The St. Louis Cardinals play their first night game at Sportsman’s Park, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The St. Louis Cardinals play their first night game at Sportsman’s Park, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Oct 17, 2019 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The St. Louis Cardinals play their first night game at Sportsman’s Park, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Read MoreMajor League Baseball Season Recap 1940 World Series – Cincinnati Reds NL over Detriot Tigers AL 4 games to 3 World Series MVP – Babe Ruth Award – Awards – MVP Awards – NL Frank McCormack AL Hank...
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 31, 1940 | Transactions | 0 |
1940 – The New York Yankees send Bump Hadley to the New York Giants for the waiver price and trade infielder Bill Knickerbocker to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Ken Silvestri. The military will claim Silvestri for the next four years.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 30, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – The New York Yankees swap pitcher Monte Pearson to the Cincinnati Reds for a player and cash.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Dec 25, 1940 | Ball Park, This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – South Side Park, the first home of the Chicago White Sox, burns down.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 24, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – The Cleveland Indians trade veteran outfielder Ben Chapman to the Washington Senators for pitcher Joe Krakauskas. Cleveland also sells pitcher Johnny Allen to the Browns.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 21, 1940 | Rookie Of The Year American League | 0 |
1940 – Chicago writers name Cleveland Indians shortstop Lou Boudreau as the outstanding rookie in the major leagues. Boudreau will be honored at the annual January banquet. The Rookie of the Year Award won’t be created until 1947, however.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 20, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – For a reported $42,000, A’s manager Connie Mack buys a controlling interest in the club from the Shibe family.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 20, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Connie Mack announces he has acquired the controlling interest in the A’s, a team he has managed for the past 40 years, for a reported $42,000. The Philadelphia skipper, who will celebrate his 78th birthday in three days, had shared the ownership with the heirs of Benjamin Shibe, who started the franchise on a joint basis in 1901.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 16, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – The White Sox ship P Jack Knott to the A’s for IF Dario Lodigiani.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Dec 15, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
On December 15, 1940, Hall of Fame outfielder “Sliding Billy” Hamilton dies at the age of 74. Hamilton stole 912 bases and batted .344 over a 14-year career, placing him in the top 10 on the all-time batting...
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 13, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – Veteran umpire George Moriarty is removed from the active staff and transferred to the American League promotional department.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 12, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – Washington sends Gee Walker to the Red Sox for Doc Cramer. Walker is then packed off to Cleveland with P Jim Bagby and C Gene Desautels for C Frank Pytlak, 3B Odell Hale and P Joe Dobson. Boston also buys OF Pete Fox from Detroit.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 11, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – The Major Leagues extend commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to another four-year term. They also vote to limit night games to seven per team.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 10, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Umpire Bill Klem retires and is appointed National League chief of staff.
Read MoreThe sacrifice fly rule, reinstituted last year, is eliminated for the 1941 season. Though he would hit .400 without the rule change, Ted Williams will have six flies that score runners from third base in 1941.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 10, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The Giants purchase Morrie Arnovich from the Reds and send SS Wayne Ambler to the Reds for P Milt Shoffner.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 10, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
In Chicago, a curious rule that was designed to “break up the Yankees” is continued by the American League, a rule which prohibits the team winning the championship from trading with any other club. The rule was voted in at the December, 1939 meetings by the seven other AL owners after the New York Yankees won four straight World Series. The major and minor leagues agree that players taken into the military will not count against roster limits.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 9, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – The Reds trade 3B Lew Riggs to Brooklyn for 2B Pep Young.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 4, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The Cubs swap SS Bobby Mattick and OF Jim Gleeson to the Reds for SS Billy Myers. Myers will split his time between Chicago and the minors next year and quit in 1942 rather than take a pay cut.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 4, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Larry MacPhail continues his dealing and gets his catcher. The Dodgers trade for Mickey Owen, giving Gus Mancuso and $85,000 to the Cardinals.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Dec 3, 1940 | Transactions | 0 |
1940 – The St. Louis Browns purchase pitchers Denny Galehouse and Fritz Ostermueller from the Boston Red Sox. Galehouse will have a 50-58 record in six seasons for the Browns.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Nov 17, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – Jimmie Wilson is named as the new Chicago Cubs manager. He gets his reward for managing the woeful Philadelphia Phillies in the 1930s and for his late-season role filling in at catcher with the Cincinnati Reds.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Nov 12, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – Unwilling to yield to the players’ demands during the season, Cleveland Indians owner Alva Bradley finally fires manager Oscar Vitt and replaces him with Roger Peckinpaugh. It is Peckinpaugh’s second time as Cleveland’s field boss.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Nov 11, 1940 | Transactions | 0 |
On November 11, 1940, the Brooklyn Dodgers acquire Kirby Higbe from the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Mickey Livingston, pitchers Bill Crouch, and Vito Tamulis, and $100,000. Higbe, who won 14 games in 1940, will win 22...
