1932 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1932 throughout the world.

Champions

World Series: New York Yankees over Chicago Cubs (4-0)

Awards and honors

MLB Most Valuable Player Award
- Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics, 1B
- Chuck Klein, Philadelphia Phillies, OF

Statistical leaders

Type	Name	Stat	Name	Stat
AVG	Dale Alexander BOX	.367	Lefty O'Doul BRO	.368
HR	Jimmie Foxx PHA	58	Chuck Klein PHI Mel Ott NYG	38
RBI	Jimmie Foxx PHA	169	Don Hurst PHI	143
Wins	Alvin Crowder WSH	26	Lon Warneke CHC	22
ERA	Lefty Grove PHA	2.84	Lon Warneke CHC	2.37
Ks	Red Ruffing NYY	190	Dizzy Dean STL	191

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

American League
Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
New York Yankees	107	47	.695	--
Philadelphia Athletics	94	60	.610	13
Washington Senators	93	61	.604	14
Cleveland Indians	87	65	.572	19
Detroit Tigers	76	75	.503	29.5
St. Louis Browns	63	91	.409	44
Chicago White Sox	49	102	.325	56.5
Boston Red Sox	43	111	.279	64

National League final standings

National League
Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Chicago Cubs	90	64	.584	--
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	68	.558	4
Brooklyn Dodgers	81	73	.526	9
Philadelphia Phillies	78	76	.506	12
Boston Braves	77	77	.500	13
New York Giants	72	82	.468	18
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	.468	18
Cincinnati Reds	60	94	.390	30

Negro League Baseball final standings

East-West League standings

East-West League*
Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Detroit Wolves	38	12	.760
Homestead Grays	54	28	.659
Baltimore Black Sox	41	41	.500
Cuban Stars (West)	16	19	.471
Philadelphia Hilldale	19	31	.380
Washington Pilots	16	35	.318
Cleveland Stars	5	11	.313
Pittsburgh Crawfords†	54	32	.628
New York Black Yankees†	14	11	.560

* The East-West League folded before the end of the season, so a championship was not awarded.

† Pittsburgh and New York were not in the league, but their games are included in the statistics compiled by John Holway.

Source: Holway, John B. (2001). The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History. Fern Park, FL: Hastings House Publishers. p. 288. ISBN 0803820070.

Events

January–May

January 23 – The St. Louis Cardinals trade Hack Wilson to the Brooklyn Dodgers for a minor leaguer and $45,000.
February 27 – Waite Hoyt joins the Brooklyn Dodgers.
March 14 – The Brooklyn Dodgers trade Wally Gilbert, Babe Herman and Ernie Lombardi to the Cincinnati Reds for Tony Cuccinello, Joe Stripp and Clyde Sukeforth.
April 11 – The first game of the season goes extra innings. Heinie Manush's tenth inning double carries the Washington Senators to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
April 17 – New York Giants First baseman Bill Terry ties a National League record with 21 putouts in the New York Giants' 6-0 victory over the Boston Braves.
May 12 – Carey Selph of the Chicago White Sox collects his ninth strikeout of the season. But it won't happen again. Selph will go another 89 games without striking out, to set a major league record, hitting a .283 average in 396 at-bats in his second and last season. Selph's record will last until 1958 when another White Sox, Nellie Fox, sets a new mark with 98 consecutive games without striking out.
May 16 – The New York Yankees defeat the Cleveland Indians, 8-0, for their fourth shut out in a row.
May 19 – With first place in the American League on the line, the Washington Senators sweep both games from the New York Yankees to advance to first place by half a game. The Yankees, however, win the following day's game, and both games of the May 21 double header to end the series up 2.5 games. They maintain first place for the rest of the season.
May 20 – The Pirates' Paul Waner hits four doubles, tying a major league record held by many players.
May 30 – The New York Yankees unveil a plaque dedicated to former manager Miller Huggins. It is the first of what will eventually be a large number of plaques and other monuments to Yankee personnel.^[1]

