1947 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1947 throughout the world.

Champions

Major League Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3)
• All-Star Game, July 8 at Wrigley Field: American League, 2-1

Other champions

• All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Grand Rapids Chicks over Muskegon Lassies
• First College World Series: California
• First Little League World Series: Maynard, Williamsport, Pennsylvania
• Negro League World Series: New York Cubans over Cleveland Buckeyes (4–1)
• Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: West, 5–2

Winter Leagues

• Cuban League: Alacranes de Almendares
• Mexican Pacific League: Presidentes de Hermosillo
• Puerto Rican League: Leones de Ponce
• Venezuelan League: Sabios de Vargas

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
  • Joe DiMaggio (AL)
  • Bob Elliott (NL)
• Rookie of the Year
  • Jackie Robinson (ML)
• The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
  • Ted Williams (AL) – OF, Boston Red Sox
• The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
  • Bucky Harris (AL) – New York Yankees

MLB statistical leaders

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Negro league baseball final standings

Negro American League final standings

• Cleveland Buckeyes won the Pennant.

Negro National League final standings

Events

April–June

• April 15 – Major League Baseball's color line is officially broken forever when Jackie Robinson makes his Major League debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field.
• April 27 – It is Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium. Despite having throat cancer, Ruth speaks to the packed house, proclaiming, "The only real game, I think, in the world is baseball."
• June 18 – Ewell Blackwell pitches a no-hitter, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-0 win over the Boston Braves.

July–September

• July 5 – Larry Doby makes his debut for the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black baseball player in the American League, and fully integrating Major League Baseball.
• July 8 – At Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, the American League defeats the National League, 2–1, in the All-Star Game.
• July 10 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Don Black tosses a no-hitter in a 3–0 win over the Philadelphia Athletics.
• July 19 – Hall of Fame Negro League player Willard Brown makes his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns. Brown would only appear in 21 games for St. Louis in his only major league season, batting .179 with one home run and six runs batted in.
• July 20 – With both Hank Thompson and Willard Brown in the starting line-up, the St. Louis Browns become the first major league club to field two black players at the same time. Both players play all nine innings of both games of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox.
• August 13 – The St. Louis Browns' Willard Brown clubs a pinch hit a two-run, inside-the-park homer against Detroit Tigers pitcher Hal Newhouser, to become the first African American player to hit a home run in American League history.
• August 20 – Washington Senators relief pitcher Tom Ferrick loses both games of a doubleheader with the Cleveland Indians. While pitching with the St. Louis Browns the previous season, Ferrick won both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics on August 4.
• August 26 – Brooklyn Dodgers' Dan Bankhead became the first black pitcher in the majors. He homered in his first major league plate appearance, but didn't fare well on the mound. In 3 ¹⁄₃ innings of relief, he gave up 10 hits and six earned runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the game, 16–3.
• September 3 – Bill McCahan of the Philadelphia Athletics no-hits the Washington Senators in a 3–0 victory.

October–December

• October 6 – The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 5-2, in Game 7 of the World Series to win their eleventh World Championship, four games to three. This was the first World Series involving a nonwhite player, as Dodgers 1B Jackie Robinson had racially integrated Major League Baseball at the beginning of the season. It was also the first Series to be shown on television although coverage was limited to New York City and surrounding environs.
• November 27 – Triple Crown winner Ted Williams (.343 BA, 32 home runs, 114 RBI) is edged out by Joe DiMaggio (.315, 20, 97) for the American League MVP Award by one point. One BBWAA member fails to include Williams anywhere on his ballot.
• November 30 – Guillermo Vento became the first Venezuelan Professional Baseball League player to connect six hits in a single game. This record would eventually be matched by Pete Koegel (1974), Steve Carter (1991) and Ramón Flores (2014).^[1][2]

Births

January

• January 1 – Jimmie Lee Solomon
• January 4 – Ken Reynolds
• January 5 – Sandy Vance
• January 7 – Scott Reid
• January 12 – Leon Everitt
• January 12 – Gene Martin
• January 12 – Paul Reuschel
• January 15 – Gerry Schoen
• January 15 – Tony Solaita
• January 21 – Bob Reynolds
• January 21 – Bill Stein
• January 23 – Kurt Bevacqua
• January 27 – John Lowenstein
• January 27 – Tim Plodinec
• January 30 – Matt Alexander
• January 31 – Nolan Ryan

