Major League Baseball Season Recap 1953

World Series – New York Yankees AL over Brooklyn Dodgers NL 4 games to 2

World Series MVP –
Babe Ruth Award – Billy Martin

Awards – </strong?
Major League Cy Young Award Cy Young Award National League Cy Young Award American League
MVP Awards – NL Roy Campanella AL Al Rosen
Major League Rookie of The Year –
NL Rookie of The Year – Jim Gilliam AL Rookie of The Year – Harvey Kuenn

All-Star Game – July 14th – N.L. 5 over A.L. 1, played at Crosley Field (NL)
AL Starter B. Pierce NL Starter R. Roberts+ MVP

All Star Game 2 over played at
AL Starter NL Starter

January 8, 1953

Due to the Bill Veeck’s refusal to share telecast receipts with visiting clubs, the Indians ban night games with the Browns

January 17, 1953

Martin Aarjan Jole, a Dutch player, gets a tryout with a Cincinnati Reds farm club, the Columbia Reds. The 22-year-old, reputed to be a power hitter, wrote to Rogers Hornsby, the new Reds manager, asking for a tryout.

January 17, 1953

The Brooklyn Dodgers send Andy Pafko to the Milwaukee Braves for Roy Hartsfield and $50,000.

January 19, 1953

1953 – The Augusta Tigers club (South Atlantic League) announces that it is changing its nickname from the Tigers to the Ikes. Because of fans nixing the presidential name, it will changed again on February 9th to the Augusta Rams.

January 21, 1953

Bucketfoot Al Simmons one of baseballs greatest players dies at age 54

DiMaggio bypassed as Dean and Simmons get the Hall of Fame call

January 22, 1953

Under the McCarran-Walter Act, U.S. Immigration Commissioner Argyle R. Mackey warns alien players they will face deportation if found jumping U.S. pro contracts

January 27, 1953

in another deal that general manager Frank Lane pulls over the protests of manager Paul Richards, the Chicago White Sox send slugging first baseman Eddie Robinson along with outfielder Ed McGhee and shortstop Joe DeMaestri to the Philadelphia Athletics for two-time batting champ Ferris Fain and another player.

January 28, 1953

1953 – St. Louis Cardinals owner Fred Saigh is found guilty of income tax evasion and is sentenced to a fifteen-month jail term. He plans to sell the club. Cardinals Vice President William Walsingham, Jr., is the acting president until Saigh can divest himself of his stock.

January 31, 1953

The New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Boston Red Sox retaliate at Bill Veeck, forcing the St. Louis Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues. Veeck takes his plan to the American League office to make them pay. The plan is rejected.

February 10, 1953

Chicago White Sox send 3 players to the Boston Red Sox for Vern Stephens

February 13, 1953

Philadelphia Athletics change the name of Shibe Park to “Connie Mack Stadium”

February 16, 1953

Unusual four-way trade is made among the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, and Reds

February 16, 1953

Ted Williams crash lands in his first Korean War combat mission

February 19, 1953

Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams crash-lands his fighter plane

February 20, 1953

August A. Busch buys the St. Louis Cardinals from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million and pledges not to move the team from St. Louis, Missouri.

February 20, 1953

The U.S. Court of Appeals rules that organized baseball is a sport and not a business

March 3, 1953

Boston Braves owner Lou Perini blocks an attempt by the St. Louis Browns to move their franchise to Milwaukee

March 8, 1953

OF Jim Rice is born in Anderson, SC.

March 11, 1953

Dodgers defeat the A’s, 4-2, in the first game played in Holman Stadium

March 11, 1953

1953 – Boston Braves owner Lou Perini proposes a ban on the move of any major league franchise to that of a minor league city until October 1st. In two days, he will shock Boston fans and break his own proposed rule by moving his team to Milwaukee.

March 13, 1953

Braves owner Lou Perini seeks permission to move his franchise from Boston to Milwaukee

March 14, 1953

Joseph Darst vows to fight losing the hometown Browns to Baltimore

March 16, 1953

American League owners turn down a bid made by Bill Veeck to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore, MD.

