1957 in baseball

Last updated October 31, 2025

The following are the baseball events of the year 1957 throughout the world.

Champions

Major League Baseball

World Series: Milwaukee Braves over New York Yankees (4–3); Lew Burdette, MVP
All-Star Game, July 9 at Busch Stadium: American League, 6–5

Other champions

College World Series: California
Japan Series: Nishitetsu Lions over Yomiuri Giants (4–0–1)
Little League World Series: Monterrey Industrial, Monterrey, Mexico

Winter Leagues

Awards and honors

Baseball Hall of Fame
- Sam Crawford
- Joe McCarthy
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
- Hank Aaron (MIL, National)
- Mickey Mantle (NYY, American)
MLB Rookie of the Year Award
- Jack Sanford (PHI, National)
- Tony Kubek (NYY, American)
Cy Young Award
- Warren Spahn (MIL)
The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
- Ted Williams (BOS)
The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
- Warren Spahn (MIL, National)
- Billy Pierce (CWS, American)
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
- Ed Bouchee (PHI, National player)
- Tony Kubek (NYY, American player)
- Jack Sanford (PHI, pitcher)
The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
- Fred Hutchinson (STL)
Gold Glove Award
- (P) Bobby Shantz (NYY, AL)
- (C) Sherm Lollar (CWS, AL)
- (1B) Gil Hodges (BRO, NL)
- (2B) Nellie Fox (CWS, AL)
- (3B) Frank Malzone (BOS, AL)
- (SS) Roy McMillan (CIN, NL)
- (LF) Minnie Miñoso (CWS, AL)
- (CF) Willie Mays (NYG, NL)
- (RF) Al Kaline (DET, AL)

Statistical leaders

	American League		National League
Stat	Player	Total	Player	Total
AVG	Ted Williams (BOS)	.388	Stan Musial (STL)	.351
HR	Roy Sievers (WSH)	42	Hank Aaron (MIL)	44
RBI	Roy Sievers (WSH)	114	Hank Aaron (MIL)	132
W	Jim Bunning (DET) Billy Pierce (CWS)	20	Warren Spahn (MIL)	21
ERA	Bobby Shantz (NYY)	2.45	Johnny Podres (BRO)	2.66
K	Early Wynn (CLE)	184	Jack Sanford (PHI)	188

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	98	56	.636	—	48‍–‍29	50‍–‍27
Chicago White Sox	90	64	.584	8	45‍–‍32	45‍–‍32
Boston Red Sox	82	72	.532	16	44‍–‍33	38‍–‍39
Detroit Tigers	78	76	.506	20	45‍–‍32	33‍–‍44
Baltimore Orioles	76	76	.500	21	42‍–‍33	34‍–‍43
Cleveland Indians	76	77	.497	21½	40‍–‍37	36‍–‍40
Kansas City Athletics	59	94	.386	38½	37‍–‍40	22‍–‍54
Washington Senators	55	99	.357	43	28‍–‍49	27‍–‍50

Orioles

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1955–1960 American League seasons

American League

National League final standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	95	59	.617	—	45‍–‍32	50‍–‍27
St. Louis Cardinals	87	67	.565	8	42‍–‍35	45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	.545	11	43‍–‍34	41‍–‍36
Cincinnati Redlegs	80	74	.519	15	45‍–‍32	35‍–‍42
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	.500	18	38‍–‍39	39‍–‍38
New York Giants	69	85	.448	26	37‍–‍40	32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	.403	33	36‍–‍41	26‍–‍51
Chicago Cubs	62	92	.403	33	31‍–‍46	31‍–‍46

Dodgers

Cubs

Redlegs

Braves

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1953–1957 National League seasons

National League

Nippon Professional Baseball final standings

Central League final standings

Central League	G	W	L	T	Pct.	GB
Yomiuri Giants	130	74	53	3	.581	—
Osaka Tigers	130	73	54	3	.573	1.0
Chunichi Dragons	130	70	57	3	.569	4.0
Kokutetsu Swallows	130	58	68	4	.462	15.5
Hiroshima Carp	130	54	75	1	.419	21.0
Taiyo Whales	130	52	74	4	.415	21.5

Pacific League final standings

Pacific League	G	W	L	T	Pct.	GB
Nishitetsu Lions	132	83	44	5	.648	—
Nankai Hawks	132	78	53	1	.595	7.0
Mainichi Orions	132	75	52	5	.587	8.0
Hankyu Braves	132	71	55	6	.561	11.5
Toei Flyers	132	56	73	3	.436	28.0
Kintetsu Pearls	132	44	82	6	.356	38.5
Daiei Unions	132	41	89	2	.318	43.5

