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1942 in baseball

Champions

Major League Baseball

Other champions

Awards and honors

Statistical leaders

Any team shown in indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

<sup>1</sup> American League Triple Crown batting winner <br> <sup>2</sup> Negro American League Triple Crown batting winner <br> <sup>3</sup> Negro American League Triple Crown batting winner

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Negro league baseball final standings

All Negro leagues standings below are per Seamheads.

Negro American League final standings

Negro National League final standings

Independent teams final standings

The Negro American League All Star team & Cincinnati Clowns played against the two leagues.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

  • August 4 – Wartime "dim-out" restrictions dictate an abrupt halt to a 1–1 deadlock between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in the visitors' half of the tenth frame—and wipe out an inside-the-park grand-slam homer just struck by the Dodgers' Pee Wee Reese. The score reverts to the bottom of the ninth inning and the game is ruled a tie. When the St. Louis Cardinals drop a 4–3 contest to the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field, the Dodgers, now 73–30–1 and seemingly breezing to their second straight pennant, increase their National League lead to ten full games over the 62–39–1 Cardinals; it's the largest cushion Brooklyn will enjoy in 1942.
  • August 8 – At Forbes Field, the Cardinals and host Pittsburgh Pirates play to a 16-inning, 5–5 tie before the rain-delayed game is called on account of darkness. St. Louis ace Mort Cooper turns in a rare poor performance, but the Redbird bullpen fires 13<small></small> scoreless innings. Individual statistics will count, but the teams will start from scratch on Monday, August 10.
  • August 9 – The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds struggle for 18 innings before the visiting Cubs emerge victorious, 10–8, in the first game of a doubleheader at Crosley Field. The teams combine for 39 hits (with no homers for either side) in the majors' longest game, by innings played, of 1942. Dom Dallessandro's double off Elmer Riddle provides the winning run.
  • August 20 – The Pittsburgh Pirates reveal that owner William Benswanger has asked Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the leading proponents within the Black press advocating the dismantling of the baseball color line, to identify Black players from the Negro leagues as candidates to try out over the off-season to become members of the all-white Pirates in 1943. Smith selects four: pitcher Leon Day, catcher Josh Gibson, shortstop Willie Wells and outfielder Sam Bankhead. Nothing comes of the request; the tryouts never occur. Day, Gibson and Wells all are eventually enshrined in Cooperstown as members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • August 23 – In a benefit appearance before 69,136 fans, Babe Ruth, 47, dons a New York Yankees' uniform for the first time in seven years for a hitting exhibition against Walter Johnson, now 54, at Yankee Stadium. On Johnson's fifth pitch, Ruth hits a drive into the lower right field stands, and the crowd thunders its approval. On the final pitch, Ruth smashes a towering, upper-deck shot that's just foul; he circles the bases anyway, doffing his cap and saluting the roaring crowd with every step. Ruth and Johnson then leave the field together to a thunderous ovation. Their exhibition raises $80,000 for the Army-Navy relief fund.
  • August 31
  • With a month to go in the regular season, a pennant race emerges in the National League. The red-hot, second-place St. Louis Cardinals, who went 25–8 in August, shave five full games off the Brooklyn Dodgers' formerly comfortable, 8½-length cushion. The Redbirds' record now stands at 85–44 with 25 games to play.
  • The 88–40 Dodgers, in a bid to strengthen their pitching staff, purchase itinerant right-hander Bobo Newsom, a former three-time 20-game winner, from the Washington Senators.
  • The 86–44 New York Yankees, eight games ahead of the second-place Boston Red Sox in the American League, acquire outfielder Roy Cullenbine on waivers, also from Washington.