March 17, 1953

The Braves’ spring training game against the Yankees in Bradenton will prove to be the team’s last full one representing the city of Boston. During the sixth inning of tomorrow’s exhibition contest, the club learns the National League has approved its shift next month to Milwaukee, unlike the Junior Circuit’s decision two days ago that denied Bill Veeck permission to move his Browns to Baltimore due to the short amount of time left before Opening Day.

March 17, 1953

Bill Veeck says that he will accept an offer of $2.475 million for his 80 percent of the St. Louis Browns stock

March 17, 1953

Milwaukee County Stadium will be available to the Boston Braves at a very reasonable rental rate.

March 18, 1953

The Braves become the first franchise to move since 1903

March 20, 1953

1953 – U.S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson offers a bill to give clubs the sole right to ban radio-TV broadcasts of major league games in their own territory. The antitrust division of the Justice Department outlawed this practice in 1949. Johnson believes that it started the decline of baseball in small towns and cities throughout the country. His bill aims to restore the equity between large communities and the small areas.

March 24, 1953

1953 – Larry Raines, on leave from military service, plays his first game for the Hankyu Braves. He will stay for the 1954 season, return in 1962, and will end his Japanese baseball career with a .302 batting average.

March 25, 1953

1953 – The St. Louis Browns sign free agent Bob Elliott. The veteran third baseman will play just 48 games before being dealt to the Chicago White Sox.

March 27, 1953

Burdette takes Branca deep to win Grapefruit League game

April 5, 1953

Herb Gorman suffers a heart attack during a Pacific Coast League game

April 8, 1953

Bernice Lombardi finds her husband Ernie lying on the bed after the former major league catcher slit his throat from ear to ear with a razor he found in a relative’s bathroom. The former Reds’ backstop, battling a similar bout of depression that caused his teammate Willard Hershberger to commit suicide in 1940, is given little hope to live, at the time, but he will manage to survive his horrific self-inflicted wound.

April 9, 1953

21-year-old Mickey Mantle becomes just the third batter in Forbes Field’s 44-year history—after Babe Ruth in 1935 and Teddy Beard in 1950—to clear the 89-foot-high right field roof

April 11, 1953

1953 Henry Aaron was the MVP for SALY League Jacksonville Braves where he played for Ben Geraghty, his favorite all-time manager.

Hank Aaron wins 1953 MVP for Saly League

April 12, 1953

During a preseason exhibition game in Brooklyn, the Ebbets Field public address announcer informs the crowd, including the new dad as he approaches home plate to bat, “Mickey doesn’t know it yet, but he has just become the father of an eight-pound, twelve-ounce baby boy.” Mickey Mantle Jr., whose given middle name is Elven in memory of the Yankee slugger’s recently deceased dad, is the first of four children, all sons, with his wife, Merlyn.

April 13, 1953

For the first time in half a century, a new city is represented in the American or National league. The Braves who moved from Boston to Milwaukee over the winter, open in Cincinnati, where pitcher Max Surkont sets down the Reds, 2 – 0.

April 13, 1953

Ty Cobb, Al Simmons, Dizzy Dean, Cy Young. Connie Mack, Big Ed Walsh, and Rogers Hornsby

April 14, 1953

In their first game ever played in Milwaukee, the transplanted Braves beat the Cardinals at County Stadium, 3-2, thanks to Billy Bruton’s walkoff home run off Gerry Staley in the tenth inning. The 27 year-old rookie centerfielder will not hit another home run this season.

April 14, 1953

Bob Lemon almost throws an Opening Day no-hitter against the White Sox, but the attempt is spoiled by Minnie Minoso’s first inning single. The Indians’ hurler almost loses his shutout when fleet footed outfielder Jim Rivera walks, steals second, and goes to third on a grounder, but is thrown out trying to steal home.

April 16, 1953

In a Forbes Field contest in which Pittsburgh will prevail, 14-12, the Phillies score nine times, and the Pirates tally six runs in the fifth inning, tying the National League record when 15 batters cross home plate during the frame. Philadelphia’s second baseman Connie Ryan establishes a new team record with six hits, four singles, and two doubles, in six at-bats.

April 17, 1953

Mickey Mantle hits longest homerun in Griffith Stadium

Mickey Mantle hits what is believed to be the longest home run in the history of Washington’s Griffith Stadium.