Events

January

January 9 – The Cleveland Indians release eight-time American League All-Star pitcher Bob Feller. Feller—who will be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility—first joined Cleveland in 1936 as a 17-year-old. He would go on to post a 266–162 record with 2,581 strikeouts over 18 years with the team, losing 3½ years due to military service in World War II. His uniform #19 will be retired this coming season.
January 14 – Future Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the baseball color line as the 20th century's first acknowledged Black player in "Organized Baseball" (1946) and Major League Baseball (1947), officially retires from the game at age 37. A seven-time All-Star and 1947 Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year, 1949 National League Valuable Player, and 1955 World Series champion, Robinson had been traded from the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom he starred for a decade, to the arch-rival New York Giants on December 13, 1956. Today, a month later, he notifies Giants president Horace Stoneham in writing of his decision, and a Look Magazine article will explain his reasoning on January 22. His retirement nullifies the trade, and he enters private business as an executive with Chock Full o'Nuts, a coffee manufacturer. Like Feller, Robinson will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility.^[1]^[2]

February

February 14 – Cuba (5–1) wins the ninth annual Caribbean Series, defeating runner-up Puerto Rico (3–3) by an 8–3 score. The Tigres de Marianao capture the championship for Cuba; outfielder Solly Drake is elected the series' Most Valuable Player.
February 19 – The New York Yankees and Kansas City Athletics—destined to be frequent and often controversial trading partners during Arnold Johnson's tenure as owner of the Athletics—consummate a 13-player transaction. The Bombers deal pitchers Rip Coleman, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan and Jack Urban (player to be named later, or PTBNL), infielders Milt Graff and Billy Hunter, and outfielder Irv Noren to Kansas City for pitchers Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz and Jack McMahan, first baseman Wayne Belardi, and infielders Clete Boyer (PTBNL) and Curt Roberts (PTBNL). Ditmar, Shantz and Boyer will have a hand in a combined seven AL pennants (1957–1958, 1960–1964) and three World Series (1958, 1961, 1962) titles. The players Kansas City receives make no material contributions to the Athletics' futile attempts to climb out of the second division.
February 21
- Owners Walter O'Malley of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philip K. Wrigley of the Chicago Cubs make an industry-changing "trade" of minor-league franchises. In the transaction, O'Malley acquires the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League and the Angels' ballpark, Los Angeles' Wrigley Field, in exchange for the Dodgers' Fort Worth Cats farm club in the Texas League and $3 million.^[3] The swap enables O'Malley to lay claim to at least 50 percent of the booming Los Angeles market as a potential new home for his Dodgers. (The PCL's Hollywood Stars also have territorial rights.) The franchise swap not only paves the way for the Dodgers' groundbreaking move to California, but it pays more dividends when O'Malley trades ownership of the Angels' old minor-league facility to the city for land in Chavez Ravine, where he will eventually build Dodger Stadium.^[4]
- The New York Giants, who are pioneering scouting young players in the Dominican Republic, sign 19-year-old amateur free agent and future record-setting pinch hitter Manny Mota.
February 26
- Bill Sarni, expected to be the Giants' starting catcher in 1957, is hospitalized after experiencing chest pain during spring training workouts in Phoenix. Diagnosed with a moderate heart attack, Sarni is forced to end his playing career at age 29; upon his recovery, he will serve as a New York coach in 1957 to protect his pension rights.^[5]
- The Giants reacquire first baseman Whitey Lockman from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm.

March

March 14 – The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox make one of their infrequent trades in which the Yankees obtain right-hander Eli Grba and outfielder Gordie Windhorn from Boston for outfielder Bill Renna.
March 21 – The St. Louis Cardinals trade colorful, legendary minor-league slugger Rocky Nelson to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Triple-A International League to complete an earlier transaction that netted the Redbirds pitcher Frank Barnes. Nelson, 32, is known for "terrorizing" minor-league hurlers but is chronically incapable of holding down a big-league job. The sale to Toronto turns out in Nelson's favor, however, when he wins his third International League Most Valuable Player Award of the 1950s and second Triple Crown with the 1958 Leafs—and merits one more MLB chance, when he will win a roster spot with the 1959–1961 Pittsburgh Pirates and a 1960 World Series ring as a platoon first baseman.

