May 17, 1941, Play is halted in the seventh inning of the Braves-Giants game at the Polo Grounds so the crowd of 17,009 and players can listen to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s radio address over the stadium’s P.A. system. After FDR announces the Proclamation of an Unlimited National Emergency, the tied 1-1 contest is resumed…
ON May 25, 1941 – In a 10-3 victory over New York at Yankee Stadium, Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams goes 4-for-5 to raise his batting average to over .400 for the first time this season. The ‘Splendid Splinter’ will finish the campaign batting .406.
Selma Cloverleafs (Southeastern League) pitcher Hal Toenes relieves in the top of the 9th inning against the Jackson Mississippians with a runner on first base and 2 out. Without throwing a pitch‚ he picks the runner off first. Selma‚ 4 runs down‚ scores 6 runs to give Toenes the pitchless win.
A smart play by the Reds’ Lonny Frey helps Cincy to a 6 – 4 win over the Giants. With one out and the sacks full in the 1st, Chuck Aleno hits a double play grounder to short. Frey, running from second base, allows the ball to hit him for an out, stopping play and putting Aleno on first base. Ernie Lombardi then hits a grand slam. Frank McCormick adds a two-run home run in the 3rd.
Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox wins his 20th consecutive game at Fenway Park, the longest home park streak in the major leagues, in a 4 – 2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
A sold-out crowd, including representatives from each of the other 15 major league clubs, attends Connie Mack Day in Philadelphia to honor the 78 year-old president-manager of the A’s. The celebration includes the renaming of the team’s home field from Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium, a change that doesn’t officially take hold until 1953.
The Yankees bench top prospects Phil Rizzuto and Jerry Priddy, putting Joe Gordon and Frankie Crosetti back in the lineup. New York then rallies in the 9th to beat the White Sox, 5 – 4.
On May 15, 1941, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees starts his record-setting 56-game hitting streak by collecting a single in four at-bats against the Chicago White Sox. DiMaggio’s first victim is Sox pitcher Ed Smith. Joe D’s hit goes unnoticed as the Yankees lose, 13 – 1. Taffy Wright homers and drives in four White Sox runs,…
Rip Radcliff, one of the top American League batters in 1940 for the Browns, is waived to the Tigers as a result of a sudden batting decline.
A single by Jimmy Bloodworth in the 7th is the only hit for the Senators as they lose to the Browns’ Denny Galehouse, 7 – 0.
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