April 29, 1953

Little-Bigger League, a baseball program for boys aged 13 to 15, changes its name to the Babe Ruth League, honoring the Yankee legend’s commitment to children. Claire Merritt Ruth, the widow of the Babe, will meet with the Hamilton-based (NJ) organization, giving permission for the youth circuit to bear her late husband’s name.

April 29, 1953

Joe Adcock becomes first player to hit a ball into centerfield bleachers in polo grounds

May 2, 1953

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Carlos Bernier hits three consecutive triples in a 12 – 4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Bernier adds a single and a stolen base as Ralph Kiner and Jim Greengrass match home runs. In a stretch of 11 at bats, Bernier will hit four triples, two doubles, and two singles.

May 5, 1953

In the second game of a twin bill at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, Braves’ hurler Max Surkont strikes out the hitter for the third out of the second inning, and will continue to fan batters until there is one out in the fifth inning en route to a 10-3 victory over the Reds. The eight consecutive strikeouts establish a new major league record, surpassing the mark of seven straight strikeouts shared by Dazzy Vance (Robins aka Dodgers, 1924) and Van Mungo (Dodgers, 1936).

May 6, 1953

Bobo Holloman becomes 3rd player to twirl no hitter in debut

May 8, 1953

After 13 straight losses to New York, the Red Sox win a dramatic 11-inning, 2 – 1 thriller at Fenway Park. Billy Goodman’s homer off starter Johnny Sain gives starter Hal Brown the win. Dick Gernert’s 2nd-inning home run is the other Boston score. In Boston’s previous win over New York, August 9, 1952, all the scores came on solo homers.

May 9, 1953

At Boston, the first-place Yanks beat the Red Sox, 6 – 4. Mickey Mantle hits one homer off Bill Werle and is robbed of another when Jimmy Piersall makes a sensational catch at the Sox bullpen in right-center field.

May 10, 1953

Vic Raschi makes his first relief appearance in two years, limiting the Red Sox to three hits in four innings, as the Yankees win, 7 – 4. Billy Goodman sustains a freak rib accident, which will keep him out of action for three weeks, when Jim Piersall picks him up and lugs him from the field to break up Goody’s argument with umpire Jim Duffy. Del Wilber hits his second consecutive pinch homer in the 8th; his first came on May 6th.

May 10, 1953

Behind Billy Loes and Roy Campanella, the Dodgers move into first place with 5 – 0 win over the Phillies

May 10, 1953

Eddie and Johnny O’Brien became the first pair of twins to play for the same team in the same game

May 11, 1953

A deadly hurricane destroys the city of Waco, TX, killing over 100 persons and destroying Katy Park, home of the Waco Pirates of the Big State League. The team will relocate to Longview, TX for the remainder of the season.

May 12, 1953

5/12/1953: Carlos Bernier of the Pirates led off the top of the second inning with a homer off Cincinnati’s Eddie Erautt for the first run of the game. With one out in the bottom of the fifth and the Pirates ahead, 5-1, the game was rained out. Bernier hit three homers in his career.

May 15, 1953

At St. Louis, the Cardinals pound Preacher Roe for six runs in the 2nd en route to a 9 – 3 win over the Dodgers. It is the Cards’ first win against Roe after 10 straight losses; they last beat him August 28, 1950. Last night, they beat Carl Erskine after losing seven straight to the lefty.

May 15, 1953

George Brett is Born in West Virginia

May 16, 1953

Chicago White Sox pitcher Tommy Byrne hits a game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning

May 16, 1953

After the Braves’ Billy Bruton’s leadoff single in the 1st, Phillies P Curt Simmons retires the next 27 batters to win, 3 – 0, at Milwaukee. The loss snaps the Braves six-game win streak.

May 20, 1953

Milwaukee Braves play their 13th home game and surpass the attendance total for the previous season

May 21, 1953

At Fenway Park, Bosox C Del Wilber hits his third pinch-homer of the year, this one a 14th-inning solo homer to beat reliever Don Larsen and the Browns, 3 – 2. Former Red Sox player Don Lenhardt takes Hal Browndowntown with a shot to center field just left of the flag pole and the last upright of the screen.

