Joseph Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Born to Italian immigrants in California, he is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time and is best known for setting the record for the longest hitting streak in baseball, which still stands today.
Mickey Charles Mantle, nicknamed "The Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees, primarily as a center fielder. Mantle is regarded by many as being one of the best players and sluggers of all time. He was an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player three times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New York Mets. Nicknamed "the Ol' Perfessor", he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
Philip Francis Rizzuto, nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
Ridgewood Park, also known as Wallace's Ridgewood Park or the Wallace Grounds, and frequently confused with Grauer's Ridgewood Park, was a baseball ground in Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Both Wallace's and Grauer's are shown in Belcher Hyde's Map of Newtown in 1915. The baseball field was part of a larger entertainment area bounded Wyckoff Avenue, Covert Street, Halsey Street, and Irving Avenue. The baseball field was southwest of the Long Island Rail Road's Montauk Branch tracks. Eldert Street, although depicted on the map as running through the baseball grounds, was not cut through southwest of the railroad tracks and the road remains interrupted there today. Originally the park was in Queens County, before its incorporation into New York City in 1899. This facilitated Sunday baseball playing, including the charging of admission, beyond the reach of Sabbath enforcers from the then-city of Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams. They were one of the prominent independent teams prior to World War I before organized league play began.
Curtis Thomas Simmons was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1947 to 1950 and 1952 to 1967. Along with right-hander Robin Roberts, Simmons was one of the twin anchors of the starting rotation of the "Whiz Kids", the Philadelphia Phillies' 1950 National League (NL) championship team. A three-time MLB All-Star, he also played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and California Angels.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1939 throughout the world.
Old-Timers' Day refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired players play in an exhibition game, usually lasting about three innings.
Dexter Park was a public park located in the neighborhood of Woodhaven, Queens, New York City, just north of Eldert Lane and Jamaica Avenue, not far from the borough line with Brooklyn. It had a long early history starting in the 19th century as a recreational park, which replaced a racetrack.
The 1941 New York Yankees season was the 39th season for the team. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. The team finished with a record of 101–53, winning their 12th pennant, finishing 17 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. In the World Series, they beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in 5 games.
The 1952 New York Yankees season was the 50th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 95–59, winning their 19th pennant, finishing 2 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in 7 games. This was their fourth consecutive World Series win, tying the record they had set during 1936–1939. It was also the first season that the Yankees aired their games exclusively on WPIX-TV, an arrangement which would last until the end of the 1998 season. The channel was also the home of the baseball Giants broadcasts from 1949, thus it was the first time ever that the channel had broadcast both the AL and NL baseball teams from the city. In 2016, when WPIX resumed FTA broadcasts of Yankees games in association with the current cable broadcaster YES Network, the channel returned to being the sole FTA broadcaster for the city's MLB franchises, as it is also currently the FTA broadcaster for the New York Mets.
The 1949 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 18 through October 15, 1949. Both the American League (AL) and National League (NL) had eight teams, with each team playing a 154-game schedule. The New York Yankees won the World Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games. Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox and Jackie Robinson of the Dodgers won the Most Valuable Player Award in the AL and NL, respectively.
The 1939 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 17 to October 8, 1939. The Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Yankees then defeated the Reds in the World Series, four games to none. The Yankees became the first team to win the World Series four years in a row.
The 1947 Major League Baseball season, was contested from April 15 through October 6, 1947. The American League and National League both featured eight teams, with each team playing a 154-game schedule. The World Series was contested between the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in seven games, capturing the 11th championship in franchise history.
The 1941 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the ninth playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 8, 1941, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, the home of the Detroit Tigers of the American League.
The 1941 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 14 to October 6, 1941. The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Yankees then defeated the Dodgers in the World Series, four games to one.
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives established players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warm climates of Arizona and Florida to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play.
The Giants–Yankees rivalry is a Major League Baseball rivalry between the San Francisco Giants of the National League and the New York Yankees of the American League. It was particularly intense when both teams not only inhabited New York City but also, for a time, the same ball park. During that era the opportunities for them to meet could only have been in a World Series. Both teams kicked off the first Subway Series between the two leagues in 1921.
The Brooklyn Bay Parkways was a semi-professional baseball team based out of Erasmus Field of Erasmus Hall High School. Owned by Joe Rosner, brother of Max Rosner, owner of the Brooklyn Bushwicks, as well as Nat Strong, a prominent figure in organizing various Negro League teams, the Bay Parkways belonged to the Inter-City Baseball Association and played in the local negro league as well as various other local teams. Former players for the Bay Parkways include former Major League stars such as Carl Hubbell, Babe Ruth, Hal Schumacher, Pete Gray, and Blondy Ryan.
