January 9 – The
Cleveland Indians release eight-time
American LeagueAll-Star pitcher
Bob Feller. Feller—who will be enshrined in the
Hall of Fame with
Robinson in 1962, their first year of eligibility—first joined Cleveland in 1936 as a 17-year-old. He would go on to post a 266–162 record with 2,581 strikeouts over 18 years with the team, losing 3½ years due to military service in
World War II. His uniform #19 is retired along with him.
February
February 21:
Owners
Walter O'Malley of the
Brooklyn Dodgers and
Philip K. Wrigley of the
Chicago Cubs make an industry-changing "trade" of minor-league franchises. In the transaction, O'Malley acquires the
Los Angeles Angels of the
Pacific Coast League and the Angels' ballpark,
Los Angeles' Wrigley Field, in exchange for the Dodgers'
Fort Worth Cats farm club in the
Texas League and $3 million. The swap enables O'Malley to lay claim to at least 50 percent of the booming
Los Angeles market as a potential new home for his Dodgers. (The PCL's
Hollywood Stars also have territorial rights.) That not only paves the way for the Dodgers' groundbreaking move to California, but it pays more dividends when O'Malley trades ownership of the Angels' Wrigley Field to the city for land in
Chavez Ravine, where he will eventually build
Dodger Stadium.
April 18 –
New York City parks commissioner
Robert Moses proposes a new 78-acre (320,000 m2) tract in
Flushing Meadows as a site for a new
National League baseball stadium. The plan, submitted to
mayorRobert F. Wagner Jr., includes a 50,000-seat stadium with a plastic dome to be built by the parks department.
Shea Stadium—minus a dome—is eventually built on the Flushing Meadows site; it opens in 1964.
April 21 – In the first inning of a 3–1 loss to the
Milwaukee Braves at
Milwaukee County Stadium, the
Cincinnati Redlegs are involved in a bizarre play. With
Don Hoak on second and
Gus Bell on first,
Wally Post hits a ground ball to Milwaukee shortstop
Johnny Logan. Hoak breaks up a potential
double play by fielding the ball himself and flipping it to Logan. Hoak is called out for interference (contact with a batted ball before a fielder touched it), but Post is given a single on the play. The day before,
Johnny Temple let Bell's ground ball hit him with the same result, Temple being called out for interference and Bell being awarded a single. The two incidents prompt league presidents
Warren Giles and
Will Harridge to jointly announce a rule change that declared both the runner and batter out if the runner intentionally interfered with a batted ball, with no runners allowed to advance.
April 26 – Former team owner
Walter Briggs Jr. resigns as general manager of the
Detroit Tigers after disagreements with the Tigers' new board of directors. He is replaced by
John McHale, 35, the club's farm system director.
Two batters into the game at
Cleveland Stadium,
Indians' pitcher
Herb Score is hit in the face by a line drive by
New York YankeeGil McDougald, the ball breaking numerous bones and leaving him bloodied. McDougald vows to quit if Score is blinded as a result. Score regains his 20/20 vision, but will miss the remainder of the 1957 season. With
Bob Lemon pitching the rest of the way, the Indians defeat the Yankees 2–1.
May 28 – The National League approves the proposed moves of the Giants and
Brooklyn Dodgers to the West Coast, provided both clubs make their request before October 1 and move at the same time.
May 29 – New York City mayor
Robert Wagner says he plans to confer with the Giants and Dodgers about the proposed move, but that the city will not be "blackjacked" into anything.
June 13 – A donnybrook breaks out at
Ebbets Field in the second inning. After the
Milwaukee Braves'
Bill Bruton hits his second home run of the day,
Don Drysdale of the
Brooklyn Dodgers plunks
Johnny Logan. The enraged Braves shortstop charges the mound, but it's the on-deck hitter,
Eddie Mathews, who catches up to Drysdale and punches him in the ensuing melee. Logan and Drysdale are ejected, Mathews stays in the game, and the Braves win 8–5.
