1947 in baseball

Last updated March 22, 2025

The following are the baseball events of the year 1947 throughout the world.

Champions

Major League Baseball

Negro League World Series: New York Cubans over Cleveland Buckeyes (4–1)
World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4–3)
All-Star Game, July 8 at Wrigley Field: American League, 2–1
Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: West, 5–2

Other champions

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Grand Rapids Chicks over Muskegon Lassies
First College World Series: California
First Little League World Series: Maynard, Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Winter Leagues

Club tournaments

Interamerican Series: Buffalo All-Stars

Awards and honors

Baseball Hall of Fame
Most Valuable Player
- Joe DiMaggio (AL)
- Bob Elliott (NL)
Rookie of the Year
- Jackie Robinson (ML)
The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
- Ted Williams (AL) – OF, Boston Red Sox
The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
- Bucky Harris (AL) – New York Yankees

Statistical leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

	American League		National League		Negro American League		Negro National League
Stat	Player	Total	Player	Total	Player	Total	Player	Total
AVG	Ted Williams ¹ (BRS)	.343	Harry Walker (PHP/ SLC )	.363	Willard Brown (KC)	.377	Henry Kimbro (BAL)	.385
HR	Ted Williams ¹ (BRS)	32	Ralph Kiner (PIT) Johnny Mize (NYG)	51	Hank Thompson (KC)	8	Monte Irvin (NWK)	11
RBI	Ted Williams ¹ (BRS)	114	Johnny Mize (NYG)	138	Willard Brown (KC)	64	Butch Davis (BAL) Henry Kimbro (BAL)	52
W	Bob Feller (CLE)	20	Ewell Blackwell (CIN)	22	Jim LaMarque (KC)	10	Max Manning (NWK)	12
ERA	Joe Haynes (CWS)	2.42	Warren Spahn (BSB)	2.33	Gene Richardson (KC)	1.33	Lino Donoso (NYC)	2.30
K	Bob Feller (CLE)	196	Ewell Blackwell (CIN)	193	Jim LaMarque (KC)	85	Bob Romby (BAL)	99

¹ American League Triple Crown batting winner

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	—	55‍–‍22	42‍–‍35
Detroit Tigers	85	69	.552	12	46‍–‍31	39‍–‍38
Boston Red Sox	83	71	.539	14	49‍–‍30	34‍–‍41
Cleveland Indians	80	74	.519	17	38‍–‍39	42‍–‍35
Philadelphia Athletics	78	76	.506	19	39‍–‍38	39‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	70	84	.455	27	32‍–‍43	38‍–‍41
Washington Senators	64	90	.416	33	36‍–‍41	28‍–‍49
St. Louis Browns	59	95	.383	38	29‍–‍48	30‍–‍47

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons

American League

National League final standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	94	60	.610	—	52‍–‍25	42‍–‍35
St. Louis Cardinals	89	65	.578	5	46‍–‍31	43‍–‍34
Boston Braves	86	68	.558	8	50‍–‍27	36‍–‍41
New York Giants	81	73	.526	13	45‍–‍31	36‍–‍42
Cincinnati Reds	73	81	.474	21	42‍–‍35	31‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs	69	85	.448	25	36‍–‍43	33‍–‍42
Philadelphia Phillies	62	92	.403	32	38‍–‍38	24‍–‍54
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	.403	32	32‍–‍45	30‍–‍47

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons

National League

Negro league baseball final standings

All Negro leagues standings below are per Seamheads.^[1]

Negro American League final standings

vs. Negro American League						vs. Major Black Teams
Negro American League	W	L	T	Pct.	GB	W	L	T	Pct.
Cleveland Buckeyes	57	19	0	.750	—	62	35	1	.638
Kansas City Monarchs	54	32	0	.628	8	66	47	1	.583
Birmingham Black Barons	49	41	0	.544	15	58	52	0	.527
Memphis Red Sox	43	54	2	.444	24½	49	65	3	.432
Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns	32	60	2	.351	33	40	73	2	.357
Chicago American Giants	29	58	0	.333	33½	36	67	0	.350

Black Barons

American Giants

Clowns

Buckeyes

Monarchs

Red Sox

Locations of teams for the 1947 Negro American League season

Negro American League
Note: Clowns play in both Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

Negro National League final standings

vs. Negro National League						vs. Major Black Teams
Negro National League	W	L	T	Pct.	GB	W	L	T	Pct.
New York Cubans	47	20	1	.699	—	52	26	1	.665
Newark Eagles	48	41	1	.539	10	51	45	1	.531
Baltimore Elite Giants	41	40	2	.506	13	52	44	3	.540
Homestead Grays	35	35	4	.500	13½	61	44	4	.578
Philadelphia Stars	28	34	2	.453	16½	36	37	2	.493
New York Black Yankees	13	42	4	.254	28	21	49	6	.316

Elite Giants

Grays

Black Yankees

Cubans

Eagles

Stars

Locations of teams for the 1944–1947 Negro National League seasons

Negro National League
Note: Homestead Grays played in both Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh, with the majority in Washington, D.C.

Negro World Series

1947 Negro World Series: New York Cubans over Cleveland Buckeyes 4–1 (one tie).

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League final standings

Rank	Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
1	Muskegon Lassies	69	43	.616	–
2	Grand Rapids Chicks	64	46	.582	4
3	Racine Belles	65	47	.580	4
4	South Bend Blue Sox	57	54	.514	11½
5	Peoria Redwings	54	57	.487	14½
6	Rockford Peaches	48	63	.432	19½
7	Fort Wayne Daisies	44	66	.400	24
8	Kenosha Comets	43	69	.384	26

Events

January

January 18 – The Pittsburgh Pirates purchase the contract of first baseman Hank Greenberg from the Detroit Tigers for $75,000. A future Baseball Hall of Famer and all-time Tiger great, Greenberg, now 36, led the American League in homers with 44 in 1946, but he has become estranged from Detroit's front office. The Pirates will pair him with sophomore Ralph Kiner, who led the National League with 23 home runs in 1946. They also will shorten the left-field dimensions in Forbes Field; the "porch" favoring the two right-handed sluggers will be initially nicknamed "Greenberg Gardens," then "Kiner's Korner."^[2] The 1947 campaign proves to be Greenberg's last as an active player; he will hit 25 long balls for the Pirates, while Kiner's and Johnny Mize's 51 home runs set the pace for the majors.
January 20 – Less than three months before the start of the National League season, with Jackie Robinson poised to break the baseball color line, catcher Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays, known as "the black Babe Ruth", dies from a stroke in Pittsburgh at 35. Despite a prolonged period of declining mental and physical health, possibly due to a brain tumor,^[3] Gibson passes away months after leading the Negro National League in homers in 1946—the 11th time he's done so in 13 seasons. Author of as many as 962 home runs overall,^[3] and believed to have compiled a career batting average of as high as .373, he'll be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.^[4] (See Deaths for this date below.)