April

April 5 – The Philadelphia Phillies acquire slick-fielding shortstop Humberto "Chico" Fernández from the Brooklyn Dodgers for $75,000 and five players, including pitchers Ron Negray and Ben Flowers (PTBNL), first baseman Tim Harkness, and veteran outfielder/pinch hitter Elmer Valo. Fernández starts 145 games during 1957, becoming the Phils' first Latin American regular player.
April 16 – On Opening Day of the National League season, the New York Giants reacquire catcher Ray Katt, along with third baseman Ray Jablonski, from the Chicago Cubs for journeyman southpaw Dick Littlefield and outfielder Bob Lennon.
April 18 – New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses proposes a new 78-acre (320,000 m²) tract in Flushing Meadows as a site for a new National League baseball stadium. The plan, submitted to mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., includes a 50,000-seat stadium with a plastic dome to be built by the parks department.^[6] Shea Stadium—minus a dome—is eventually built on the Flushing Meadows site; it opens in 1964.
April 20 – The St. Louis Cardinals atone for an ill-advised 1956 Frank Lane trade, sending weak-hitting outfielder Bobby Del Greco and left-handed pitcher Ed Mayer to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Jim King. The Cards had obtained Del Greco from the Pittsburgh Pirates even up for outfielder Bill Virdon 11 months earlier, but he had batted only .215 in a St. Louis uniform.
April 21 – In the first inning of a 3–1 loss to the Milwaukee Braves at Milwaukee County Stadium, the Cincinnati Redlegs are involved in a bizarre play. With Don Hoak on second and Gus Bell on first, Wally Post hits a ground ball to Milwaukee shortstop Johnny Logan. Hoak breaks up a potential double play by fielding the ball himself and flipping it to Logan. Hoak is called out for interference (contact with a batted ball before a fielder touched it), but Post is given a single on the play. The day before, Johnny Temple let Bell's ground ball hit him with the same result, Temple being called out for interference and Bell being awarded a single. The two incidents prompt league presidents Warren Giles and Will Harridge to jointly announce a rule change that declared both the runner and batter out if the runner intentionally interfered with a batted ball, with no runners allowed to advance.
April 22 – John Irvin Kennedy becomes the first black player in Philadelphia Phillies history, entering the game in the top of the 8th inning as a pinch runner for Solly Hemus.
April 24
- The New York City Board of Estimate fails to act on Robert Moses' Flushing Meadows stadium plan as outlined by mayor Robert Wagner less than a week ago. It's reported that the board "needs more time" to study the plan.
- In the fourth inning of a Chicago Cubs 9–5 loss to the Cincinnati Redlegs at Crosley Field, Cubs pitcher Moe Drabowsky claims to be hit on the foot by a Joe Nuxhall pitch. Afterwards, teammate Dick Drott borrows a wheelchair from a fan and wheels Drabowsky to first base, and immediately is ejected by home plate umpire Stan Landes. Drabowsky is eventually called out on strikes.
April 26 – Former team owner Walter Briggs Jr. resigns as general manager of the Detroit Tigers after disagreements with the Tigers' new board of directors. He is replaced by John McHale, 35, the club's farm system director.
April 27 – Latin American baseball mourns at the funeral for all-time great player and manager Lázaro Salazar in Mexico City. The roster of the Diablos Rojos del México, decked out in full uniform, act as pall bearers for their late manager, who died suddenly two days earlier at age 45 after being stricken in the club's dugout. (See Deaths entry for April 25.) Salazar will be honored by membership in the national baseball halls of fame in Mexico, Venezuela and his native Cuba. A commemorative plaque in Monterrey will call Salazar "the greatest manager there has ever been in Mexico. The first to conquer seven pennants in a row. An extraordinary pitcher, first baseman and outfielder."^[7]
April 29 – The Washington Senators trade pitchers Bob Chakales and Dean Stone to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Russ Kemmerer, shortstop Milt Bolling and outfielder Faye Throneberry.

May

May 1
- The Pittsburgh Pirates deal 1956 All-Star first baseman Dale Long and outfielder Lee Walls to the Chicago Cubs for first baseman Dee Fondy and second baseman Gene Baker. Long had set an MLB record in May 1956 by smashing home runs in eight consecutive games.
- Wally Post's two-run single is decisive as the visiting Cincinnati Redlegs defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8–6, in 16 innings at Connie Mack Stadium.
May 2 – In another 16-inning affair, this time at Ebbets Field, Don Blasingame's single plates the winning run and Larry Jackson fires four scoreless innings in relief, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3–2 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
May 7
- Two batters into the game at Cleveland Stadium, Indians' pitcher Herb Score is hit in the face by a line drive by New York Yankee Gil McDougald, the ball breaking numerous bones and leaving him bloodied. McDougald vows to quit if Score is blinded as a result. Score regains his 20/20 vision, but will miss the remainder of the 1957 season. With Bob Lemon pitching the rest of the way, the Indians defeat the Yankees 2–1.
- The 4–16 Washington Senators make the year's first managerial change, dismissing Chuck Dressen and replacing him with 1947 World Series hero Cookie Lavagetto.