June–July

June 3:
- Lou Gehrig hits four home runs and narrowly misses a fifth, while Tony Lazzeri hits for the cycle as the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 20–13. Gehrig becomes the third player to accomplish the feat in Major League history and the first to do so in the American League in 36 years. The Yankees set a major league record for total bases with 50 and both teams set a still-standing record for extra bases with 41.^[1]
- New York Giants manager John McGraw resigns. He had been the team's manager since the 1902 season.^[2]
June 9 – In a pitchers transaction, the St. Louis Browns send Dick Coffman to the Washington Senators in exchange for Carl Fischer. Both teams trade the two hurlers back for each other on December 13.
June 22 – National League club presidents approve the addition of numbers on player uniforms. The New York Yankees had initiated the concept in 1929 in the American League.
June 23 – Pitcher Waite Hoyt joins the New York Giants.
July 10 – Philadelphia Athletics, manager Connie Mack brings only two pitchers to face the Cleveland Indians. As luck would have it, Philadelphia's starter Lew Krausse is lifted after giving up four hits in the first inning, and is replaced by Eddie Rommel. A slugfest emerges, with the Athletics taking a 15–14 lead in the ninth inning only to have the Indians tie it in the bottom of the inning. The A's score two more in the sixteenth only to have Cleveland score two as well in the bottom of the inning. The A's eventually win it in eighteen, 18–17. While Rommel gives up 29 hits, he is still the winning pitcher. Johnny Burnett goes 9-for-11 for the Indians, setting a Major League record for most hits in a single game.^[1]
July 31 – The Cleveland Indians lose the inaugural game in Cleveland Municipal Stadium, 1–0, to the Philadelphia Athletics.

August–September

August 2 – Rogers Hornsby is fired as manager of the Chicago Cubs.
August 5 – Against the Washington Senators at Navin Field, Tommy Bridges of the Detroit Tigers has a bid for a perfect game broken up with two out in the ninth on a Dave Harris single. The hit is the only one Bridges allows in defeating the Senators 13-0.
August 14 – Despite a woeful 27-85 record, the Boston Red Sox defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 2-0 behind the pitching of Johnny Welch. It is one of only two shut outs the A's endure all season (July 9 against the Chicago White Sox).
August 17 – The New York Yankees defeat the Detroit Tigers, 8-3, for their tenth victory in a row.
September 11 – The St. Louis Browns defeat the Boston Red Sox 7-1 in the first game of a double header to give Boston their 100th loss of the season. The BoSox come back to win the second game, but go on to lose 111 games by the end of the season.
September 13 – The New York Yankees defeat the Cleveland Indians 9-3 for their 100th win of the season.
September 18 – The St. Louis Browns defeat the New York Yankees 2-1. It is the eleventh time all season the Yankees are held to just one run. The Yankees are never shut out all season.
September 19 – The Chicago White Sox lose their 100th game of the season, 9-6 to the Philadelphia Athletics.
September 28
- The Chicago Cubs jump out to a 2-0 lead in game one of the 1932 World Series, however, a three run fourth inning capped off by a two run home run by Lou Gehrig gives the Yankees the lead, as they take game one, 12-6.
- The Philadelphia A's sell Mule Haas, Al Simmons & Jimmy Dykes to the Chicago White Sox for $100,000.
September 29 – The Cubs again score in the first, however, their lead is short lived, as the Yankees score two in the bottom of the inning, and go on to win 5-2.

