1962 – Commissioner Ford Frick denies charges that Carl Furillo has been blacklisted by Major League Baseball because of a 1959 salary dispute with the Dodgers.
1961 – Sandy Koufax (18-13) fans seven Phils in the course of a 2 – 1 loss to set a National League record for strikeouts in a season: 269. This surpasses Christy Mathewson’s 267 in 1963, which was accomplished in 367 innings pitched, as opposed to Koufax’s remarkable 255. Both runs off Sandy are unearned.
1961 – The 155th Yankees game of the season (including a tie) is Roger Maris’ last chance to beat the 60 home run mark set by Babe Ruth in compliance with Commissioner Ford Frick’s statement, for the record to be broken Maris must do it in the same number of games as Ruth. Maris’ 59th home run of the year, off Jack Fisher, is short of the record, but helps the Yankees beat Baltimore, 4 – 2 to clinch their 26th American League pennant.
On July 18, 1961, Commissioner Ford Frick makes a controversial ruling in announcing that Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record cannot be considered broken unless it is accomplished in 154 or fewer games. Frick’s decision will result in two separate records: one for a 154-game season and one for a 162-game season. Pinterest Instagram Facebook…
Hank Greenberg drops out of the bidding to run the new American League franchise in Los Angeles.
1959 – Frank D. Lawrence, owner of the Portsmouth, VA, club, files a $250,000 suit against Commissioner Ford Frick and Major League Baseball for breach of contract, alleging that broadcasts of major league games effectively forced him out of business.
New York sportswriter and broadcaster Ford Frick is named the public relations director of the National League
1958 – Commissioner Ford Frick announces that players and coaches, rather than the fans, will vote on selections for the All-Star Game. The vote will not return to the fans until 1970, when Commissioner Bowie Kuhn reverses Frick’s action. The decision is a reaction to alleged ballot box stuffing by Cincinnati fans before last year’s All-Star Game.
The owners decide to re-elect Commissioner Ford Frick to another seven-year term when his present contract is up in 1958.
Cincinnati fans threaten to sue Commissioner Ford Frick unless Gus Bell, George Crowe and Wally Post are restored to the All-Star team. They finished first in the ballotting thanks to vote-stuffing by Cincinnati fans, ahead of more deserving players.
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