February 4 - For the second straight election, the BBWAA voters fail to elect a new member to the Baseball Hall of Fame member. Edd Roush gets 146 votes, but 202 are necessary for election. Sam Rice (143) and Eppa Rixey (142) are next in line.
February 20 - Branch Rickey meets with officials of the proposed Western Carolinas League about pooling talent for Continental League clubs.
February 23 - Demolition of Ebbets Field begins. Lucy Monroe sings the National Anthem, and Roy Campanella is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate.
March-April
March 13 - The Chicago White Sox unveil new road uniforms with the players' names above the number on the back, another innovation by Sox owner Bill Veeck.
March 24 - Commissioner Ford Frick says he will not allow the Continental League to pool players in the Western Carolinas League as it would violate existing major-minor league agreements.
Chuck Essegian bats a 11th-inning pinch-hit home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3–2, before a record Opening Day crowd (67,550) at Los Angeles. The home run is Essegian's third straight as a pinch hitter, including two in the 1959 World Series. Don Drysdale pitches all the way, striking out 14, for the win over Bob Elston.
In a deal that will haunt the Cleveland Indians, GM Frank Lane sends Norm Cash to the Detroit Tigers for third baseman Steve Demeter. Cash will be Detroit's regular first baseman for the next 14 years and will hit 373 home runs for them. Demeter will play four games for Cleveland.
On Easter Sunday, GM Frank Lane brings AL batting champ Harvey Kuenn to the Cleveland Indians and sends co-home run champ Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers. Colavito, an unparalleled fan favorite in Cleveland, will hit 173 home runs before returning to Cleveland in 1965. Kuenn will report to Cleveland, pull a muscle, and never be the same hitter. He'll be traded after one season.
Trader Frank Lane continues to swap, sending Cleveland favorite Herb Score to the Chicago White Sox for Barry Latman. Score and Rocky Colavito, traded three days ago, were the last two players to pre-date Lane's arrival in Cleveland.
Before a home crowd of 41,661, Minnie Miñoso celebrates his return to the Chicago White Sox with a fourth-inning grand slam against the Kansas City Athletics. Leading off the bottom of the 9th with the score tied 9–9, Miñoso hits a solo homer for his sixth RBI.
April 29 - At home, the St. Louis Cardinals crush the Chicago Cubs, 16–6. Stan Musial plays his 1,000th game at first base, becoming the first major league player ever with that many at two positions (1,513 games in the outfield). A bright spot for the Cubs is Ernie Banks hitting two home runs to break Gabby Hartnett's club record of 231 homers.
The Chicago Cubs make a trade with WGN plucking Lou Boudreau out of the broadcast booth to replace Charlie Grimm (6-11) as Cubs manager. "Jolly Cholly" replaces Boudreau behind the mike. The Cubs win, 5–1, over the Pirates as pitcher Dick Ellsworth gains his first ML victory.
Baltimore Orioles catcher Gus Triandos sets a pair of American League records with three passed balls in one inning (6th) and four in one game, but knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, making a rare start, goes seven innings and gets credit for a 6–4 Baltimore win over the Chicago White Sox. Early Wynn records his 2,000th strikeout in a no-decision effort for Chicago. Triandos' PB mark for an inning will be tied by reserve backstop Myron Ginsberg in six days, and Tom Egan will collect five PBs in 1970 to erase Triandos' name of the list.
Pitcher Larry Sherry and catcher Norm Sherry of the Dodgers become the 10th sibling battery in ML history. Norman belts an 11th-inning home run to give his reliever brother Larry a 3–2 win against the Phillies.
May 12 - Duplicating Sam Jones' effort of yesterday, the Giants' Jack Sanford pitches a two-hit, 1–0 win over the Phillies. Sanford matches Jones by striking out 11 and walking three.
