1939 – The National League announces that for the first time in the 20th century, games will be transferred from one city to another. The Dodgers’ doubleheader in Philadelphia will be moved to Brooklyn in an effort to top one million paid attendance.

September 21, 1939

Full Radio Broadcast September 21 1939 – Walter Johnson is on the mic in todays game

September 23, 1939

In the first game of a twin bill, Brooklyn’s third baseman Cookie Lavagetto reaches base seven consecutive times as the Dodgers rout the Phillies, 22-4. The 26-run Shibe Park contest takes only two hours and five minutes to complete.

September 24, 1939

1939 – OF Johnny Cooney of the Boston Bees, playing at the Polo Grounds, hits his first homer after 15 years as a P/OF in the major leagues. Tomorrow he will repeat the feat, hitting his last home run in what will be a 20-year career.

September 28, 1939

The Reds, ending a 20-year title drought, clinch their first pennant since 1919 when the team beats the second-place Cardinals at Crosley Field, 5-3. Right-hander Paul Derringer goes the distance, giving up 14 hits en route to his 25th victory of the season.

September 30, 1939

1939 – White Sox reliever Clint Brown sets a ML record with his 61st relief appearance.

October 4, 1939

1939 – The World Series begins at Yankee Stadium, with the Cincinnati Reds playing their first Series since the infamous 1919 match-up against the Chicago White Sox. With the Yankees as heavy favorites, the game is tied 1 – 1 until the last of the 9th inning, when Yankees catcher Bill Dickey singles home the winning run.

October 5, 1939

Monte Pearson does not allow a base hit until one out in the 8th inning as he shuts out Cincinnati, 4 – 0. Babe Dahlgren hits a home run and a double as the Yankees take a 2-0 Series lead.

October 7, 1939

In Game 3 at Crosley Field, Charlie Keller becomes the first rookie to hit two home runs in the same World Series game. The 22 year-old outfielder’s first and fifth inning homers, both off starter Junior Thompson, help the Yankees beat the Reds, 7-3.

October 8, 1939

New York Yankees set a record by winning their fourth consecutive World Championship in 1939

October 16, 1939

With Mayor Fiorello La Guardia on hand, Lou Gehrig is sworn in as a member of the New York City Parole Commission. Although the term is for ten years, the former Yankee slugger will eventually become too ill even to sign his name and will ask for a leave of absence next year.

October 17, 1939

Rugger Ardizoia, George Pucinelli and Ernie Orsatti. The Hollywood Stars, 1939 Pacific Coast League.

October 24, 1939

Joe DiMaggio is named American League MVP for the first time

November 12, 1939

The youngest of the three DiMaggio brothers, Dom DiMaggio, is bought by the Boston Red Sox

November 12, 1939

In the Japanese Professional Baseball League, pitcher Victor Starffin wins his 42nd game in a 96-game season, leading the Yomiuri Giants to the pennant, and setting a post-1900 world record for season victories that will be equaled by Kazuhisa Inao in 1961 but never broken. Born in Russia, Starffin moved to Asahikawa, Hokkaido at a young age, and was picked as part of the national baseball team for an exhibition game against the United States in 1934. From 1936 through 1955 he will win 303 games, the first pitcher in Japanese baseball to top the 300 mark.

November 19, 1939

The National Professional Indoor Baseball League begins play

November 19, 1939

With 20,000 well-wishers jamming the streets in the City by the Bay, Joe DiMaggio marries actress Dorothy Arnold at St. Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco. The Yankees outfielder met his future bride on the set of ‘Manhattan Merry-Go-Round’, a movie in which he had a minor role.

November 28, 1939

1939 – Ken Keltner is turned down in Cleveland in his attempt to collect off-season unemployment benefits.

November 29, 1939

Judge Landis fines Brooklyn, Detroit, and the St. Louis farm club, Columbus Red Birds for manipulating player contracts

December 6, 1939

The Bees are busy clearing their pitching staff. Jim Turner goes to the Reds for 1B Les Scarsella and cash‚ while Johnny Lanning is sent to Pittsburgh for P Jim Tobin and cash.

December 6, 1939

In a trade of “worn-out shortstops‚” Cubs and Tigers swap Billy Rogell for Dick Bartell

December 7, 1939

At the urging of Senator owner Clark Griffith, the other American League owners enact a rule prohibiting the league’s pennant winner from buying, selling or trading players during the following season. The winter meeting decision appears to have the desired effect as the Yankees finish in third place.

December 7, 1939

Lou Gehrig is elected to the Hall of Fame

December 8, 1939

Lou Gehrig gains election to the Hall of Fame

December 8, 1939

The White Sox trade Gee Walker to the Senators for Pete Appleton and Taffy Wright. The Sox also pick up OF Moose Solters from the Browns for OF Rip Radcliff, both sluggers coming off poor years. The Dodgers get Gus Mancuso and Newt Kimball from the Cubs for Al Todd.

December 8, 1939

The Bees trade veteran Danny MacFayden to the Pirates for Bill Swift and cash.

December 8, 1939

At the December meeting of both leagues in Cincinnati, Judge Landis votes against all amendments favorable to farm systems. The Rules committee, with an eye towards raising declining batting averages, votes to restore the sacrifice fly for 1940. Seven American League owners push through a new rule barring the American League champion from making any trades within the league. Clearly aimed at the Yankees, winners of the last four World Series, the National League owners decline to vote it for their league.

December 9, 1939

1939 – Wally Moses is traded by the Philadelphia A’s to Detroit for Benny McCoy and George Coffman. The deal is later voided by Judge Landis, who declares McCoy a free agent because of a Tigers cover-up. He gets a $10,000 bonus to sign with the A’s.

December 11, 1939

1939 – The Yomiuri Giants beat the Hanshin Tigers, 4 – 2, to clinch the Japanese league pennant. The Giants will win the pennant for the next four years.

December 27, 1939

The New York Giants obtain infielder Mickey Witek from the Newark Bears in exchange for infielder Alex Kampouris, catcher Tom Padden and $40,000 in cash

August 2, 2019

Podcast – July 29 – August 4

August 28, 2019

Daily Rewind Season 3, Episode 5 Jackie Robinson meets Branch Rickey

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