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Nov 11, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Larry MacPhail still needs a starting pitcher to make his team a threat to the Reds. He acquires pitcher Kirby Higbe from the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Mickey Livingston, pitchers Bill Crouch and Vito Tamulis, and $100,000. Higbe, who won 14 games in 1940, will win 22 games next season to lead National League pitchers.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Nov 5, 1940 | Off The Field | 0 |
On November 5, 1940, In his bid to represent Maryland’s sixth congressional district in the...
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Nov 5, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic candidate who broke with tradition to run for an unprecedented third term, is re-elected, defeating Wendell Willkie by a comfortable margin. The unlikely dark horse Republican candidate had once served as the Dodgers’ lawyer, but the independent-minded barrister’s involvement in politics proved not to be beneficial for a team that was in constant chaos at the time.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Oct 26, 1940 | AL MVP | 0 |
1940 – Detroit Tigers outfielder Hank Greenberg is named the American League MVP with Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller finishing second. Greenberg hit .340 with 41 home runs and 150 RBI, while Feller posted a 27-11 record with a 2.61 ERA. Having won the award in 1935 as a first baseman, Greenberg becomes the first player to win the MVP again playing a different position.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Oct 8, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – With only one day off, Bobo Newsom comes back for the Tigers and nearly has enough to win Game 7 of the World Series. Cincinnati Reds Paul Derringer gives up seven hits in the first six innings but sets the Tigers down in order in the final three frames for the 2 – 1 win, giving the Reds the Series.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Oct 8, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
With the Reds’ 2-1 victory over the Tigers in Game 7 of the Fall Classic, Bill McKechnie becomes the first manager to win a World Series with two different teams. The ‘Deacon’ also piloted the Pirates to a World Championship, beating Washington in seven games in the 1925 Fall Classic.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Oct 3, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
On October 3, 1940.00 1940 – In the World Series, Jimmy Ripple’s two-run home run in the 3rd inning of Game 2 provides the winning margin as the Cincinnati Reds end the National League’s ten-game Series losing...
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Oct 2, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The Sullivans become the first father and son to have played in a World Series when Billy Jr. is the Tigers backstop in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Crosley Field. The Detroit catcher’s dad, Bill Sr., appeared in the postseason in 1906, playing the same position for the White Sox when he went 0-for-21 in the Hitless Wonders’ six-game triumph over the Cubs.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Oct 2, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The Sullivans become the first father and son to have played in a World Series when Billy Jr. is the Tigers backstop in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Crosley Field. The Detroit catcher’s dad, Bill Sr., appeared in the postseason in 1906, playing the same position for the White Sox when he went 0-for-21 in the Hitless Wonders’ six-game triumph over the Cubs.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 27, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – Besides Bobo Newsom (21-5), Schoolboy Rowe (16-3), and Tommy Bridges (12-9), the Tigers’ pitching staff combines for a losing record. Needing one victory to gain the title, manager Del Baker decides to withhold Newsom and Rowe and picks Floyd Giebell, an obscure rookie just called in from Buffalo. Giebell shuts out the Indians, 2 – 0, to beat Bob Feller, who gives up just 3 hits. Not eligible for the World Series, Giebell will never win another game in the major leagues. During the game, unruly Cleveland fans shower the field with fruit and vegetables. At one point, a basket of green tomatoes is dropped onto Tigers C Birdie Tebbetts’ head while he sits in the bullpen.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 27, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
On the last day of the season at Cleveland Stadium, the game against the Tigers is delayed because some Indian fans begin to shower the field with fruit and vegetables. The visitors’ bullpen proves not to be a safe haven when a basket of green tomatoes is dropped on Birdie Tebbetts’ head by an unruly fan.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 27, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The Tigers clinch the American League pennant, beating the Indians, 2-0. Rookie right-hander Floyd Gieball gets his second and final big league win to seal the deal.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Sep 25, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Bobo Newsom wins a clutch doubleheader for the Tigers, pitching 2 innings of relief in the opener against the White Sox, and going the distance in the nightcap for his 21st win.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 25, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Walker Cooper, recently called up from Columbus (American Association), and Mort Cooper, pitching in relief, make up a brother battery in the Cards’ 4 – 3 win over the Reds.