September

  • September 1 – Urged on by the city's Black newspaper, the Call and Post, the Cleveland Indians publicly invite three African-American players—pitcher Gene Bremer, third baseman Parnell Woods and outfielder Sam Jethroe—to try out for their 1943 squad. All three are members of the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro American League. The tryout, however, never materializes.
  • September 11 – Chicago Cubs catcher Paul Gillespie homers in his first major league at bat. In September 1945, he'll homer in his final MLB regular-season at bat and become the first player in MLB history to do both. Gillespie, however, will prolong his career in the 1945 World Series, where he will go 0-for-6.
  • September 12
  • The St. Louis Cardinals climb into a first-place tie with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League when Max Lanier defeats Brooklyn for the fifth time in 1942, 2–1, at Ebbets Field. Whitey Kurowski's second-inning, two-run homer gives Lanier the run support he needs. Both clubs are 94–46, with the scorching Cardinals erasing the Dodgers' ten-game lead by going 32–7 since August 4. The Cardinals also capture the season series, 13 games to nine.
  • When the Cardinals arrive by train in Philadelphia later today for a four-game series against the last-place Phils, 19-game-winning righty Johnny Beazley suffers minor lacerations to his pitching hand when he's attacked by a knife-wielding assailant on the station platform. Beazley will take his regular turn in the rotation tomorrow despite the injury, dropping a 2–1 decision to the Phils at Shibe Park.
  • September 13 – In the second game of a doubleheader at Braves Field, Lennie Merullo commits four errors in the second inning of the Chicago Cubs' 12–8 victory over the Boston Braves. Merullo had just been informed that his wife had just delivered their first child, son Len Jr. The next day, Chicago newspapers suggest that the newborn be nicknamed "Boots" in honor of the occasion.
  • September 14
  • The New York Yankees, now 98–47, clinch their second consecutive American League pennant, their sixth in the past seven seasons, and their 13th since with an 8–3 victory in Cleveland. The Bombers lead the second-place Boston Red Sox by ten games with nine left to play.
  • Vice president Branch Rickey strongly signals his imminent departure from the St. Louis Cardinals when he refuses to discuss his immediate future with the team whose front office he has overseen since May 1925. Rickey's lucrative contract expires at the end of the season, and owner Sam Breadon wants to cut his salary. Rickey's tenure—marked by his creation of baseball's most successful farm system—has seen the Cardinals become an NL dynasty that's currently on the verge of winning its sixth pennant since .
  • September 16 – The Brooklyn Dodgers, who now lag behind the Cardinals by two full games, face off-field issues, too, when four of their fans appear before a magistrate in Brooklyn–Queens Night Court to answer charges that they assaulted Ebbets Field ushers in the stands an hour before today's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The defense attorney asks the judge to subpoena Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher and players Mickey Owen and Dixie Walker who, he claims, climbed into the stands and attacked the fans on behalf of the beleaguered ushers. The case is continued until October 5—after the projected completion of the 1942 World Series.
  • September 23 – Larry MacPhail, who as general manager (since ) and club president (since ) of the Dodgers has spearheaded the team's rejuvenation on the field and at the turnstiles, stuns Brooklyn by quitting both positions to return to active duty in the United States Army. The "Roaring Redhead" had signed a five-year contract extension earlier in 1942, a reflection of his manifold accomplishments as the Dodgers' chief executive: three first-division finishes and one NL pennant between 1939 and . His current team has won 100 of its first 150 games, but trails the first-place Cardinals by 2½ games; nevertheless, it's poised to lead all 16 MLB teams in home attendance for the third time in four years. MacPhail, now 52, had served as an artillery captain during World War I; on October 2, he will resume his Army career as a lieutenant colonel.
  • September 26 – Bucky Harris steps down from his second term as manager of the Washington Senators after a 62–89, seventh-place finish. The future Hall of Famer began his career as the 27-year-old "Boy Manager" and second baseman of the 1924 world-champion Senators. His latest stint with Washington began in but has produced only one winning season. Coach and former stalwart third baseman Ossie Bluege will be named to succeed Harris on October 10.
  • September 27
  • The St. Louis Cardinals clinch the NL pennant on the last day of the regular season, defeating the Chicago Cubs, 9–2, in the first game of a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park. The Cardinals also win Game 2 of the twin bill to finish with a record of 106–48, earning the most victories by any NL team since Pittsburgh's 110 wins in 1909. The Redbirds' pennant is their sixth overall, and first since .
  • Meanwhile, the second-place Brooklyn Dodgers win their season finale, 4–3, against Philadelphia to finish 104–50—the first MLB pennant runner-up to win that many games since the 1909 Cubs.
  • Ted Williams, 24-year-old Boston Red Sox superstar, wins the hitting "Triple Crown", topping the AL in batting (.356), home runs (36) and runs batted in (137), as well as runs scored (141), bases on balls received (145), on-base percentage (.499), slugging percentage (.648), OPS (1.147) and bWAR (10.5). He's MLB's first hitting Triple-Crown winner since Joe Medwick of the 1937 Cardinals.
  • September 29
  • The Kansas City Monarchs defeat the Washington-Homestead Grays 9–5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia and sweep the 1942 Negro World Series four games to none. Satchel Paige pitches 5<small></small> hitless innings in relief to shut down the Grays and clinch the title.
  • Former New York Yankees outfielder Ben Chapman, who spent 1942 as the player–manager of the Richmond Colts of the Class B Piedmont League, is suspended for the entire 1943 season to come for attacking an umpire and punching him in the face during a heated argument in a September 16 playoff game.

