1951 Major League Baseball season

Last updated

1951 MLB season
League American League (AL)
National League (NL)
Sport Baseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 17 – September 30, 1951 (AL)
  • April 16 – October 3, 1951 (NL)
World Series:
  • October 4–10, 1951
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP AL: Yogi Berra (NYY)
NL: Roy Campanella (BKN)
AL champions New York Yankees
  AL runners-up Cleveland Indians
NL champions New York Giants
  NL runners-up Brooklyn Dodgers
World Series
Champions New York Yankees
  Runners-up New York Giants
Finals MVP Phil Rizzuto (NYY)
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
ButtonRed.svg American League
Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons
ButtonBlue.svg National League

The 1951 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1951. The regular season ended on October 3, with the New York Giants and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Giants defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in a regular season best-of-three tiebreaker, for the National League title, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96–58 records. This was the third regular season tie-breaker, and saw a reversion from the single-game tie-breaker featured in 1948 to the three-game format featured in the 1946 tie-breaker series. After splitting the first two games, the stage was set for a decisive third game, won in dramatic fashion on a walk-off home run from the bat of Giant Bobby Thomson, one of the most famous moments in the history of baseball, commemorated as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" and "The Miracle at Coogan's Bluff". The postseason began with Game 1 of the 48th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 6 on October 10. In the sixth iteration of this Subway Series World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Giants, four games to two, capturing their 14th championship in franchise history, and their third in a five-run World Series. This would be the final Subway Series matchup between the two teams, as the next World Series between the two in 1962 would see a relocated Giants franchise in San Francisco, California.

Contents

The 18th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 10, hosted by the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, with the National League winning, 8–3.

On May 1, the Chicago White Sox become the sixth team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded future Hall-of-Famer Minnie Miñoso. [1]

Schedule

The 1951 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

National League Opening Day took place on April 16, with a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, while American League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since 1943 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on September 30, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. Due to the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants finishing with the same record of 96–58, a best-of-three tie-breaker was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season, and took place between October 1 and October 3. The World Series took place between October 4 and October 10.

Teams

LeagueTeamCityStadiumCapacityManager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 35,200 Steve O'Neill
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 47,400 Paul Richards
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Stadium 73,811 Al López
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Briggs Stadium 58,000 Red Rolfe
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 67,000 Casey Stengel
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,166 Jimmy Dykes
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,000 Zack Taylor
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 29,731 Bucky Harris
National League Boston Braves Boston, Massachusetts Braves Field 37,106 Billy Southworth,
Tommy Holmes
Brooklyn Dodgers New York, New York Ebbets Field 32,111 Chuck Dressen
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 36,755 Frankie Frisch,
Phil Cavarretta
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Crosley Field 29,980 Luke Sewell
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 54,500 Leo Durocher
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,166 Eddie Sawyer
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 33,730 Billy Meyer
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,000 Marty Marion

Standings

American League

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9856.636—56‍–‍2242‍–‍34
Cleveland Indians 9361.604553‍–‍2440‍–‍37
Boston Red Sox 8767.5651150‍–‍2537‍–‍42
Chicago White Sox 8173.5261739‍–‍3842‍–‍35
Detroit Tigers 7381.4742536‍–‍4137‍–‍40
Philadelphia Athletics 7084.4552838‍–‍4132‍–‍43
Washington Senators 6292.4033632‍–‍4430‍–‍48
St. Louis Browns 52102.3384624‍–‍5328‍–‍49

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Giants 9859.624—50‍–‍2848‍–‍31
Brooklyn Dodgers 9760.618149‍–‍2948‍–‍31
St. Louis Cardinals 8173.52615½44‍–‍3437‍–‍39
Boston Braves 7678.49420½42‍–‍3534‍–‍43
Philadelphia Phillies 7381.47423½38‍–‍3935‍–‍42
Cincinnati Reds 6886.44228½35‍–‍4233‍–‍44
Pittsburgh Pirates 6490.41632½32‍–‍4532‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs 6292.40334½32‍–‍4530‍–‍47

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
        
AL New York Yankees 1 32 6134
NL New York Giants 51 62 1 3

Managerial changes

Off-season

TeamFormer ManagerNew Manager
Brooklyn Dodgers Burt Shotton Chuck Dressen
Chicago White Sox Red Corriden Paul Richards
Cleveland Indians Lou Boudreau Al López
Philadelphia Athletics Connie Mack Jimmy Dykes
St. Louis Cardinals Eddie Dyer Marty Marion

In-season

TeamFormer ManagerNew Manager
Boston Braves Billy Southworth Tommy Holmes
Chicago Cubs Frankie Frisch Phil Cavarretta

League leaders

American League

National League

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Rookie of the Year Willie Mays (NYG) Gil McDougald (NYY)
Most Valuable Player Roy Campanella (BKN) Yogi Berra (NYY)

Other awards

The Sporting News Awards
AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Player of the Year [2] Stan Musial (STL)—
Pitcher of the Year [3] Preacher Roe (BKN) Bob Feller (CLE)
Rookie of the Year [4] Willie Mays (NYG) Minnie Miñoso (CWS)
Manager of the Year [5] Leo Durocher (NYG)—
Executive of the Year [6] — George Weiss (NYY)

Baseball Hall of Fame

Home field attendance

Team nameWins%±Home attendance%±Per game
New York Yankees [7] 980.0%1,950,107−6.3%25,001
Cleveland Indians [8] 931.1%1,704,984−1.3%22,143
Chicago White Sox [9] 8135.0%1,328,23470.0%17,029
Boston Red Sox [10] 87−7.4%1,312,282−2.4%17,497
Brooklyn Dodgers [11] 979.0%1,282,6288.2%16,444
Detroit Tigers [12] 73−23.2%1,132,641−42.0%14,710
New York Giants [13] 9814.0%1,059,5395.0%13,584
St. Louis Cardinals [14] 813.8%1,013,429−7.3%12,828
Pittsburgh Pirates [15] 6412.3%980,590−15.9%12,572
Philadelphia Phillies [16] 73−19.8%937,658−23.0%12,177
Chicago Cubs [17] 62−3.1%894,415−23.3%11,616
Washington Senators [18] 62−7.5%695,167−0.6%9,147
Cincinnati Reds [19] 683.0%588,2689.2%7,640
Boston Braves [20] 76−8.4%487,475−48.4%6,250
Philadelphia Athletics [21] 7034.6%465,46950.2%5,892
St. Louis Browns [22] 52−10.3%293,79018.9%3,815

Events

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "These players integrated each MLB team". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Rookie of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  6. ↑ "MLB Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  7. ↑ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ↑ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Charlton's Baseball Chronology". www.baseballlibrary.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  24. 1 2 3 May 15 in Baseball History [ permanent dead link ]. Know More About Baseball]. Retrieved on May 15, 2019.
  25. ↑ Fenway Park Timeline. MLB.com. Retrieved on May 15, 2019.
  26. ↑ Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox Box Score, May 15, 1951. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on May 15, 2019.
  27. ↑ Firstman, Diane (May 16, 2016). "And all the Runs were Scored 2 by 2". valueoverreplacementgrit.com. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Strange and Unusual Plays". www.retrosheet.org. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  29. ↑ Mackin, Bob (2004). The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records. Canada: Greystone Books. p. 240. ISBN   9781553650386.
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