November 27, 1947: The MVP "Robbery" of Ted Williams

Ted Williams (left) and Joe DiMaggio

November 27, 1947: Despite it being Thanksgiving Day, the vote for the American League’s Most Valuable Player is announced. Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees wins for the 3rd time, despite the fact that Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox won the Triple Crown. Why?

The official reason is that one sportswriter, who didn't like Ted, and whose name has never been revealed, left him off his ballot completely. Had he given Ted even a 10th-place vote, he would have won.

There were previous MVP controversies involving Ted. In 1941, with his 56-game hitting streak, Joe put the Yankees on his back, and carried them to glory. On Game 3 of the streak, on May 17, the Yankees were 7 1/2 games out of 1st place in the American League. The day the streak ended, exactly 2 months later, they were in 1st place by 7 games, a 14 1/2-game swing.

Don't tell me Ted was the most valuable player, capitalized or otherwise, in the AL that season. His .406 batting average didn't help his team come anywhere near a Pennant. The latest in the season that the Boston Red Sox were in 1st place was April 22. After June 25, they were never within 3 games of 1st place. From July 13 onward, they were never within 10. From August 9 onward, they were never within 14. On September 4, they bottomed out at 20 1/2 back. And when the regular season ended on September 28, they were 84-70, not a bad record, and in 2nd place, not a bad finish -- but 17 games behind the Yankees.

Ted batted .406, with an on-base percentage of .553, a slugging percentage of .735, a 235 OPS+, and hit 37 home runs, all of which led both major leagues. He had 120 RBIs. In comparison, Joe's "slash line" for the season was .357/.440/.643, his OPS+ was 185, and he hit 30 homers, but led both Leagues with 125 RBIs.

But with the streak, DiMaggio put the Yankees on his back, and carried them to glory. On Game 3 of the streak, on May 17, the Yankees were 7 1/2 games out of 1st place in the American League. When it was stopped in Game 57, exactly 2 months later, they were in 1st place by 7 games, a 14 1/2-game swing.

The Yankees went 41-13, with a game tied when called due to darkness and another tied when called due to rain, over those 56 games, including winning streaks of 14 and 8. Of those 56, 4 went to extra innings, but Joe got his 1st hit within the 1st 9 each time; and 4 were shortened due to rain, making it even more impressive that Joe got at least 1 hit in each.

For those of you who believe in "WAR," Wins Above Replacement: Ted's was 10.4, Joe's was 9.3. More evidence that WAR is misleading, and should be ignored.

In 1942. Ted batted .356, hit 36 home runs, and had 137 RBIs. Each of these led the League, giving him the Triple Crown. But the Sox finished 2nd to the Yankees, a not-very-close 9 games back, and the MVP went to Joe Gordon, who did bat .302 with 103 RBIs, though only 18 home runs, and played 2nd base superbly. How do you deny a Triple Crown winner the MVP? Again: Most Valuable Player, not Most Outstanding Player.

In 1946, the Red Sox ran away with the Pennant. This time, there was no denying Ted: He batted .342, hit 38 home runs, and had 123 RBIs (oddly, none of these led the AL), and he was an easy choice for MVP.

Then came the World Series. The opposition was the St. Louis Cardinals. Led by the NL's answer to Ted, Stan Musial, the Cards were in their 4th World Series in 6 years, having won in 1942 and 1944, and lost in 1943. But Ted was nursing an elbow injury, and only batted .200, 5-for-25. Stan didn't hit well, either, and neither would end up the big story of the Series. The Cards won in 7 games.

Ted won the Triple Crown again in 1947, as he batted. .343, hit 32 home runs and had 114 RBIs. But, again, the Sox didn't win the Pennant, finishing 3rd, 14 games behind the Yankees (and 2 behind the Tigers). Joe batted .315, hit 20 homers, had 97 RBIs, and led his team to the Pennant, and then to the World Series.

The National League's MVP went to Bob Elliott, the 3rd baseman for the Boston Braves. He batted .317, hit 22 homers, and had 113 RBIs. The Braves finished 3rd, 8 games behind the Pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers. Ewell Blackwell of the Cincinnati Reds finished 2nd in the voting, going 22-8, including a 16-game winning streak, the 9th game of which was a no-hitter; and led the major leagues with 193 strikeouts.

Johnny Mize of the New York Giants finished 3rd, batted .302, led the majors with 138 RBIs, and shared the major league lead in home runs with Ralph Kiner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished 6th, with 51. Finishing 4th and 5th were members of the Pennant-winning Dodgers: Catcher Bruce Edwards, and 1st baseman Jackie Robinson, the 1st black player in modern baseball, who received the 1st-ever Rookie of the Year award.

Personally, I think Jackie should have gotten it: He was the biggest reason the Dodgers won. Only twice has a player ever gotten the MVP and the ROY in the same season: Fred Lynn of the 1975 Boston Red Sox, and Ichiro Suzuki of the 2001 Seattle Mariners. Ichiro, who had starred in Japan, and Jackie, who had played in the Negro Leagues and had starred in football at UCLA, were both 28, and only "rookies" by the letter of the law.

In 1949, the Sox and Yanks battled for the Pennant all the way to the final weekend. The Sox led the Yanks by 1 game with 2 to go, against each other, at Yankee Stadium. All the Sox had to do was win 1 of the 2. The Yankees won them both, 5-4 and 5-3. Ted went 1-for-3 with a walk in the Saturday game, and 0-for-2 with 2 walks in the Sunday game.

In spite of the Sox not winning the 1949 Pennant, the Yanks didn't have any single player who stood out above the others -- DiMaggio being hurt much of the year, keeping his power stats down -- so Ted got his 2nd MVP. But he had also begun to get a reputation as coming up small in big games. This ignores the fact that, in those 3 end-of-season games in '48 and '49, he did reach base 5 times. But, in those days, you rarely heard the cliché, "A walk is as good as a hit."

Ted hit 43 home runs and had 159 RBIs. His .343 slightly trailed George Kell of the Tigers for the batting title, costing him a record 3rd Triple Crown by the slimmest of margins. But he got 13 of a possible 16 1st-place votes, and won the MVP.

Among the Yankees, Phil Rizzuto finished 2nd, reliever Joe Page 3rd, and Tommy Henrich 6th. But the Scooter just didn't have big stats, and as for Page, nobody was willing to give the MVP to a relief pitcher to that point. The next year, Jim Konstanty of the Philadelphia Phillies became the 1st, in the NL. No AL reliever would get the award until Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981.