October

  • October 5 – After dropping the first game of the World Series to the New York Yankees at Sportsman's Park on September 30, the St. Louis Cardinals win their fourth straight contest, 4–2, and capture the fourth world title in their history. Johnny Beazley, who whipped the Yanks in Game 2 to start the Redbirds' championship streak, racks up another complete-game victory; Whitey Kurowski's, two-run, ninth-inning homer provides the winning runs. The Bombers are swept in all three games played at Yankee Stadium, and drop their first Fall Classic since 1926—when they also fell to the Cardinals; they had won eight consecutive Series appearances in the interim.
  • The Cardinals' victory caps one of the hottest stretch-drive streaks in baseball annals; they've gone 48–10–1 since August 4, overcoming a ten-game deficit in the National League standings, and did not lose two in a row after August 2.
  • October 29
  • The Brooklyn Dodgers sign Branch Rickey to a five-year contract as club president and general manager, replacing Larry MacPhail, now serving in the United States Army. Rickey, 60, had been business manager and vice-president of the St. Louis Cardinals since May 1925; St. Louis owner Sam Breadon had allowed Brooklyn's board of directors to speak with Rickey about their executive vacancy earlier this month. The inventor of the modern farm system, Rickey's scouting and player development acumen has enabled the cost-conscious Cardinals to capture six NL pennants and four World Series titles during his 17 full seasons as head of their front office. At Rickey's introductory press conference, he notes that the Dodgers, who won 104 games this past season but lagged behind Rickey's world-champion Redbirds, need to develop younger players to remain competitive. The 1942 Dodgers were the second-oldest team in the NL; Rickey's Cardinals, the second-youngest.
  • Meanwhile, Breadon says he will divide Rickey's old responsibilities among multiple men within the Cardinals' organization, taking on a more involved role himself as club president and including his nephew, William Walsingham Jr., chief scout Joe Mathes, and ex-pitcher and longtime farm system official Eddie Dyer on his front-office team.

November

December

  • December 1 – At the winter meetings in Chicago, player shortages and potential travel restrictions are the order of the day. The St. Louis Cardinals, who operate baseball's largest farm system, reports that 67 varsity and minor-league players have joined the military in the eight weeks since the conclusion of the 1942 season. At the request of the federal Office of Defense Transportation (ODT), owners reduce 1943's regular-season travel by 25% by restricting road trips from four to three series for each team. The ODT's suggestions that spring training be moved from the warm-weather South and Southwest to locations closer to the 16 MLB clubs is initially resisted, however.
  • December 3 – Ten members of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a U.S. labor union confederation, are rebuffed in their attempt at the winter meetings to confer with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to urge the abolition of the baseball color line. Landis issues a statement claiming that no rule prohibits teams from hiring Black athletes; later, Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley admits that a "gentleman's agreement" among owners enforces racial segregation among the playing ranks.
  • December 4
  • The winter conclave ends with major league teams "reasonably assured" of a continued green-light policy, enabling them to continue to operate during wartime in 1943, provided government directives are heeded and frills, such as spring training, are curtailed.
  • The Cincinnati Reds trade pitcher Nate Andrews, shortstop Eddie Joost and $25,000 to the Boston Braves to reacquire shortstop Eddie Miller, a three-time National League All-Star.
  • December 12 – Branch Rickey's first official trade as front-office boss of the Brooklyn Dodgers sees him obtain pitcher Rube Melton, 25, from the Philadelphia Phils for fellow right-hander Johnny Allen, 38, and $30,000. Melton went 9–20 (3.70) in 42 games and 209<small></small> innings pitched for the cellar-dwelling Phils last season.
  • December 17 – Well-traveled Roy Cullenbine's tenure as the New York Yankees' starting right-fielder ends after 28 regular-season and five World Series games when he's dealt to the Cleveland Indians with catcher Buddy Rosar for infielder Oscar Grimes and outfielder Roy "Stormy" Weatherly. The switch-hitting Cullenbine, 29, batted .364 with 28 hits (and an OPS of 1.017) for the Yanks over 1942's stretch drive after they acquired him from the Washington Senators on August 31.

