Wikipedia

1953 in baseball

See also: 1953 Major League Baseball season, 1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season, and 1953 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The following are the baseball events of the year 1953 throughout the world.

Champions

edit

Major League Baseball

edit

Other champions

edit

Winter Leagues

Awards and honors

edit

Statistical leaders

edit
  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
AVG Mickey Vernon WSH .337 Carl Furillo BKN .344
HR Al Rosen CLE 43 Eddie Mathews MIL 49
RBI Al Rosen CLE 145 Roy Campanella BKN 143
Wins Bob Porterfield WSH 22 Robin Roberts PHP &
Warren Spahn MIL		 23
ERA Ed Lopat NYY 2.42 Warren Spahn MIL 2.10
Ks Billy Pierce CHW 186 Robin Roberts PHP 198

Major league baseball final standings

edit

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League final standings

edit
Rank Team W L W-L% GB
1 Fort Wayne Daisies 66 39 .629 —
2 Grand Rapids Chicks 62 44 .585 4½
3 Kalamazoo Lassies 56 50 .528 10½
4 Rockford Peaches 51 55 .481 15½
5 South Bend Blue Sox 44 62 .415 22½
6 Muskegon Belles 38 67 .362 28

Nippon Professional Baseball final standings

edit

Central League final standings

edit
Central League G W L T Pct. GB
Yomiuri Giants 125 87 37 1 .702 —
Osaka Tigers 130 74 56 0 .569 16.0
Chunichi Dragons 130 70 57 3 .551 18.5
Hiroshima Carp 130 53 75 2 .414 36.0
Taiyo Shochiku Robins 130 52 77 1 .403 37.5
Kokutetsu Swallows 125 45 79 1 .363 42.0

Pacific League final standings

edit
Pacific League G W L T Pct. GB
Nankai Hawks 120 71 48 1 .597 —
Hankyu Braves 120 67 52 1 .563 4.0
Daiei Stars 120 63 53 4 .543 6.5
Nishitetsu Lions 120 57 61 2 .483 13.5
Mainichi Orions 120 56 62 2 .475 14.5
Tokyu Flyers 120 50 67 3 .427 20.0
Kintetsu Pearls 120 48 69 3 .410 22.0

Events

edit

January

edit

February

edit

March

edit
  • March 13 – Boston Braves owner Lou Perini announces he is moving the team to Milwaukee, site of the Braves' top farm club, in time for the 1953 season. The move ends the club's presence in Boston after 82 consecutive years, predating the formation of the National League, of which it is a charter member; it began in 1871 as a member of the old National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. The franchise transfer is the NL's first of the 20th century, and MLB's first since 1903—but nine more will follow over the next two decades.
  • March 19 – The Pittsburgh Pirates sign twin brothers Eddie and Johnny O'Brien, 22, former baseball and basketball stars at Seattle University, to bonus contracts as amateur free agents. The first twins to play on the same MLB team in 38 years, on June 7, they will start at shortstop and second base and become Pittsburgh's primary double-play combination for the 1953 season.
  • March 26 – The St. Louis Browns return minor-league southpaw Tommy Lasorda to the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization. Lasorda's contract had been sold to the Browns on a conditional basis on February 21.
 
Jim Thorpe
  • March 28 – Jim Thorpe, famed American Indian athlete considered by many as the greatest athlete in recorded history, dies in Lomita, California at the age of 64. A native of Prague, Oklahoma, Thorpe played six seasons of Major League Baseball between 1913 and 1919, mostly for the New York Giants, in addition to his Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon competition, while playing and coaching for a long time in the National Football League.[2]