So Ted didn't help his team win the Pennant. Yogi Berra finished 15th in the voting, but, giving the Yankees their 1st good year from a catcher since 1943, he was probably the best choice.

In 1978, Jim Rice got the MVP in a year when Ron Guidry may have been more valuable to the Yankees than any player has ever been to a single team for a single season. So Red Sox fans who say Ted was robbed of one or more MVPs can put a red sock in it.

*

November 27, 1947, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 34-14 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. In the All-America Football Conference, the Cleveland Browns beat the Los Angeles Dons, 27-17; and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 21-7 at Ebbets Field. Yes, from 1930 to 1948, there were 2 different professional football teams named the Brooklyn Dodgers.

There were 14 college football games played, including some major rivalries:

* Rivalry: Number 7 Texas beat Texas A&M, 32-13 at Kyle Field in College Station.

* Number 8 University of Pennsylvania beat Cornell, 21-0 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* Rivalry: Number 14 William & Mary beat Richmond, 35-0 at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.

* Rutgers beat Brown, 27-20 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.

* George Washington University beat the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 40-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* Rivalry: Virginia Military Institute (VMI) beat Virginia Tech, 28-14 at Victory Stadium in Roanoke. It would be several more years before VMI became a "small college team," and the University of Virginia replaced them as Tech's main rival.

* South Carolina beat Wake Forest, 6-0 at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

* Davidson University beat Furman University, 20-6 at Sirrine Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.

* North Texas beat Chattanooga, 14-7 at Chamberlain Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

* Saint Louis University beat Duquesne, 14-13 at Walsh Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Municipal University of Wichita (now Wichita State University) beat Colorado College (not to be confused with the University of Colorado or Colorado State), 62-6 at Veterans Field in Wichita, Kansaas.

* Arkansas beat the University of Tulsa, 27-13 at Skelly Stadium (now Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

* Rivalry: The University of Denver beat the University of Colorado, 26-20 at DU Stadium at Denver.

* Rivalry: Utah beat Utah State, 40-14 at Ute Stadium (later Robert Rice Stadium) in Salt Lake City.

These days, the NBA does not play on Thanksgiving. In the 1947-48 season, still using the name of the Basketball Association of America, they did, playing 2 games. The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 81-59 at the Philadelphia Arena. And the Baltimore Bullets beat the Providence Steam Roller, 76-61 at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence.

The NHL also does not play on Thanksgiving in the modern era. But, on this day, they also played 2 games. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Montreal Forum. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Boston has a tradition of high school football on Thanksgiving Day, which is probably why the Bruins did not play at home. The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks did not play.

October 24, 1999: The Major League Baseball All-Century Team

Top row, left to right: Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, Stan Musial.

Middle row: Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson,

Ken Griffey Jr., Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan.

Bottom row: Bob Gibson, Yogi Berra, Cal Ripken, Warren Spahn,

then-Commissioner Bud Selig, Roger Clemens and Hank Aaron.

October 24, 1999: The New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium), behind the pitching of David Cone and 3 hits from Bernie Williams, and take a 2 games to 0 lead in the World Series.

Before the game, the winners in the fan balloting for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team were introduced. With some older players overlooked by young fans, some "wild cards" were added by a "select panel."

Pitchers
* Cy Young, born in 1867, pitched for several teams from 1890 to 1911. He died in 1955.
* Christy Mathewson, born in 1880, New York Giants, 1900-16. He died in 1925, and was added by the panel.
* Walter Johnson, born in 1887, Washington Senators, 1907-27. He died in 1946.
* Robert "Lefty" Grove, born in 1900, Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, 1925-41. He died in 1975, and was added by the panel.
* Warren Spahn, born in 1921, Boston/Milwaukee Braves, 1942-65. He was added by the panel. He was on hand for the ceremony, and threw out the ceremonial first ball before Game 1, even though he never pitched for the Braves in Atlanta. He died in 2003.
* Sandy Koufax, born in 1935, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, 1955-66. He was on hand, making a rare public appearance, and joked that Spahn had to be added to the All-Century Team, "because he pitched for most of the century." As of October 24, 2022, he is still alive.
* Bob Gibson, born in 1935, St. Louis Cardinals, 1959-75. He was on hand for the ceremony, and died in 2020.

* Nolan Ryan, born in 1947, and pitched his best years with the California Angels and Houston Astros, pitching overall 1966-93. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Roger Clemens, born in 1963, pitched his best years with the Boston Red Sox, was then still active with the Yankees, and would start and win Game 4. His career lasted 1986-2007. He was on hand, and is still alive.

Catchers
* Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, born in 1925, Yankees, 1946-63. He was on hand, and died 2015.
* Johnny Bench, born in 1947, Cincinnati Reds, 1967-83. He was on hand, and is still alive.

1st Basemen
* Lou Gehrig, born in 1903, Yankees, 1923-39. He died in 1941.
* Mark McGwire, born in 1963, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, 1986-2001. He was on hand, and then still active. He is still alive.

2nd Basemen
* Rogers Hornsby, born in 1896, best years with the St. Louis Cardinals, 1917-37. He died 1963.
* Jackie Robinson, born in 1919, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1947-56. He died in 1972. Joe Morgan, one of the finalists on the ballot, was part of the NBC broadcasting crew for this Series, and said that if he were one of the 2nd basemen chosen, and Robinson was not, he would forfeit his place to Robinson. Morgan finished 3rd in the 2B voting, so it wasn't necessary.

Shortstops
* John "Honus" Wagner, born in 1874, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1897-1917. He died in 1955, and was added by the panel.
* Ernie Banks, born in 1931, Chicago Cubs, 1953-71. He was on hand, and died in 2015.
* Cal Ripken Jr., born in 1960, Baltimore Orioles, 1981-2001. He was then still active, was on hand, and is still alive.

3rd Basemen
* Brooks Robinson, born in 1937, Baltimore Orioles, 1955-77. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Mike Schmidt, born in 1948, Philadelphia Phillies, 1972-89. He was on hand, and is still alive.