February

• February 1 – Jim McKee
• February 1 – Danny Thompson
• February 3 – Joe Coleman
• February 5 – Barry Raziano
• February 7 – Ted Ford
• February 16 – Terry Crowley
• February 20 – Tom Buskey
• February 21 – Terry Ley
• February 21 – Charley Walters
• February 25 – Ken Szotkiewicz

March

• March 2 – Jim Nettles
• March 4 – Bruce Miller
• March 5 – Kent Tekulve
• March 7 – Jim Howarth
• March 10 – Darcy Fast
• March 12 – Bill Butler
• March 12 – Greg Garrett
• March 14 – Mike Strahler
• March 16 – Tom Bradley
• March 19 – Garry Jestadt
• March 19 – Ángel Mangual
• March 19 – Don Rose
• March 21 – Bill Plummer
• March 23 – Pat Bourque

April

• April 4 – Ray Fosse
• April 14 – Joe Lahoud
• April 21 – Al Bumbry
• April 23 – Pat Jacquez
• April 26 – Amos Otis
• April 28 – Lute Barnes
• April 29 – Tom House
• April 29 – Jim Williams
• April 30 – Jim Clark

May

• May 5 – Larry Hisle
• May 10 – John Cumberland
• May 10 – Tim Hosley
• May 12 – Vic Albury
• May 12 – Bob Heise
• May 13 – Steve Kealey
• May 14 – Dick Tidrow
• May 22 – Rich Hinton
• May 26 – Darrell Evans

June

• June 4 – Doug Griffin
• June 7 – Don Money
• June 7 – Thurman Munson
• June 10 – Ken Singleton
• June 16 – Joe Decker
• June 25 – José Ortiz

July

• July 4 – Jim Minshall
• July 4 – Jim Nelson
• July 6 – Néstor Chávez
• July 6 – Lance Clemons
• July 11 – Ron Cook
• July 12 – Scipio Spinks
• July 14 – Steve Stone
• July 14 – Danny Walton
• July 15 – Enrique Romo
• July 22 – Cliff Johnson
• July 22 – George Lauzerique
• July 25 – Mick Kelleher
• July 25 – Mickey Scott
• July 30 – Jim Spencer
• July 31 – Pete Koegel
• July 31 – Earl Stephenson
• July 31 – John Vukovich

August

• August 1 – Tony Muser
• August 4 – Ken Poulsen
• August 5 – Bernie Carbo
• August 6 – Jim Dunegan
• August 8 – José Cruz
• August 9 – Buddy Hunter
• August 13 – Jerry Crawford
• August 13 – Fred Stanley
• August 15 – Billy Conigliaro
• August 18 – Bucky Guth
• August 18 – Lowell Palmer
• August 22 – Bill Burbach
• August 27 – Jim York
• August 31 – Boots Day

September

• September 1 – Craig Skok
• September 2 – Mel Behney
• September 3 – Bill Gilbreth
• September 7 – Dave Wallace
• September 11 – Larry Cox
• September 12 – John Montague
• September 13 – Mike Adamson
• September 14 – Harry Parker
• September 16 – Gary Ross
• September 17 – Candy Harris
• September 18 – Bill Champion
• September 20 – Pete Hamm
• September 21 – Jim Todd
• September 24 – Norm Angelini
• September 26 – Norm McRae

October

• October 1 – Buzz Capra
• October 1 – Remigio Hermoso
• October 3 – Chuck Scrivener
• October 4 – Glenn Adams
• October 6 – Jerry Bell
• October 6 – Rich Hacker
• October 6 – Steve Kline
• October 6 – Charlie Vaughan
• October 9 – Bob Moose
• October 10 – Roger Metzger
• October 11 – Charlie Williams
• October 11 – Rick James
• October 17 – Jim Hutto
• October 20 – Rafael Robles
• October 26 – Bill Gogolewski