January 21:
- A rule change implemented by the Baseball Writers' Association of America that allows voting only for players after 1921 produces four new members of the Hall of Fame: Mickey Cochrane, Frank Frisch, Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell. Pie Traynor misses selection by only two votes.
- Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher and actress Laraine Day wed in El Paso, Texas, publicly defying a California judge's decree that they wait a full year from Day's divorce before marrying. Durocher and Day have been the subject of intense press scrutiny since their extra-marital affair made headlines in early December 1946.^[5]^[6]
January 25 – The New York Yankees sign free-agent first baseman George McQuinn, who was released by the Philadelphia Athletics 16 days earlier. A slick fielder and line-drive hitter, McQuinn, 36, is a four-time AL All-Star who had slumped badly with Philadelphia in 1946. As a Yankee in 1947 and 1948, he'll make two more All-Star squads and earn a World Series ring.^[7]

February

February 1 – Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler announces the creation of a pension plan for retired major leaguers. Any player with five years of experience will receive $50 a month at age 50 and $10 a month for each of the next five years. The plan extends to coaches, players and trainers active on Opening Day. The plan will be funded by $650,000‚ with the 16 teams providing 80% and the players the remaining 20%.
February 4 – The career of Hal Trosky comes to an end when he's released by the Chicago White Sox. Though overshadowed by fellow first basemen Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, Trosky, 33, was one of the American League's most feared batsmen of the 1930s, once (in 1936) driving in 162 runs on the strength of 42 homers as a member of the Cleveland Indians. But debilitating migraine headaches impaired his durability, then caused him to miss three full seasons before attempting a final comeback with the 1946 Pale Hose.
February 14 – The Philadelphia Athletics deal right-handed pitchers Lum Harris and Lou Knerr to the Washington Senators for outfielder/first baseman George Binks.
February 19 – The Boston Red Sox sign free-agent catcher Frankie "Blimp" Hayes, released by the White Sox six days earlier. Former "iron-man" Hayes, 32, is only 2+ years removed from his remarkable 1944 season, in which he started all 155 of the Athletics' games behind the plate, and only missed 18 innings of action all season. He then followed that in 1945 by starting a combined 151 games for the Athletics and Indians. Hayes will be released by the Red Sox on May 21, 1947, after making only five appearances—ending his MLB career.
February 23–25 – The wildest pennant race in Cuban League annals sees the Alacranes del Almendares overcome a six-game, late-season deficit to defeat their archrivals, the Leones del Habana, in a three-game, season-concluding sweep. American left-hander Max Lanier, one of the players suspended indefinitely by MLB in May 1946 for "jumping" the reserve clause to sign with the "outlaw" Mexican League, wins two of the contests, including the clincher on a single day of rest.

March

March 1:
- New managers in spring training camps are Billy Herman with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Muddy Ruel with the St. Louis Browns, Bucky Harris with the New York Yankees, and Johnny Neun with the Cincinnati Reds. Neun had ended the 1946 season as manager of the Yankees after both Joe McCarthy and Bill Dickey had quit.
- Brooklyn's Catholic Youth Organization withdraws from Ebbets Field's "Knothole Gang" to protest Leo Durocher's personal conduct in his affair with and marriage to Laraine Day. Reports critical of Durocher's off-field friendships with gamblers have also been in the headlines since the autumn of 1946.^[5]^[6]
March 4 – The Washington Senators reacquire outfielder and six-time American League stolen base king George Case from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for knuckleball hurler Roger Wolff. Case had played 1,190 games for Washington from 1937–1945 before being swapped to the Indians in December 1945 for outfielder Jeff Heath.
March 15:
- The Brooklyn Dodgers and their Montreal Royals affiliate arrive in Panama for a series of exhibition games against each other. The teams have been training in Havana to avoid Jim Crow laws in the United States. The Montreal roster includes 1946 International League batting champion Jackie Robinson and catcher Roy Campanella. Brooklyn president and general manager Branch Rickey hopes that Robinson's talent and style of play will "break the ice" with the all-white Dodger roster and smooth his promotion to the major leagues. However, before the Panama series begins, a petition begins to circulate among the white players on the Dodgers that seeks to keep Robinson off the team.^[8]
- The Chicago Cubs bring back one of their stalwart pitchers of the 1930s, veteran right-hander "Big Bill" Lee, as a free agent three weeks after his release from the Boston Braves. Lee, 37, won 20 and 22 games for the National League-champion 1935 and 1938 Cubs, and also posted 19- and 18-win seasons in a Chicago uniform. He'll get into 14 games for the Cubs and spend part of 1947 in the Texas League before drawing his career-ending release on September 19.
March 22 – The Chicago White Sox claim veteran pitcher Hiram Bithorn on waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first Puerto Rican to play in Major League Baseball,^[9] Bithorn, 31, will pitch in only two innings for the White Sox (going 1–0, 0.00) before being idled by a sore arm.
March 24 – Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler convenes a hearing in Sarasota, Florida, in response to the public feud between New York Yankees president and co-owner Larry MacPhail and Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher. The dispute flared when a newspaper article that ran under Durocher's byline on March 9 accused baseball (and, indirectly, the Commissioner) of a "double standard" by allowing MacPhail to bestow free tickets to a Dodgers–Yankees exhibition game to two known gamblers whom Durocher has been warned by Chandler to avoid.^[5]^[6]
March 26 – After manager Leo Durocher calls a middle-of-the-night meeting to castigate Brooklyn Dodgers players who've signed a petition aimed at denying Jackie Robinson a place on the team, one of the petitioners, outfielder Dixie Walker, asks Branch Rickey to trade him.^[8] Walker, a former NL batting champion and three-time All-Star, is one of the Dodgers' most popular veterans, nicknamed The People's Cherce.

