From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following are the baseball events of the year 1940 throughout the world.  

Champions

Major League Baseball

• World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Detroit Tigers (4-3)
• All-Star Game, July 9 at Sportsman's Park: National League, 4-0

Other champions

• Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: East, 11-0

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
  • Hank Greenberg (AL) - OF, Detroit Tigers
  • Frank McCormick (NL) - 1B, Cincinnati Reds
• The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
  • Bob Feller - P, Cleveland Indians
• The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award
  • Hank Greenberg (AL) - OF, Detroit Tigers
  • Frank McCormick (NL) - 1B, Cincinnati Reds
• The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
  • Bill McKechnie - Cincinnati Reds

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

Events

• April 16 - Bob Feller pitches a 1-0 opening day no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox.

• April 30 - Tex Carleton pitches a no-hitter as the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0.

• July 9 - At Sportsman's Park, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the National League defeats the American League, 4-0, in the All-Star Game.

• September 24 - Jimmie Foxx hit his career 500th home run.

• September 30 - The Cleveland Indians finish one-game behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League pennant race, thus disappointing Ohio baseball fans who had been rooting all season long for what would have been the only All-Ohio World Series in baseball history, between the National League champions Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians.

• October 8 - The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1, in Game 7 of the World Series to win their second World Championship, four games to three. This was Cincinnati's first World Series victory since the infamous Black Sox scandal in 1919. Reds' Bill McKechnie became the first manager to win World Series with two different teams. In 1925 he had won the Classic as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• November 11 - Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Larry MacPhail acquires starting pitcher Kirby Higbe, from the Philadelphia Phillies, in exchange for catcher Mickey Livingston, pitchers Bill Crouch and Vito Tamulis, and $100,000. Higbe, who won 14 games this past season, will win 22 games in 1941 to lead National League pitchers.

Births

January-March

• January 7 - Jim Hannan
• January 11 - Hank Fischer
• January 13 - Ron Brand
• February 14 - Len Gabrielson
• February 19 - Bill Kelso
• February 25 - Danny Cater
• February 25 - Ron Santo
• March 6 - Willie Stargell
• March 19 - Pete Smith
• March 22 - Dick Ellsworth

April-June

• April 15 - Willie Davis
• April 15 - Woodie Fryman
• May 6 - Bill Hands
• May 12 - Tom Timmermann
• May 20 - Sadaharu Oh
• June 2 - Horace Clarke
• June 2 - Jim Maloney
• June 12 - Del Bates

July-September

• July 3 - César Tovar
• July 8 - Bucky Brandon
• July 10 - Gene Alley
• July 13 - Jack Aker
• July 18 - Joe Torre
• July 21 - John Bateman
• July 21 - Denis Menke
• July 23 - Hank Allen
• August 3 - Roger Repoz
• August 13 - Tony Cloninger
• August 15 - José Santiago
• August 18 - Paul Popovich
• August 28 - Tom Satriano
• August 31 - Ramón Hernández
• September 10 - Bob Chance
• September 11 - Jackie Hernández
• September 12 - Mickey Lolich
• September 15 - Frank Linzy
• September 17 - Cisco Carlos
• September 24 - Curt Motton

October-December

• October 9 - Joe Pepitone
• October 12 - Glenn Beckert
• October 14 - Tommy Harper
• October 21 - Ted Uhlaender
• November 8 - Joe Nossek
• November 18 - Cal Koonce
• November 21 - Tommy McCraw
• November 23 - Luis Tiant
• December 3 - Chico Salmon
• December 13 - Nate Oliver
• December 22 - Elrod Hendricks
• December 26 - Ray Sadecki
• December 28 - Don Thompson

Deaths

• February 13 - Walter Barnes, 79, sports editor for several Boston newspapers from 1891 to 1933 who was that city's first regular sports columnist
• February 15 - Chick Fulmer, 89, shortstop for 11 seasons from 1871 to 1884.
• March 2 - Matt Kilroy, 73, pitcher who holds the all-time strikeout record of 513, in 1886. Won 46 games in 1887, and led the league in games pitched twice, games started twice, complete games three times, and innings pitched once.
• May 5 - Bill Wise, 79, pitcher/outfielder for three seasons from 1882 to 1886.
• June 1 - Logan Drake, 40, relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians from 1922 to 1924
• August 21 - Ernest Thayer, 77, newspaper editor whose 1888 poem "Casey at the Bat" became a staple of baseball culture
• October 17 - George Davis, 70, shortstop for the Giants and White Sox who set records for career hits (2600+) and RBI (1437) by a switch-hitter, and ranked third in total games upon retirement; batted .308 in 1906 World Series as White Sox upset Cubs
• November 12 - Joe Quinn, 75, second baseman who played 17 seasons. From 1884 to 1901, he played in 1768 games and had 1797 hits.
• December 15 or 16 - Billy Hamilton, 74, center fielder and leadoff hitter for Philadelphia and Boston who batted .344 lifetime, winning two batting titles; led NL in runs four times and in walks and steals five times each; had eleven 100-run seasons including record 192 in 1894, and his 1690 career runs - over one per game - ranked second in history upon retirement; batted .343 and .369 for 1897-98 Boston champions