Outfielders
* Ty Cobb, born in 1886, Detroit Tigers, 1905-28. He died 1961.
* Babe Ruth, born in 1895, Yankees, 1914-35. He died in 1948.
* Joe DiMaggio, born in 1914, Yankees, 1936-51. He had died earlier in 1999.
* Ted Williams, born in 1918, Boston Red Sox, 1939-60. He was on hand despite already being ill, and it turned out to be his last appearance in a big-league ballpark, following his emotional appearance at that season's All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston, his former home field. As he did on that occasion, he tipped his cap to the fans. He died in 2002.
* Stan Musial, born in 1920, St. Louis Cardinals, 1941-63. He was added by the panel. He was on hand, and died in 2013.

* Mickey Mantle, born in 1931, Yankees, 1951-68. He died in 1995.
* Willie Mays, born in 1931, New York/San Francisco Giants, 1951-73. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Hank Aaron, born in 1934, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, 1954-76. He was on hand, and threw out the first ball that night. He died in 2021.

* Pete Rose, born in 1941, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, 1963-86. He is probably better known as a 3rd baseman or a 1st baseman. Despite having been permanently banned from baseball, for betting on baseball games while a manager, he was permitted to attend, and did. He is still alive.

* Ken Griffey Jr., born 1969, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, 1989-2010. He was still active, was on hand, and is still alive.

With the steroid accusations against Clemens and McGwire, the ban on Rose, and the "kid vote" for Griffey in mind, the next-highest vote getters at the positions in question were Greg Maddux (who was on hand as an active Brave) for Clemens' spot, Jimmie Foxx (who died in 1967) for McGwire's, and Roberto Clemente (who died in 1972) for Griffey's and Shoeless Joe Jackson (who died in 1951) for, with some irony, Rose's. So if Jackson, also banned permanently for gambling-related offenses, is also removed, the next-highest outfielder was Reggie Jackson (who was on hand, being a Yankee front-office man).

*

October 24, 1999 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the New Orleans Saints, 31-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to the Oakland Raiders, 24-23 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* The New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos, 24-23 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-9 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 6-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 16-13 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-10 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 40-16 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-3 at the TWA Dome (now the Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins, 38-20 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-3 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Buffalo Bills, 26-16 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The preceding Thursday, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-8 at PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium) in Baltimore.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 13-9 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* And the Arizona Cardinals, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans all had a bye week.

The NBA season started 9 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers, 2-0 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the brand-new Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

October 15, 1946: Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash

October 15, 1946: The World Series goes to a deciding Game 7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Fans of the Boston Red Sox are confident: After all, no Boston team has ever lost a World Series. The Braves won one in 1914; the Red Sox won them in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916 and 1918. Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals are also confident: They have Game 7 at home.

In the top of the 8th inning, Sox center fielder Dom DiMaggio, brother of Joe, ties the game 3-3 with a 2-run double, but pulls his hamstring on the play, and has to be replaced by Leon Culberson. In the bottom of the 8th, Enos Slaughter is on 1st for the Cards, and Harry Walker is up.

Slaughter takes off for 2nd on the hit-and-run. "Harry the Hat" drives the ball to center. Slaughter sees Culberson bobble the ball, and thinks he can score. He does.

It became known as "the Mad Dash" or "Slaughter's Sprint," and in the telling of the legend, Slaughter is usually said to have scored from 1st on a single. Not really: Walker did make it to 2nd and was credited with a double. But it is the go-ahead run, and the Cardinals win, 4-3.

For the Cardinals, led by Slaughter and the sensational Stan Musial, it is their 6th World Championship, their 3rd in 4 tries in the last 5 seasons. For the Red Sox, it is not only their 1st-ever World Series defeat, after not getting that far for 28 years, and the 1st-ever World Series loss for any Boston team, but it is the beginning of a stretch of 4 seasons in which they will end up bitterly disappointed 3 times.

Billed as the duel between the 2 best hitters in baseball‚ the Series sees Musial go 6-for-27 (.222) and Boston's Ted Williams 5-for-25 (.200 -- combined, the Splendid Splinter and Stan the Man batted .212). This will be the only Series of Williams' career, and the only one the Red Sox will play in a 49-year stretch from 1918 to 1967.

The Cardinals, at first, will fare little better, as they won’t play in another Series for 18 years. Musial, who spent the '45 season in the Navy, and that was the only season from '42 to '46 when the Cards didn't win at least the Pennant, had won a Pennant in each of his 1st 4 full seasons, he will play another 17 seasons without winning one, despite close calls in '47, '48 and '49 and 2nd-place finishes in '56 and his final season of '63.

Harry Brecheen wins 3 games for the Cardinals‚ the 1st lefthander ever to accomplish this. It is a feat that has been matched only by Mickey Lolich in 1968 and Randy Johnson in 2001. Brecheen won Games 6 and 7‚ a feat matched only by the Big Unit.

In the telling of the legend of the Mad Dash, Culberson threw the ball to the cutoff man, shortstop Johnny Pesky, who "hesitated" or "held the ball," and threw home too late. In 1986, in an interview on the 40th Anniversary -- and right before Bill Buckner committed an even more shocking World Series defensive miscue for the Sox -- Pesky said, "Even now, people look at me like I'm a piece of shit."

When the Sox finally won the Series again in 2004, all the old goats and ghosts began to be forgiven, and Pesky, a longtime player, coach, broadcaster and scout with the team, became known as "Mr. Red Sox." He would receive standing ovations at Fenway Park, the last on the ballpark's Centennial in 2012, as he died 4 months later, at the age of 93.

The truth is, he never should have been blamed in the first place. DiMaggio's injury meant that it wasn't him playing center field to handle Walker's drive. Culberson was, and he not only bobbled the ball, but his throw to Pesky was a bit off. If Pesky had hesitated, that may have been the reason.

Culberson was a decent player, playing 6 seasons in the major leagues, and batting .266. He hit for the cycle in a game in his rookie season, 1943. Unfortunately, this is all he's remembered for -- if that. (After all, Pesky is the one who tends to get the blame, or else this sequence wouldn't be necessary.)

You can also blame the Boston bats. The Sox scored a grand total of 20 runs in the 7 games. They got shut out on 4 hits in Game 2. As I said, Ted Williams, the so-called "greatest hitter that ever lived," went 5-for-25 (.200) in his only postseason appearance. Roy Partee went 1-for-10 (.100). Tom McBride went 2-for-12 (.167). Pinky Higgins went 5-for-24 (.208). Culberson went 2-for-9 (.222). If you're looking to blame Pesky for something, look not at his fielding, but at his batting: 7-for-30 (.233). If any one of those guys had had a good Series at the plate, the result might have been different.