October–December

October 1 – Lou Gehrig hits two home runs, as does teammate Babe Ruth, as the New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7–5 in Game 3 of the World Series. It is Ruth's second home run that is historic. Batting against Charlie Root in the fifth inning, with two strikes, Ruth is seen to gesture, according to some toward the outfield fence, before hitting the home run. While it is not universally accepted that Ruth was predicting a home run, it is referred to as "Babe Ruth's called shot".^[1]
October 2 – The New York Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs, 13-6, in Game four of the World Series to win their fourth World Championship, four games to none. This would be Ruth's tenth, and final, World Series appearance.
October 19 – The Baseball Writers' Association of America MVP awards are announced, with Athletics' Jimmie Foxx winning in the American League and Phillies' Chuck Klein in the National League.
October 25 – Rogers Hornsby rejoins the St. Louis Cardinals.
November 10 – Donie Bush, who managed the Minneapolis Millers to the American Association this past season, is named to manage the Cincinnati Reds the next year.
November 22 – St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Charlie Gelbert shatters his leg in a hunting accident. He will return as a part-time infielder in 1935, playing until 1940.
November 29 – The New York Giants release pitcher Waite Hoyt.
December 12 – In a rarity for 1932, a three team trade is struck between the New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Phillies send Kiddo Davis to the Giants, and receive Chick Fullis from the Giants. The Giants sent Freddie Lindstrom to the Pirates, and the Pirates sent Glenn Spencer to the New York Giants and Gus Dugas to the Phillies.
December 15 – Farm systems, originally known as "Chain store baseball" is approved by a joint meeting of American and National League owners despite objections by Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
December 17 – The St. Louis Cardinals trade Jim Bottomley to the Chicago Cubs for Ownie Carroll and Estel Crabtree.

Births

January

January 3 – George Piktuzis
January 15 – Georges Maranda
January 18 – Mike Fornieles
January 24 – Ernie Oravetz

February

February 6 – Bill Koski
February 10 – Jim Stump
February 15 – Footer Johnson
February 19 – Don Taussig
February 23 – Jim Bolger

March

March 1 – Dom Zanni
March 2 – Chico Fernández
March 9 – Ron Kline
March 9 – Paul Martin
March 16 – Don Blasingame
March 18 – Lee Tate
March 22 – Al Schroll
March 23 – Jack Meyer
March 23 – Helen Nordquist
March 25 – Walt Craddock
March 25 – Woodie Held
March 27 – Wes Covington

May

May 1 – Félix Torres
May 2 – Eddie Bressoud
May 5 – Chuck Locke
May 6 – Charlie Rabe
May 9 – Tony Bartirome
May 9 – Tom Yewcic
May 16 – Isora del Castillo
May 17 – Billy Hoeft
May 17 – Ozzie Virgil, Sr.
May 21 – Earl Hersh
May 25 – Jim Archer
May 26 – Joe Altobelli
May 26 – Delores Brumfield
May 28 – Carl Thomas

June

June 1 – Chuck Templeton
June 2 – Lou Skizas
June 4 – John McNamara
June 13 – Tom Gastall
June 17 – Bennie Daniels
June 18 – Ron Necciai
June 20 – Cuno Barragan
June 21 – Earl Hersh
June 27 – Eddie Kasko

July

July 9 – Bud Black
July 9 – Tex Clevenger
July 9 – Coot Veal
June 13 – Billy Williams
July 22 – Carl Duser
July 25 – Jack McMahan
July 26 – Dick Brodowski

August

August 2 – John Pregenzer
August 4 – Jim Coates
August 8 – Vicente Amor
August 11 – Steve Korcheck
August 15 – Jim Snyder
August 24 – Hal Woodeshick
August 27 – Jim King
August 29 – Roger McCardell
August 29 – Eric MacKenzie

September

September 6 – Marguerite Pearson
September 8 – Casey Wise
September 18 – Barbara Payne
September 29 – Paul Giel
September 30 – Johnny Podres

October

October 2 – Maury Wills
October 3 – Phil Clark
October 7 – Bud Daley
October 10 – Hal Raether
October 13 – Dick Barone
October 27 – Dolores Moore

November

November 1 – Jim Pyburn
November 6 – John Oldham
November 7 – Dick Stuart
November 9 – Connie Grob
November 14 – Marty Kutyna
November 16 – Harry Chiti
November 18 – Danny McDevitt
November 21 – Bill Valentine
November 24 – Betty Jane Cornett

December

December 10 – Ed Donnelly
December 22 – Norma Berger

Deaths