Movies

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January

  • January 4 – Herold Juul, 48, pitcher for the 1914 Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League.
  • January 8 – Harry Pearce, 52, second baseman who played from 1917 through 1919 for the Philadelphia Phillies.
  • January 22 – Louis Santop, 52, Hall of Fame catcher in the Negro leagues, an amazing .406 lifetime hitter and the first legitimate home run slugger in black baseball history.
  • January 31:
  • Henry Larkin, 82, 19th century first baseman and manager who hit .303 in 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Infants/Indians and Washington Senators.
  • Ed Phelps, 62, catcher who played with four teams in 11 seasons spanning 1902–1913, and a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams who the 1902 and 1903 National League Pennants and played in the 1903 World Series.

February

  • February 3:
  • Frank Luce, 45, outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1923 season.
  • Happy Finneran, 51, pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Tip-Tops, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, in a span of five seasons from 1912 to 1918.
  • February 7 – Joe Poetz, 41, pitcher who played in two games for the New York Giants in 1926.
  • February 9 – John Fischer, 86, pitcher who played from 1884 to 1885 with the Philadelphia Keystones and the Buffalo Bisons.
  • February 16 – Orson Baldwin, 60, pitcher for the 1908 St. Louis Cardinals.

March

  • March 1 – Bill Delaney, 78, second baseman for the 1890 Cleveland Spiders of the National League.
  • March 3:
  • John Buckley, 72, pitcher who played with the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League in 1890.
  • Clay Fauver, 69, pitcher who played for the Louisville Colonels of the National League in 1899, and also a distinguished college professor and athletic coach both in baseball and football.
  • Dan O'Connor, 73, Canadian first baseman who appeared in six games with the Louisville Colonels club who won the 1890 American Association pennant.
  • March 4 – Jack Hammond, 51, second baseman who played for the Cleveland Indians in 1915 and divided his playing time with Cleveland and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1922.
  • March 5 – Dutch Wetzel, 48, outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns of the American League in the 1920 and 1921 seasons.
  • March 12 – Owen Conway, 51, third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1915 season.
  • March 13 – Gene Steere, 69, shortstop for the 1894 Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • March 26 – Jimmy Burke, 67, third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1903 to 1905 and player-manager of the club for part of 1905, who then moved to the Minor Leagues to manage several teams, returning to the majors to coach for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees between 1914 and 1933, while managing the St. Louis Browns from 1918 to 1920.
  • March 31 – Ray O'Brien, 47, backup outfielder for the 1916 Pittsburgh Pirates.

April

  • April 3 – John Rudderham, 78, left fielder who appeared in one game with the Boston Reds of the Union Association in its 1884 season.
  • April 8 – Pat Bohen, 51, pitcher who played from 1913 to 1914 for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • April 11 – Norm McNeil, 49, reserve catcher who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1919 season.
  • April 26:
  • Al Montgomery, 21, catcher who played for the Boston Braves in 1941.
  • Hack Simmons, 57, infielder and outfielder who spent two seasons in the American League with the Detroit Tigers (1910) and New York Highlanders (1912), before moving to the outlaw Federal League to play for the Baltimore Terrapins (1914–1915).

May

  • May 9 – Herm Malloy, 56, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers teams who won the American League pennants in the 1907 and 1908 seasons.
  • May 13 – C. J. McDiarmid, 72, executive with the St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds between 1907 and 1929; president and principal owner of Reds from 1927 to 1929.
  • May 15 – Larry Milton, 63, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in its 1903 season.
  • May 20 – Amby McConnell, 59, second baseman who played from 1908 through 1911 for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, better known as the player that lined into the first unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history (1909), and also for setting the Red Sox record for most stolen bases in a single-season by a rookie with 31 (1908), which stood until being broken by Jacoby Ellsbury (2008).
  • May 25 – Bill James, 65, pitcher who played for five teams in all or part of eight seasons between 1911 and 1919, as well as one of the clean members on the 1919 Chicago White Sox club which was made famous by the Black Sox Scandal.
  • May 26 – Ed Gremminger, 68, third baseman who played for the Cleveland Spiders, Boston Beaneaters and Detroit Tigers in part of four seasons between 1895 and 1904.
  • May 28:
  • Charley Bassett, 79, infielder for five National League teams in a span of eight seasons from 1884 to 1892, who led the league's second basemen in assists in 1887, and fielding percentage in 1887 and 1890.
  • Mike Welday, 63, outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox in the 1907 and 1909 seasons.
  • May 30:
  • Ed Burns, 54, catcher who played from 1912 to 1918 for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies.
  • Lee Fyfe, 62, umpire who officiated in the Federal League in 1915 and the National League in 1920.