Also, Slaughter would have scored anyway. I've seen the film of the play many times. Culberson gets the ball to Pesky, and I simply cannot see that with which Pesky has been accused for the last 76 years: "Hesitating" or "holding the ball." And I don't think it would have mattered, as Slaughter scored by plenty.

Besides, the Cardinals were better. Certainly, they were more experienced. This was their 4th World Series in the last 5 years. They'd won in 1942, lost in 1943, and won in 1944. They'd just missed Pennants in 1941 and 1945. It could have been 6 straight Pennants with a few breaks.

In contrast, most of the Red Sox had never been in a Series before. And most of them would never get into another. The Sox fell off in 1947, lost a 1-game Playoff for the Pennant to the Cleveland Indians in 1948, went into the last 2 games of the 1949 season needing to win just 1 against the Yankees and lost them both, and hung close for most of 1950 and 1951 but didn't win either time.

Johnny Pesky was a .307 lifetime hitter, a good shortstop, and a good guy. The Red Sox rightfully retired his Number 6, and elected him to their team Hall of Fame. If he were ever to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York, I wouldn't mind at all.

He deserves better than to be remembered for a mistake, especially when it's not completely clear that he made a mistake -- and when, if he made a mistake, it was hardly all his fault, and not at all the biggest reason his team lost that World Series.

UPDATE: The Red Sox have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1946 American League Pennant, they have inducted team owner Tom Yawkey, general manager Eddie Collins, manager Joe Cronin, scout George Digby, 2nd baseman Bobby Doerr, shortstop Johnny Pesky, left fielder Ted Williams, center fielder Dom DiMaggio, and pitchers Tex Hughson, Joe Dobson and Dave "Boo" Ferriss.

The Cardinals also have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1942, 1944 and 1946 World Champions, and their 1943 Pennant winners, they have inducted team owner Sam Breadon, general manager Branch Rickey (who left after 1942 to become president of the Brooklyn Dodgers), manager Billy Southworth, scout George Kissell, left fielder Stan Musial, center fielder Terry Moore, right fielder Enos Slaughter, 2nd baseman Albert "Red" Schoendienst, shortstop Marty Marion, 3rd baseman George "Whitey" Kurowski; and pitchers Mort Cooper, Max Lanier and Harry Brecheen. Eddie Dyer succeeded Southworth, and managed them to the 1946 title, but has not yet been inducted.

Kissell, Musial, Marion and Schoendienst were elected to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. Rickey, Kissell, Musial, Slaughter, Marion, Moore, Schoendienst, catcher Joe Garagiola and team scorekeeper Lou Adamie were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

*

October 15, 1946 was a Tuesday. The baseball season was now over. No pro football games were played. The NBA was just founded, and wouldn't play its 1st regular-season game -- ever -- until November 1. And the NHL season began the next day. So there were no other scores on this historic day.

Singer-musician Richard Carpenter, who had a musical act with his sister Karen, was born on this day.

September 30, 1971: The Last Washington Senators Game Is Played

September 30, 1971: The last Washington Senators game is played, against the New York Yankees at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. Team owner Bob Short, having already moved the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles in 1960, has announced he's moving the Senators to the Dallas area, to become the Texas Rangers. He complains about the low attendance, despite having the highest ticket prices in the American League, and no subway access to RFK Stadium. (Washington's Metro would not open until 1976.)

Frank Howard, the Senators' most popular player in their 2nd go-around of 1961-71, hits the last home run. Dick Bosman starts, and stands to be the winning pitcher, as the Senators lead 7-5 with 1 out left in the 9th. All he has to do is get Bobby Murcer out.

Frank Howard

But he can't, through no fault of his own. Angry fans from the "crowd" of 14,461 people storm the field. The umpires cannot restore order, and they forfeit the game to the Yankees. The next April, Bosman also started the team's 1st game as the Rangers.

Only 2 AL games have been forfeited since, both promotions that turned into fiascos: The Cleveland Indians' Ten-Cent Beer Night in 1974, and the Chicago White Sox' Disco Demolition Night in 1979. Rusty Torres, who turned 23 on this day, was also in uniform on each of those occasions.

That last season had been a difficult one for the Senators, even before the move was announced. Ted Williams had been named their manager in 1969, and the man who literally wrote the book on hitting (The Science of Hitting, published the next year) really improved their hitting, to the point where the Senators won 86 games. It was the best season in Washington baseball since 1945, when the original Senators, who moved to become the Minnesota Twins in 1961 and were replaced by this expansion team, won 87 and missed the Pennant by a game and a half.

But the Boston Red Sox legend couldn't improve the pitching, and soon, the hitters stopped listening to his authoritarian ways. The Senators won only 70 games in 1970. In 1971, they traded for Denny McLain, the former 2-time Cy Young Award winner whose shoulder injury and bad attitude rendered him nearly useless; and the rights to Curt Flood, who had refused to accept a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies, but was willing to come back and play in Washington, and was so rusty after sitting 1970 out that he had to retire.

The Senators won just 63 games, and while a solid core of fans missed them, the D.C. metropolitan area as a whole did not. As Richard Nixon, President at the time, was quoted as saying, "All anybody cares about in Washington is the Redskins." And since the Redskins won the NFC Championship in 1972, and stayed contenders for the next 20 years, this was one time when Nixon was right.

In 1973, the NBA's Baltimore Bullets moved down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and were successful for the next 10 years, including a Championship in 1978. The 1970s also saw a renaissance in basketball at the University of Maryland, located outside the District of Columbia, but inside the Capital Beltway.

In 1974, the NHL introduced the Washington Capitals, and, while they were terrible their first few years, they have usually been contenders since the mid-1980s. The 1980s also saw the rise of the basketball team at Georgetown University.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan went to the MLB city closest to Washington at the time, Baltimore, and threw out the ceremonial first ball before the Orioles' home opener, restoring the old Washington tradition. Although the Orioles fell into decline after a generation of winning, including 3 World Series wins (including 4 Pennants from 1966 to 1971, which took many Maryland fans away and, indirectly, helped to doom the Senators), Washington insiders began making the trip up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and the Orioles became D.C.'s team as well as Baltimore's.

The Orioles' 1989 Playoff run, though ultimately unsuccessful, increased interest from Washington area fans. The building of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992 moved them just 4 miles, but it also put them next to Interstate 95, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and Camden Station, all with access to D.C.