May 22, 1953

Yanks OF Irv Noren ends the game by lining back to pitcher Bob Porterfield, who starts a triple play, as the Senators beat the Yankees, 12 – 4. The Nats score five in the 1st inning off Allie Reynolds. Washington tallies 18 hits including a three-run homer and two-run double by Clyde Vollmer. Johnny Mize hits a pinch single in the 9th, his fifth pinch single in a row, breaking a mark set by Cleveland’s Les Fleming in 1947. Mize has had a walk and been hit by a pitch in his last seven pinch appearances.

May 24, 1953

A year and 3 days after scoring 15 runs in an inning‚ the Dodgers explode again. Against the Phillies they score 12 runs in the 8th inning before making an out. Their two bases-loaded triples in the 8th tie a major league record for a game and set it for an inning. The half inning takes 44 minutes to play. The final score is 16 – 2.

May 25, 1953

Ralph Kiner hits the 300th home run of his career

May 25, 1953

Max Surkont sets strikeout record

May 26, 1953

Cardinals sign their first black player when Fresno State College slugger Len Tucker

May 29, 1953

3B Bob Elliott lines a double in the Browns’ six-run 11th inning‚ as they beat the Tigers, 11 – 5. For Elliot it is his 2‚000th major league hit. Harry Brecheen (1-6) wins his first of the year.

June 4, 1953

Pittsburgh Pirates trade future Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner in 10 player deal

June 4, 1953

Mickey Mantle leadoff single in the 10th inning ignites a New York rally and they win 9 – 5.

June 4, 1953

Phillies P Curt Simmons cuts off part of his left big toe with a power lawn mower

June 10, 1953

Jimmy Piersall of the Boston Red Sox goes 6-for-6 in the first game of a doubleheader

June 11, 1953

Behind the pitching of Jim McDonald and Allie Reynolds‚ first-place New York beats Detroit, 6 – 3, to run its win streak to 14 games. New York gets a game-winner from Mickey Mantle off Art Houtteman that crowns the roof in right center at Detroit. Mantle has now hit in 16 straight games‚ but will go hitless tomorrow‚ when he pulls a thigh muscle. Hitting .353 at the end of today‚ Mantle will hit just .255 the rest of the year. The Yankees get another tape-measure blast when Joe Collins hits a 2-out 7th inning homer that lands on the 98-foot high press box over the 370-foot sign.

June 14, 1953

Before 74,708 fans, the Yankees sweep the Indians, 6-2 and 3-0, to extend the team’s winning streak to eighteen consecutive games. The Bronx Bombers’ run of victories will end with a 3-1 loss to St. Louis, one win shy of the franchise mark of 19 set in 1947.

June 16, 1953

1953 – Duane Pillette of the St. Louis Browns ends the New York Yankees’ win streak at 18 and the Browns’ team record 14-game losing streak with a 3 – 1 victory in Yankee Stadium. Johnny Mize becomes the 93rd player in major league history to get 2,000 hits when he singles in the only Yankees’ run in the 5th inning.

June 18, 1953

At Fenway Park, Dick Gernert’s home run highlights a 17-run, 14-hit 7th inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 23 – 3. In the big inning, Gene Stephens has three hits, Sammy White scores three runs and Tom Umphlett also reaches base three times. Both Stephens and White set modern day records for their feats.

June 22, 1953

Senators C Ed Fitz Gerald pulls off an unassisted double play against Cleveland in a 7 – 5 win in the first game of a doubleheader.

June 24, 1953

The Braves sign 17-year-old Joey Jay from Middletown, Connecticut, making him the first Little League player to make it to the major leagues.

June 25, 1953

White Sox manager Paul Richards uses five first basemen in beating the Yankees, 4 – 2. He brings in Harry Dorish to face two batters, moving Billy Pierce to 1B. The Sox 3-game sweep still leaves New York nine games up on the Indians and 9 1/2 on Chicago.

June 25, 1953

Al Kaline makes his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers

June 30, 1953

Braves slugger Eddie Mathews has five straight hits in a 10-inning, 6 – 4 win over the Reds.

July 2, 1953

10000 Ticket Seekers Denied

July 5, 1953

Blanking the Pirates at Forbes Field, 2 – 0, Robin Roberts hurls his 28th consecutive complete game

July 6, 1953

In his first major league start, Al Worthington blanks the Pirates, 6 – 0. The Giants rookie will repeat the feat in his next start blanking the Dodgers to tie a major league mark.