April

April 2 – The Boston Red Sox sell the contract of right-fielder Catfish Metkovich to the Cleveland Indians.
April 6 – The New York Yankees sign pitcher Lew Burdette as an amateur free agent.
April 9:
- Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler drops a bombshell on the Brooklyn Dodgers, suspending manager Leo Durocher for the entire 1947 season for "conduct detrimental to baseball." Chandler's controversial ruling, which comes after his closed-door hearings of late March, stems from Durocher's highly publicized, high-risk behavior—his association with known gamblers, scandals surrounding his allegedly adulterous courting of and marriage to starlet Laraine Day, and public feud with powerful New York Yankees co-owner Larry MacPhail.^[5]^[6]
- The suspension leaves the Dodgers without a manager on the eve of the National League season—and the anticipated debut of "Organized Baseball's" first Black major-league player of the 20th century, Jackie Robinson. A press release issued the following day at Ebbets Field in the sixth inning of an exhibition game will announce that the Dodgers have purchased Robinson's contract from the Montreal Royals.
April 12:
- The New York Yankees release longtime ace relief pitcher Johnny Murphy; the 38-year-old right-hander signs with the Boston Red Sox three days later.
- The St. Louis Browns sell the contract of third baseman Mark Christman to the Washington Senators.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates unconditionally release third baseman Lee Handley, who's immediately signed by the cross-state Philadelphia Phillies.

April 15 – Major League Baseball's color line is officially broken forever when Jackie Robinson makes his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. Playing first base and batting second, Robinson goes hitless in three at bats, but scores the winning run in a 5–3 Brooklyn victory. He plays errorless ball in the field. Coach Clyde Sukeforth, who escorted Robinson to Brooklyn for his historic meeting with Branch Rickey in August 1945, is the Dodgers' acting manager who writes Robinson's name on today's lineup card.^[10] More than a half-century later, Major League Baseball will decree April 15 to be "Jackie Robinson Day" with every MLB player wearing Robinson's #42.
April 16 – The Cincinnati Reds sell the contract of veteran utilityman and former NL All-Star second baseman Lonny Frey to the Chicago Cubs.
April 18:
- Burt Shotton, 62, a long-time associate of Branch Rickey's, is appointed to serve as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers during Leo Durocher's season-long suspension. Rickey turns to Shotton after Joe McCarthy, currently retired, declines the chance to take the interim position. Apart from one game, Shotton has not helmed a big-league team since he was fired from the Philadelphia Phillies in 1933 after compiling a 370–549–4 (.403) record over six full baseball seasons. Having hung up his uniform when he stepped down as a Cleveland Indians coach in 1945, he will manage the Dodgers in street clothes.
  - In Shotton's first game today, Brooklyn falls to the New York Giants, 10–4, at the Polo Grounds for its first defeat of 1947. Jackie Robinson, however, collects his first National League home run, hit in the third inning off Dave Koslo.
- The St. Louis Cardinals sell the contract of pitcher and 1942 World Series hero Johnny Beazley to the Boston Braves. Beazley, struggling to recover from a sore arm suffered while playing baseball during his United States Army service in World War II, will pitch in only 13 games for the Braves from this season through May 1949.
April 22:
- On a cold afternoon at Ebbets Field, Ben Chapman, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, leads his team in racist chants directed at Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Phillies' abuse backfires: it begins to galvanize support for Robinson among white teammates formerly cool or hostile to his presence; influential radio and print journalists denounce Chapman; and Commissioner Happy Chandler chastises him.^[8] The game itself is scoreless into the bottom of the eighth inning when Robinson singles, steals second base, and scores its only run on an RBI hit by Gene Hermanski. Brooklyn's Hal Gregg throws a one-hit, complete-game shutout, allowing only a first-inning double to Del Ennis.^[11]
- Cleveland Indians fireballer Bob Feller one hits the visiting St. Louis Browns and triumphs 5–0. Al Zarilla's seventh-inning single spoils the no-hitter; Feller walks one and fans ten hitters.
April 23 – Cleveland sells the contract of minor-league slugger Gus Zernial to the Chicago White Sox. Outfielder Zernial will require two more years of seasoning at Triple-A, but when he arrives in the majors in 1949, he'll blast 237 homers over an 11-season career.
April 24 – Johnny Mize belts three home runs and Walker Cooper adds another, but the New York Giants fall to Johnny Sain and the Boston Braves, 14–5, at the "Wigwam". The Braves collect 21 hits, led by Danny Litwhiler's four safeties; Litwhiler also hits Boston's only homer of the day.
April 27 – It is Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium. Despite having throat cancer, Ruth speaks to the packed house, proclaiming, "The only real game, I think, in the world is baseball."
April 29 – After signing with the New York Yankees the previous winter, Joe Medwick is released despite never playing a single game with the Bombers. On May 25, the future Hall of Famer, now 35, will rejoin his original team, the St. Louis Cardinals, as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter.