June

  • June 1 – Danny Friend, 69, pitcher who played for the Chicago Colts of the National League from 1895 through 1898.
  • June 10 – Matt Zieser, 53, pitcher for the 1914 Boston Red Sox.
  • June 26 – Gene Stack, 24, pitcher in the Chicago White Sox minor league system, who in December 1940 became the first player on a Major League roster to be drafted for World War II service; died from a heart attack after hurling for his base's (Fort Custer) team.
  • June 29 – Manuel Cueto, 50, Cuban outfielder who spent more than 20 years in professional baseball, including stints with the St. Louis Terriers in 1914 and the Cincinnati Reds from 1917 until 1919.
  • June 30 – Cad Coles, 56, outfielder who played for the 1914 Kansas City Packers of the Federal League.

July

  • July 1 – Harry Spies, 76, first baseman and catcher who played for the Louisville Colonels and Cincinnati Reds during the 1895 season.
  • July 17 – Lefty Johnson, 79, outfielder for the Philadelphia Keystones, Indianapolis Hoosiers and Baltimore Orioles in parts of five seasons from 1884 to 1892.
  • July 20 – Rap Dixon, 39, All-Star outfielder in the Negro leagues from 1922 through 1937; a power hitter who could also hit for average as well as one of the fastest players and best defensive outfielders in Negro league history.
  • July 30 – Jim Baskette, 54, pitcher for the Cleveland Naps from 1911 until 1913.

August

  • August 3 – Jack Hayden, 61, outfielder who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Americans and Chicago Cubs in the early 20th century.
  • August 6 – Gordon McNaughton, 32, pitcher for the 1932 Boston Red Sox.

September

  • September 2 – Henry Thielman, 61, pitcher for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Superbas from 1902 until 1903.
  • September 26 – Joe Giannini, 54, shortstop for the 1911 Boston Red Sox.

October

  • October 3 – Pinky Hargrave, 46, catcher for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers and Boston Braves between 1923 and 1930.

November

  • November 8 – Birdie Cree, 60, outfielder who spent his entire career with the New York Highlanders/Yankees from 1908 to 1915, while hitting .292 in 742 games.
  • November 14 – Scrappy Carroll, 82, Outfielder for three teams from 1884 to 1887.
  • November 15 – Joe Gunson, 79, catcher/outfielder who played four seasons in the majors from 1884, 1889, 1892–1893.
  • November 24 – Frank Owen, 62, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox from 1901 to 1908, who posted an 82-67 with a 2,55 ERA.
  • November 30 – Slim Love, 52, pitcher who posted a 28-21 record with a 3.04 ERA in six seasons with the Senators, Yankees and Tigers.

December

  • December 1 – Frank Connaughton, 73, shortstop-outfielder who played in the National League for Boston (1894 and 1906) and New York (1896).
  • December 3 – Chad Kimsey, 36, appeared in 222 games, 198 as a pitcher, for the St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers over six seasons between 1929 and 1936.
  • December 5 – Val Picinich, 46, catcher in 1307 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates between 1916 and 1933.
  • December 6 – Amos Rusie, 71, Hall of Fame fireball pitcher whose powerful delivery was the main reason to move the pitching mound in 1893 from 50 feet to its present 60 feet, 6 inches; who retired with a 246-174 record, 1,950 strikeouts and 3.07 ERA in what was really an eight-year career with the New York Giants, collecting 30 or more wins four consecutive seasons and winning 20 or more games eight successive times, while leading the National League in strikeouts five years and leading or tying for most shutouts five times, including a no-hitter, and the Triple Crown in 1894 with a 36-13 mark, 195 strikeouts and a 2.78 ERA en route to a 4–0 four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the first Temple Cup Championship Series.

References

External links