1953 in baseball

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

Champions [edit]

Major League Baseball [edit]

• World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-2)
• All-Star Game, July 14 at Crosley Field: National League, 5-1

Other champions [edit]

• Caribbean World Series: Cangrejeros de Santurce (Puerto Rico)
• College World Series: Michigan
• Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Nankai Hawks (4-2)
• Little League World Series: Southside, Birmingham, Alabama
• All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Grand Rapids Chicks

Awards and honors [edit]

• MLB Most Valuable Player Award
  • Al Rosen (unanimous), Cleveland Indians, 3B
  • Roy Campanella, Brooklyn Dodgers, C
• MLB Rookie of the Year Award
  • Harvey Kuenn, Detroit Tigers, SS
  • Jim Gilliam, Brooklyn Dodgers, 2B
• The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
  • Al Rosen, Cleveland Indians
• The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
  • Bob Porterfield, Washington Senators
  • Warren Spahn, Milwaukee Braves
• The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
  • Casey Stengel, New York Yankees

Statistical leaders [edit]

Major league baseball final standings [edit]

American League final standings [edit]

National League final standings [edit]

Events [edit]

January–March [edit]

• January 21 - The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean and former Philadelphia Athletics slugger Al Simmons.

• February - Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch purchases the St. Louis Cardinals franchise, an ownership that would last until the start of 1996, when William DeWitt, Jr. took over. Sportsman's Park is renamed Busch Stadium.

• March 13 - Boston Braves owner, Lou Perini, announced he was moving the team to Milwaukee, where the Braves had their top farm club, in time for the 1953 season.

April–June [edit]

• April 13 - In Cincinnati over 30,000 see the Milwaukee Braves win their first game, 2-0, behind the pitching of Max Surkont

• April 17 - New York Yankees Mickey Mantle hit the longest home run in Griffith Stadium history, a 565-feet shot off Washington Senators Chuck Stobbs. The Yankees win, 7-3.

• April 30 - The Little-Bigger League changes its name to the Babe Ruth League.

• May 6 - At Sportsman's Park, Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns no-hits the Philadelphia Athletics 6-0 in his very first Major League start. Holloman will only post two more victories in his Major League career, in which his final appearance is on July 19 of this season.

• June 3 - Congress cites the research of New York City librarian Robert Henderson in proving that Alexander Cartwright "founded" baseball and not Abner Doubleday. His 1947 book Bat, Ball and Bishop documents Cartwright's contributions to the origins of the game of the baseball.

• June 14 - The New York Yankees sweep the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 and 3-0, before 74,708 at Cleveland Stadium to extend their winning streak at 18 games.

• June 18 - In a 23-3 thrashing of the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox set a still-standing Major League record by scoring 17 runs in one inning. After scoring twice in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie, the Red Sox go on their record-breaking run-scoring output in the seventh. 11 Red Sox players score in the inning, with Sammy White scoring three times and Gene Stephens (who also collects three hits in the inning, becoming the first Major Leaguer in modern history to do so), Tom Umphlett, Dick Gernert and winning pitcher Ellis Kinder scoring twice.

• June 25 - Ted Kazanski collects three hits and four runs batted in in his majors debut to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 13–2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Kazanski becomes the first player in Major League history to drive in at least four runs as a shortstop in his major league debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

July–September [edit]

• July 14 - The National League wins its fourth All-Star Game in a row, 5-1 in Cincinnati's Crosley Field behind the stellar pitching of Robin Roberts and Warren Spahn. Cardinals OF Enos Slaughter gets two hits, scores twice and robs Harvey Kuenn of an extra-base hit.

• September 2 - The St. Louis Cardinals overcome a three-run inside-the-park home run by shortstop Ted Kazanski to beat the Philadelphia Phillies‚ 10–7. Rip Repulski hits his 20th home run of the season for St. Louis‚ breaking the team's rookie record set by Johnny Mize in 1936. The Cardinals hammer 10 hits off Phillies starter Robin Roberts to hand him his 12th loss.

• September 12 - Carl Erskine defeats the Braves 5-2, as the Brooklyn Dodgers clinch the pennant earlier than any other team in history.

• September 13 - Pitcher Bob Trice becomes the first black player in Philadelphia Athletics history.

• September 14 - The New York Yankees clinch their 5th straight pennant with an 8-5 win over the Cleveland Indians. Second baseman Billy Martin has 4 RBIs.

October–December [edit]

• October 5 - The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3, in Game 6 of the World Series, to win their record-setting fifth consecutive World Championship and sixteenth overall, four games to two. Billy Martin was the star of the Series with a record-setting 12 hits, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th of Game 6 to clinch the title.

• October 7 - Bill Veeck, facing dwindling attendance and revenue, is forced to sell the St. Louis Browns to a Baltimore-based group led by attorney Clarence Miles and brewer Jerry Hoffberger. The Browns would move to Baltimore and be known as the Orioles starting in the 1954 season.

• November 9 - Reaffirming its earlier position, the United States Supreme Court rules, 7-2, that baseball is a sport and not a business and therefore not subject to antitrust laws. The ruling is made in a case involving New York Yankees Minor League player George Toolson, who refused to move from Triple-A to Double-A.

• November 10 - The New York Giants end their tour of Japan. It is reported that each Giants player received just $331 of the $3,000 they were promised.