May

May 2 – Future Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller tosses his second one-hitter in ten days with his 2–0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Stadium. Johnny Pesky's first-inning single is Boston's only "knock"; Feller walks six and strikes out ten. Over his career, "Rapid Robert" will fire three no-hit games; April 22's and today's are the ninth and tenth of the 12 one-hitters he'll have on his résumé.^[12] Feller's third straight complete-game, shutout win lowers his earned run average to 0.26 for 1947.
May 3:
- The Brooklyn Dodgers trade pitchers Hank Behrman, Kirby Higbe and Cal McLish, catcher Dixie Howell, and infielder Gene Mauch to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Al Gionfriddo and $100,000. Higbe had been among those Dodgers seeking a trade rather than play alongside Jackie Robinson; Howell, on the other hand, had congratulated Robinson on his promotion to the Dodgers.^[8] Gionfriddo, a second-stringer in his final MLB season, will make one of the most celebrated "circus catches" in World Series history in October.
- The St. Louis Cardinals send outfielder Harry Walker and pitcher Freddy Schmidt to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for outfielder Ron Northey. Although batting a paltry .200 with the Redbirds, Walker will hit .371 for the Phillies in 130 games to finish the season with a National League-leading .363 batting average.
May 9:
- A story authored by sports editor Stanley Woodward of the New York Herald Tribune reports that NL president Ford Frick and St. Louis Cardinals owner Sam Breadon have quelled a potential strike by members of the Cardinals who refuse to take the field with Jackie Robinson. While a potential strike has been rumored, the details of Woodward's story will be hotly disputed and the seriousness of such a strike threat debated for decades.^[13]
- The Pittsburgh Pirates sell the contract of veteran left-hander Ken Heintzelman, 31, to the Philadelphia Phillies.
May 13:
- Ted Williams hits two home runs over Fenway Park's Green Monster for the first time in his career, as the Boston Red Sox drub the Chicago White Sox, 19–6. Earlier in the day, Williams had promised a boy in a local hospital that he'd hit a homer for him. Also today, Bobby Doerr hits for the cycle for the second time in his career, becoming the first member of the Bosox to achieve this feat. Doerr smacks a double and a single in a nine-run eighth inning to complete his cycle. Bill Zuber is the winning pitcher over Earl Harrist.
- At Crosley Field, 27,164 fans watch the Cincinnati Reds beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 7–5. It is estimated that nearly 9,000 of the fans are black‚ attracted to the game because of Jackie Robinson. When Robinson came on the field, the Crosley Field organist plays the song Bye Bye Blackbird .^[14]
May 16 – The Boston Braves sign eight-time NL All-Star first baseman Frank McCormick, 35, who had been released by the Philadelphia Phillies two days earlier.
May 17 – During today's game at Forbes Field, veteran Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Hank Greenberg asks baserunner Jackie Robinson if he's injured after an earlier collision between the two. Greenberg then gives rookie Robinson a pep talk, telling him: "Don't pay any attention to these guys who are trying to make it hard for you. Stick in there. You're doing fine. Keep your chin up." Robinson takes the advice to heart and later praises Greenberg to the New York Times and writes of him as his "diamond hero". Robinson knows that Greenberg, a Jew, had withstood his own trial by fire with racial taunts being hurled at him by fans and players.^[15]
May 20 – The Boston Red Sox obtain starting catcher Birdie Tebbetts from the Detroit Tigers for fellow backstop Hal Wagner.
May 26 – In the Bronx, Joe DiMaggio goes three for four, including his fourth home run, scores three times, and drives in four to lead the New York Yankees to a 9–3 victory and a four-game sweep of the defending American League champion Red Sox. Outscoring the Bosox 40–5 over the four contests, the Yankees vault ahead of them into second place, three games behind the league-leading Detroit Tigers. Moreover, their rough treatment of Tex Hughson and Dave Ferriss betray the arm troubles and performance declines that will beset Boston's ace starting pitchers.
May 30 – In a Memorial Day doubleheader at Shibe Park, the Philadelphia Athletics shock the Yankees by shutting them out twice, 1–0 and 4–0, behind hurlers Dick Fowler and Joe Coleman. In 1946, Connie Mack's Athletics had lost 105 of 154 games, but they will rebound this season to post their first over-.500 campaign since 1933.

June

June 8 – In the first game of a Sunday doubleheader, Comiskey Park hosts a marathon pitchers duel, as the Washington Senators and the Chicago White Sox grapple for 17 scoreless innings before the Senators break through with a run in the top of the 18th on Al Evans's triple and Sherry Robertson's sacrifice fly, then hold on for a 1–0 victory. Starters Walt Masterson (16 shutout frames) and Frank Papish (13 innings) depart before the game is decided. The official time of the game is 3:30.^[16]
June 9 – At the Polo Grounds, the Pittsburgh Pirates blow an 8–1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when the New York Giants tally eight times to claim a 9–8 edge. The Bucs then score twice in the top of the ninth to regain the advantage, 10–9, only to see the slugging Giants come from behind on home runs by Mickey Witek and Walker Cooper to win, 13–10, in their half of the frame. Cooper's game-winning, three-run blow is his second, and the New Yorkers' fifth, four-bagger of the game.^[17]
June 11 – In the process of batting .381 during the month of June,^[8] Jackie Robinson goes four-for-four, including a double and a triple, in the Brooklyn Dodgers' 5–4 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds at Ebbets Field. Three days from now, the rookie will embark on a 21-game hitting streak; by the time it ends July 4, his club will be in first place in the National League standings.
June 13:
- A pair of former 20-game winners change teams when the Giants acquire Mort Cooper from the Boston Braves for Bill Voiselle and cash.
- The defending world-champion St. Louis Cardinals, who began this season 2–11, finally escape the National League basement with Red Munger's 3–0 blanking of the Brooklyn Dodgers at Sportsman's Park. The Cardinals, 21–28 today, will play at a 68–37 clip through season's end to finish second in the Senior Circuit.
- Boston's Fenway Park hosts its first night game, a 5–3 triumph for the host Red Sox over the Chicago White Sox before a capacity crowd of 34,510. Only two MLB ballparks now lack arc lights for night contests: Detroit's Briggs Stadium, which will install them in 1948, and Chicago's Wrigley Field.
June 14 – The Red Sox and White Sox swap right-handed-hitting first basemen, with Boston sending Rudy York, 33, to Chicago for Jake Jones, 26.
June 15 – By sweeping a doubleheader from the St. Louis Browns, the home-standing New York Yankees climb into first place in the American League with a 30–23 record. The Bombers surpass the Detroit Tigers, who have led since the first week of May; the Bengals today drop both ends of their twin bill to the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium. While they'll share the top spot for one day (June 19) with the Red Sox, the Yankees will remain in first place for the rest of the season.
June 18:
- Ewell Blackwell pitches a no-hitter, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6–0 win over the Boston Braves at Crosley Field. "The Whip" walks four men and fans three. The Cincinnati offense is led by newcomer Babe Young, who blasts two three-run homers, while rookie Frankie Baumholtz collects four hits and scores twice and Grady Hatton adds a single, four walks and two runs scored.
- Meanwhile, Johnny Pesky's fifth hit of the evening delivers a 15-inning, 6–5 win for the Boston Red Sox over the St. Louis Browns before 34,462 fans in Fenway Park's second-ever night game. The contest is unusual because, after the clubs play to a 2–2 deadlock after nine innings, they match each other by scoring three runs over the 13th and 14th frames before Pesky comes through in the 15th with two out. The game ends at 1:07 a.m. — barely averting a curfew that would have halted the contest as a 5–5 tie.^[18]
June 22 – Cincinnati's Ewell Blackwell just misses pitching back-to-back no-hitters when Eddie Stanky of the Brooklyn Dodgers singles with one out in the ninth inning. Stanky's hit ends Blackwell's hitless-inning skein at 19. Blackwell also allows a single to Jackie Robinson two batters after Stanky to finish with a two-hitter. Blackwell's 4–0 triumph is his ninth consecutive victory and improves his record to 11–2.
June 28 – Walker Cooper of the New York Giants hits a home run in his sixth consecutive game to tie a record set by George Kelly in 1924. Cooper had two homers in the first game of the streak, while his shot today helps his brother Morton defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 14–6, for his first victory in a Giants uniform.
June 29 – At Shibe Park, Ferris Fain lines an inside-the-park grand slam in the fifth inning, as the Philadelphia Athletics top the Boston Red Sox, 6–5.
June 30 – The visiting Brooklyn Dodgers lash 14 hits, including three each by Arky Vaughan, Carl Furillo and Pee Wee Reese, to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7–4, and move into a tie for first place with the idle Boston Braves. They'll remain in the NL's top spot for the remainder of the 1947 season.

