1953 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1953 throughout the world.
Champions
Major League Baseball
Other champions
Awards and honors
Statistical leaders
Major league baseball final standings
American League final standings
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National League final standings
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Events
January–March
April–June
- April 13 – In Cincinnati over 30,000 see the Milwaukee Braves win their first game, 2-0, behind the pitching of Max Surkont
- April 17 – New York Yankees Mickey Mantle hit the longest home run in Griffith Stadium history, a 565-feet shot off Washington Senators Chuck Stobbs. The Yankees win, 7-3.
- April 29 – Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves hits the first home run ever hit over the center field wall of the Polo Grounds. The shot, measured 475 feet, comes off Jim Hearn in the third inning of the Braves' 3-1 victory over the New York Giants.
- April 30 – The Little-Bigger League changes its name to the Babe Ruth League.
- May 6 – At Sportsman's Park, Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns no-hits the Philadelphia Athletics 6-0 in his very first Major League start. Holloman will only post two more victories in his Major League career, in which his final appearance is on July 19 of this season.
- June 3 – Congress cites the research of New York City librarian Robert Henderson in proving that Alexander Cartwright "founded" baseball and not Abner Doubleday. His 1947 book Bat, Ball and Bishop documents Cartwright's contributions to the origins of the game of the baseball.
- June 14 – The New York Yankees sweep the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 and 3-0, before 74,708 at Cleveland Stadium to extend their winning streak at 18 games.
- June 18 – In a 23-3 thrashing of the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox set a still-standing Major League record by scoring 17 runs in one inning. After scoring twice in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie, the Red Sox go on their record-breaking run-scoring output in the seventh. 11 Red Sox players score in the inning, with Sammy White scoring three times and Gene Stephens (who also collects three hits in the inning, becoming the first Major Leaguer in modern history to do so), Tom Umphlett, Dick Gernert and winning pitcher Ellis Kinder scoring twice.
- June 25 – Ted Kazanski collects three hits and four runs batted in in his majors debut to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 13–2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Kazanski becomes the first player in Major League history to drive in at least four runs as a shortstop in his major league debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
July–September
October–December
- October 5 – The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3, in Game 6 of the World Series, to win their record-setting fifth consecutive World Championship and sixteenth overall, four games to two. Billy Martin was the star of the Series with a record-setting 12 hits, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th of Game 6 to clinch the title.
- October 7 – Bill Veeck, facing dwindling attendance and revenue, is forced to sell the St. Louis Browns to a Baltimore-based group led by attorney Clarence Miles and brewer Jerry Hoffberger. The Browns would move to Baltimore and be known as the Orioles starting in the 1954 season.
- November 9 – Reaffirming its earlier position, the United States Supreme Court rules, 7-2, that baseball is a sport and not a business and therefore not subject to antitrust laws. The ruling is made in a case involving New York Yankees minor league player George Toolson, who refused to move from Triple-A to Double-A.
- November 10 – The New York Giants end their tour of Japan. It is reported that each Giants player received just $331 of the $3,000 they were promised.
- November 24 – The Brooklyn Dodgers sign Walter Alston to a one-year pact as their manager for 1954. Alston will manage the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers over the next 23 seasons, winning 2,040 games and four World Championships.
- December 1 – The Boston Red Sox trade for slugger Jackie Jensen, sending P Mickey McDermott and OF Tom Umphlett to the Washington Senators. Jensen will average 25 home runs a year for his seven seasons for Boston, lead the American League in RBI three times, and win the Most Valuable Player Award in 1958. A fear of flying will end his career prematurely.
Movies
Births
January–March
April–June
July–September
October–December
Deaths
- January 11 – Doc Moskiman, 73, first baseman/right fielder for the 1910 Boston Red Sox
- January 21 – Lorenza Cobb, 64, catcher in the Negro Leagues from 1914 to 1920
- January 24 – Ben Taylor, 64, star first baseman of the Negro Leagues, later a manager, coach and umpire
- February 13 – Happy Foreman, 53, relief pitcher for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox between 1924 and 1926
- March 6 – Tex Pruiett, 69, pitcher for the Boston Americans/Red Sox from 1907 to 1908
- March 28 – Jim Thorpe, 65, tremendous all-around athlete who, despite hitting only .252 in his career, saw his batting average improve in each of his six seasons, lastly hitting .327 in 1919
- April 11 – Kid Nichols, 83, Hall of Fame pitcher who won 361 games, with 7 seasons of 30 victories
- April 18 – Harry Niles, 72, speedy infielder/outfielder for the St. Louis Browns, New York Highlanders, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Naps from 1906 to 1910, who also broke up the perfect game bid of pitcher Cy Young during the 1908 season
- May 19 – Sam Leever, 81, 4-time 20-game winner who compiled a career record of 194-100, all with Pittsburgh
- May 27 – Jesse Burkett, 84, Hall of Fame outfielder who batted .338 in a 16-year career
- June 22 – Charlie Hemphill, 77, outfielder for five teams, who also became the first Opening Day right fielder in Boston American League franchise's history in 1901
- December 13 – Klondike Douglass, 81, First baseman/Catcher for nine seasons.
- December 15 – Ed Barrow, 85, Hall of Fame executive who built the Yankees into a dynasty in the 1920s and 1930s
- December 24 – Pinch Thomas, 65, catcher who won three World Series rings with the Boston Red Sox in 1915-16 and Cleveland Indians in 1920
- December 25 – Patsy Donovan, 88, outfielder who batted .301 and went on to manage five teams