November

• November 4 – Loyd Colson
• November 6 – Chris Arnold
• November 6 – Skip Pitlock
• November 7 – Don Newhauser
• November 8 – Lewis Yocum
• November 12 – Ron Bryant
• November 13 – Gene Garber
• November 17 – Tom Dettore
• November 19 – Bob Boone
• November 22 – John Morlan
• November 23 – Dwain Anderson
• November 23 – Tom Hall
• November 23 – Frank Tepedino
• November 26 – Larry Gura
• November 26 – Richie Hebner
• November 27 – John Harrell

December

• December 3 – Wayne Garrett
• December 3 – Gerry Pirtle
• December 7 – Johnny Bench
• December 9 – Jerry Cram
• December 10 – Ted Martínez
• December 11 – Greg Shanahan
• December 13 – Dave Hamilton
• December 15 – Ken Crosby
• December 17 – Charlie Sands
• December 21 – Elliott Maddox
• December 26 – Carlton Fisk
• December 28 – Aurelio Rodríguez
• December 31 – Manny Muñiz

Deaths

January

• January 2 – Joe Koukalik, 66, one of four Austrian players in Major League history, who pitched eight innings in one baseball game for the Brooklyn Superbas in the 1904 season.
• January 15 – Jimmy Sheckard, 68, left fielder and leadoff hitter, most notably for the Chicago Cubs.
• January 20 – Josh Gibson, 35, Negro League All-Star catcher.
• January 21 – Jimmy Walsh, 60, third baseman who played from 1910 through 1915 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Terrapins and St. Louis Terriers.
• January 29 – Del Gainer, 60, solid first baseman and line drive hitter who played for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals (1922) during ten seasons between 1909 and 1992.
• January 31 – Johnny Kling, 71, catcher who was key part of the great Chicago Cubs dynasty from the early 1900s.

February

• February 5 – Ed Callahan
• February 10 – Carney Flynn
• February 10 – George Whiteman, 64, outfielder for the 1918 Boston Red Sox World Champions.
• February 13 – Sam Shaw
• February 19 – Hooks Warner
• February 23 – George Brickley, 52, two-sport athlete who played as an outfielder for the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics, and later played football as a tailback for the Cleveland Tigers and the New York Brickley Giants.
• February 24 – Jack Glasscock, 89, flashy fielding shortstop of the 19th century, and the sixth player to collect at least 2,000 hits.
• February 27 – Ensign Cottrell
• February 27 – Jack Calhoun
• February 28 – Clarence Stephens
• February 28 – Ike Fisher

March

• March 2 – Dewey Metivier
• March 7 – Dan McGarvey
• March 20 – Mike Mowrey, 62, outstanding third baseman during the Deadball Era, who played from 1905 through 1915 for five different National League clubs, and was a member of the Brooklyn Robins team that defeated the strong Boston Red Sox in the 1916 World Series.
• March 22 – Tony Von Fricken
• March 26 – Jim Bluejacket
• March 27 – Pete Lister
• March 28 – Johnny Evers, 65, Hall of Fame second baseman who along shortstop Joe Tinker and first baseman Frank Chance formed the most famous double play combination in Major League history, which is memorialized in the legendary poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon, as the trio led the Chicago Cubs during the glory years of 1906–1910 to four National League pennants and two World Series.

April

• April 1 – Mike Lynch
• April 2 – Charlie Jones, 72, a fine defensive outfielder with a strong arm, who played for the Boston Americans, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns between 1901 and 1908.
• April 4   – Jot Goar
• April 12 – Tom Sullivan, 87, pitcher for the Columbus Buckeyes and Kansas City Cowboys in parts of four seasons spanning 1884–1889.
• April 20 – Jack Rothfuss
• April 21 – Steamer Flanagan
• April 25 – John Walsh