July 7, 1953

The Dodgers set a major-league record for most consecutive games with a home run with 24.

July 7, 1953

The Dodgers set a major league mark for the most consecutive games with a home run by a team with a least one round-tripper in their 24 contests. Brooklyn starter Preacher Roe hits the record-breaking homer with a third-inning blast in the team’s 9-5 victory over Pittsburgh at Forbes Field.

July 7, 1953

The Browns, with their 6-3 loss to the Indians at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, set a major league record, losing their 20th consecutive home game. The non-winning streak dates back to June 3.

July 8, 1953

Cardinals 3B Ray Jablonski goes 5 for 5 against the Reds in a 7 – 2 win.

July 8, 1953

Neill Sheridan hits one of the longest home runs ever measured

July 9, 1953

At Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium, Phillies reliever Bob Miller replaces Robin Roberts ending the starter’s consecutive complete game streak at 28. The future Hall of Famer (class of 1976) had finished every game he started since beating the Cardinals last season on August 28th.

July 10, 1953

With Roy Campanella’s home run off Giants hurler Sal Maglie, the Dodgers establish a National League record, homering in their 24th consecutive game. Campy’s homer is the only run Brooklyn scores as the Giants extend their winning streak to seven with the 6-1 victory.

July 11, 1953

Giant rookie Al Worthington halts Dodgers streak with 6-0 shutout

July 12, 1953

The Yomiuri and Mainichi newspaper chains inaugurate the Nichi-Bei Series, a program of regular visits by American major-league clubs to Japan. The program will be sponsored by the Yomiuri chain alone from 1966.

July 12, 1953

Braves slugger Eddie Mathews hits the first grand slam in the history of the Milwaukee franchise, as the Braves sweep two from the Cardinals, 10 – 1 and 4 – 3, in St. Louis.

July 14, 1953

The National – League wins its fourth All-Star Game in a row, 5 – 1 in Cincinnati’s Crosley Field behind the stellar pitching of Robin Robertsand Warren Spahn. St. Louis Cardinals OF Enos Slaughter gets two hits, scores twice, and robs Harvey Kuenn of an extra-base blow.

July 16, 1953

The Browns tie a record with three successive home runs – by Clint Courtney, Dick Kryhoski and Jim Dyck – in the 1st inning. Their five bases-empty home runs in three innings establish a new mark. It’s enough to beat the Yankees, 8 – 6.

July 18, 1953

Dodger backup 1B Wayne Belardi pinch-hits and walks and hits a grand slam in same inning

July 18, 1953

1B Whitey Lockman, 3B Hank Thompson and CF Bobby Thomson hit 1st-inning homers, as the Giants beat the Cubs, 12 – 7, to move into fourth place.

July 19, 1953

The Giants’ Whitey Lockman leads off the game with a home run for the second day in a row and Giants walk off with the win

July 19, 1953

Boston lefty Mickey McDermott and relief P Ellis Kinder combine for a one-hitter against Cleveland. OF Al Smith’s 4th-inning single is the only Tribe safety.

July 21, 1953

1953 – The Milwaukee Braves suffer the worst shutout loss in the history of the franchise, losing to the Phils, 10 – 0.

July 24, 1953

1953 – The Red Sox sweep the Browns as both Boston pitchers, Mickey McDermott and Bill Henry, hurl shutouts.

July 24, 1953

7/24/1953 – The Cardinals were in Philadelphia and manager Eddie Stanky turned in a lineup card with the first three batters listed as Solly Hemus, Stanky and Stan Musial. However as the game started the Redbirds followed the lineup as posted in the dugout. Stanky batted and struck out. Then Hemus singled and as Musial came to the plate Phillies skipper Steve O’Neill spoke with plate Umpire Bill Jackowski. The single by Hemus was nullified and Musial declared out. Musial later stole home for the Redbirds only run of the game as two Granny Hamner homers defeated the Cards, 2-1.

July 27, 1953

Dizzy Dean and Al Simmons top the list of eight new members in the Hall of Fame

July 30, 1953

1953 – The Giants’ Monte Irvin grounds into three double plays, tying a National League record, as Milwaukee wins, 5 – 0.