July

July 5:
- Not quite three months after Jackie Robinson's National League debut, Larry Doby, 23, becomes the first black player in the American League, pinch-hitting for Bryan Stephens in the seventh inning of the Cleveland Indians' game against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. Facing right-hander Earl Harrist, Doby strikes out.^[19] He registers his first AL hit the following night.
  - Doby, then an infielder, had been a standout player with the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League: in 1946 he had the NNL in hits, triples and the modern metric of OPS (1.030), and he followed that by hitting .354 with eight homers during the early weeks of the Eagles' 1947 season. However, his introduction to the white majors is much more abrupt than Robinson's, whose arrival in Brooklyn had been anticipated since his brilliant 1946 season with the Montreal Royals. Cleveland owner Bill Veeck, though a champion of integration, rushes Doby to the Indians only two days after signing him, bypassing the painstaking preparations Branch Rickey had undertaken for Robinson's debut.^[20]
  - Doby initially endures ostracism from white teammates and bats only .156 with five hits and a base on balls in 33 plate appearances, almost exclusively as a pinch hitter, in 1947. However, he earns a regular job in 1948, moving to the outfield, batting .301 in 121 games, and becomes the first black player to earn a World Series ring, as well as the first to hit a home run in the Fall Classic. He enjoys a 13-season American League career (1947–1959), is selected to seven All-Star teams, blasts 253 home runs (leading the AL in both 1952 and 1954), becomes MLB's second black manager (1978), and is elected to the Hall of Fame (1998). Looking back on his 1947 experience, he will say: "It was 11 weeks between the time Jackie Robinson and I came into the majors. I can’t see how things were any different for me than they were for him.”^[20]
- MLB owners reject the Triple-A Pacific Coast League's petition that it be recognized as a third major league.
July 8:
- At Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, the American League defeats the National League, 2–1, in the All-Star Game. Johnny Mize's fourth-inning solo homer plates the Nationals' only run.
- The All-Star break sees the Brooklyn Dodgers (42–31) leading in a tight National League pennant race. They're one game ahead of the Boston Braves (40–31) and 1½ up on the New York Giants. In the American League, the white-hot New York Yankees (47–26) have opened up an eight-game lead on the Detroit Tigers (37–32) and Boston Red Sox (38–33).
July 10 – Cleveland Indians right-hander Don Black tosses a no-hitter in a 3–0 win over the Philadelphia Athletics at Municipal Stadium. Black walks six, strikes out five, and defeats Bill McCahan, who will author the American League's other 1947 no-hitter on September 3.
July 11 – In the nightcap of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds, the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants combine for 20 runs and 18 hits—in the game's first two innings. When the smoke clears, the Giants lead 11–9 with seven innings yet to play. They shut out the Redbirds on two hits the rest of the way, to win 17–9. En route to a record for most home runs by a team during a 154-game season, the Giants belt six round-trippers in the game—including two each by Sid Gordon and Bill Rigney.
July 17:
- The New York Yankees win their 19th straight game, 7–2 over the Cleveland Indians, behind rookie Vic Raschi, and their league lead is now 11½ games. Now 58–26, the Yankees have gone 30–3 since June 14.
- The American League's last-place team, the St. Louis Browns, become the third AL or NL team to integrate its 1947 playing ranks. After the Browns conditionally purchase the contracts of two members of the Kansas City Monarchs, second baseman Hank Thompson ^[21] and outfielder Willard Brown,^[22] Thompson, 21, becomes the Browns' first black player today at Sportsman's Park, starting against the Philadelphia Athletics and going hitless in four at bats in a 16–2 defeat.^[23]
  - Two days later, on July 19, the 32-year-old Willard Brown, who'll be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2006 to recognize his brilliant career with the Monarchs, makes his debut with St. Louis, going 0-for-3 as the starting centerfielder against the Boston Red Sox.
  - On July 20, the St. Louis Browns become the first AL or NL club to field two black players at the same time when both men start and play all nine innings of both games of a doubleheader with the visiting Red Sox. The Browns stun the Bosox by sweeping the twin bill, but Thompson^[24] and Brown^[25] go a combined 3-for-17.
July 18 – Ralph Branca, 21-year-old Brooklyn Dodgers right-hander, notches a one-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals at Ebbets Field. Enos Slaughter's eighth-inning single is the Redbirds' only hit. The top of Brooklyn's batting order, Eddie Stanky and Jackie Robinson, give Branca the support he needs, combining to go 5-for-8, scoring five runs, and driving in five.^[26]
July 25 – Sidewinder Ewell Blackwell wins his 16th straight decision dating to May 10, going all nine innings in a 5–4 Cincinnati Reds victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. His complete game is his 15th of this 16-victory span. At 18–2, he's responsible for 41.8% of Cincinnati's wins so far in 1947. Blackwell's streak will end July 30 when he absorbs a ten-inning, 5–4 setback against the New York Giants at Crosley Field.