The Philadelphia Phillies suffers its third straight 1–0 shutout, losing to the hosts Cincinatti Reds. The Phillies, losers of back-to-back 1–0 games in San Francisco, tie the major-league record for straight 1–0 losses. Jim O'Toole's win is Cincinnati's ninth straight.
Two days after being traded from the Phillies to the Cubs, Don Cardwell pitches a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. A brilliant, leaping catch of Carl Sawatski's line drive by George Altman in the eighth inning saves Cardwell's gem. Ernie Banks' home run paces the 4–0 win, the first no-hitter against the Cards since May 11, 1919.
May 19 - The New York Yankees send shortstop Andy Carey to the Kansas City Athletics for slugger Bob Cerv. Cerv had been with the Yankees for five years before going to KC where he hit 38 home runs in 1958 and was chosen as the American League left fielder in the All-Star game over Ted Williams. Cerv will be claimed in the 1960 expansion draft and the Yankees will again reacquire him.
Since there is no rule limiting the size or shape of the catcher's mitt, Baltimore manager Paul Richards combats the team passed-ball problem while catching Hoyt Wilhelm (38 in 1959; 11 so far this year) by devising an oversized mitt to gather in Wilhelm's fluttering knuckleball. It is half again as large as the standard glove and 40 ounces heavier. Wilhelm goes the distance in beating New York, 3–2, at Yankee Stadium. Catcher Clint Courtney has no passed balls behind the plate.
May 28 - Manager Casey Stengel is hospitalized with a virus and high fever and will miss 13 games. The Yankees goes 7-6 under interim manager Ralph Houk.
June 15 - Mexico City and Poza Rica combine to hit 12 home runs in one game, a Mexican League record.
June 19 - In a brilliant pair of pitching performances, Orioles pitchers Hoyt Wilhelm and Milt Pappas threw shutouts to beat the host Detroit Tigers. Wilhelm allowed two hits in winning the opener, 2–0, over Jim Bunning, and Pappas allows three hits in winning the nitecap, 1–0, over Don Mossi. Jim Gentile and Ron Hansen collected home runs as catcher Clint Courtney, using the big glove designed by manager Paul Richards, is twice charged with batter interference, the first loading the bases in the 4th inning.
June 24 - Willie Mays belted two home runs and made 10 putouts to lead the Giants in a 5–3 win at Cincinnati. Mays added three RBI, three runs scored, a single and stole home.
June 26 - Hoping to speed up the election process, the Hall of Fame changes its voting procedures. The new rules allow the Special Veterans Committee to vote annually, rather than every other year, and to induct up to two players a year. The BBWAA is authorized to hold a runoff election of the top 30 vote getters if no one is elected in the first ballot.
June 30 - Dick Stuart blasts three consecutive home runs, as the Pirates split with the Giants. Stuart drives in seven runs and joins Ralph Kiner as the second Pirates player to hit three home runs in a game at Forbes Field.
July
July 4 - Mickey Mantle's three-run first-inning home run off Hal Woodeshick is the 300th of his career. Mantle becomes the 18th major leaguer to join the 300-HR club, but the Yankees drop a 9–8 decision to the Senators.
July 8 = The Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro brought an end to Havana's International League team. The Sugar Kings relocate in Jersey City, marking that city's return to the International League after a 10-year absence. Poor attendance at Roosevelt Stadium prompts the parent Cincinnati Reds to cease the minor league operation there following the 1960 season.
July 9 - Jim Coates suffered his first loss after nine straight wins, and 14 straight over two seasons, as the Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees, 6–5. The Sox are lead by Vic Wertz, who hit a home run, double and single to drive in four runs. Coates' major-league career-record is 17–2.
July 18 - The National League votes to expand to 10 clubs if the Continental League does not join organized baseball. The new NL clubs would invade CL territories.
In a spectacular ML debut, Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants pitches no-hit ball until Clay Dalrymple pinch-hit singles with two out in the 7th inning. Marichal winds up with 12 strikeouts and a one-hit 2–0 win against the Phillies, becoming the first National League pitcher since 1900 to debut with a one-hitter.