This whetted capital-area baseball appetites even more, and led to the 2004-05 move of the Montreal Expos, becoming the Washington Nationals. They played the 2005, '06 and '07 seasons at RFK Stadium before moving to Nationals Park. Being in the other League means their rivalry with the Orioles isn't as nasty as Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants, or even Cubs-Cardinals. The fact that the teams are partners in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (the O's own 77 percent of MASN, and the Nats 23 percent) also helps.

The Nats finally started making the Playoffs in 2012, the 1st postseason for a Washington baseball team since the 1933 Senators, unless you count the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues, who split their "home games" between Washington and Pittsburgh. And in 2019, the Nats won the World Series, the 1st such win for Washington since the 1924 Senators.

The last active player for the "New Senators" was Toby Harrah, who played until 1986. The last active player for the "Old Senators," who became the Minnesota Twins in 1961, was Jim Kaat, who pitched until 1983.

*

September 30, 1971 was a Thursday. These 8 other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Shea Stadium. Tom Seaver gets the win, his 20th of the season, and will go on to win his 2nd Cy Young Award. A young right fielder named Ken Singleton, who had grown up in New York as a Met fan, hits 2 home runs. But he will become better known for playing for the Baltimore Orioles, and broadcasting for the Yankees.

No one knows it at the time, but this is the last game the Mets will play with Gil Hodges as their manager. At the end of Spring Training in 1972, he suffers a heart attack and dies, not quite 48 years old.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at Jarry Park in Montreal. The retiring Ernie Banks played his last game with the Cubs 4 days earlier.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell both went 1-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Both the Reds' Johnny Bench and the Braves' Hank Aaron got the day off.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 5-1, at what was then named San Diego Stadium. (It was later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, and SDCCU Stadium.) The Giants thus clinch the National League Western Division title. This turns out to be their only postseason berth between 1962 and 1987.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

And actress Jenna Elfman was born.

September 30, 1946: The Feller-Paige Tour

September 30, 1946: One of baseball's biggest postseason "barnstorming tours" begins. It is the end of one era, and the start of another.

Before World War II, Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians was the best pitcher in baseball -- in the all-white major leagues, anyway. Leroy "Satchel" Paige was the best pitcher in the all-black Negro Leagues.

Feller missed most of 4 seasons in the war, and came back strong. At the age of 28, was as good as any pitcher ever: In the 1946 season, he went 26-15, had a 2.18 ERA, pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees -- the 2nd of 3 he would go on to pitch -- and struck out 348 batters.

For a while, that was believed to be a major league record, as Rube Waddell was believed to have topped out at 343 in 1904. A later check of the records revealed that Waddell had actually struck out 349, but that wasn't found out until after Sandy Koufax with 382 in 1965, and then Nolan Ryan with 383 in 1973, had surpassed Feller's total. So when Koufax broke the record, everyone thought it was Feller's.

Also happening in that 1946 season was the debut of Jackie Robinson with the Montreal Royals, the top farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Feller had gone on record as saying that, if Robinson were white, he "would not be big-league material." He spent the rest of his life trying to make up for that misjudgment. As it turned out, in 1962, he and Robinson were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together.

But he had already had an idea, before his discharge from the U.S. Navy, of having a tour of two opposing teams, one white, one black. In an interview with William Marshall, for his book, Baseball's Pivotal Era, 1945-1951, he said, “I knew what I was going to do, and I knew the people personally that I was going to have get the black clubs together: The Kansas City operator, Mr. Wilkinson, and Satchel Paige, and many others that I wanted to oppose us.”

It was in mid-July of Feller’s stellar comeback campaign that he announced plans for a coast-to-coast exhibition tour featuring an all-star squad made up of players from both the American and National leagues and a team of the nation’s finest Negro League players.

He obtained from Commissioner Albert B. "Happy" Chandler's permission to carry the tour beyond the 10-day barnstorming limit. And he contacted J.L. Wilkinson, owner of the Kansas City Monarchs, correctly thinking him the man to be the go-between with the other Negro League owners, who would let their players go on this tour.

The 27-game tour began on September 30, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, with the itinerary including stops in such outposts as Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Newark, New York, Columbus, Dayton, Louisville, Davenport, Des Moines, St. Paul. Omaha, Wichita, St. Louis, Kansas city, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Vancouver, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Tacoma. It ran concurrent with the World Series, which ran from October 6 to 15, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in 7 games.

No Red Sox, including Ted Williams winning what turned out to be his only Pennant despite retiring 14 years later, and no Cardinals, including Stan Musial, winning what turned out to be the last of his 4 Pennants despite retiring 17 years later, were available -- at least at first.

Musial joined in mid-tour. Williams did not: According to Feller's memoir, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey offered him $10,000 not to go, and Detroit Tigers owner Walter "Spike" Briggs offered his star, Hank Greenberg, a similar amount. Part of the issue was that Feller had rented planes, and the players would be flying, and the team owners didn't want their players dying in plane crashes. Feller, himself a licensed pilot understood the danger, and heavily insured the tour.

Because the Yankees did not win the Pennant, it made their players available, and left fielder Charlie Keller, shortstop Phil Rizzuto and pitcher Spurgeon "Spud" Chandler joined Bob Feller's All-Stars. So did Feller's Indian teammates, pitcher Mel Harder and Bob Lemon; Boston Braves pitcher Johnny Sain; and Washington Senators 1st baseman Mickey Vernon.

In his memoir, Buck O'Neil wrote. "I was excited to be chosen for the Satchel Paige All-Stars, along with guys like Hilton Smith, Gene Benson and Quincy Trouppe, because I knew I'd be making more money in one month than I had made in the last six. And I was excited to able to play against guys like Mickey Vernon, Phil Rizzuto, Johnny Sain and Stan Musial right after the big-league World Series.

"I also felt that, even though it was black against white, this tour was an event that could have a real effect on big-league integration, because it took place after Jackie had proven himself, and if a lot of us weren't that lucky, we could at least prove ourselves against big-leaguers in these games."

In addition to the preceding, Satchel Paige's All-Star included Negro League stars Max Manning, Barney Brown, Hank Thompson, Art Wilson and Howard Easterling.

The itinerary:

* September 30, Forbes Field, Pittsburgh: Paige 3, Feller 1.