May 10 – Mayor George Christopher of San Francisco confers with Horace Stoneham on a possible shift of the New York Giants franchise to the West Coast.
May 15 – The Cleveland Indians erupt for three runs in the top of the 16th inning to defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 11–8, at Memorial Stadium. Cal McLish, Cleveland's seventh pitcher of the day, gets the win.
May 21
- Hosting, and dropping, another 16-inning game, the Baltimore Orioles waste a 15-frame, one-run-allowed effort from starter Ray Moore, when the Detroit Tigers' Reno Bertoia knocks in Paul Foytack with the tie-breaking run off reliever Mike Fornieles, giving Detroit a 2–1 victory. Moore had furnished the Baltimore run with a third-inning homer, his second long ball in two games and third of 1957.
- Citing it as a "Men Only" room, the Boston Red Sox deny Doris O'Donnell a seat in the press room. O'Donnell is a reporter covering the Cleveland Indians on their road trip to Boston.
May 23 – The Chicago Cubs reacquire pitcher Don Elston from the Brooklyn Dodgers for pitchers Jackie Collum and Vito Valentinetti. Elston will become the Cubs' ace relief pitcher beginning in 1958 and an NL All-Star in 1959.
May 28 – The National League approves the proposed moves of the Giants and Dodgers to the West Coast, provided both clubs make their request before October 1 and move at the same time.
May 29 – New York City mayor Robert Wagner says he plans to speak with the Giants and Dodgers about the proposed moves, but warns that the city will not be "blackjacked" into anything.
May 30 – Walter O'Malley rejects an offer from a Queens group to buy the Dodgers.

June

June 1 – The slugging Cincinnati Redlegs, who tied an MLB record for team homers in a season in 1956, overwhelm the Chicago Cubs at Crosley Field, 22–2. Among Cincinnati's 22 hits are seven home runs, including two from future Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson and one from winning pitcher Hal Jeffcoat, a former Cub and former outfielder.
June 9 – Ernie Banks belts his 100th career home run, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7–3.
June 13
- For the second time in 1957, Ted Williams slugs three home runs in a game, connecting today off fellow future Hall-of-Famers Early Wynn and Bob Lemon in the Boston Red Sox' 9–3 victory over the Indians at Cleveland Stadium.^[8] Early this year, on May 8, the 38-year-old slugger had belted three long balls at Chicago's Comiskey Park against the White Sox.^[9] While Williams will hit 521 career homers, he'll have only three three-home-run games; these two and one on July 14, 1946.^[10]
- A donnybrook breaks out at Ebbets Field in the second inning. After the Milwaukee Braves' Bill Bruton hits his second home run of the day, Don Drysdale of the Brooklyn Dodgers plunks Johnny Logan. The enraged Braves shortstop charges the mound, but it's the on-deck hitter, Eddie Mathews, who catches up to Drysdale and punches him in the ensuing melee. Logan and Drysdale are ejected, Mathews stays in the game, and the Braves win 8–5.
- The American League has a beanball-induced brawl of its own. In the second inning at Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox' Larry Doby takes exception when a wild pitch from the New York Yankees' Art Ditmar sails over his head. The benches clear and a 28-minute melee ensues; the White Sox' Doby and Walt Dropo are ejected for fighting, along with the Yankees' Billy Martin and Enos Slaughter. Ditmar stays in the game and goes eight innings, gaining credit for the Bombers' 4–3 win.^[11] Martin's ejection comes in his penultimate appearance as a player in a Yankee uniform; he'll be traded away two days later.
- The Baltimore Orioles trade third baseman/outfielder Dick Williams to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Jim Busby.
June 14
- The Detroit Tigers deal first baseman Earl Torgeson to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Dave Philley.
- The Boston Red Sox trade infielder and 1950 batting champion Billy Goodman to the Baltimore Orioles for relief pitcher Mike Fornieles.
June 15
- The Milwaukee Braves add the final missing piece to their lineup, acquiring future Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman Red Schoendienst from the New York Giants for three players: pitcher Ray Crone, second baseman Danny O'Connell and outfielder Bobby Thomson, the erstwhile (1951) Giant hero. Schoendienst, 34, bats .310 in 93 games as a Brave, and helps them win the 1957 World Series. He also contributes to their 1958 NL pennant.
- A month after the highly publicized "Copacabana incident" at the Manhattan nightclub, the New York Yankees trade second baseman Billy Martin, along with pitcher Ralph Terry, infielder Woodie Held and outfielder Bob Martyn, to the Kansas City Athletics in exchange for pitcher Ryne Duren and outfielders Harry Simpson and Jim Pisoni. Press coverage has implicated Martin and Yankee stars Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer in a May 15 brawl involving other customers at the club, but only Martin will be punished via the trade to the lowly Athletics.^[12] The banishment will cause Martin to hold a grudge against his former mentor and father figure, Casey Stengel.
June 17 – The Washington Senators sign teenaged amateur free agent Jim Kaat, a freshman at Hope College of Holland, Michigan. The left-hander will win 283 games and 16 Gold Glove Awards over 25 MLB seasons and a 2022 berth in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