May

• May 1 – Kitty Bransfield
• May 1 – Ray Brubaker, 54, veteran minor league player and manager; died in the dugout from a heart attack while managing the Terre Haute Phillies in an Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League game.
• May 2 – Ossie France
• May 5 – Ty LaForest
• May 6 – Ferdie Moore
• May 7 – Michael McDermott
• May 18 – Hal Chase, 64, outstanding first baseman whose big league career lasted from 1905 to 1919, who was the most notoriously corrupt player in Major League history and was barred from baseball after a reputed long history of fixing games.
• May 19 – Tex Hoffman
• May 23 – Harry Bemis
• May 23 – Goat Cochran
• May 27 – Ed Konetchy, 62, who led National League first basemen in fielding eight times and batted .281 in 2,085 games, as is 2,150 hits included 344 doubles, 181 triples (17th all time), and 74 home runs.
• May 27 – Harry Sage
• May 31 – Jimmie Wilson

June

• June 15 – Luke Stuart
• June 18 – Neal Brady
• June 18 – Jumbo Harting
• June 20 – Bob Ewing
• June 30 – Mellie Wolfgang

July

• July 4 – Jeff Sweeney, 58, catcher for the New York Highlanders/Yankees in the early 1900s, who in 1914 stole 19 bases, the most ever by a Yankee catcher in a single season.
• July 7 – Dick Egan, infielder who played from 1908 through 1916 for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves.
• July 8 – William G. Bramham, 72, president of the Minor Leagues from 1932 to 1946.
• July 14 – Orval Overall, 66, pitcher for the 1907/1908 World Champion Chicago Cubs; a right-handed curveball specialist who compiled a lifetime 108-71 record with a 2.23 earned run average, the eighth best ERA in Major League history.
• July 16 – Bill Keen, 54, first baseman who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1911 season.
• July 29 – George Bausewine, 78, pitcher for the 1889 Philadelphia Athletics, and later an umpire in the National League.
• July 30 – Chick Robitaille, 68, Franco-American pitcher who had a solid career with the Athletics club of the Quebec Provincial League in the late 1890s, and later posted a 12–8 record with a 2.56 ERA in 26 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1904 to 1905.
• July 30 – Ed Seward, 80, Philadelphia Athletics pitcher who averaged 27 wins from 1887–1889, with a career-high 35 in 1888.

August

• August 3 – Al Tesch
• August 3 – Vic Willis, 71, Hall of Fame pitcher and an eight-time winner of 20 games, a key member of the pennant winning Boston Beaneaters as a rookie in 1898 and also a member of the 1909 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished with 249 wins, 1651 strikeouts and a 2.63 ERA in only a thirteen-year career.
• August 6 – Gene Good
• August 11 – Harry Davis, 74, first baseman and one of the most feared sluggers in the early 1900s, known today primarily for leading in home runs during four consecutive seasons, while guiding the Philadelphia Athletics teams who dominated the newly formed American League, winning six pennants and three World Series between 1902 and 1913, over a career that spanned more than thirty years as a player, coach, manager and scout.
• August 14 – Woody Crowson
• August 15 – Bill Hall
• August 15 – Carlton Lord
• August 21 – King Brady, 66, who pitched with the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves in a span of four seasons between 1905 and 1912.
• August 21 – Jacob Fox
• August 26 – Hugh McQuillan
• August 27 – She Donahue

September

• September 5 – Bill Ludwig
• September 6 – Joe Gingras
• September 8 – Ralph Pond
• September 13 – Ed Lennon
• September 28 – Jim Cockman
• September 28 – Duke Kelleher
• September 29 – Ed Walker
• September 30 – John Halla

October

• October 1 – Hub Northen
• October 2 – Billy Hulen
• October 2 – Jim Kane
• October 10 – Slim Embry
• October 11 – Doc Martel
• October 15 – Pol Perritt
• October 23 – Cy Rheam

November

• November 2 – Dot Fulghum
• November 7 – Cy Wright
• November 14 – Jack Hoey
• November 14 – Stub Smith
• November 21 – Slow Joe Doyle
• November 23 – Charlie Newman

December

• December 7 – Jud Smith
• December 9 – Bevo LeBourveau
• December 17 – Lee Viau
• December 24 – Joe Cobb
• December 26 – Roxey Roach
• December 26 – Phil Stremmel
• December 29 – George Blaeholder

Sources