* October 1, Idora Park, Youngstown, Ohio: Feller 11, Paige 2.

* Later on October 1, Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Feller 5, Paige 2.

* October 2, Comiskey Park, Chicago: Feller 6, Paige 5.

* October 3, Crosley Field, Cincinnati: Feller 3, Paige 0.

* October 4, Yankee Stadium, New York: Feller 4, Paige 2.

* October 5, Ruppert Stadium, Newark, New Jersey: Feller 13, Paige 10.

* October 6, Yankee Stadium: Paige 4, Feller 0.

* Later on October 6, Bugle Field, Baltimore: Paige 7, Feller 4.

* October 7, Red Bird Stadium (later renamed Cooper Stadium), Columbus, Ohio: Paige 4, Feller 3.

* October 8, Hudson Field, Dayton, Ohio: Feller 7, Paige 6.

* October 9, a day off.

* October 10, Municipal Stadium, Richmond, Indiana: Feller 7, Paige 5.

* October 12, American Legion Park, Council Bluffs, Iowa: Feller 3, Paige 2.

* Later on October 12, Lawrence Field, Wichita, Kansas: Feller 5, Paige 3.

* October 13, Kansas City Municipal Stadium: Paige 3, Feller 2.

* October 14, K.C. Municipal Stadium: Feller 4, Paige 1.

* October 15, a day off.

* October 16, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles: Feller 4, Paige 3.

* October 17, Lane Field, San Diego: Feller 2, Paige 0.

* October 18 to 22: Time off.

* October 23, Sam Lynn Park, Bakersfield, California: Feller 12, Paige 4.

Overall record: Feller 14, Paige 5. So while the argument that the best black players could play in the white major leagues held up, the argument that the Negro Leagues were the equal of the white majors does not.

Two years later, Indians owner Bill Veeck signed Paige, despite his age being apparently 42. He helped Feller and the Indians win the World Series.

In 1990, the Yankees visited Cleveland for their Old-Timers Day, and their old-timers' game was held between games of a doubleheader. Rizzuto, by this point, was the Yankees aging, quirky broadcaster, and had former Met ace Tom Seaver in the booth with him. He asked Feller to interview, and Rizzuto brought up the tour. As patriotic as Feller was, he was also honest, telling the WPIX-Channel 11 audience, "We did the tour for one reason: To make money. I'm not going to kid you about that. We lost a lot of money during the war."

And when former Commissioner Francis T. "Fay" Vincent wrote a book, he interviewed Feller for it. He wouldn't change his story: "We were interested in one thing, making money. I mean, what else is there? Yes we put on a good show. There was racial rivalry, not amongst the players, but amongst the fans. And we got a few laughs. They're great friends of mine. They love me dearly. I love them dearly. I know all the guys. We made more money in that month of October than we made all year round."

By the time the tour concluded, approximately a quarter of a million fans had witnessed this unprecedented tour.

*

September 30, 1946 was a Monday. Baseball's regular season was almost over, and no games were played on this day. Nor in football: Monday Night Football was still 24 years away. And basketball and hockey were out of season. So there were no scores on this historic day.

September 30, 1945: Lieutenant Hank Greenberg Clinches the Pennant

Swinging two bats in the on-deck circle

was a common sight before the Yankees' Elston Howard

invented the "bat donut" in the 1960s.

Hank Greenberg was one of the few players

who was strong enough to swing three bats.

September 30, 1945: Hank Greenberg, recently discharged from the U.S. Army, hits a grand slam off Nelson Potter in the top of the 9th inning, and gives the Detroit Tigers a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park, clinching the American League Pennant, which the Browns had won the previous season, for the only time in their history. The Tigers go on to win the World Series over the Chicago Cubs in 7 games.

The 1st player to go into the service was Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Hugh Mulcahy, drafted on March 8, 1941, and he served for the duration of The War. As my grandmother taught me, she and everyone else who lived through it, even if they never left "the home front," always called it "The War," Capital T, Capital W. 

Greenberg had been the 1st major baseball star to volunteer for the U.S. armed forces in preparation for World War II, inducted into the Army on May 7, 1941. So it was only natural that he was the 1st player to return, discharged on June 14, 1945, with Nazi Germany having surrendered, but not, as yet, Imperial Japan. He had scouted bombing targets for B-29 bombers in the China/India/Burma Theater of Operations, and was discharged with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

Already known as Hammerin' Hank before Henry Aaron was even born, he had lost his seasons of age 31, 32 and 33, and the 1st half of his age 34 season. He finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .313 and 331 home runs. He should have had at least 150 more home runs. He never regretted it, saying, "My country comes first."

Nor did Chief Petty Officer Bob Feller, U.S. Navy, who lost his seasons of ages 23, 24, 25 and most of 26. He won 266 games and struck out 2,581 batters, all for the Cleveland Indians. Based on his 1941 and 1946 performances, he should have had at least another 90 wins and 1,000 strikeouts, which could have made him the all-time strikeout leader, and, with another 98 wins, the pitcher with the most in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era.

He knew The War was more important. He also knew that people like Ty Cobb and Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes, who compared sports to war, were blowhards, saying, "Anybody who says sports is war has never been in a war."

Warren Spahn had appeared in 4 games before going into the service, and was the winning pitcher in exactly none of them. By the time he rejoined the Boston Braves, 1st Lieutenant Warren Spahn, U.S. Army, had missed his age 22, 23 and 24 seasons, and had gotten frostbite in the Battle of the Bulge and been wounded at the Remagen Bridge.

But his wartime experience may have matured him. From age 25 to 44, he did become the Lively Ball Era's winningest pitcher, and the winningest lefthanded pitcher regardless of era, with 363. So maybe his stats didn't suffer.

The stats of Sergeant Joe DiMaggio, U.S. Army Air Force, did suffer, as he lost his age 28, 29 and 30 seasons. He finished with a .325 batting average, and 2,214 hits including 361 home runs. He should have had at least another 550 hits and another 75 home runs.

And then there was Ted Williams, who served as a flight instructor in World War II and a fighter pilot in the Korean War. By the time he left the service for the last time in 1953, Captain Theodore S. Williams, U.S. Marine Corps, had damaged hearing, and had lost his seasons of age 24, 25 and 26, and most of those of age 33 and 34.

