1941 in baseball

Year in baseball
this year = 1941

Headline events of the year

*Joe Dimaggio hits in 56 consecutive games. After being hitless in the 57th game, he hit safely in 16 more consecutive games for a streak of 72 of 73 games.
*Ted Williams ended the season with a .406 batting average. No hitter (qualifying for the batting title) has hit over .400 since the 1941 season.

Champions

Major League Baseball

*World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-1)
*All-Star Game, July 8 at Briggs Stadium: American League, 7-5

Other champions

*IV World Cup of Baseball: Venezuela
*Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: East, 8-3

Awards and honors

*MLB Most Valuable Player Award
**Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, OF
**Dolph Camilli, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1B
*The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award
**Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, OF
**Dolph Camilli, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1B
*The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
**Ted Williams (AL) - OF, Boston Red Sox
*The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
**Billy Southworth (NL) - St. Louis Cardinals

MLB Statistical Leaders

Major League Baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Negro League Baseball final standings

Negro National League final standings

*Washington beat New York 2 games to 0 games in a play-off.

Events

January-March

* January 21 - Bob Feller signs with the Cleveland Indians for a reported $30,000.

April-June

* June 1 - Mel Ott's 2-run homer, the 400th of his career and his 1,500th RBI, gives the New York Giants a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
* May 15 - In the first inning, Joe DiMaggio singles against the Chicago White Sox to start his 56 game hitting streak.

July-September

* July 8 - At the All-Star Game at Detroit's Briggs Stadium, Boston's Ted Williams, hitting .405 at the break, homers off Chicago Cubs pitcher Claude Passeau with 2 outs and 2 on in the 9th inning to give the American League a dramatic 7-5 victory. Williams' 4 RBIs are matched by National League shortstop Arky Vaughan, who hits home runs in the 7th and the 8th.
* July 16 - Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak ends at 56 games against the Cleveland Indians.
*July 25 - Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox earns his 300th career win, which is also his last.
*August 30 - Lon Warneke pitches a no-hitter, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
* September 28 - Entering the last day of the season, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox was hitting .3995, which would have been good for a .400 average. However, Williams decided to play in both games of a double-header at Shibe Park against the Philadelphia Athletics to make it completely legitimate; he would go 6 for 8 in the two games to leave his average at .406. It remains the last time any player has hit .400 in a season.
* September 29 - The Fort Custer team won the national amateur championship of the American Baseball Congress with a 3–2 victory over the Charlotte, North Carolina team. It was the last time the amateur World Series was held until after the war.

October-December

*October 6 - The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-1, in Game 5 of the World Series to win fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall, four games to one.
* November 25 - Lou Boudreau is named player-manager of the Cleveland Indians. Boudreau, at 24 years, 4 months and 8 days, is the youngest manager appointed.

Births

January-March

*January 27 - Nick Willhite
*February 11 - Sammy Ellis
*February 20 - Clyde Wright
*February 23 - Ron Hunt
*March 5 - Phil Roof
*March 18 - Pat Jarvis
*March 20 - Pat Corrales

April-June

*April 4 - Eddie Watt
*April 14 - Pete Rose
*April 21 - Dick Green
*May 2 - Clay Carroll
*May 5 - Tommy Helms
*May 10 - Ken Berry
*May 21 - Bobby Cox
*May 29 - John Kennedy
*June 1 - Dean Chance
*June 2 - Bob Saverine
*June 5 - Duke Sims
*June 12 - Gerry Arrigo
*June 13 - Marcel Lachemann
*June 20 - Luis Alcaráz
*June 28 - Al Downing
*June 29 - John Boccabella
*June 29 - Larry Stahl

July-September

*July 8 - Ken Sanders
*July 13 - Don Bryant
*July 22 - Bart Zeller
*July 26 - Carroll Sembera
*August 6 - Ray Culp
*August 9 - Paul Lindblad
*August 15 - Tommie Reynolds
*August 16 - Gene Brabender
*August 17 - Boog Powell
*August 23 - Marty Martínez
*August 26 - Fred Wenz
*September 2 - Jerry Crider
*September 4 - Ken Harrelson
*September 11 - Larry Bearnarth
*September 15 - Jim Barbieri
*September 18 - Dick Dietz
*September 29 - Rich Reese

October-December

*October 5 - Andy Kosco
*October 13 - Jim Price
*October 14 - Art Shamsky
*October 16 - Tim McCarver
*October 21 - Ron Davis
*October 22 - Wilbur Wood
*October 30 - Jim Ray Hart
*October 31 - Ed Spiezio
*November 5 - Rudy Schlesinger
*November 12 - Dámaso Blanco
*November 13 - Mel Stottlemyre
*November 25 - Mike Ryan
*November 26 - Jeff Torborg
*November 29 - Bill Freehan
*November 29 - Roberto Rodríguez
*December 8 - Ed Brinkman
*December 9 - Darold Knowles
*December 12 - Allan Lewis
*December 16 - Adolfo Phillips
*December 21 - Paul Casanova
*December 23 - Ken Hubbs
*December 27 - Phil Gagliano
*December 29 - Bruce Brubaker