July 6 –
Claude Osteen makes his major league debut. He appears in mop up duty, going only two-thirds of an inning in relief for the
Cincinnati Redlegs in a 17–3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
July 18 –
New York Giants owner
Horace Stoneham says his team will quit New York City after the season, adding that he's not heard anything more from San Francisco and that his move is not contingent on the Dodgers' fate. He sees a new stadium or joint occupancy of
Yankee Stadium as the only reason for the Giants to stay in New York.
July 20 – Before 6,758 fans at
Ebbets Field, the
Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the
Chicago Cubs, 7–5.
Duke Snider belts his 300th career home run; it's his 24th long ball of the season, and his eighth in ten games since the All-Star break.
August 2 – Having just lost the sixth of what will be an eight-game losing streak, the
Pittsburgh Pirates (36–67 and seventh in the NL) replace manager
Bobby Bragan with coach
Danny Murtaugh, 39, a former Pirate second baseman. The Bucs will go 26–25 under Murtaugh, and he'll manage them for the next seven full seasons, leading them to the
1960 World Series title.
September 23 – In their fifth season since leaving
Boston, the
Milwaukee Braves clinch the
National League pennant at
County Stadium after Braves slugger (and eventual 1957 National League MVP)
Hank Aaron clubs a two-run
walk-off home run off
Billy Muffett in the bottom of the 11th inning, giving Milwaukee a 4–2 victory over the
St. Louis Cardinals. The clincher is witnessed by 40,926 fans during a season in which the Braves draw 2.21 million fans, most-ever in the 82-year-old team's annals to date.
October 16 –
Hank Greenberg, general manager of the
Cleveland Indians for eight seasons, is notified by the Tribe's board of directors that his contract will not be renewed. The Hall of Fame slugger will remain a minority owner of the franchise through 1958.
November 12 – "Trader"
Frank Lane resigns as general manager of the
St. Louis Cardinals and is replaced by
Bing Devine. Lane, 62, is then hired to succeed
Hank Greenberg as GM of the
Cleveland Indians, where he will enhance his reputation as a compulsive wheeler-dealer through the end of the 1960 season.
November 20:
Second baseman
Billy Martin is traded for the second time in five months as part of a 13-player deal between his
Kansas City Athletics and the
Detroit Tigers. He had played 73 games with Kansas City after being acquired from the
New York Yankees on June 15.
Mickey Mantle barely edges
Ted Williams, 233 to 209 votes, to win the American League MVP Award. Mantle batted .365 with 34 home runs for the first-place
New York Yankees, while Williams, of the third-place
Boston Red Sox, led the AL with a .388 average and 38 home runs, as well as a stunning .731 slugging percentage. Red Sox owner
Tom Yawkey fumes at the news, noting that two Chicago writers listed the 39-year-old Williams in the ninth and tenth places on their ballots.
After 22 seasons of work,
National League umpire
Larry Goetz is unwillingly "retired" by league president
Warren Giles. The discharged arbitrator had been critical of the Senior Circuit because of its refusal to include umpires in the players' pension fund.
November 26 –
Yoshio Tanaka, an American citizen of Japanese descent, is named manager of the
Hanshin Tigers, becoming the first American to manage a
NPB club.
November 28 –
Milwaukee Braves pitcher
Warren Spahn, who posted a 21–11 record with 111 strikeouts and a 3.49 ERA, wins the 1957
MLB Cy Young Award almost unanimously. His only competition for the title is
Dick Donovan of the
Chicago White Sox (16-6, 88, 3.35), who receives one vote. Only one pitcher is selected each season for this prestigious pitching award until
1967, when each league will name a winner.
December 4 – In another seismic trade, the
White Sox trade outfielder
Minnie Miñoso, a future Hall-of-Famer and fan favorite, to the
Cleveland Indians, along with journeyman infielder
Fred Hatfield, for another Cooperstown-bound player, pitcher
Early Wynn, and outfielder
Al Smith.
December 28 – After a Christmas hiatus, the
Redlegs make their final major trade of 1957 by sending 11-year team veteran and slugger
Ted Kluszewski to the
Pittsburgh Pirates for another 33-year-old first baseman,
Dee Fondy. Injured for much of 1957, "Big Klu" is still a popular, four-time All-Star and author of 251 homers in a Cincinnati uniform.