• November 24 - The Brooklyn Dodgers sign the relatively unknown Walter Alston to a one-year pact as their manager for 1954. Alston will manage the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers over the next 23 seasons, winning 2,040 games and four World Championships.

• December 1 - The Boston Red Sox trade for slugger Jackie Jensen, sending P Mickey McDermott and OF Tom Umphlett to the Washington Senators. Jensen will average 25 home runs a year for his seven seasons for Boston, lead the American League in RBI three times, and win the Most Valuable Player Award in 1958. A fear of flying will end his career prematurely.

Movies [edit]

• The Kid from Left Field
• Big Leaguer

Births [edit]

January–March [edit]

• January 1 - Lynn Jones
• January 5 - Jim Gantner
• January 8 - Bruce Sutter
• January 9 - Iván DeJesús
• January 12 - Terry Whitfield
• January 13 - Odell Jones
• January 17 - Mark Littell
• January 24 - Tim Stoddard
• February 4 - Rob Picciolo
• February 7 - Dan Quisenberry
• February 11 - Tom Veryzer
• February 12 - Dave Revering
• February 17 - Jamie Easterly
• February 17 - Jim Umbarger
• February 27 - Ron Hassey
• March 7 - Randy Stein
• March 8 - Jim Rice
• March 8 - Don Werner
• March 23 - Bo Díaz
• March 27 - Gary Alexander
• March 29 - Tom Hume
• March 31 - Tom Hausman

April–June [edit]

• April 2 - Héctor Cruz
• May 6 - Larry Andersen
• May 9 - Ron Jackson
• May 15 - George Brett
• May 16 - Rick Rhoden
• May 28 - Rafael Landestoy
• June 6 - Dave Bergman
• June 10 - Francisco Barrios
• June 10 - Rick Camp
• June 14 - Luis Aponte
• June 21 - Charlie Moore
• June 22 - Roy Thomas

July–September [edit]

• July 3 - Frank Tanana
• July 3 - John Verhoeven
• July 21 - Steve Smith
• July 25 - Biff Pocoroba
• July 31 - Hank Small
• August 5 - Rick Bosetti
• August 5 - Rick Mahler
• August 8 - Alvis Woods
• August 10 - Tom Brookens
• August 15 - Nino Espinosa
• August 16 - Nick Leyva
• August 24 - Luis Sánchez
• August 31 - Juan Bernhardt
• September 1 - Rob Wilfong
• September 2 - Danny Goodwin
• September 3 - Mike Paxton
• September 16 - Chris Knapp
• September 23 - Tony Armas
• September 29 - Warren Cromartie
• September 29 - Carlos Tosca

October–December [edit]

• October 1 - Pete Falcone
• October 7 - Andy Replogle
• October 14 - Kiko Garcia
• October 16 - Rodney Scott
• October 20 - Keith Hernandez
• October 21 - Juan Eichelberger
• October 22 - Rich Wortham
• October 23 - Bo McLaughlin
• October 27 - Barry Bonnell
• October 27 - U L Washington
• November 2 - Paul Hartzell
• November 3 - Larry Herndon
• November 3 - Bobby Thompson
• November 6 - John Candelaria
• November 10 - Larry Christenson
• November 10 - Larry Parrish
• November 29 - Sixto Lezcano
• December 6 - Gary Ward
• December 18 - Roy Howell
• December 22 - Tom Underwood
• December 23 - Jerry Manuel

Deaths [edit]

• January 11 - Doc Moskiman, 73, first baseman/right fielder for the 1910 Boston Red Sox
• January 21 - Lorenza Cobb, 64, catcher in the Negro Leagues from 1914 to 1920
• January 24 - Ben Taylor, 64, star first baseman of the Negro Leagues, later a manager, coach and umpire
• February 13 - Happy Foreman, 53, relief pitcher for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox between 1924 and 1926
• March 6 - Tex Pruiett, 69, pitcher for the Boston Americans/Red Sox from 1907 to 1908
• March 28 - Jim Thorpe, 65, tremendous all-around athlete who, despite hitting only .252 in his career, saw his batting average improve in each of his six seasons, lastly hitting .327 in 1919
• April 11 - Kid Nichols, 83, Hall of Fame pitcher who won 361 games, with 7 seasons of 30 victories
• April 18 - Harry Niles, 72, speedy infielder/outfielder for the St. Louis Browns, New York Highlanders, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Naps from 1906 to 1910, who also broke up the perfect game bid of pitcher Cy Young during the 1908 season
• May 19 - Sam Leever, 81, 4-time 20-game winner who compiled a career record of 194-100, all with Pittsburgh
• May 27 - Jesse Burkett, 84, Hall of Fame outfielder who batted .338 in a 16-year career
• June 22 - Charlie Hemphill, 77, outfielder for five teams, who also became the first Opening Day right fielder in Boston American League franchise's history in 1901
• December 13 - Klondike Douglass, 81, First baseman/Catcher for nine seasons.
• December 15 - Ed Barrow, 85, Hall of Fame executive who built the Yankees into a dynasty in the 1920s and 1930s
• December 24 - Pinch Thomas, 65, catcher who won three World Series rings with the Boston Red in 1915-16 and Cleveland Indians in 1920
• December 25 - Patsy Donovan, 88, outfielder who batted .301 and went on to manage five teams