He batted .344 for his career, with 2,654 hits and 521 home runs. It shouldn't surprise people who know a little about baseball history that Ted reached 500 homers, only the 4th to do so after Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Mel Ott. But it is surprising that the man often called "The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived" didn't even get close to 3,000 hits. (He also never got 200 hits in a season.) By missing 4 1/2 prime seasons, he may have missed out on as many as 600 hits and 200 home runs, which would have put him past the 714 of Ruth, the record before Aaron reached 755.

In contrast, Ruth only missed 1 month due to World War I, September 1918, and that was because everybody missed at least that much, since the season was cut short. And Aaron was never drafted. Mickey Mantle was classified 4-F, medically unfit for service.

Willie Mays did serve in the Korean War, missing most of his age 21 season and all of his 22, probably costing him around 350 hits on top of his 3,293, and at least 50 homers on top of his 660, meaning he might have gotten to 715 before Aaron did. Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford (1951 and '52) and Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Don Newcome (1952 and '53) also missed 2 seasons serving in Korea.)

Seaman 1st Class Stan Musial, U.S. Navy, the best hitter in the National League while Ted was the best in the American League, only missed 1945, his age 24 season, due to World War II. He had 3,630 hits and 475 home runs, so he may have missed 200 hits and maybe the 25 homers that would have put him over 500.

One man was a veteran of both D-Day and Major League Baseball. In his case, he was just 19 when he was in a U.S. Navy ship off the coast of Normandy, and his service probably didn't delay his entry into the major leagues by much. He may have been the calmest man in the battle, later saying that the exploding shells looked like fireworks. He was Seaman 2nd Class Lawrence Peter Berra. Yogi.

Yankee shortstop and Seaman 1st Class Phil Rizzuto missed his age 25, 26 and 27 seasons due to those huckleberries Hitler and Tojo. His Dodger counterpart, Chief Petty Officer Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, missed his age 24, 25 and 26 seasons. And Army 1st Lieutenant Jack Roosevelt Robinson missed his age 24, 25 and 26 seasons in the Army. Of course, at that point, he had no idea that he would ever play professional baseball in any capacity, much less the one that would make him the most important player of all time.

UPDATE: Bobby Shantz, who turned 100 on September 26, 2025, became the last remaining veteran of both World War II and Major League Baseball. 

*

September 30, 1945 was a Sunday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 12-2 at Yankee Stadium. Tuck Stainback and Charlie Keller hit home runs. Keller had also recently returned, from the U.S. Merchant Marine. Joe Page, who would go on to be much better known as a reliever, started and went the distance for the win.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 1-0 at Braves Field in Boston, in the 1st game of a doubleheader. Napoleon "Nap" Reyes, a 3rd baseman, light-skinned enough to be allowed to play even though he was Hispanic, and from Cuba so he wouldn't be drafted to fight in The War, hit a home run in the top of the 13th inning. Don Fisher pitched all 13 innings for the shutout. The nightcap was tied 2-2 after 7 innings, when Massachusetts' 7:00 PM curfew for Sunday sports kicked in and stopped the game.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Crosley Field. Del Rice won the game with a home run in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Washington Senators completed their 154-game schedule, but played their 154th game on September 23, a week before the regular season was supposed to end. Wartime travel restrictions, and the desire to get Griffith Stadium ready for the NFL's Washington Redskins, led to the Senators' condensed schedule. As a result, when their season ended, the Senators were 1 game behind the Tigers for the AL Pennant; but when the season finally ended, the Tigers were a game and a half ahead.

* The Chicago White Sox played their 149th game on September 25, and never played their last 5 games. The Philadelphia Athletics played their 150th game on September 27, and never played their last 4. The Cleveland Indians played their 145th game on September 28, and never played their last 9. Most likely, these were also due to wartime travel restrictions, even though The War had ended with the Japanese' official surrender on September 2 (following their unofficial surrender on August 14, which is recognized as V-J Day).

There were 2 NFL games played that day. The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 31-21 at Green Bay City Stadium. And the Cleveland Rams beat the Chicago Cardinals, 21-0 at League Park in Cleveland.

And Ehud Olmert, who served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, was born on this day.

September 28, 1960: Ted Williams Kisses It Goodbye

 

September 28, 1960: Having announced his retirement, Ted Williams plays his last game. The Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles are both way out of the American League race, which the Yankees wrapped up a few days ago.

It's a Wednesday afternoon. The weather? As Ted later recalled, "Lousy day, damp." Only 10,454 fans come out to Fenway Park in Boston to say goodbye to the man already often called "the greatest hitter who ever lived."

In the bottom of the 8th, the Orioles lead 4-2. with 1 out. Ted comes to bat against Jack Fisher, and cranks a home run to straightaway center field. He is easily the greatest player ever to hit a home run in his last career at-bat.

It is his 521st career home run -- at the time, good for 3rd all-time behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx -- and his 2,654th hit. It's hard to believe, until you see it in print, but, because he lost 5 years to military service, Ted Williams not only didn't get 3,000 hits, he didn't even get all that close. His lifetime batting average was .344, which remains the highest of any player whose career began after 1917. (Rogers Hornsby began that year, and batted .358.)

He rounds the bases with his head down, shakes hands with on-deck batter Jim Pagliaroni (later to become semi-famous as a 1969 Seattle Pilot as a result of Jim Bouton's book Ball Four), and walks back into the dugout.

Fans are hoping that he will come out and tip his cap, something he swore he would never do after being abused by Boston fans early in his career. He does not. As John Updike wrote in his acclaimed New Yorker magazine piece about the game, Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu, "Gods do not answer letters."

Ted's career is over, but the game is not. Carroll Hardy replaces him in left field for the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 9th, with the O's leading 4-3, Marlan Coughtry singles, Vic Wertz (yes, the man robbed by Willie Mays 6 years minus 1 day earlier) doubles him to 3rd, Pumpsie Green (the 1st black Red Sock) walks to load the bases, and Willie Tasby grounds to 2nd, where Marv Breeding mishandles the ball, allowing Coughtry and Wertz to score, giving the Red Sox a 5-4 walkoff win.

*

September 28, 1960 was a Wednesday. There were 5 other MLB scores on this historic day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 6-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Mickey Mantle hit 2 home runs, and Clete Boyer added 1, in support of Whitey Ford.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-3 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Ned Garver pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Dodger Stadium didn't open until 1962.)