August 1, 1953

Warren Spahn fires 31st career shutout narrowly misses no hitter

August 1, 1953

Ben Flowers of the Boston Red Sox sets a major-league record with eight consecutive games pitched in relief, a mark that will later be surpassed.

August 2, 1953

Fireworks break out in the first game of a doubleheader between the Hollywood Stars and Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. The first brawl takes place in the 6th inning when the Stars’ Frankie Kellehercharges the mound after being plunked by Angels pitcher Joe Hatten. Both players are ejected, but pinch-runner Ted Beard goes sliding into third base with spikes high moments later, and a second brawl breaks out between him and 3B Murray Franklin, as both benches empty once again. Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker, watching the game on television, intervenes by sending a brigade of officers to restore order. Four more players are ejected, and all substitutes left have to remain in the dugout for the remainder of the game.

August 3, 1953

Chicago White Sox 1B Ferris Fain brawls in a Maryland cafe. The team fines him $600.

August 3, 1953

Duke Snider lost a homer to the rain in Milwaukee. The blow came as he led off the eighth inning with Lew Burdette pitching for the Braves. The game was called with the Dodgers leading 2-0 during the bottom of the eighth. The records reverted back to the end of the seventh and a 1-0 Dodgers win.

August 5, 1953

Don Larsen, in his 5-0 complete-game loss to Boston at Fenway Park, goes 3-for-3 to establish the mark for consecutive hits by a pitcher with seven. The Browns’ rookie right-hander will hit .284 in 81 at bats this season.

August 5, 1953

Ben Flowers of the Red Sox shuts out the Browns 5 – 0 in his first major league start.

August 6, 1953

Ted Williams returns to the Boston Red Sox after his military stint in the Korean War

August 8, 1953

Southpaws Whitey Ford and Bob Kuzava both blank the White Sox, 1-0 and 3-0, for a Yankee doubleheader sweep.

August 10, 1953

1953 – Bob Porterfield of the Senators has his second one-hitter of the season, as he masters the Red Sox, 2 – 0.

August 12, 1953

Playing without the injured Mickey Mantle – out for 10 days with a sprained knee – the Yankees explode for 28 hits off Washington pitching‚ two shy of the American League record. New York rolls to a 22 – 1 victory. Rookie Steve Kraly‚ relieving Whitey Ford‚ gives up a run to avert the largest shutout win in history. Ford has 4 hits‚ and Yogi Berra and Billy Martin each collect 5 RBIs. Hank Bauer scores 5 runs.

August 12, 1953

The Braves and Cards draw 36‚241‚ a record crowd for a twi-night doubleheader in Milwaukee’s County Stadium. The Braves don’t disappoint‚ taking both games‚ 8 – 2 and 5 – 3. Eddie Mathews drives in a pair in the opener to reach 100 RBIs.

August 12, 1953

Brooklyn slugger Duke Snider hits his second grand slam in three days‚ accounting for all the runs in the Dodgers’ 4 – 0 win over the Giants. Carl Erskine allows New York just two hits.

August 12, 1953

At Wrigley Field‚ Andy Seminick belts a grand slam in the top of the 9th to break a 6 – 6 tie and give the Reds a 10 – 6 win over the Cubs.

August 12, 1953

At St. Louis‚ Ray Boone smashes his 4th grand slam of the year to tie a major league record‚ as the Tigers win‚ 7 – 3.

August 12, 1953

In an 8 – 4 Phils win at Pittsburgh‚ Robin Roberts wins his 20th of the year and his 15th straight over the Bucs stretching back to May 20‚ 1951. It is Roberts’ 4th consecutive 20-game year. He scatters 12 hits‚ walks none‚ and strikes out 9. He also triples in a run.

August 14, 1953

Eddie Mathews just 1 off Ruth’s pace

August 15, 1953

1953 – 3B Ransom Jackson of the Cubs grounds into 3 double plays against the Braves as the Cubs lose, 2 – 0. Jackson ties a National League record, later eclipsed by Joe Torre.

August 17, 1953

1953 – Bob Kuzava of the Yanks shuts out the Athletics, 9 – 0, allowing 11 hits along the way.

