April 18 – New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Aaron 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 mayor Robert Wagner, includes a 50,000-seat stadium with a plastic dome to be built by the Parks Department.
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.
The New York City Board Of Estimates fails to act on the Moses plan as outlined by Mayor Wagner.
In the 4th inning of a Chicago Cubs 9–5 loss to the Cincinnati Redlegs at Crosley Field, Cubs pitcher Moe Drabowsky claims to be hit on the foot by a Joe Nuxhall pitch. Afterwards, teammate Dick Drott borrows a wheelchair from a crippled fan and wheels Drabowsky to first base, and immediately is ejected by home plate umpire Stan Landes. Drabowsky is eventually called out on strikes.
May
May 7 – Two batters into the game at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland Indian pitcher Herb Score is hit in the face by a line drive by New York YankeeGil McDougald, the ball breaking numerous bones in Score's face and leaving him quite 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.
July 18 – New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham says the team will quit New York City after the season. He says he has not heard anything more from San Francisco and that his move is not contingent on that of the Dodgers. He sees a new stadium or joint occupancy with the New York Yankees as the only reason for the Giants to stay in New York.
August 19 – As Stoneham cites poor attendance as the reason for the Giants' move, the team's board of directors votes 8-1 to move to California in 1958, as San Francisco promises a new stadium in the Bayview area. The only dissenting vote is by M. Donald Grant, who would go on to be one of the founders of the New York Mets.
September 29 – With 1895 Giants manager Jack Doyle among the 11,606 looking on, the Giants lose their last game at the Polo Grounds 9-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates pitcher Bob Friend defeats Johnny Antonelli in the historic contest, and fans storm the field for souvenirs as soon as Dusty Rhodes grounds to Pittsburgh shortstop Dick Groat for the final out.
October 8 – Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley announces that the Dodgers will be moving to Los Angeles for the 1958 season.
October 10 – The Milwaukee Braves defeat the New York Yankees, 5-0, in Game 7 the World Series to win the franchise's second World Series, and only title in the city of Milwaukee, four games to three. This was the Braves' first pennant since moving to Milwaukee and the organization's first World Series win since the Miracle Braves of 1914. Milwaukee became the first team to win a title after relocating. Braves pitcher Lew Burdette was named World Series Most Valuable Player with three complete games, including two shutouts. He was the first pitcher to pitch two shutouts in the World Series since Christy Mathewson in the 1905 World Series.
November 20 – Shigeo Nagashima, a slugger star at Rikkyo University, signs with the Yomiuri Giants for a record bonus of $69,000.
November 22:
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 Williams in the ninth and tenth places on their ballots.
After 22 seasons of work, Larry Goetz is unwillingly 'retired' as a National League umpire by league's president Warren Giles. The discharged arbitrator had been critical of the Senior Circuit because of the league's 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 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.
November 29 – New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. forms a four-member committee to find replacement teams for the Dodgers and Giants in NYC.
December 7 - The Associated Press votes Tony Kubek as the American League rookie of the year. Frank Malzone the only other candidate received one vote.
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, 68, left handed pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox Pittsburgh Pirates through eight seasons from 1912–19, ending with 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]
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 who played tith the Cincinnati Reds in 1909 and for the New York Highlanders/Yankees from 1912–13.
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 for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1916–17, before managing the Pittsburgh Pirates over five seasons from 1948–1952, and whose uniform number 1 was retired by the Pirates in 1954.[2]
April 7 – Jim Scott, 68, two-time 20-win pitcher for the Chicago White Sox when the team won its only two championships of the 20th century in 1906 and 1917, winning 107 with a 2.30 earned run average in nine seasons from 1909–1917, who later spent 25 years working in major and minor league baseball as a pitcher and umpire, while remains as one of the leading pitchers in franchise history, as his career ERA ranks 19th all-time in MLB history.[3]
April 15 – Jack Coombs, 74, a key member of the Philadelphia Athletics pitching staff along with Chief Bender and Eddie Plank in the 1910–1911 World Champion teams, when he posted a 31-6 record with 13 shutouts and 1.30 ERA in 1910, then defeating three times the Chicago Cubs in the 1910 World Series, going 28-12 the next season and 2-0 against the New York Giants in the 1911 World Series, while previously pitching and winning a 24-inning, 4-1 complete game victory over the Boston Red Sox in 1904, as his 13 shutouts and 24-inning complete game still single season records in American League.[4]
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 18 – Bill Sweeney, 52, first baseman who played with the Detroit Tigers in 1928 and for the Boston Red Sox from 1930-31, managing later 19 seasons in the Pacific Coast League, winning three pennants with the Portland Beavers in 1936 and the Los Angeles Angels in 1943 and 1944, coaching also in the majors for the Detroit Tigers from 1947 to 1948.[5]
April 22 – Joe Benz, 71, spitball and knuckleball especialist who pitched from 1911 through 1919 for the Chicago White Sox, being a member of two American League champion teams in both 1917 and 1919, while pitching a no-hitter against the Cleveland Naps in 1914.[6]
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.
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 1911–1912, 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.[7]
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.[8]
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 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, posting a 194-179 record and 3.24 ERA in 550 pitching appearances, leading the National League with 27 wins in 1923 and twice in ERA in 1923 (1.93) and 1925 (2.63), while winning World Series rings with the Reds in 1919 and the Giants in 1933, and later becoming a successful manager in the Cuban Winter League, where he won eight pennant titles.[9]
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 a span of fifteen seasons from 1924–1938, 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, being 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.[10]
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.[11]
August 15 – Ed Baecht, 50, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Browns over parts of six seasons from 1926–1937.
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 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.[12]
September 9 – Bill Miller, 78, German outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its 1902 season.
October 9 – Butch Henline, 62, catcher for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Robins and Chicago White Sox over eleven seasons from 1921–1931, being active as a player until 1934 in the American Association and International League, then began his umpiring career in the Southeastern League in 1939 and moved to the IL from 1940 to 1944, serving later as a National League umpire from 1945 to 1948, while working in the 1947 All-Star Game.
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.[14]
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.[16]
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 1884–1902 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.[17]
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.[18]
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 1934–1948, 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 1911–1915.