July 21 - Robin Roberts pitches his third career one-hitter, and the 3rd one-hitter of the season in new Candlestick Park. Felipe Alou spoils Roberts' no-hit bid in the fifth inning of a 3–0 Phillies victory. Third baseman Joe Morgan fields the hit, but falls down and cannot make a throw.
July 30 - Just as he predicts, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Art Mahaffey picks off the first batter to get a hit against him. Then with the next batter to get a hit, he does it again. Curt Flood and Bill White of the St. Louis Cardinals are the base runner victims, but St. Louis still wins, 6–3. In his next game, the first batter to get a hit off Mahaffey will be Jim Marshall, and Mahaffey will pick him off as well.
August
August 2 - In an agreement with the major leagues, the Continental League abandons plans to join the American League and National League. Walter O'Malley, chairman of the NL Expansion Committee, says, "We immediately will recommend expansion and that we would like to do it in 1961." Atlanta Braves owner Lou Perini proposes a compromise that four of the CL territories be admitted to the current majors in orderly expansion. Branch Rickey's group quickly accepts. The Continental League ends without playing a game.
August 9 - With fine relief pitching of Lindy McDaniel in the opener and a five-hitter by Curt Simmons in the nitecap, the St. Louis Cardinals sweep the Philadelphia Phillies, 5–4 and 6–0. Phillies Tony Taylor ties a major league record for a second baseman by going the entire doubleheader (18 innings) without a putout – the first to achieve the feat since Connie Ryan, of the Phillies, on June 14, 1953.
August 10 - Ted Williams blast a pair of home runs and a double to pace the Red Sox to a 6–1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Williams has 21 homers for the season. The first of the two today, #512, moves him past Mel Ott into fourth place on the all-time list. After the game, Williams announces that he will retire at the end of the season.
August 18 - Almost a perfect game. Facing just the minimum 27 batters, Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves pitches a 1–0 no-hitter against the Phillies. Tony González, the only Phillies base runner, reached first base in the fifth inning after being hit by a pitch and was wiped out in a double play. The Milwaukee pitcher also scores the only run of the game.
August 30 - Boston Red Sox second baseman Pete Runnels goes 6-for-7, as Boston edge the Tigers in the 15-inning opener of a twin bill. Runnels’ 15th-inning double brings Frank Malzone home with the winning run to win, 5–4. Runnels has three more hits in the nightcap victory, 3–2 in 10 innings. His six hits are the most in an American League game since July 8, 1955. With 9-for-11 in the doubleheader, Runnels ties the major league record.
September 10 - In Detroit, YankeesMickey Mantle hit a home run in the 6th inning, the ball clearing the right field roof and landing in the Brooks Lumber Yard across Trumbull Avenue. In June 1985, Mantle's blow was retroactively measured at 643 feet, and will be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records at that distance.
September 13 - 18-year-old outfielder Danny Murphy becomes the youngest Chicago Cubs player to hit a home run when he clouts a three-run homer off Bob Purkey of the Cincinnati Reds, as the Reds win 8–6 at home. Murphy will play just 49 games for the Cubs from 1960-62. He will come back as a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox in 1969-70.
At 39 age, Warren Spahn notches his 11th 20-win season with a 4–0 no-hitter against the Phillies. Spahn also sets a Milwaukee club record with 15 strikeouts in handing the last-place Phils their 90th loss of the year.
The Baltimore Orioles (83-58) and New York Yankees (82-57) open a crucial four games series with the Orioles just .002 in back of New York. Three days later, during a doubleheader, the Yankees will sweep Baltimore. The faltering Birds, now four back, will end up in second place, eight games back.
September 19 - The Chicago White Sox pennant hopes are damaged with a nitecap 7–6 loss to the Detroit Tigers, after they win the opener, 8–4. Pinch hitter Norm Cash scores the decisive run in game two. Cash thus ends the season by grounding into no double plays, becoming the first American League player since league records on this were started in 1940. Teammates Dick McAuliffe and Roger Repoz will duplicate this in 1968.