August

August 9 – Pitcher, World War II combat veteran, and former Prisoner of War Phil Marchildon of the Philadelphia Athletics registers his fourth consecutive complete game victory and goes three-for-four at the plate (including a home run) to defeat the Washington Senators, 8–1, at Shibe Park. Marchildon, who served as a flying officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, survived being shot down over the Baltic Sea, hypothermia, and nine months as a POW after a bombing mission over Nazi Germany on August 16, 1944. His harrowing experiences led to recurring nightmares when he returned to civilian life and baseball in 1945.^[27] After winning 13 games for a 105-loss Philadelphia team in 1946, Marchildon, 33, comes back this season to post a 19–9, 3.22 record in 35 starts; his 19 wins are tied for second in the American League.
August 12 – Right-hander Al Gettel of the Cleveland Indians hurls a one-hit shutout, and he and his teammates amass 15 hits and 11 runs, as Cleveland overwhelms the visiting Detroit Tigers. Eddie Mayo's first-inning double is the spoiler.
August 13 – The St. Louis Browns' Willard Brown, pinch hitting with a man on base in the bottom of the eighth at Sportsman's Park, lashes a Hal Newhouser pitch off the center-field wall, then legs out a game-tying inside-the-park homer—becoming the first African-American player to hit a home run in American League history. The Browns go on to overcome the Tigers, 6–5.^[28]
August 20:
- At Ebbets Field, the onrushing St. Louis Cardinals ensure a split of their four-game series with the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers with a 12-inning, 3–2 victory. Whitey Kurowski's homer off Brooklyn relief ace Hugh Casey, only the fourth Redbird hit of the day, makes the difference. The Dodgers and Cardinals, bitter foes throughout most of the 1940s, are only 4½ games apart in the National League race. However, an 11th-inning incident—in which St. Louis' Enos Slaughter spikes Jackie Robinson during a play at first base—adds to the enmity: the Dodgers accuse Slaughter of deliberately trying to injure Robinson (who remains in the game), and Slaughter vehemently denies the charge.^[8]^[29]
- Washington Senators relief pitcher Tom Ferrick loses both games of a doubleheader with the Cleveland Indians. While pitching with St. Louis the previous season, Ferrick had won both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics on August 4.
August 23 – The St. Louis Browns release both Willard Brown and Hank Thompson and they return to the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League. Brown had batted only .179 (12-for-67) with one homer and six runs batted in in 21 games;^[22] Thompson, .256 (20-for-78) with five RBI in 78 games.^[21] They had also encountered hostility from some white teammates and manager Muddy Ruel.^[30] In 1949 Thompson will break the New York Giants' color barrier, while Brown continues to star for the Monarchs. The Browns' next black player will be Hall of Famer Leroy "Satchel" Paige on July 18, 1951.
August 26 – The Brooklyn Dodgers' Dan Bankhead becomes the National League's first black pitcher. He homers in his debut plate appearance, but doesn't fare well on the mound. In 31⁄3 innings of relief, he gives up ten hits and six earned runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who win the game, 16–3.
August 28 – Two relief pitchers—Clyde Shoun of the Boston Braves and Eddie Erautt of the Cincinnati Reds—distinguish themselves in one of the National League's longest games of 1947, going ten and 92⁄3 innings respectively in today's 16-inning marathon at Braves Field. The game ends on a sour note for Erautt, as he walks Tommy Holmes with the bases loaded to seal an 8–7 Boston victory.