Deaths

January-March

*January 6 - Charley O'Leary, 58, shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns between 1904 and 1934, who later coached for many years with the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs
*January 9 - Fred Smith, 77, pitcher who posted a 19-13 record with a .327 ERA in his only major league season with the 1890 Toledo Maumees
*January 20 - Jack Lelivelt, 55, outfielder for the Senators, Highlanders, Yankees and Naps from 1909-14, who also set an International League record with a 42-game streak in 1912, which was broken by Brandon Watson in 2007
*January 24 - Tommy Bond, 84, Irish 19th century pitcher who posted a 234-163 record for six different clubs from 1874 to 1884, and also was the first Triple Crown winner in 1877, leading the National League with 40 wins, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.11 ERA
*January 25 - Chris Lindsay, 62, first baseman who played from 1905 to 1906 with the Detroit Tigers
*February 17 - Happy Iott, 64, outfielder for the 1903 Cleveland Naps
*February 18 - Tom Connelly, 43, backup outfielder for the New York Yankees in 1920 and 1921
*February 21 - Frank Corridon, 60, pitcher from 1904-10 for the Cubs, Phillies and Cardinals, who is credited with being the first major league pitcher to use the spitball
*March 1 - Ivey Wingo, 50, catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1911-14) and Cincinnati Reds (1915-26, 1929), who hit .571 as a member of the 1919 World Series Champions Reds
*March 31 - Kit McKenna, 68, pitcher for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1898) and Baltimore Orioles (1899)

April-June

*April 13 - Germany Schultz, 47, outfielder from 1912-25 for every National League club with the exception of the New York Giants; later a minor league manager and MLB executive
*April 16 - Howard Wakefield, 57, catcher who played from 1905-07 with the Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators
*May 8 - Bill Joyce, 75, third baseman for five teams (1890-98) and manager of the New York Giants (1896-98), who tied for the National League home runs title with Ed Delahanty (1896) and finished second three times
*May 10 - Jim Pastorius, 59, pitcher from 1906-09 for the Brooklyn Superbas
*May 19 - Joe Gedeon, 47, second baseman for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns from 1913 to 1920, who led American League batters with 48 sacrifice hits in 1920
*May 23 - Jack Clements, 76, left-handed catcher for six different teams between 1884 and 1900, who caught 1,073 games and also is credited with being the first catcher to wear a chest protector
*May 25 - Bob Higgins, 54, catcher from 1909 to 1912 for the Cleveland Naps and Brooklyn Dodgers
*June 2 - Lou Gehrig, 37, Hall of Fame first baseman for the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1939, a 2-time MVP, the 1934 Triple Crown winner, and the second player to hit 400 home runs, who retired to end a record 2,130-game playing streak upon being diagnosed with the terminal illness that now bears his name
*June 3 - Andy Cooper, 43, pitcher for the Negro Leagues' Detroit Stars and Kansas City Monarchs
*June 16 - Mike Flynn, 69, Irish catcher who played in one game with the Boston Reds of the American Association

July-September

*July 3 - Tom McCreery, 66, pitcher/outfielder for five different teams from 1895 to 1903, who is the only player in major league history to hit three inside-the-park home runs in a single game
*July 4 - Bruce Petway, 55?, Negro League catcher
*July 15 - Frank Isbell, 65, White Sox first baseman, second baseman, and outfielder (1901-1909)
*July 17 - Rube Kisinger, 64, pitcher for the 1902-03 Detroit Tigers, who also led the Buffalo Bisons to their first Eastern League pennant in 1904
*July 30 - Howie Shanks, 51, outfielder from 1912-25 for the Senators, Yankees and Red Sox
*July 30 - Mickey Welch, 82, the third pitcher to win 300 games, winner of 44 games in 1885 and over 30 in three other years
*August 8 - Ralph Works, 53, pitcher from 1909-12 for the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds
*August 26 - Stoney McGlynn, 69, pitcher for the 1906-08 St. Louis Cardinals
*September 24 - Luis Castro, 64, Colombian second baseman for the 1902 Philadelphia Athletics, who is regarded as the first Latin player to appear in a major league game
*September 29 - John B. Foster, 78, sportswriter and editor of "The Spalding Guide"

October-December

*October 3 - Bert Inks, 70, 19th century pitcher who played from 1891-96 for six different clubs, mainly with the Louisville Colonels
*October 24 - Emmett Rogers, 71, catcher for the 1890 Toledo Maumees
*October 25 - Bill Phillips, pitcher for Pittsburgh and Cincinnati between 1890 and 1903, who is best remembered for managing the 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers to the Federal League pennant
*October 29 - Harvey Hendrick, 43, infielder/outfielder who hit .308 for seven different teams between 1923 and 1934
*November 12 - Ernie Koob, 49, pitcher for the St. Louis Browns from 1915-19, who threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on May 5, 1917
*December 9 - Ed Mars, 75, pitcher for the 1890 Syracuse Stars of the American Association
*December 25 - George Bell, 67, pitcher from 1907-11 for the Brooklyn's Superbas and Dodgers