1950 in baseball

Year in baseball
this year = 1950

Champions

Major League Baseball

*World Series: New York Yankees over Philadelphia Phillies (4-0)
*All-Star Game, July 11 at Comiskey Park: National League, 4-3 (14 innings)

Other champions

*Caribbean World Series: Carta Vieja (Panama)
*College World Series: Texas
*First Japan Series: Mainichi Orions over Shochiku Robins (4-2)
*Little League World Series: North Austin Lions, Austin, Texas
*Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: West, 5-3
*All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Rockford Peaches

Awards and honors

*MLB Most Valuable Player Award
** AL Phil Rizzuto, New York Yankees, SS
** NL Jim Konstanty, Philadelphia Phillies, P
*MLB Rookie of the Year Award
**Walt Dropo, Boston Red Sox, 1B
**Sam Jethroe, Boston Braves, OF
*The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
**Phil Rizzuto New York Yankees
*The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
**Red Rolfe Detroit Tigers

MLB Statistical Leaders

National League final standings

Events

January-March

*January 23 - the Associated Press picks the "Miracle Braves" of 1914 as the greatest sports upset of the 20th Century.

April-June

*April 1 - The Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League open their season in shorts and rayon shirts.

*April 18 - President Harry Truman throws out two balls at the Washington Senators' opener - one left-handed and the other right-handed - and then watches the Senators beat the Philadelphia A's 8-7. When rain starts falling in the 6th inning, he puts on a raincoat and remains to the end.

*April 21 - The Boston Red Sox' Vern Stephens slugs a 9th-inning grand slam off the A's Harry Byrd to lead the Red Sox to an 8-2 romp. It is the first of 33 American League grand slams in 1950. The major league season total of 68 is a record up to this point. In 1995, the number will exceed 100 slams for the first time.

July-September

*July 2 - Cleveland Indians great Bob Feller wins his 200th major league game, 5-3, over the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd game of a doubleheader split. Detroit wins the opener 8-5 for their only win in the 4-game series.

*July 11 - Making a leaping, off-the-wall catch of a Ralph Kiner drive in the 1st inning, Ted Williams fractures his left elbow in the All-Star Game at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Remaining in the game, he puts the American League ahead 3-2 with an RBI single. Kiner's 9th-inning homer ties the game, and Red Schoendienst's blast in the 14th inning wins it for the National League, 4-3. Williams will later state he was never the same after this injury.

*August 11 - Vern Bickford pitches a no-hitter for the Boston Braves in a 7-0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

October-December

*October 1 - In Robin Roberts' 3rd start in 5 days, Dick Sisler's dramatic home run off Don Newcombe in the 10th inning clinches the National League pennant, 4-1, over the Brooklyn Dodgers for the Philadelphia Phillies, also known as the "Whiz Kids". They win at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field and avert a playoff with the same Dodgers. It is the Phillies' first pennant since 1915. In the play that sets the stage for Dick Sisler's heroics, center fielder Richie Ashburn, playing shallow, throws out Dodger runner Cal Abrams at the plate in the bottom of the 9th. Abrams will later say, "I think they should have held me at 3rd", while Dodgers manager Burt Shotton, commenting on having Duke Snider hitting away, "I should have bunted. If you don't believe me, look in the newspapers." Brooklyn's only score comes when Pee Wee Reese hits a drive into the screen over the wall in right field. The ball falls on top of the wall and bounces up and down long enough for Reese to leg out an inside-the-park home run.

*October 7 - The New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2, in Game 4 of the World Series to win their thirteenth World Championship, four games to none. The Phillies will not appear again in the postseason until 1976, and they will not appear again in the World Series until 1980.

Movies

*"Kill the Umpire"
*"The Jackie Robinson Story"

Births

January-March

*January 7 - Burt Hooton
*January 12 - Randy Jones
*January 13 - Bob Forsch
*January 19 - Jon Matlack
*February 4 - Maximino León
*February 18 - Bruce Kison
*March 5 - Doug Bird
*March 7 - J.R. Richard
*March 9 - Doug Ault
*March 14 - Dave McKay
*March 21 - Mike Cubbage
*March 27 - Lynn McGlothen
*March 30 - Grady Little

April-June

*April 10 - Ken Griffey
*April 20 - Milt Wilcox
*May 4 - Jack Baker
*May 11 - Dane Iorg
*May 12 - Pat Darcy
*May 13 - Juan Beníquez
*May 13 - Bobby Valentine
*May 25 - John Montefusco
*May 28 - Jim Cox
*May 31 - Tippy Martinez
*June 10 - Elias Sosa
*June 14 - Bill Fahey
*June 19 - Duane Kuiper
*June 19 - Jim Slaton
*June 23 - Jim Dwyer
*June 28 - Chris Speier

July-September

*July 5 - Gary Matthews
*August 1 - Milt May
*August 22 - Ray Burris
*August 28 - Ron Guidry
*August 29 - Doug DeCinces
*August 30 - Dave Chalk
*August 30 - Andy Merchant
*September 4 - Doyle Alexander
*September 4 - Frank White
*September 29 - Ken Macha

October-December

*October 4 - Ed Halicki
*October 9 - Brian Downing
*October 13 - Dick Pole
*October 24 - Rawly Eastwick
*October 26 - Dave Coleman
*November 12 - Bruce Bochte
*November 22 - Lyman Bostock
*November 22 - Greg Luzinski
*November 26 - Jorge Orta
*November 29 - Mike Easler
*November 29 - Otto Vélez
*November 30 - Craig Swan
*December 6 - Tim Foli
*December 12 - Gorman Thomas
*December 21 - Jim Wright
*December 25 - Manny Trillo
*December 26 - Mario Mendoza

Deaths

*January 26 - Chick Autry, 46, backup catcher for the Yankees, Indians and White Sox in the 1920s
*February 11 - Kiki Cuyler, 51, outfielder for four NL teams, primarily the Cubs, who batted .321 in his career while leading the NL in runs twice and steals four times; hit a 2-run, 2-out double off Walter Johnson in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1925 World Series for a 9-7 lead, clinching the title for the Pirates
*March 25 - Pussy Tebeau, 80, a 19th century outfielder who played for the Cleveland Spiders
*April 11 - Dick McCabe, 54, pitched from 1918 to 1922 for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox
*May 4 - Vince Molyneaux, 61, pitcher for the St. Louis Browns (1917) and Boston Red Sox (1918)
*June 8 - Cannonball Titcomb, 83, pitcher for four different clubs from 1886-90, who threw a no-hitter in the 1890 season
*July 23 - Bill Lange, 79, top Chicago Colts hitter during the 1890's. Played seven seasons before retiring to get married.
*September 23 - Sam Barry, 57, coach at USC since 1930 and one of the principal forces behind the creation of the College World Series, which his team won in 1948
*September 25 - Pep Deininger, 72, German pitcher/center fielder for the Boston Americans and Philadelphia Phillies between 1902 and 1908
*November 4 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, 63, Hall of Fame pitcher who won 373 games with the Phillies, Cubs and Cardinals and earned the pitching Triple Crown three times (1915, 1916, 1920)
*November 16 - Frank Hemphill, 72, outfielder for the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators in the 1900
*December 5 - Bill Dahlen, 80, shortstop who owned the record for career assists at the position (7,500) and ended his career having played more games than anyone in major league history (2,443)