Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4–1) All-Star Game, July 12 at Ebbets Field: American League, 11–7
Caribbean leagues Cuban League: Alacranes del Almendares Panamanian League: Refresqueros de Spur Cola Mexican Pacific League: Tacuarineros de Culiacán Puerto Rican League: Indios de Mayagüez Venezuelan League: Cervecería Caracas
Club tournaments Caribbean Series: Alacranes del Almendares Interamerican Series: New York Stars
Other champions All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Rockford Peaches College World Series: Texas Little League World Series: Hammonton, New Jersey Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: East, 4–0
Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame Mordecai Brown Charlie Gehringer Kid Nichols Most Valuable Player Ted Williams (AL) Jackie Robinson (NL) Rookie of the Year Roy Sievers (AL) Don Newcombe (NL) The Sporting News Player of the Year Award Ted Williams (AL) – OF, Boston Red Sox The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award Casey Stengel (AL) – New York Yankees
Statistical leaders American LeagueNational League Stat Player Total Player Total AVG George Kell (DET) .343 Jackie Robinson (BRO) .342 HR Ted Williams (BOS) 43 Ralph Kiner (PIT) 54 RBI Vern Stephens (BOS)Ted Williams (BOS) 159 Ralph Kiner (PIT) 127 W Mel Parnell (BOS) 25 Warren Spahn (BSN) 21 ERA Mike Garcia (CLE) 2.36 Dave Koslo (NYG) 2.50 K Virgil Trucks (DET) 153 Warren Spahn (BSN) 151
Major league baseball final standings American League final standings
National League final standings
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League final standings RankTeamWLPct.GB1 South Bend Blue Sox 75 36 .676 —2 Rockford Peaches 75 36 .676 — 3 Grand Rapids Chicks 57 54 .514 18 4 Kenosha Comets 58 55 .505 195 Fort Wayne Daisies 52 57 .477 236 Muskegon Lassies 46 66 .411 7 Racine Belles 45 65 .409 8 Peoria Redwings 36 73 .330 39
Nippon Professional Baseball final standings Team G W L T Pct. GBYomiuri Giants13485481.639-Hankyu Braves13669643.51916.0Daiei Stars13467652.50817.5Nankai Hawks13567671.50018.5Chunichi Dragons13766683.49319.5Osaka Tigers13765693.48520.5Tokyu Flyers13864731.46723.0Taiyo Robins13352810.39133.0
Events January
January 12 – The New York Giants are fined $2,000, and manager Leo Durocher $500, for signing coach Freddie Fitzsimmons while he was still under contract to the Boston Braves. Fitzsimmons gets a $500 fine and a 30-day spring training suspension. January 17 – The New York Yankees sell the contract of right-hander Bill Bevens to the Chicago White Sox. Bevens, 32, was one of the most talked-about players of the 1947 World Series—starting Game 4 and holding the Brooklyn Dodgers hitless over 8 innings before surrendering a pinch double and the game itself to Cookie Lavagetto's clutch hit. Bevens makes one more appearance in pinstripes, in a Game 7 victory, before a dead arm keeps on the sidelines for all of . In fact, Bevens never pitches another MLB game after the 1947 Fall Classic. The White Sox return him to the Bombers because of his sore arm on March 28 and Bevens sits out the 1949 campaign as well. He's able to hurl in the minors from 1950–1953 before leaving baseball. January 20 – The Detroit Tigers purchase the contract of outfielder Don Lund from the St. Louis Browns. Lund, 25, a former star athlete at the University of Michigan, will go to coach the Wolverines' baseball team to the College World Series championship and serve as key Tigers' executive. January 25 – Lou Boudreau is rewarded for the Cleveland Indians' championship with a two-year, $65,000 annual contract as shortstop-manager. January 27 – Fred Saigh buys out the interest of Robert Hannegan and now controls 90 percent of the St. Louis Cardinals' stock. Saigh and Hannegan had swung the purchase in with only $60,300 in cash in a $4 million deal. Hannegan comes out with $866,000 profit in two years. January 28 – The New York Giants sign their first black players, outfielder Monte Irvin and pitcher Ford Smith. They are assigned to minor-league Jersey City. Irvin will star for the Giants and be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Smith never makes the National League. January 29 – The Pittsburgh Pirates acquire pitcher Murry Dickson from the St. Louis Cardinals for $125,000.
February February 2 – Brothers Bill DeWitt and Charlie DeWitt gain control of the St. Louis Browns by acquiring 57 percent of the stock from Richard Muckerman for $1 million. February 7 – Perennial All-Star and three-time former Most Valuable Player Joe DiMaggio signs with the New York Yankees for $100,000, the first six-figure contract in Major League history. February 9: A federal appeals court orders the $300,000 suit against Major League Baseball by former New York Giants outfielder and Mexican League "contract jumper" Danny Gardella back to a lower court for trial. The defending MLB champion Cleveland Indians release 33-year-old outfielder Wally Judnich on waivers to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Judnich was Cleveland's starting right fielder in four of the six games of the 1948 World Series. February 19 – The Indians sign Homestead Grays slugger Luke Easter to a free-agent contract and assign him to San Diego of the Pacific Coast League. Easter, 33, led the 1948 Negro National League in home runs. Although hampered by knee miseries, he will hit 25 homers and bat .363 in 80 PCL games and be called up to Cleveland in August. February 20 – The first Caribbean Series is inaugurated with a doubleheader at Havana. In the first game, Indios de Mayagüez of Puerto Rico faces Spur Cola Colonites of Panama, while the Cuban host team, Alacranes del Almendares, takes on Cervecería Caracas of Venezuela in the nightcap. The Cuban club will win the best-of-six-days Series with a perfect 6–0 record, followed by Venezuela (3–3), Panama (2–4) and Puerto Rico (1–5).