June 21 – At Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals rookie phenom Von McDaniel—making his first MLB start—allows only two hits and throws a complete game, 2–0 shutout against the defending league champion Brooklyn Dodgers. Von, 18, is the younger brother of the Cardinals' Lindy McDaniel. Today's game is his third big-league appearance since he signed as a bonus baby out of an Oklahoma high school in May. His season so far: three games pitched, a 2–0 won–lost mark, 17 innings pitched, four hits and no runs (earned or unearned) allowed, three bases on balls and 13 strikeouts.
June 26 – The Baltimore Orioles sign 18-year-old amateur free agent pitcher Milt Pappas, a recent graduate of Cooley High School, Detroit.
June 28 – Veteran right-hander Ray Moore throws the Orioles' fourth straight shutout, blanking the Cleveland Indians on three hits, 6–0, at Memorial Stadium. His "CG SO" follows similar efforts from Hal Brown, Billy Loes and Connie Johnson. The Baltimore staff's scoreless streak will reach 46 innings—longest in MLB in 1957—until it's broken with two out in the fifth inning the following day, also against Cleveland.^[13]

July

July 2 – Left-fielder Lee Walls hits for the cycle and drives in four runs, but his Chicago Cubs drop an 8–6 decision to the Cincinnati Redlegs at Wrigley Field.^[14]
July 4 – At the season's unofficial half-way point, there's a five-team race in the National League: Cincinnati (44–32) holds the lead, but St. Louis, Milwaukee, Brooklyn and Philadelphia are all within three games from first place. In the American League, the New York Yankees (48–26) boast a three-game edge over the Chicago White Sox. The Bombers went 21–9 during the month of June.
July 6
- Seeking a right-handed hitting first baseman to temporarily replace the sidelined Joe Adcock, the Milwaukee Braves purchase the contract of Vernal "Nippy" Jones from Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League. Former big-leaguer Jones, 32, who's been playing in the high minors since May 1952, will stick with the Braves all season and "make his mark" during a pinch-hitting appearance in Game 4 of the 1957 World Series exactly three months from today.
- Claude Osteen makes his major league debut. He appears in mop up duty, going only two-thirds of an inning in relief for the Cincinnati Redlegs in a 17–3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

July 9 – At Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park), home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the American League defeats the National League, 6–5, in the All-Star Game. Jim Bunning of the Detroit Tigers—the future Hall of Famer and United States Senator—goes three perfect innings to gain the win.
- The run-up to the game is marked by the ballot stuffing campaign by fans of the Cincinnati Redlegs, which results in the election of seven Cincinnati regulars — catcher Ed Bailey, second baseman Johnny Temple, third baseman Don Hoak, shortstop Roy McMillan, and the entire starting outfield of Frank Robinson (left), Gus Bell (center) and Wally Post (right) — to the NL's starting lineup. The only exception, first baseman George Crowe, is beaten out by St. Louis icon Stan Musial. After an investigation, Commissioner Ford Frick replaces Bell and Post with Willie Mays (center field) and Hank Aaron (right field); Bell remains on the NL team as a reserve, while an injury keeps Post on the sidelines.
July 11 – The season's unofficial second half begins with another brushback pitch and another bench-clearing brawl. Today, in the seventh at Ebbets Field, Raúl Sánchez of the Redlegs knocks down Jim Gilliam of the Dodgers and the full-scale melee commences. When the dust clears, umpire Jocko Conlan tosses Gilliam and Sánchez, plus Brooklyn's Charlie Neal and Cincinnati's Don Hoak. Two batters later, Duke Snider slugs a two-run homer off the Redlegs reliever Tom Acker, the difference-maker in a 5–4 Dodger victory.^[15]
July 18 – New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham says his team will quit New York City after the season, adding that he's not heard anything more from San Francisco and that his move is not contingent on the Dodgers' fate. He sees a new stadium or joint occupancy of Yankee Stadium as the only reason for the Giants to stay in New York.
July 20 – Before 6,758 fans at Ebbets Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7–5. Duke Snider belts his 300th career home run; it's his 24th long ball of the season, and his eighth in ten games since the All-Star break.
July 23 – New York Yankees superstar Mickey Mantle hits for the cycle in a 10–6 triumph over the visiting Chicago White Sox; it will be the only "cycle" of Mantle's 18-season career.^[16] His home run, a 465 ft (142 m) blast off Bob Keegan, almost "leaves Yankee Stadium" according to a newspaper headline.^[17]
July 26 – Only three days after his big day against the White Sox, Mickey Mantle hits his 200th career home run. A solo shot, it comes at Yankee Stadium in the ninth inning of a loss to the Detroit Tigers' Jim Bunning, like Mantle a future Hall of Famer.
July 28 – In his seventh MLB start, teenager Von McDaniel of the St. Louis Cardinals again makes headlines when he throws a one-hit, 4–0 shutout against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, improving his record to 5–2 and lowering his earned run average to 2.67. A second-inning double by Gene Baker ultimately deprives McDaniel of both a no-hitter and perfect game.^[18] The 18-year-old Oklahoman will post a 7–5 (3.22 ERA) record for this season, but in 1958 he will experience severe control problems that will end his pitching career.