Read MorePosted by This Day in Baseball | Sep 24, 1940 | 500 Homerun, Homerun History, Milestones | 0 |
On September 24, 1940, At Shibe Park, Boston Red Sox slugger Jimmie Foxx hits his 500th home run....
Read MoreNegro Leagues great Oscar Charleston seen here in 1940 at Perry Stadium when he was player/manager...
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 21, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
1940 – With the Tigers, Indians, and Yankees neck-and-neck, the Tigers boost their lead to 2 games, as Schoolboy Rowe shuts out Cleveland, 5 – 0. Rowe, seemingly washed up after anchoring the staff through Tiger championships in the mid-1930s, will finish at 16-3.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 18, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The A’s are mired deep in the cellar, but Connie Mack hits all the right buttons today. He sends four pinch hitters to the plate in the 9th inning versus Detroit, and all four deliver hits.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 18, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
The Reds clinch the National League flag, outdistancing the Dodgers and the late-rushing Cardinals. Bill McKechnie’s Cincinnati team makes only 117 errors during the season, 18 less than any previous team. The .981 fielding mark is the best up to this time. The defense, plus the pitching of Bucky Walters, Paul Derringer, and reliever Joe Beggs, brings the second straight NL flag to the Reds, despite multiple injuries to Ernie Lombardi. The big catcher went down again on September 15th, and the club turns to 39-year-old coach Jimmy Wilson for some of the backstopping. Wilson will end up as a World Series hero.
Read MorePosted by Tom | Sep 16, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
In a 16-4 Browns rout of the Yankees at Sportsman’s Park, Johnny Lucadello becomes the first player in big league history to hit his first two career home runs from different sides of the plate in the same game. The 21 year-old second baseman, who joins Wally Schang as only the second player in American League history to accomplish the feat, will hit just three more home runs during his six-year career.
Read MoreA rhubarb at Ebbets Field results in a suspension and fine for Leo Durocher for “inciting a riot.” Perhaps better known from the game is the photo showing an obese Brooklyn fan astride George Magerkurth, pummeling the veteran umpire.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 16, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Called up from the Eastern League in August, Phillies rookie Danny Litwhiler singles in both games of 7 – 1 and 3 – 2 losses to St. Louis, extending his hitting streak to 21 straight games. He will be stopped tomorrow by Whitey Moore at Cincinnati. He will hit .345 in 36 games.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 16, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
Rookie Johnny Lucadello of the St. Louis Browns hits homers from each side of the plate versus the New York Yankees in a 16 – 4 Browns win. Only Wally Schang, in 1916, had accomplished the same in the American League. Mickey Mantle in 1955 will be the next AL player to do it. These are the only home runs Lucadello will hit all year.
Read MorePosted by Baseball | Sep 16, 1940 | This Day In Baseball | 0 |
In a 16-4 Browns rout of the Yankees at Sportsman’s Park, Johnny Lucadello becomes the first player in big league history to hit his first two career home runs from different sides of the plate in the same game. The 21 year-old second baseman, who joins Wally Schang as only the second player in American League history to accomplish the feat, will hit just three more home runs during his six-year career.
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