April

edit

May

edit

June

edit

July

edit

August

edit
  • August 1 – Milwaukee Braves left-hander Warren Spahn throws a one-hitter to defeat the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, 5–0. He walks none, strikes out eight and faces 28 hitters, one over the minimum. Fellow future Hall-of-Famer Richie Ashburn reaches him for a single in the fourth inning for the only blemish on an otherwise perfect outing. It's Spahn's second and last career one-hitter, although he'll fire no-hitters in both 1960 and 1961.
  • August 2 – Over fifty Los Angeles police are dispatched to Gilmore Field to quell an on-field brawl between the city's two Pacific Coast League teams, the minor-league Angels and the Hollywood Stars. The melee between the bitter rivals, engaged in a beanball war, is the third within three days, and lasts for a full half-hour. Los Angeles police chief William Parker is watching the game on television from his home when the slugfest breaks out, and he orders his men to Hollywood's home stadium to restore order. No arrests are made, but Parker warns both sides that further violence will result in "disturbing the peace" charges.
  • August 5 – Rookie Don Larsen of the St. Louis Browns pitches a complete game but drops a 5–0 decision to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. However, he goes three for three at the plate to set a consecutive-hits record for pitchers with seven. Over the course of Larsen's 14-season career, he will prove to be one of MLB's best-hitting hurlers, batting .242 with 144 hits (including 25 doubles, five triples and 14 home runs) and 72 RBI in 596 at bats.
  • August 6 – Ted Williams' name appears in an MLB box score for the first time since April 30, 1952, days before he began his active Korean War service as a United States Marine Corps pilot. The Boston Red Sox legend flew 37 combat missions during his tour of duty, and survived a crash-landing when his plane was hit by enemy fire in February. Today, Williams pinch hits for Tom Umphlett in the ninth inning of a 7–7 tie against the St. Louis Browns at Fenway Park. He pops out to first base, but after six more appearances as an emergency batsman, he returns to his familiar post in left field and resumes his lusty hitting. By season's end, he gets into 37 games (26 of them as starting left fielder), and smashes 37 hits, including 13 home runs, in 91 at bats, for a batting average of .407 and an OPS of 1.410.
  • August 8 – The New York Yankees deal a double setback to their closest pennant pursuer, the Chicago White Sox, by shutting them out in both ends of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, 1–0 (behind Whitey Ford) and 3–0 (behind Bob Kuzava). In the second game, Kuzava throws a one-hitter, allowing only a double to Bob Boyd in the second inning. The double defeat drops the White Sox to eight games out of first place.
  • August 10 – The Washington Senators' Bob Porterfield one-hits the Boston Red Sox, winning 2–0 at Griffith Stadium. Jimmy Piersall reaches base twice, with Boston's only hit (in the third inning) and a base on balls.
  • August 12 – The visiting New York Yankees lash 28 hits in their 22–1 pasting of the Washington Senators. Yogi Berra belts the Bombers' only home run, and he and Billy Martin each drive in five tallies. Hank Bauer scores five runs, and Whitey Ford and Gene Woodling each have four hits.
  • August 30 – In Game 1 of a doubleheader, Jim Pendleton slugs three home runs, as the Milwaukee Braves rout the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field, 19–4. The Braves tie the major league record for most home runs in a single game with eight, held by the New York Yankees since 1939. Pendleton becomes only the second rookie in history to hit three home runs in one game, joining teammate Eddie Mathews, who accomplished the feat just a year earlier.[5] In the second game of the twin bill, the Braves hit four more long balls and crush Pittsburgh again, 11–5. Mathews belts three dingers on the day, giving him a National League-leading 43. He will finish the season with 47 home runs, 30 of them on the road—also a major league record.[6] Only the Yankees have ever hit more home runs in consecutive games, or in a doubleheader: on June 28, 1939, against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park, they belted eight home runs in a 23–2 victory in the first game of a twin bill, then five more in a 10–0 win in the nightcap.[7][8]