August

August 1 – Gil Hodges belts his 13th career grand slam to establish a new National League record. It also proves to be the last grand slam in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
August 2 – Having just lost the sixth of what will be an eight-game losing streak, the Pittsburgh Pirates (36–67 and seventh in the NL) replace manager Bobby Bragan with coach Danny Murtaugh, 39, a former Pirate second baseman. The Bucs will go 26–25 under Murtaugh, and he'll manage them for the next seven full seasons, leading them to the 1960 World Series title.
August 3 – Lou Boudreau is fired as manager of the Kansas City Athletics, losers of 11 of their last 13 games and eighth in the American League. Coach Harry Craft takes the reins.
August 19 – With Horace Stoneham citing poor attendance and San Francisco promising to build a new stadium in the Bayview area, the New York Giants' board of directors votes 8–1 to move to California in 1958. The only dissenting vote is by M. Donald Grant, who would go on to be one of the founders of the New York Mets.
August 20 – Bob Keegan of the Chicago White Sox no-hits the Washington Senators 6–0 in the second game of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park. The no-hitter is the first by a White Sox pitcher since Bill Dietrich in 1937.
August 23 – Ambidextrous Ángel Maciás, pitching exclusively right-handed, hurls a perfect game in the championship match of the 1957 Little League World Series at Williamsport, enabling Monterrey, Mexico, to become the first team from outside the U.S. to win the LLWS. The Monterrey squad, comprising boys from the factory town, will be fêted by the presidents of both Mexico and the United States.

September

September 1 – The New York Yankees are awarded pitcher Sal Maglie, 40, via a waiver claim from the Brooklyn Dodgers.
September 2 – In the first game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field, Frank Torre of the Milwaukee Braves ties a National League record by scoring six runs in the Braves' 23–10 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Braves' 26 hits are the most by a team in one game in 1957.^[13]
September 5 & 6 – In consecutive days, pitchers hit walk-off home runs—the only time this occurs in MLB history. On September 5 in The Bronx, Bob Grim slugs a three-run homer with two out in the ninth, enabling the New York Yankees to beat the Boston Red Sox, 5–2;^[19] then, the next night, Chicago White Sox reliever Dixie Howell follows suit, hitting a solo blast against the Kansas City Athletics with one out in the ninth for a 4–3 victory at Comiskey Park.^[20]^[21]
September 8 – The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants battle one last time before each team heads to California. The Giants defeat the Dodgers 3–2 at the Polo Grounds, behind starter Curt Barclay and closer Marv Grissom. Hank Sauer has the key hit, a two-run homer off losing hurler Don Drysdale.
September 14 – Ernie Banks hits three home runs, helping Chicago Cubs beat the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, 7–3. It's the second time in Banks' career he's hit three homers in a game.^[22]
September 21 – The Baltimore Orioles purchase the contract of future Hall-of-Famer Hoyt Wilhelm from the St. Louis Cardinals. Knuckle-baller Wilhelm, 35, has 15 years, a no-hitter, and seven All-Star team selections remaining in his 21-season MLB career.
September 23 – In their fifth season since leaving Boston, the Milwaukee Braves clinch the National League pennant at County Stadium after Braves slugger (and eventual 1957 NL MVP) Hank Aaron clubs a two-run walk-off home run off Billy Muffett in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Milwaukee a 4–2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The clincher is witnessed by 40,926 fans during a season in which the Braves draw 2.21 million fans, most-ever in the 82-year-long history of the Senior Circuit.
September 24 – In the last game at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field, 6,702 fans watch Dodgers' lefty Danny McDevitt prevail over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2–0. Gil Hodges has Brooklyn's last RBI.
September 29
- With 1895 New York Giants manager Jack Doyle, now age 87, among the 11,606 looking on, the Giants lose their final game at the Polo Grounds, 9–1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates pitcher Bob Friend defeats Johnny Antonelli in the historic contest, and fans storm the field for souvenirs as soon as Dusty Rhodes grounds to Pittsburgh shortstop Dick Groat for the final out.
- Ted Williams goes two for two against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, raising his batting average to .388 before leaving for a pinch runner. Williams, 39 years old and the last man to bat over .400 (.406 in 1941), captures his fifth AL batting championship and first since 1948. Sidelined for two weeks and 14 games by pneumonia in September, he manages to end the season with 38 home runs, second in the Junior Circuit, four fewer than the Washington Senators' Roy Sievers.
- The Cleveland Indians fire Kerby Farrell after his rookie season as their manager, which sees Cleveland (76–77, sixth in the American League) fall under .500 for the first time since 1946. Bobby Bragan, fired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in August, is named Farrell's successor.