January 6 –
Ed Abbaticchio, 79, middle infielder who played with four teams in three different leagues over nine seasons between 1897 and 1910, most prominently for the
1909 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates.
January 6 –
Gil Gallagher, 60, shortstop for the 1922 Boston Braves.
January 7 –
Ches Crist, 74, backup catcher who played in 1906 for the Philadelphia Phillies.
January 9 –
Billy Gleason, 62, second baseman who played with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1916 to 1917 and for the St. Louis Browns in 1921.
January 12 –
Victor Starffin, 40, Hall of Fame Japanese Baseball League pitcher
January 17 –
Carl Sawyer, 66, middle infielder and third baseman who played from 1915 to 1916 for the Washington Senators.
January 17 –
Tom Stanton, 82, catcher for the 1904 Chicago Cubs.
January 19 –
Larry Strands, 71, outfielder who played for the
Newark Pepper of the outlaw
Federal League in 1915, and later spent six seasons in the Minor Leagues from 1911 through 1916.
March 10 –
Erskine Mayer, 67, left-handed pitcher for the 1912–1918 Philadelphia Phillies, 1918–1919 Pittsburgh Pirates and 1919 Chicago White Sox, who posted a 91–70 record and 2.96 ERA in 245 games, while collecting back-to-back 21-wins seasons for Philadelphia in 1914 and 1915;[1] appeared in 1915 and 1919 Word Series.
March 12 –
Dick Niehaus, 64, pitcher who played from 1913 through 1915 with the St. Louis Cardinals and for the Cleveland Indians in 1920.
March 20 –
Ezra Midkiff, third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds in 1909 and New York Highlanders/Yankees from 1912–1913.
March 22 –
Charlie Babington, 61, backup outfielder for the New York Giants in the 1915 season.
March 31 –
Billy Meyer, 64, catcher and manager who played with the Chicago White Sox in 1913 and Philadelphia Athletics from 1916 to 1917; longtime, successful minor-league manager who helmed the Pittsburgh Pirates over five seasons from 1948 to 1952; his uniform #1 was retired by the Pirates in 1954.[2]
April 7 –
Jim Scott, nicknamed "Death Valley Jim", 68, two-time 20-game-winner for the Chicago White Sox who compiled 107 victories with a 2.30
earned run average in nine seasons from 1909 to 1917; member of the 1917 World Series champions who remains one of the leading pitchers in White Sox annals, with his career ERA ranking 19th all-time in MLB history as of 2019;[3] spent 25 years in majors and minors as a pitcher and umpire.
April 15 –
Jack Coombs, 74, key member of the
Philadelphia Athletics pitching staff, along with
Chief Bender and
Eddie Plank, on the 1910–1911 World Series champions; posted a 31–6 record with 13
shutouts and 1.30
ERA in 1910, then defeated the
Chicago Cubs three times in the
1910 World Series; in 1911, he went 28–12, then won two games (losing none) against the
New York Giants in the
1911 World Series; in his rookie season, he hurled a 24-inning, 4–1
complete game victory over the
Boston Americans on September 1, 1906;[4] also hurled for the 1916 National League champion Brooklyn Robins and won his only decision, to raise his Fall Classic record to 5–0 (2.70) in six games; his 13 shutouts still stand as a single season record in American League;[5] managed
Philadelphia Phillies for first 63 games of the 1919 season.
April 15 –
Ernie Padgett, 58, third baseman and middle infielder for the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians in parts of five seasons spanning 1923–1927, who is best known for turning the fourth
unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history on October 6, 1923.
April 15 –
Rube Schauer, 66, Russian pitcher who played for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Athletics over five seasons from 1913 through 1917.
April 15 –
George Watkins, 30, third baseman for the 1946 Philadelphia Stars of the Negro National League.[6]
April 18 –
Bill Sweeney, 52, first baseman for the Detroit Tigers in 1928 and Boston Red Sox from 1930 to 1931, and coach for the Tigers in 1946–1947; managed for 19 seasons in the
Pacific Coast League, winning pennants with the
Portland Beavers in 1936 and the
Los Angeles Angels in 1943 and 1944; incumbent manager of the Beavers at the time of his death;[7] member, PCL Hall of Fame.