September

edit
 
Cleveland's Al Rosen

October

edit

November

edit

December

edit

Movies

edit

Births

edit

January

edit

February

edit

March

edit

April

edit

May

edit

June

edit

July

edit

August

edit

September

edit

October

edit

November

edit

December

edit

Deaths

edit

January

edit

February

edit

March

edit

April

edit
  • April   3 – Larry Benton, 55, pitcher who played for the Boston Braves, New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds over parts of thirteen seasons from 1923 to 1935, leading the National League with 25 wins and 28 complete games in 1928, and twice in W-L record from 1927 to 1928.
  • April   5 – Tex Erwin, 67, catcher who played with the Detroit Tigers in 1907, and for the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Superbas, Robins and Dodgers clubs in a span of five seasons from 1910 to 1914.
  • April   5 – Connie Walsh, 70, pitcher who appeared in one game for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its 1907 season.
  • April   5 – Herb Gorman, 28, first baseman who made a pinch-hit appearance for the 1952 St. Louis Cardinals; suffered a fatal heart attack while playing in a Pacific Coast League game.
  • April 11 – Kid Nichols, Hall of Fame pitcher who posted 361 victories for the seventh most wins in Major League Baseball history, died in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 79. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Nichols anchored the pitching staff of the Boston Beaneaters between 1890 and 1901, guiding Boston to five National League championships in his first nine seasons with the club. He surpassed the 30-victory plateau seven times from 1891 to 1894 and 1896–1898, as his career record shows that he hurled 20 or more wins in ten consecutive seasons from 1891 to 1994 and in 1904.[22] In addition, he remains as the youngest pitcher to reach the illustrious 300-win milestone, getting there months before his 31st birthday. His most productive season came in 1892, when he had a 35–16 record and won two games in the league's Championship Series as the Beaneaters defeated Cy Young and the Cleveland Spiders.[23] Nichols remained with Boston through 1901, when the team let him go in an effort to save money.[24] After a two-year lapse, he returned to the majors as manager and pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1904 to 1905 and ended his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1905.[22] Overall, Nichols posted a 2.96 ERA, led the National league in wins for three straight years from 1896 to 1898, pitched more than 300 innings in every season but three and more than 400 five times while pitching 532 complete games and 48 shutouts in 562 starts,[22] and was never removed from a game for a relief hurler.[25] Besides, his record of seven seasons with 30 or more victories is a mark that is likely to stand forever, since the implementation of five-man rotations, pitch count and inning limits in modern baseball.[24]
  • April 11 – Bruce Wetmore, 77, Canadian-born Boston businessman and associate of Charles F. Adams who was a co-owner of the Braves from 1927 through 1935.
  • April 14 – Roy Patterson, 77, Chicago White Sox pitcher best remembered for throwing the first pitch and recording the first win in the first official American League game on April 24, 1901, defeating the Cleveland Blues at Chicago's South Side Park, 8–2, while collecting an 81-72 career record and 2.75 ERA for Chicago in seven seasons from 1901 to 1907, including AL pennants in 1901 and 1906, though he did not pitch for the 1906 World Series champion White Sox team.[26]
  • April 16 – Sam Gray, 55, pitcher in 379 games for the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns over ten seasons from 1924 to 1933; won 20 games for 1928 Browns, then lost 24 for them three years later; led American League in shutouts in 1929.
  • April 18 – Harry Niles, 72, outfielder and second baseman who played from 1906 through 1910 for the St. Louis Browns, New York Highlanders, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Naps.
  • April 18 – Cotton Tierney, 59, second baseman and third baseman who played from 1920 to 1925 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers, being honored by his great-great-nephew Jeff Euston, who created in 2005 a website named Cot's Baseball Contracts,[27] which track all salaries of MLB players, contracts, bonuses, service time and franchise values.
  • April 26 – Don Brennan, 49, pitcher who played for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants in a span of five seasons from 1933 to 1937.
  • April 29 – Gene McAuliffe, 81, backup catcher for the 1904 Boston Beaneaters

May

edit

June

edit

July

edit

August

edit

September

edit

October

edit
  • October   5 – Rags Faircloth, 61, pitcher who made two appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1919.
  • October 17 – Jim Delahanty, 74, one of five Delahanty brothers to play in the majors, a fine defensive second baseman who had a 13-year career with eight teams spanning 1901–1915, while batting a solid .283/.357/.373/.730 line and 1,159 hits in 1,186 career games.