October

October 6 – The New York Yankees are poised to take a three-games-to-one lead over the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series, ahead 5–4 in the tenth inning of Game 4 at County Stadium, when the Braves send up Nippy Jones to pinch-hit for Warren Spahn leading off the home half of the frame. A low, inside pitch from Tommy Byrne skids past Yankee catcher Yogi Berra and rolls to the backstop, seemingly Ball 1. However, Jones protests to umpire Augie Donatelli that he was hit on the foot by Byrne's offering and should be awarded first base. The polish from Jones' right shoe on the retrieved baseball proves his argument. Jones takes his base, and the "shoe polish incident" opens the floodgates. The Braves go on to score three runs, win 7–5 on Eddie Mathews' home run, and tie the Fall Classic at two games each.^[23] The incident is cited as the turning point when Milwaukee goes on to win the world championship in seven games. The Game 4 plate appearance is Jones' last as a big-leaguer.
October 7 – The Los Angeles City Council approves the Chavez Ravine site for Dodger Stadium by a vote of ten to four.
October 8 – Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley announces that the Dodgers will be moving to Los Angeles for the 1958 season. New York would not have a National League team again until the expansion New York Mets began play in 1962.
October 10 – The Milwaukee Braves defeat the New York Yankees, 5–0, in Game 7 of the World Series to win the franchise's second World Series, and the only Fall Classic it will win during its 13-year tenure in Milwaukee. This is the Braves' first World Series win since the "Miracle" Boston Braves of 1914. They also become the first team to win a championship after relocating. Braves pitcher Lew Burdette is named World Series Most Valuable Player with three complete game victories, including two shutouts. He is the first pitcher to throw two shutouts in the World Series since Christy Mathewson in 1905.
October 15 – A final potential roadblock to the New York Giants' relocation falls by the wayside, when the Giants and Boston Red Sox swap ownership of owned-and-operated minor-league franchises. When Boston exchanges its San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League for the Giants' Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, Horace Stoneham gains territorial rights to San Francisco.
October 16 – Hank Greenberg, general manager of the Cleveland Indians for eight seasons, is notified by the Tribe's board of directors that his contract will not be renewed. The Hall of Fame slugger will remain a minority owner of the franchise through 1958.

November

November 7 – Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Jack Sanford, who won 19 games (losing eight), led his league in strikeouts (188), and posted an earned run average of 3.08, wins 1957's National League Rookie of the Year Award.
November 12 – "Trader" Frank Lane resigns as general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and is replaced by Bing Devine. Lane, 62, is then hired to succeed Hank Greenberg as GM of the Cleveland Indians, where he will enhance his reputation as a compulsive wheeler-dealer through the end of the 1960 season.
November 14 – The Milwaukee Braves' Hank Aaron, 23, who led the National League in runs scored, homers, RBI, and total bases, wins what will be the only NL MVP Award of a 23-year career. Batting champion Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, 36, finishes second in BBWAA balloting.
November 20
- After playing 73 games for the Kansas City Athletics since being acquired from the New York Yankees on June 15, second baseman Billy Martin is traded for the second time in five months as part of a 13-player deal between his Athletics and the Detroit Tigers. In the transaction, Kansas City sends Martin, pitchers Mickey McDermott and Tom Morgan, catcher Tim Thompson, and outfielders Lou Skizas and Gus Zernial to Detroit for pitchers Duke Maas and John Tsitouris, catcher Frank House, first basemen Kent Hadley and Jim McManus ("PTBNL"), and outfielders Jim Small and Bill Tuttle.
- Shigeo Nagashima, a slugger star at Rikkyo University, signs with the Yomiuri Giants for a record bonus of $69,000.
November 22:
- Mickey Mantle barely edges Ted Williams, 233 to 209 votes, to win the American League MVP Award. Mantle batted .365 with 34 home runs for the first-place New York Yankees, while Williams, of the third-place Boston Red Sox, led the AL with a .388 average and a stunning .731 slugging percentage. Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey fumes at the news, noting that two Chicago writers listed the 39-year-old Williams in the ninth and tenth places on their ballots.
- After 22 seasons of work, National League umpire Larry Goetz is unwillingly "retired" by league president Warren Giles. The discharged arbitrator had been critical of the Senior Circuit because of its refusal to include umpires in the players' pension fund.
November 26 – Yoshio Tanaka, an American citizen of Japanese descent, is named manager of the Hanshin Tigers, becoming the first American to manage a NPB club.
November 28 – Milwaukee Braves pitcher Warren Spahn, who posted a 21–11 record with 111 strikeouts and a 3.49 ERA, wins the 1957 MLB Cy Young Award almost unanimously. His only competition for the title is Dick Donovan of the Chicago White Sox (16–6, 88, 3.35), who receives one vote. Only one pitcher is selected each season for this prestigious pitching award until 1967, when each league will name a winner.
November 29 – New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. forms a four-member committee to seek the relocation of existing National League teams to replace the departed Dodgers and Giants.^[24] The Cincinnati Redlegs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates all reject the city's overtures.