April 22 –
Joe Benz, 71,
spitball and
knuckleball specialist who pitched from 1911 through 1919 for the Chicago White Sox and was a member of two American League champion teams in 1917 and 1919; threw a
no-hitter against the Cleveland Naps in 1914.[8]
April 25 –
Lázaro Salazar, 45, Cuban outfielder, first baseman, southpaw pitcher, and manager; played in the Negro National League (Cuban Stars West, New York Cubans) and Eastern Colored League (Pollock's Cuban Stars) between 1930 and 1936; known especially as a legendary figure in Cuban Winter League, Venezuelan Winter League, and Mexican League baseball; member of the Baseball Halls of Fame of all three nations; manager of defending champion Mexico City Reds when he was stricken by a fatal cerebral hemorrhage in his team's dugout during a game; won four batting titles in three countries and, as a pitcher, over 150 games, and managed his teams to 14 titles in four countries.[9]
May
May 6 –
Ralph Judd, 55, pitcher who played with the Washington Senators in 1927 and for the New York Giants from 1929 to 1930.
May 12 –
Fred Bennett, 55, right fielder who played with the St. Louis Browns in 1928 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1931.
May 17 –
Dummy Deegan, 82, deaf-mute pitcher who posted a 0–1 record and 6.35 ERA in two appearances for the
1901 New York Giants.
May 20 –
Roy Hutson, 55, fourth outfielder for the Brooklyn Robins in
1925.
June
June 1 –
Pete Schneider, 61, hard-throwing pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds from 1914 to 1918 and the New York Yankees in 1919, whose best season was in 1917, when he won 20 games and finished sixth in the National League with a 2.10 ERA.
June 4 –
Paul Krichell, 74, French catcher for the St. Louis Browns in parts of two season from 1911 to 1912, who later became
head scout for the New York Yankees for 37 years, signing over 200 players, including future Baseball Hall of Famers
Lou Gehrig,
Phil Rizzuto,
Whitey Ford and
Tony Lazzeri.[10]
June 5 –
Pete Wilson, 71, pitcher for the New York Highlanders from 1908 to 1909.
June 10 –
George Rohe, 82, reserve infielder for the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox over parts of four seasons spanning 1901–1907, who unexpectedly became a postseason hero after going 7-for-27 with two triples, a double and four RBI, helping the Hitless Wonders White Sox defeat the highly favored Chicago Cubs in six games of the
1906 World Series for one of the greatest upsets in Series history.[11]
June 11 –
Fred Raymer, 81, middle infielder and third baseman who played with the Chicago Orphans in 1901 and for the Boston Beaneaters from 1904 to 1905.
June 28 –
Johnny Ray, 45, outfielder for four Negro American League clubs (principally Cincinnati and Jacksonville) between 1937 and 1945.
June 29 –
Deacon Van Buren, 86, left fielder who played for the Brooklyn Superbas and Philadelphia Phillies during the 1904 season.
July
July 3 –
Dolf Luque, 66, Cuban pitcher whose Major League Baseball career included stints for the Boston Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Robins and New York Giants over twenty seasons from 1914 through 1935; posted a 194–179 record and 3.24 ERA in 550 pitching appearances, and led the National League with 27 wins in 1923 and twice in ERA in 1923 (1.93) and 1925 (2.63); won World Series rings with the Reds in
1919 and the Giants in
1933, and later became a successful manager in the Cuban Winter League, where he won eight pennant titles,[12] and a coach for the New York Giants.
July 11 –
Red Bradley, 48, pitcher for the 1927 Baltimore Black Sox of the Eastern Colored League.
July 12 –
Farmer Brady, 67, southpaw who hurled for the Cleveland Tate Stars (1920), a barnstorming team, and the 1924 Cleveland Browns of the Negro National League.
July 16 –
L. D. Livingston, 52, outfielder for the 1928–1930 Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League.
July 25 –
Frank Welch, 59, outfielder who played from 1919 through 1927 for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox.