November

edit

December

edit

Sources

edit
  1. ^ a b Bauer, John (October 30, 2017). "Three Weeks in 1953: The Fate of the Cardinals". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Jim Thorpe Is Dead On West Coast at 64. Article published at The New York Times on March 29, 1953. Retrieved on February 25, 2018.
  3. ^ Lamb, Chris (April 7, 2021). "From 'Redlegs' to 'Red Scare' to 'Twilight Zone:' The Strange Trip of the Cincinnati Reds' Nickname". usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Ball, Bat and Bishop: the Origin of Ball Games. Henderson. by Robert W. (2001). University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-25-206992-5.
  5. ^ Milwaukee Braves Heroes and Heartbreak. Povletich, William (2009). Wisconsin Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87-020423-4
  6. ^ August 30, 1953: Milwaukee Braves set National League home run record. Article and box scores published by SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on February 24, 2018.
  7. ^ "Home Run Records Set by a Team During a Game". baseball-almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  8. ^ New York Yankees 10, Philadelphia Athletics 0 (2). Game Played on Wednesday, June 28, 1939 (D) at Shibe Park. Retrosheet box score. Retrieved on February 24, 2018.
  9. ^ United Press (October 28, 1953). "Dressen Accepts Three-Year Coast Pact". timesmachine.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Warrington, Robert (2010). "Departure Without Dignity: The Athletics Leave Philadelphia". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Effrat, Louis (November 24, 1953). "Dodger Pilot to Emerge From Smog of Speculation Today". timesmachine.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Doc Moskiman. Article written by Bill Nowlin. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 18, 2019.
  13. ^ Ben Taylor. Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Retrieved on June 18, 2019.
  14. ^ Ben Taylor. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved on June 18, 2019.
  15. ^ Clyde Milan. Article written by Tom Simon. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Pitchers Stealing Home. Article written by Leonard Gettelson.SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  17. ^ A thorough account of pitchers who have started both games of a doubleheader in the major leagues. Article written by J.G. Preston. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  18. ^ May 2, 1917: Fred Toney and Reds prevail 1–0 in double no-hitter against Cubs' Hippo Vaughn. Article written by Mike Lynch. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  19. ^ Fred Toney statistics and history. Retrosheet. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  20. ^ a b c d Jim Thorpe Biography. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  21. ^ Jim Thorpe (1887–1953). IMDb. Retrieved on June 19, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c Kid Nichols Statistics and History. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on February 24, 2018.
  23. ^ 1892 Championship Series Boston Beaneaters over Cleveland Spiders (5–0–1). Baseball Reference. Retrieved on February 24, 2018.
  24. ^ a b Kid Nichols Biography. Baseball Hall of Fame Official Website. Retrieved on February 24, 2018.
  25. ^ Kid Nichols Obituary. The New York Times, Sunday, April 12th, 1953. Retrieved from The Deadball Era on February 24, 2018.
  26. ^ Roy Patterson. Article written by Terry Bohn. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 21, 2019.
  27. ^ Cot's Baseball Contracts. Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved on June 24, 2019.
  28. ^ A thorough account of pitchers who have started both games of a doubleheader in the major leagues. Article by J.G. Preston. PrestonJG website. Retrieved on June 25, 2019.
  29. ^ Sam Leever. Article written by Mark Armour. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 25, 2019.
  30. ^ Ray Grimes. Article written by Bill Nowlin. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 25, 2019.
  31. ^ a b c Jesse Burkette batting and fielding statistics. Retrosheet. Retrieved on June 20, 2019.
  32. ^ a b c Jesse Burkett. Article written by David Jones. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on February 25, 2018.
  33. ^ a b Year by Year Leaders for Batting Average / Batting Champions. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved on February 25, 2018.
  34. ^ Arnold Rothstein and Baseball's 1919 Black Sox Scandal Archived 2007-05-16 at the Wayback Machine. Article written by David Pietrusza. Retrieved on June 25, 2019.
  35. ^ Jim Tabor. Article written by Maurice Bouchard. Retrieved on June 25, 2019.
  36. ^ Jack Pfiester. Article written by Stuart Schimler. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 26, 2019.
  37. ^ Buck Herzog. Article written by Gabriel Schechter. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 26, 2019.
  38. ^ Tom Dougherty. Batting and pitching statistics. Baseball Reference Retrieved on June 13, 2019.
  39. ^ Billy Maharg. Article written by Bill Lamb. SABR BiographyProject. Retrieved on June 26, 2019.
  40. ^ Ed Barrow. Article written by Daniel R. Levitt. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 27, 2019.
  41. ^ Pinch Thomas. Article written by Joanne Hulbert. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 27, 2019.
  42. ^ Patsy Donovan. Article written by David Jones. SABR Biography Project. Retrieved on June 27, 2019.
edit
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1953 in baseball.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1953_in_baseball&oldid=1260311303"