March March 1 – The St. Louis Browns, owners of Sportsman's Park, move to evict the St. Louis Cardinals in order to gain a rental increase. March 2 – Joe DiMaggio leaves the New York Yankees' spring training camp to have an ailing right heel examined at Johns Hopkins Hospital. DiMaggio is assured that surgery is unnecessary and returns to the Yankees. The as yet undiagnosed heel ailment will continue to plague DiMaggio throughout the season. DiMaggio is hitting just 7-for-31 in the Grapefruit League. March 8 – Former Cardinals pitchers Max Lanier and Fred Martin, late of the Mexican League, file a $2.5 million suit against Major League Baseball. A federal judge on April 1 will deny their right to be reinstated. March 28 – Manager Leo Durocher of the New York Giants makes a deal with his former team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, acquiring right-handed hurler Hank Behrman, 27, in a straight-cash transaction.
April
April 8 – Dissension rumors surround the defending National League-champion Boston Braves after manager Billy Southworth calls a closed meeting of the club in a South Carolina hotel. April 12 – Joe DiMaggio returns to Johns Hopkins Hospital due to continuing pain in his right heel. The Yankee center fielder is diagnosed with a bone spur, which will cause him to miss 65 games during the season. April 18 – On Opening Day, the Philadelphia Phillies shut out the Boston Braves, 4–0, behind Ken Heintzelman at Braves Field, and the Washington Senators defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 3–2 at Griffith Stadium. April 19: At pregame ceremonies marking the season opener in Yankee Stadium, a granite monument to the late Babe Ruth is unveiled in center field. Plaques honoring Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins are also presented. Mayor William O'Dwyer, Governor Thomas E. Dewey, and Babe's widow, Claire Merritt Ruth, are in attendance. In the game—Casey Stengel's debut as manager of the Yankees—the Bombers edge the Senators 3–2 on Tommy Henrich's ninth-inning solo home run, what will later be termed a "walk-off homer." Gene Woodling plays center field in place of the injured Joe DiMaggio. In Brooklyn, the Dodgers pay tribute to Jack "Shorty" Laurice, the club's "number one" fan and leader of the Ebbets Field "Sym-phony" band. Laurice died in 1948. Before 53,000 at Briggs Stadium, Detroit Tigers rookie Johnny Groth homers twice in his first three at-bats against the Chicago White Sox. April 20 – Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Willie Jones hits four consecutive doubles, tying an NL mark with Dick Bartell () and Ernie Lombardi (). April 24 – Lloyd Merriman of the Cincinnati Reds hits a home run and a triple in his first major league game. April 28 – A New York fan charges Leo Durocher with assault after the Giants lose 15–2 to Brooklyn. Commissioner Happy Chandler suspends Durocher but he is absolved on May 3. Chandler criticizes teams for relaxed security that allows fans on the field. April 26 – Brooklyn Dodgers Gene Hermanski, Jackie Robinson, and Gil Hodges combine for a 7–4–3 triple play during a 5–2 win over the visiting Boston Braves. It is the only triple play in Brooklyn Dodgers history. April 30 – Rocky Nelson hits an "inside-the-glove" two-run home run in short center-left field to turn a ninth inning 3–1 Chicago Cubs lead into a 4–3 St. Louis Cardinals victory. Cubs center fielder Andy Pafko's catch is ruled a trap by umpire Al Barlick, as Pafko races in, holding the ball high as runners circle the bases.
May May 1 – Elmer Valo becomes the first American League player to hit two bases-loaded triples in a game when he leads the Philadelphia Athletics to a 15–9 win in the opener of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators at Shibe Park. Valo will hit a third bases-loaded triple on July 18, to tie Shano Collins for the AL mark, set in . The A's also take Game 2, 7–3, called after seven innings. May 3 – Taking advantage of "Home Run Lane," the dramatically shortened outfield fence installed by first-year Chicago White Sox general manager Frank Lane at Comiskey Park, the Washington Senators belt seven home runs—and need them all—in beating Chicago, 14–12 in 10 innings. This is the first time in MLB history a team has collected seven homers in an extra-inning contest. Clyde Vollmer leads the long-ball parade with a pair, followed by Mark Christman, Gil Coan, Al Evans, Eddie Robinson and Bud Stewart. The Sox get homers from Joe Tipton and Gus Zernial."Washington Senators 14, Chicago White Sox 12 (10 innings)." Retrosheet box score (May 3, 1949). May 4: Chicago White Sox infielder Floyd Baker, who will play 874 games in his 13-year major league career, hits his only career home run into "Home Run Lane" in an 8–7 loss to the Senators. Baker victimizes Washington right-hander Sid Hudson. A day after the two teams played to a 13-inning, 14–14 tie, the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 5–1 behind Virgil Trucks' three-hitter. The Tigers shell Boston pitcher Mickey Harris for 14 hits in 5 innings.
May 5: Charlie Gehringer, star second baseman of the Detroit Tigers from 1925 though 1941, is selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Two days later, the Old-Timers committee will select Kid Nichols and Mordecai Brown. At the Polo Grounds, Johnny Mize pounds a tenth-inning home run and the New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3–2 to sweep their three-game series. The homer, off Murry Dickson, is the 300th for Mize. Reliever Hank Behrman, in for Sheldon Jones, pitches out of tight jams in the ninth and tenth innings for the win. Wally Westlake is stranded in the tenth after reaching Behrman for a leadoff triple.