July 29 –
Tommy Thevenow, 53, an elite defensive shortstop who played for five teams in 15 seasons from 1924 to 1938, compiling a solid .952 fielding average while hitting a subpar .247 average with just two
inside-the-park home runs in 4,164
at-bats; most remembered as an unsung hero for hitting .417 (10-for-24) for the St. Louis Cardinals in the
1926 World Series, including an inside-the-park homer in Game 2 and the two winning
RBI in the decisive Game 7 against the New York Yankees.[13]
August
August 14 –
Tim Hendryx, 66, outfielder who played for the Cleveland Naps, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox over eight seasons spanning 1911–1921, whose most productive season came with the Red Sox in 1920 as a replacement for departed
Babe Ruth at right field, when he posted a .328/.400/.413
batting line with 54
runs scored, 119
hits and 73
RBI, all career-highs, while appearing in 99 games.[14]
August 15 –
Ed Baecht, 50, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Browns over all or parts of six seasons from 1926 to 1937.
August 25 –
Ivy Griffin, 60, first baseman who played from 1919 through 1921 for the Philadelphia Athletics.
September
September 2 –
Don Hanski, 41, first baseman and left-handed pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox from 1943 to 1944.
September 9 –
Ed Karger, 74, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox over six seasons spanning 1906–1911, who was given credit for a
seven inning perfect game against the
Boston Doves while pitching for St. Louis in 1907.[15]
September 9 –
Bill Miller, 78, German outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in
its 1902 season.
October 2 –
Andy Harris, 61, infielder for the 1926 Newark Stars and 1927 New York Lincoln Giants of the Eastern Colored League; served as player-manager for Newark in 1926.
October 6 –
Billy Campbell, 83, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds over parts of four seasons spanning 1905–1909.
October 9 –
Butch Henline, 62, catcher and umpire; appeared in 740 games and batted .291 lifetime for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Robins and Chicago White Sox from 1921 to 1931; began his umpiring career in the Southeastern League in 1939 and moved to the International League from 1940 to 1944; promoted to National League arbiter crew in 1945, where he worked in 606 league games and the
1947 All-Star Game through 1948.
October 30 –
Fred Beebe, 77, pitcher whose career included stints for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians over seven seasons between 1906 and 1916, who as a rookie in 1906, posted 15 wins with a 2.93 ERA and led the National League with 171 strikeouts.[17]
November 5 –
Deke White, 85, 19th century pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies in
its 1895 season.
November 8 –
Fred Anderson, 71, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Buffalo Blues and New York Giants over seven seasons spanning 1909–1918, posting a 53-57 record and 2.86 earned run average in 178 games, while leading the National League with a 1.44 ERA in 1917.[19]
November 8 –
Joe Connor, 82, backup catcher for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Beaneaters, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Blues and New York Highlanders in parts of four seasons between 1895 and 1905.
November 19 –
Frank Foreman, 94, well-traveled pitcher who was one of 19 men who played in four Major Leagues – the original
Union Association, the
American Association, the
National League, and the
American League in its inaugural season, pitching for 11 different clubs over eleven seasons from 1884 to 1902 while posting a 96-93 record and 3.97 ERA in 229 games, and whose Minor League career took him through seven leagues, primarily in the Northeast and Midwest circuits.[20]
November 21 –
Bugs Bennett, 65, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox during three seasons between 1918 and 1921.
November 28 –
Ed Donnelly, 78, pitcher who played from 1911 to 1912 for the Boston Rustlers and Braves teams.
December
December 3 –
Jack Ness, 72, first baseman who had short stints with the Detroit Tigers in 1911 and the Chicago White Sox in 1916, whose career highlight came as a member of the Triple-A
Oakland Oaks in 1915, while establishing a new standard for
Organized Baseball when he hit safely in 49 consecutive
Pacific Coast League games.[21]
December 4 –
Jimmy Jordan, 49,
middle infielder who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers over four seasons from 1933 to 1936.
December 17 –
Fritz Ostermueller, 50, pitcher whose 14-season career included stints with the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1934 to 1948, being portrayed in the 2013 film 42 as a pitcher who
feared Jackie Robinson at the plate.
December 21 –
Marty Berghammer, 69, shortstop who played with the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Rebels in a span of four seasons from 1911 to 1915.