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

September 28, 1951: A No-Hitter and a Clincher for the Yankees

September 28, 1951: A sweep of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium means that the New York Yankees will clinch the American League Pennant. They win the 1st game 8-0, as Allie Reynolds pitches his 2nd no-hitter of his career -- and his 2nd of the season, having blanked the Cleveland Indians on July 12. He is backed by home runs by Joe Collins and Gene Woodling.

The part-Cherokee fireballer known as the Superchief was the 1st AL pitcher to throw 2 no-hitters in a season. The only other major league pitchers to do it, through 2021: Johnny Vander Meer of the 1938 Cincinnati Reds (the only back-to-back no-hitters in MLB history), Virgil Trucks of the 1952 Detroit Tigers (one of them against the Yankees), Roy Halladay of the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies (one a perfect game, the other in the Playoffs), and Max Scherzer of the 2015 Washington Nationals.

The last out Allie needed for the 2nd no-hitter was Ted Williams, often called "the greatest hitter who ever lived." Allie got the Splendid Splinter to pop up in foul territory, but catcher Yogi Berra dropped it. Yogi goes to the mound to apologize, but Allie says, "Don't worry, Yogi, we'll get him again." He was right: He induced another pop-up, but Yogi caught this one.

The nightcap was not as spectacular, but no less effective: A Pennant-clinching 11-3 win. Vic Raschi was the winning pitcher, backed by a home run by Joe DiMaggio, the 361st of his career -- and, as it turned out, his last in regular-season play. He would hit 1 more in the upcoming World Series, and then retire.

Other Major League Baseball games played on this Friday:

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. With the New York Giants not scheduled, this drops the Dodgers, who had been 13 1/2 games ahead of the Giants on August 11, into a tie for 1st place in the National League. The season will end with them tied, forcing a Playoff. And if you don't know how that turned out, you're too young to know baseball history, and/or you're too ignorant to be reading this blog.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* And the Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Pale Hose won the opener, 6-2; and the nightcap, 4-3 in 10 innings.

There was also an NFL game played on this day. The Los Angeles Rams beat the football team named the New York Yanks, 54-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin passed for 554 yards. To this day, it is an NFL record. And the achievement is worthy of its own entry, which I have written. 

September 28, 1941: Ted Williams Finishes at .406

September 28, 1941: Ted Williams, left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, enters the last day of baseball's regular season with a batting average of .39955, which would have been officially rounded up to .400. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offers to let him sit and protect his ".400 batting average."

But the Splendid Splinter, all of 23 years old, understands what his place in baseball history would have really been, and insists on playing the doubleheader, against Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. (It was renamed Connie Mack Stadium for the A's manager in 1953.)

Ted remembered that the home plate umpire, Al Barlick, required to remain neutral, told him before the game, "In order to bat .400, you gotta be loose." And the A's catcher, Frankie Hayes, told him what their manager, Connie Mack, said: "Mr. Mack told us to pitch to you." The A's would not be walking him, intentionally or semi-intentionally, in order to stop him: They would try to stop him fair and square.

They couldn't. He singled to right in the 2nd inning, hit a home run leading off the 5th, singled to right in the 6th, hit an RBI single to right in the 7th, and reached on an error in the 9th, by the A's 2nd baseman -- Lawrence Columbus "Crash" Davis of Durham, North Carolina, for whom the Kevin Costner character in the movie Bull Durham would be named. So the one time he didn't get a hit, he gots on base anyway. Despite a 9-run A's outburst in the 5th inning, the Sox won, 12-11.

Ted's batting average was now .404. Even if he had gone 0-for-4 in the nightcap, he would still have finished at .4004. (Going 0-for-5 would have made him .39956.) He played anyway. He singled to right in the 2nd, doubled to center in the 4th, and flew to left in the 7th.

Because Pennsylvania had only legalized professional sporting events on Sundays in 1934, and had a 7:00 PM curfew for such games, the A's were already up 7-1, and Ted's .400 was secure, it was agreed between the umpires and the managers, Cronin and Mack, that the 1st game would end after 8 innings, thus denying Ted a 4th at-bat in the game. He finished the season with 185 hits in 456 at-bats, for a batting average of .405701754, rounded off to .406.

Ironically, the Sox pitcher in the 2nd game was former A's star Lefty Grove. It was the last appearance of a Hall of Fame career in which he went 300-141. A's pitcher Fred Caligiuri, who lived to be 100 and died in 2018, was the last living player from this doubleheader.

Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees was awarded the American League MVP. Red Sox fans, now 3 generations removed, remain angry about this. They say Ted's .406 average was a greater achievement than DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak the same season. They forget that the award is named Most Valuable Player, not Most Outstanding Player. Ted's great season did not get the Red Sox above 6th place. Joe's great season put the Yankees on a run that led to them winning the World Series.

In 1957, Ted came close to .400 again, at age 39, batting .388. In 1977, Rod Carew was over .400 for much of the season, and finished at .388. In 1980, George Brett was over .400 in September, and finished at .390. In 1994, Tony Gwynn was at .394 when the strike hit on August 12. Ted died in 2002, and since then, there have been no living human beings who have hit .400 in a season. (Bill Terry of the 1930 New York Giants, at .401, remains the last to do it in the National League.)

*

September 28, 1941 was a Sunday. These other major league games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 5-0 at Yankee Stadium. This didn't matter to the Yankees: They had clinched the AL Pennant on September 4, the earliest Pennant-clinching date in AL history. Sid Hudson pitched a 4-hit shutout for the Senators, allowing only a single to Tommy Henrich and a double to DiMaggio in the 4th inning, and singles to Joe Gordon and Phil Rizzuto in the 8th. He didn't walk any batters, either.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 2-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1 at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers had clinched the Pennant, their 1st in 21 years, in Boston 3 days earlier, but the Yankees would beat them in the World Series in 5 games.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-0 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Thornton Lee pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. For the Cards, a 20-year-old rookie named Stan Musial went 1-for-4.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

There were also NFL games that day:

* The football version of the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 17-10 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers, 25-17 at City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The football version of the Brooklyn Dodgers had played before, beating the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-13 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* Also playing the day before were the Chicago Cardinals and the Detroit Lions, to a 14-14 tie at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Rams had a bye week.

* And 1 game was played in the rival American Football League: The New York Americans beat the Milwaukee Chiefs, 10-3 at the Dairy Bowl in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. This version of the AFL suspended operations for World War II, and never resumed. The Americans, named after the hockey team, played their games at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island.