1931 in baseball

Year in baseball
this year = 1931

Champions

*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over Philadelphia Athletics (4-3)

Awards and honors

*MLB Most Valuable Player Award
** Lefty Grove, Philadelphia Athletics, P
** Frankie Frisch, St. Louis Cardinals, 2B

tatistical Leaders

Negro League Baseball final standings

Negro National League final standings

† Columbus and HoD were not in the league but their games counted in the standings.

*No official standings were published.
*St. Louis was declared champion.

East (independent teams) final standings

A loose confederation of teams were gathered in the East to compete with the West, however East teams did not organize a formal league as the West did.

Events

*April 29 - Wes Ferrell pitches a no-hitter as the Cleveland Indians defeat the St. Louis Browns, 9-0.

*August 8 - Washington Senators pitcher Bobby Burke tosses a no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Boston Red Sox.

*October 10 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2, in Game 7 of the World Series in a rematch of the 1930 World Series. The Cardinals win the series four games to three, earning their second World Championship.

Births

January-April

*January 17 - Don Zimmer
*January 19 - Ed Sadowski
*January 30 - Charlie Neal
*January 31 - Hank Aguirre
*January 31 - Ernie Banks
*April 14 - Kal Segrist
*April 15 - Ed Bailey

May-August

*May 6 - Willie Mays
*May 20 - Ken Boyer
*June 1 - Hal Smith
*June 2 - Larry Jackson
*June 9 - Bill Virdon
*June 22 - Faye Throneberry
*July 3 - Ed Roebuck
*July 28 - Gus Keriazakos
*August 9 - Chuck Essegian
*August 27 - Joe Cunningham

eptember-December

*September 22 - Ken Aspromonte
*October 3 - Bob Skinner
*October 13 - Eddie Mathews
*October 16 - Dave Sisler
*October 20 - Mickey Mantle
*October 23 - Jim Bunning
*November 1 - Russ Kemmerer
*November 9 - Whitey Herzog
*November 16 - Frank Bolling
*December 20 - Julio Bécquer
*December 30 - Frank Torre

Deaths

*January 4 - Roger Connor, 73, first baseman, mainly for the New York Giants, who batted .317 lifetime and held career home run record until 1921; ranked second all-time in hits, runs and RBI, and first in triples, upon retirement, and led league in batting, hits, HRs, RBI and doubles once each; hit first grand slam in major league history
*January 14 - Hardy Richardson, 75, second baseman and outfielder who batted .300 seven times, led NL in hits and HRs with 1886 Detroit team; among first ten players to reach 1500 hits
*February 11 - Charles Dryden, 71, sportswriter who made his name with an idiosyncratic style that emphasized personalities in the game; known for the many nicknames he created, included "The Peerless Leader," "The Old Roman", "Hitless Wonders"
*March 27 - Ernest Barnard, 56, president of the American League since 1927, previously general manager and president of the Indians
*March 28 - Ban Johnson, 67, founder of the American League who served as its president from 1901-1927; played major role in eradicating rowdyism prevalent in the game of the 1890s, and fiercely protected authority of umpires
*April 25 - August "Garry" Herrmann, 71, owner of the Cincinnati Reds from 1902 to 1927 who led the sport as chairman of the National Commission from 1903 to 1920; ensured that World Series would be held annually
*April 29 - Jimmy McAleer, 66, center fielder for the Cleveland Spiders who later managed AL teams in Cleveland, St. Louis and Washington; was part owner of the Red Sox in 1910s
*May 14 - Doc Newton, 53, pitcher for eight seasons, with the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Superbas, and New York Highlanders.
*June 10 - Mickey Hughes, 64, pitcher for three seasons from 1888-1890, mainly for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
*October 2 - George Bradley, 79, pitcher who threw the major leagues' first no-hitter, also winning 45 games and leading NL in ERA in 1876
*October 26 - Charles Comiskey, 72, owner of the Chicago White Sox since the team's formation in 1901, during which time they won four AL pennants and two World Series; was first manager to win four consecutive pennants, with St. Louis Browns (1885-1888), and had highest winning percentage (.608) among managers of at least 1200 games; revolutionized defensive play at first base
*November 6 - Jack Chesbro, 57, pitcher who used spitball to set modern record of 41 victories with 1904 New York Highlanders; five-time 20-game winner led both leagues in wins and winning percentage, led NL in shutouts twice
*November 27 - Jack Burdock, 79, second baseman, mainly for Boston, who was among first ten players to collect 500 hits; hit into the majors' first unassisted triple play