September 20 - Boston Red Sox outfielder Carroll Hardy pinch-hits for Ted Williams, who is forced to leave the game after fouling a ball off his ankle and grounds into a double play. On May 31, 1961, Hardy will pinch hit for rookie Carl Yastrzemski, making him the only player to go in for both future Hall of Famers. Hardy also hit his first major league home run pinch-hitting for Roger Maris when both were at Cleveland (May 18, 1958).
September 28 - In his last major league at bat, Ted Williams picks out a 1-1 pitch by Baltimore's Jack Fisher and drives it 450 feet into the right-centerfield seats behind the Boston bullpen. It is Williams' 521st and last career home run, putting him third on the all-time list. Williams stays in the dugout, ignoring the thunderous ovation at Fenway Park, and refused to tip his hat the hometown fans.
October
October 3 - The New York Yankees head into the World Series with a 15-game winning streak, the 8th longest streak in the American League this century, after Dale Long's two-run 9th-inning home run gives them an 8–7 win over the Boston Red Sox. The 193 home runs are an AL season record, three better than the 1956 Yankees. RBI leader Roger Maris drives in three runs, but falls one home run short of Mickey Mantle's league-high 40.
October 13 - In a 9–9 tie, Bill Mazeroski leads off the last of the ninth inning and hits what is arguably the most dramatic home run in WS history, off YankeesRalph Terry, to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10–9 win and the World Series Championship. An oddity in this game – it is the only World Series game this century with no strikeouts recorded. Despite Mazeroski's heroics, Bobby Richardson is named the Series MVP, as the Yankees outscore Pittsburgh, 52 to 27.
October 18 - Instituting a mandatory retirement age of 65, New York Yankees co-owners Dan Topping and Del Webb relieve Casey Stengel as the team manager. Stengel says "I wasn't retired—they fired me." Veteran skipper has a 1,149-696 career record.
October 20 - Coach Ralph Houk, at 41 age, is named to succeed Casey Stengel as the Yankees manager. Houk briefly led the Yankees in 1960 when Stengel was hospitalized.
October 27 - Trying to jump ahead of the National League, the American League admits Los Angeles and Minneapolis teams to the league with plans to have the new clubs begin competition in 1961 in the new 10-team league. Calvin Griffith is given permission to move the existing Washington Senators franchise to Minneapolis/St. Paul. American League president Joe Cronin says the league will play a 162-game schedule, with 18 games against each opponent. The National League will balk, saying the two expansions are not analogous and that the American League was not invited to move into LA.
February 16 - Stuffy McInnis, 69, excellent fielding first baseman who batted .307 career, most prominently with the Philadelphia Athletics' "$100,000 infield"
March 2 - Howie Camnitz, 78, pitcher who had three 20-win campaigns for the Pirates
May 6 - Vern Bickford, 39, pitcher who won 66 games for the Braves, including a no-hitter
June 25 - Tommy Corcoran, 91, longtime shortstop, and captain of the Cincinnati Reds for 10 years
July 17 - Pat Duncan, 66, Cincinnati Reds outfielder who was the first player to homer over Crosley Field's left-field fence
August 14 - Fred Clarke, 87, Hall of Fame left fielder and manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates who batted .312 in his career, and became one of the first dozen players to make 2500 hits and the first manager to win 1500 games
November 2 - Everett Scott, 67, shortstop who played in 1,307 consecutive games from 1916 to 1925, a record later broken by Lou Gehrig
November 3 - Bobby Wallace, 86, Hall of Fame shortstop for the St. Louis Browns who set several fielding records, later a scout for the Cincinnati Reds for 33 years
December 18 - Art Nehf, 68, pitcher who won 184 games for four National League teams
December 22 - Jack Onslow, 72, manager of the White Sox in 1949-50, formerly a catcher, coach and scout