August 20, 1953

The Browns beat the Baltimore Orioles, the city’s AAA minor league team, 8-2, in an exhibition game played in front of a small crowd of 10,861 at Municipal Stadium. Undaunted by the low turnout of fans for the contest against the International League team, St. Louis owner Bill Veeck will seek and be given permission to shift his franchise to the Charm City, a move denied by the American League owners last year.

August 21, 1953

Major league player representatives Ralph Kiner (National League) and Allie Reynolds (American League) hire labor leader John Norman Lewis at $15,000 per annum to give legal advice to players in their negotiations with the owners.

August 21, 1953

The Cardinals hit out of turn for the second time in less than a month

August 23, 1953

Chattanooga OF Don Grate betters his 1952 record by throwing a baseball 443 feet 3 ½ inches. Glen Gorbous will beat it in 1957.

August 23, 1953

Phil Paine, a former Boston Braves pitcher on military service with the U.S. Air Force in Japan, becomes the first ex-major league player to play in Japan. He pitches in nine games for the Nishitetsu Lions: four wins, three losses, ERA 1.77.

August 23, 1953

DŐN grate sets the record for longest thrown ball

August 26, 1953

1953 – Giants OF Dusty Rhodes, hitting just .167, connects for three home runs in a row at the Polo Grounds in a 13 – 4 win over the Cardinals. Teammate Al Dark goes 5 for 5 with his own home run.

August 27, 1953

Milwaukee Minors deliver 3 all stars

August 30, 1953

Led by OF Jim Pendleton’s three home runs, the Braves tie the Yankees’ 1939 major-league record for the most homers in a game with eight

August 30, 1953

The Dodgers rip St. Louis, 20 – 4, with the help of two big innings. Dodger Jackie Robinson fans twice in the 3rd inning, while Gil Hodges walks twice in the 6th. Roy Campanella’s five RBIs ties the National League season mark of most RBIs by a catcher (122).

August 30, 1953

Eddie stanky mocks Jackie Robinson

September 1, 1953

The Cards hit 5 home runs‚ all of them solo shots‚ but lose to the Dodgers’ Preacher Roe‚ 12 – 5

September 1, 1953

Chicago’s Virgil Trucks surrenders a homer to Mickey Mantle in the 7th that proves to be the game-winner‚ as the White Sox lose to the Yankees‚ 3 – 2.

September 3, 1953

South Bend Blue Sox right-hander Jean Faut tosses a perfect game, beating the Kalamazoo Lassies, 4-0, to become the only professional pitcher in history to accomplish the feat twice. The AAGPBL Player of the Year, who also didn’t allow a Rockford Peaches batter to reach base in a 1951 contest, will pitch only one more game before retiring at the end of the season.

September 4, 1953

1953 – Despite consecutive home runs by Wes Westrum, Al Corwin, and Whitey Lockman in the 3rd, the Giants lose to the Dodgers, 8 – 6, in a game marred by beanballs and disagreements on calls. Following a Clem Labinebrushback on Giants IF Bobby Hofman, Larry Jansen throws at Duke Snider and Roy Campanella in the 8th.

September 6, 1953

The Chicago Cubs win a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds, by scores of 7 – 6 and 7 – 2. In the first game, Cubs first baseman Dee Fondy hits one of his team’s four homers and then scores the game-winning run with a two-out, two-strike steal of home in the 9th inning. Fondy’s teammates Ransom Jackson, Ralph Kiner and Hank Sauer also homer, Kiner and Sauer back-to-back.

September 6, 1953

$With Giants manager Leo Durocher yelling "stick it in his ear", Ruben Gomez hits Carl Furillo, the National League's leading hitter, on the wrist by a pitch. After taking first base, the Dodgers right fielder bolts into the opposing dugout to choke 'Leo the Lip', but in the melee, the knuckle on his little finger is fractured, putting an end to his season.$

With Giants manager Leo Durocher yelling “stick it in his ear”, Ruben Gomez hits Carl Furillo, the National League’s leading hitter, on the wrist by a pitch. After taking first base, the Dodgers right fielder bolts into the opposing dugout to choke ‘Leo the Lip’, but in the melee, the knuckle on his little finger is fractured, putting an end to his season.

September 8, 1953