December

December 2 – Three Pacific Coast League franchises are forced to relocate when the Brooklyn Dodgers confirm their long-rumored move to Los Angeles for the 1958 season and the New York Giants announce their move to San Francisco. The Hollywood Stars move from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, the Los Angeles Angels transfer to Spokane, Washington, and the San Francisco Seals move to Phoenix, Arizona.
December 3 – The Chicago White Sox deal future Hall-of-Famer Larry Doby, 33, to the Baltimore Orioles, along with pitchers Jack Harshman and Russ Heman and first baseman Jim Marshall, for pitcher Ray Moore, infielder Billy Goodman and outfielder Tito Francona.
December 4 – In another seismic trade, the White Sox trade outfielder Minnie Miñoso, a future Hall-of-Famer and fan favorite, to the Cleveland Indians, along with journeyman infielder Fred Hatfield, for another Cooperstown-bound player, pitcher Early Wynn, and outfielder Al Smith.
December 5
- The Cincinnati Redlegs trade 19-year-old prospect Curt Flood and fellow outfielder Joe Taylor to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Marty Kutyna, Willard Schmidt and Ted Wieand. Centerfielder Flood will become a three-time National League All-Star, a seven-time Gold Glove Award winner, and two-time World Series champion with St. Louis—then go on to roil the baseball establishment with his legal challenge of the reserve clause.
- The Milwaukee Braves deal southpaw Taylor Phillips and catcher Sammy Taylor to the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Don Kaiser and Bob Rush and outfielder Eddie Haas. Veteran right-hander Rush is a two-time former NL All-Star.
December 7 – The Associated Press and the BBWAA overwhelmingly vote the New York Yankees' versatile Tony Kubek as the American League's 1957 Rookie of the Year. Though he will become known primarily as a shortstop, Kubek has spent his rookie campaign playing outfield (50 games) and third base (38 games) as well as 41 games at short. Boston Red Sox third baseman Frank Malzone, the only other "ROTY" candidate, receives one vote.
December 9
- The Pittsburgh Pirates deal pitcher Bob Purkey to the Cincinnati Redlegs for southpaw Don Gross. Purkey will help Cincinnati win the 1961 NL pennant, then go 23–5 the following year.
- The New York Yankees unconditionally release infielder and five-time World Series champion Jerry Coleman after nine seasons with the Bombers. Coleman, a 33-year-old United States Marine Corps combat veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, will serve three seasons in the Yankees' front office before beginning a long baseball broadcasting career that culminates with a Ford C. Frick Award.
December 16 – The Cincinnati Redlegs keep dealing, acquiring left-handed starter Harvey Haddix from the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Wally Post.
December 17 – The Boston Red Sox release second baseman Gene Mauch and name him manager of their new Triple-A farm club, the Minneapolis Millers. Mauch, 32, will enjoy two successful seasons in Minneapolis before beginning his MLB managing career in April 1960 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
December 28 – After a Christmas hiatus, the Redlegs make their final major trade of 1957 by sending 11-year team veteran and slugger Ted Kluszewski to the Pittsburgh Pirates for another 33-year-old first baseman, Dee Fondy. Injured for much of 1957, "Big Klu" is still a popular, four-time All-Star and author of 251 homers in a Cincinnati uniform.
December 30 – The only Louisiana-based team in the Texas League, the Shreveport Sports, withdraws from the Double-A circuit. The Sports have remained all-White since the league integrated in 1952, and a 1956 state law banning interracial athletic events in Louisiana has forced the seven other Texas League clubs to leave their Black players home while visiting Shreveport during 1957. The Sports will be inactive in 1958, then join the segregated Southern Association in 1959.^[25]^[26]^[27]

Movies

Fear Strikes Out