September

September 1 – Jack Lohrke leads off the eighth inning with a home run off Red Barrett, giving the New York Giants and pitcher Larry Jansen a 2–1 victory over the Boston Braves in the opening game of a Labor Day doubleheader at the Polo Grounds. The 43,106 in attendance see history as Lohrke's homer is the Giants' 183rd of the season, surpassing the record of 182 bombs set by the 1936 New York Yankees. The Giants win the nightcap, 12–2; they will finish the season with 221 homers but struggle to finish fourth.
September 3 – Bill McCahan of the Philadelphia Athletics no-hits the Washington Senators in a 3–0 victory. A second-inning error by first baseman Ferris Fain spoils McCahan's bid for a perfect game.
September 15:
- Red Ruffing of the Chicago White Sox gives up 12 hits over seven innings in a 7–5 loss to the Boston Red Sox in what proves to be his final MLB appearance. The future Hall of Famer, 42, will be released two weeks later, ending his major league career with 273 victories over 22 seasons.
- Earlier today, Ruffing's former team, the New York Yankees (for whom he went 231–124), had clinched their 15th American League pennant (all won since 1921) when the White Sox took the opening game of today's Fenway Park doubleheader, 6–3, behind Orval Grove. The Yankees end a three-year pennant "drought."
- The 22-year-long playing career of Mel Ott draws to a close when the 38-year-old slugger is released by the New York Giants. Future Hall of Famer Ott retires with 511 career home runs, most in National League history. He remains the Giants' manager, a job he's held since Opening Day of 1942.
September 17:
- With almost two weeks remaining in the 1947 regular season, the Baseball Writers Association of America announces the winner of its first-ever Major League Rookie of the Year Award: Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson. The man who on April 15 broke the baseball color line today raises his batting average to .301 with two hits, including his 11th homer. A single MLB "ROTY" award will be selected this year and next before the honor is split into separate NL and AL awards.
- Joe Dobson one-hits the St. Louis Browns and notches a 4–0 triumph for his second-place Red Sox at Fenway Park. Wally Judnich gets the Browns' lone hit in the seventh inning; Dobson walks six.
September 20 – Ernie Lombardi draws his unconditional release from the New York Giants, ending his MLB career at age 39. A two-time National League batting champion despite being notoriously slow afoot, Lombardi will be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1986.
September 22 – The Brooklyn Dodgers, who sit idle today, clinch their seventh National League title and first since 1941 when the second-place St. Louis Cardinals are eliminated from contention by splitting their doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at Sportsman's Park. As in 1941, the Dodgers will face the Yankees in 1947's "subway series."
September 25 – Future Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman, 38, steps down as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates after less than full season at the helm. He's led the Bucs to a 61–92 record, good enough for a tie for seventh in the National League, 33½ lengths behind Brooklyn. Herman also had played sparingly, putting himself into only 15 games and hitting a paltry .213.
September 27 – Rookie Bobby Thomson's 29th home run of 1947 enables his New York Giants to set the new modern MLB record for home runs in a season, with 221 in 155 official games. The 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs will equal that mark nine years later.
September 28 – Ted Williams singles twice in four at bats in his 156th game of the season to win his second American League Triple Crown. In addition to leading his circuit in batting (.343), home runs (32), and runs batted in (114), he tops it in runs scored (125), bases on balls received (162), on-base percentage (.499), slugging percentage (.634), and intentional walks (29). Williams previously won the AL Triple Crown in 1942, on the eve of his World War II military service.
September 29 – Legendary manager Joe McCarthy, who won 1,460 regular-season games, eight AL pennants, and seven World Series in all or part of 16 seasons (1931 to May 23, 1946) at the rudder of the New York Yankees, takes over their rivals to the northeast, the Boston Red Sox, for 1948. McCarthy, 60, who has spent the past 16 months in retirement, succeeds Joe Cronin, who in turn moves up to general manager, replacing Eddie Collins, who steps aside due to declining health. Cronin, 40, has been manager of the Bosox since 1935, and Collins, 60, their GM since 1933, but their efforts have produced only one AL pennant. Collins is already a Hall of Famer (1939), and Cronin (1956) and McCarthy (1957) will follow.

October

September 30–October 6 – The 1947 World Series, the 44th match between the pennant-winners of the American and National leagues, goes the limit before the New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 5–2, in Game 7 to win their eleventh world championship, four games to three. The 1947 Fall Classic is notable on several fronts.
- It's the first World Series to feature a team with a racially integrated roster: rookie Brooklyn first baseman Jackie Robinson, who broke the baseball color line on April 15, starts all seven games, collects seven hits, including two doubles, in 27 at bats (.259), scores three runs, drives in three, and steals two bases. In addition, Dodger pitcher Dan Bankhead pinch runs for Bobby Bragan in Game 6, and scores Brooklyn's seventh tally in an 8–6 win.
- It's the first Series to be telecast, although coverage is limited to New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Schenectady/Albany, New York. The TV industry is in its infancy, with only 44,000^[31] to 100,000 sets in U.S. homes, retail store windows, and dining and drinking establishments. Billboard will estimate that 3.9 million viewers took advantage of the new medium to watch the action.^[32]
- It marks the return of the Yankees' 50-year-old manager, Bucky Harris, to the Fall Classic after an absence of 22 years; the "Boy Wonder" playing skipper of the Washington Senators had led his teams to the 1924 championship and a heart-breaking loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates the following season.
- Above all, it features three memorable highlights.
  - In Game 4 on October 3 at Ebbets Field, the Yankees' Bill Bevens—though issuing ten bases on balls over 82⁄3 innings—comes within one out of the first no-hit game in World Series history, only to be foiled by pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto's double that scores Brooklyn's tying and winning runs.
  - Then, in the sixth inning of Game 6 on October 5 at Yankee Stadium, Al Gionfriddo robs Joe DiMaggio of extra bases, perhaps a game-tying homer, when he makes a running catch of DiMaggio's deep drive to the bullpen fence, 415 feet (126 m) from the plate in left-center.
  - And in Game 7 on October 6, Bevens and left-handed bullpen ace Joe Page combine for 71⁄3 innings of three-hit, shutout relief to enable the Yankees to claw back from a 2–0 deficit and win the deciding contest by scoring five unanswered runs.
October 2 – The Pittsburgh Pirates hire longtime minor-league manager Billy Meyer, 54, as their new field leader, signing him to a two-year contract for the highest salary ever paid a Pirate skipper.^[33] Meyer has compiled a highly successful record in the New York Yankees' organization, with his teams winning four championships and finishing second four times over the past decade. The Pirates today also unconditionally release first baseman Hank Greenberg, ending the future Hall-of-Fame slugger's playing career after 13 MLB seasons and 331 home runs.
October 6 – Minutes after winning the 1947 World Series, his first championship as an executive, New York Yankees' one-third-owner Larry MacPhail resigns as club president and general manager, then confronts fellow co-owner Dan Topping and farm system director George Weiss at the team's victory party. The following day, Topping and co-owner Del Webb acquire MacPhail's one-third interest in the Bombers, and promote Weiss to general manager. His bizarre departure from the Yankees marks the end of MacPhail's brilliant but erratic baseball career at age 57;^[34] he'll be elected posthumously to the Hall of Fame in 1978. Topping and Webb will co-own the Yankees until they sell the franchise to CBS in 1964.
October 9 – The Washington Senators name former stalwart first baseman Joe Kuhel, 41, their manager for 1948. Kuhel retired from the playing ranks in May 1947; he batted .288 in 1,205 games over 11 seasons with Washington (1930–1937, 1944–1946). He succeeds Ossie Bluege, the club's manager since 1943, who becomes the Senators' farm system director.
October 24 – The Cleveland Indians release pitcher Mel Harder, a 20-year veteran who won 223 games in a Cleveland uniform. He remains with the club as its pitching coach.

November

November 4 – Muddy Ruel is dropped as manager of the St. Louis Browns after one season at the helm. His team finished last in the American League at 59–95 in 1947. Former Browns coach and interim manager James "Zack" Taylor, 49, will take his place.
November 12 – The St. Louis Browns select second baseman Garvin Hamner from Memphis of the Double-A Southern Association in the minor league draft. Garvin is the elder brother of Philadelphia Phillies' prospect Granny Hamner, a future three-time NL All-Star, and reports at the time claim the Browns mistook the two Hamners, and drafted the wrong brother. A St. Louis spokesman denies the charge.^[35]
November 17 – The cash-strapped Browns make the first of two blockbuster trades with the wealthy Boston Red Sox, sending hard-hitting, three-time AL All-Star shortstop Vern Stephens and pitcher Jack Kramer to the Bosox for $310,000 and six players: pitchers Joe Ostrowski, Al Widmar and Jim Wilson, catcher Roy Partee, infielder Eddie Pellagrini and outfielder Pete Layden. Playing home games at Fenway Park, Stephens will average 144 runs batted in over the next three seasons, and Kramer will win 18 games for Boston in 1948.
November 18:
- One day after the massive Vern Stephens trade, the Browns and Red Sox make another major, one-sided deal that favors Boston. In it, St. Louis sends pitcher Ellis Kinder and infielder Billy Hitchcock to the Red Sox for $65,000, pitcher Clem Dreisewerd and infielders Sam Dente and Bill Sommers. Right-hander Kinder will win 23 games as a starting pitcher for the 1949 Red Sox, then become their bullpen ace during the early 1950s, leading the American League in saves twice (1951, 1953).
- The Pittsburgh Pirates acquire first baseman Johnny Hopp and second baseman Danny Murtaugh from the Boston Braves for pitcher Al Lyons, catcher Bill Salkeld and centerfielder Jim Russell. The trade begins Murtaugh's long career with the Pirates, during which he will serve 15 years over four terms as their manager, and lead Pittsburgh to the 1960 and 1971 world championships.
November 20 – Boston Braves third baseman Bob Elliott is selected 1947's National League Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Pitcher Ewell Blackwell of the Cincinnati Reds is the runner-up by 30 points.
November 25 – Sam Breadon and his minority partners sell the St. Louis Cardinals to former United States Postmaster General Robert E. Hannegan, 44, and St. Louis attorney Fred Saigh, 42. Breadon, 71, became the Redbirds' president and largest stockholder in 1920 and principal owner two years later; under him they won nine National League pennants and six World Series titles. The deal—which includes the team, the Cardinals' extensive network of owned-and-operated minor-league farm clubs and assets, and cash and securities set aside for the construction of a new baseball park—is valued at $4.06 million.
November 27 – Triple Crown winner Ted Williams (.343 BA, 32 home runs, 114 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox is edged out by Joe DiMaggio (.315, 20, 97) for the American League MVP Award by one point. Controversy erupts when it's reported that one BBWAA member has failed to include Williams anywhere on his ballot.
November 30 – Guillermo Vento becomes the first Venezuelan Professional Baseball League player to make six hits in a single game. His record will eventually be matched by Pete Koegel (1974), Steve Carter (1991) and Ramón Flores (2014).^[36]^[37]

December

December 4:
- The Boston Braves purchase the contract of veteran outfielder Jeff Heath from the St. Louis Browns. Heath, 32, is a two-time American League All-Star who has batted .291 with 97 homers over 12 seasons in the Junior Circuit. In 1948, his .319 average and 20 homers will help power Boston to the National League pennant.
- The New York Giants acquire first baseman and minor-league slugger Jack Harshman from San Diego of the Pacific Coast League for three players and $65,000. In the majors, Harshman will falter as a batsman before he converts to the pitching mound, where the left-hander will win 69 games for four American League teams between 1954 and 1960.

December 8:
- The NL champion Brooklyn Dodgers trade four-time NL All-Star outfielder Dixie Walker and pitchers Hal Gregg and Vic Lombardi to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Preacher Roe, third baseman Billy Cox and utilily infielder Gene Mauch. Walker, 37, became one of the Dodgers' most popular players during his nine-season tenure in Brooklyn. But left-handed hurler Roe will win 93 games and Cox will provide stellar infield defense for three Brooklyn pennant-winners through 1954.
- Leo Durocher, 42, is reinstated as the Dodgers' manager after serving a year-long suspension imposed by Commissioner Happy Chandler for "conduct detrimental to baseball." Burt Shotton, who led the 1947 Dodgers to the National League championship as acting manager, is given a post in the Brooklyn front office.
- The contract of veteran second baseman Jerry Priddy, once a prized New York Yankees prospect, is sold by the Washington Senators to the St. Louis Browns. A top-flight fielder and dangerous hitter, Priddy, 28, has been hampered by injuries during his career.
December 10:
- The Cincinnati Reds sell the contract of pitcher Elmer Riddle to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Former 21-game-winner Riddle, 33, is coming back from arm miseries. He'll win 12 games for the 1948 Pirates and be selected to the 1948 NL All-Star team.
- The Washington Senators trade outfielder and four-time AL All-Star Stan Spence to the Boston Red Sox for second baseman Al Kozar and outfielder Leon Culberson.
December 11:
- The Cleveland Indians deal pitcher Red Embree to the New York Yankees for outfielder Allie Clark.
- Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey announces an agreement with Florida entrepreneur Bud Holman and the City of Vero Beach to rent 104 acres of a decommissoned World War II naval airstation as the site of "Dodgertown," a first-of-its kind training facility capable of housing hundreds of minor-league ballplayers. The team will pay $1 a year in rent and take over maintenance. The big-league Dodgers will move their training camp there in 1949, and on March 11, 1953, they'll open a new baseball field, Holman Stadium, for Grapefruit League games.
December 16 – The Detroit Tigers sell the contract of journeyman veteran outfielder Roy Cullenbine, who socked 24 homers in 1947, to the Philadelphia Phillies. Cullenbine, 34, will be released by the Phils in April 1948, ending his playing career.
December 29 – The Washington Senators release catcher-coach Rick Ferrell from his playing contract, ending his active career. Ferrell, 42, has set an American League record by catching in 1,806 games over 18 seasons beginning in 1929. He'll stay in the game as a coach and front office executive, and be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1984.