1945 in baseball

Champions

Major League Baseball

Other champions

Awards and honors

MLB statistical leaders
TypeNameStatNameStat
AVGSnuffy Stirnweiss NYY.309Phil Cavarretta CHC.355
HRVern Stephens SLB24Tommy Holmes BSB28
RBINick Etten NYY111Dixie Walker BKN124
WinsHal Newhouser DET25Red Barrett SLC23
ERAHal Newhouser DET1.81Ray Prim CHC2.40
KsHal Newhouser DET212Preacher Roe PIT140

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings
American League
RankClubWinsLossesWin %  GB
1stDetroit Tigers88  65.575   --
2ndWashington Senators87  67.565  1.5
3rdSt. Louis Browns81  70.536  6
4thNew York Yankees81  71.533  6.5
5thCleveland Indians73  72.503  11
6thChicago White Sox71  78.477  15
7thBoston Red Sox71  83.461  17.5
8thPhiladelphia Athletics52  98.347  34.5

National League final standings
National League
RankClubWinsLossesWin %  GB
1stChicago Cubs98  56.636   --
2ndSt. Louis Cardinals95  59.617  3
3rdBrooklyn Dodgers87  67.565  11
4thPittsburgh Pirates82  72.532  16
5thNew York Giants78  74.513  19
6thBoston Braves67  85.441  30
7thCincinnati Reds61  93.396  37
8thPhiladelphia Phillies46  108.299  52

Negro league baseball final standings

Negro American League final standings
Negro American League
ClubWinsLossesWin %  GB
Cleveland Buckeyes 53 16 .768
Birmingham Black Barons 39 30 .565
Chicago American Giants 39 35 .527
Kansas City Monarchs 32 30 .516
Cincinnati Clowns 30 39 .435
Memphis Red Sox 17 61 .218

Negro National League final standings
Negro National League
ClubWinsLossesWin %  GB
Washington Homestead Grays 32 13 .711 ---
Baltimore Elite Giants 25 17 .595 5.5
Newark Eagles 21 17 .553 7.5
Philadelphia Stars 21 19 .525 8.5
New York Cubans 6 20 .231 16.5
New York Black Yankees 7 26 .212 19

Events

January–July
  • April 17 – Amputee Pete Gray makes his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns.
  • May 17 – For the fourth time in four days, every American League game was postponed due to rain.
  • July 21 – The Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia A's battle for 24 innings, ending the game tied at one. Tigers starter Les Mueller pitches 19.2 innings, while his A's counterpart, Russ Christopher, lasts thirteen.

August–September

October–December

Date unknown
  • The Mexican Winter League is born with the name Liga Invernal de Sonora

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January
  • January   3 – George Stone, 68, left fielder for the Boston Americans and St. Louis Browns during seven seasons spanning 1903–1910, who led the American League in his 1905 rookie season with 187 hits, and topped the league in 1906 with a .358 batting average, total bases (291), on-base percentage (.417) and slugging percentage (.501), while finishing second in hits (208) and triples (20), third in RBI (71), and seventh in home runs (6).
  • January   5 – Bill Hobbs, shortstop who played with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1913 and 1916 seasons.
  • January 11 – Harry McNeal, 67, pitcher for the 1901 Cleveland Bluebirds of the American League.
  • January 14 – Ted Blankenship, 43, a hard throwing pitcher who played from 1922 through 1930 for the Chicago White Sox.
  • January 17 – Roy Radebaugh, 63, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1911 season.
  • January 17 – Rube Ward, 65, backup outfielder for the 1902 Brooklyn Superbas of the National League.
  • January 18 – Mike Fitzgerald, 53, outfielder who played for the New York Highlanders in 1911 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1918.
  • January 18 – Gene Lansing, 47, pitcher who played briefly for the 1922 Boston Braves of the National League.

February
  • February   1 – Tubby Spencer, 61, backup catcher who played for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers in all or parts of nine seasons spanning 1905–1918.
  • February 11 – Ham Iburg, 71, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1902, who later posted three 20-win consecutive seasons at the Pacific Coast League from 1903–1905.
  • February 13 – Jocko Halligan, 76, backup outfielder who played from 1890 through 1892 in the National League for the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Buffalo Bisons.
  • February 14 – Jim Curtiss, 83, outfielder who divided his playing time between the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Statesmen from 1891 to 1892.
  • February 15 – Steve Behel, 84, backup outfielder who played with the Milwaukee Brewers of the Union Association in 1884 and for the New York Metropolitans of the American Association in 1886.
  • February 18 – John Munyan, 84, catcher who played for the Cleveland Blues, Columbus Solons and St. Louis Browns of the National League in a span of three seasons from 1887–1891.
  • February 20 – Charlie Heard, 73, pitcher and outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the National League during the 1890 season.
  • February 21 – Paul Radford, 83, outfielder and shortstop for nine different teams in a 12-season career from 1883–1894, who collected 1206 hits and 346 stolen bases in 1361 games, while being a member of the 1884 World Champion Providence Grays and three pennant-winning teams.

March
  • March   6 – Harry O'Neill, 27, catcher for the 1939 Philadelphia Athletics, whose name is linked forever to that of Elmer Gedeon as the only two major leaguers that were killed during World War II.
  • March 11 – Sam Mertes, 72, left fielder for five clubs in 10 seasons spanning 1896–1906, who was a member of the 1905 World Champions New York Giants and led the National League with 32 doubles and 104 RBI in 1903.
  • March 29 – Ray Tift, 60, pitcher for the 1907 New York Highlanders of the American League.
  • March 29 – Jim Hughey, 76, pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Colts, St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Cardinals in a span of seven seasons from 1891–1900.

April
  • April   4 – Dick Cotter, 55, catcher who played from 1911 to 1912 for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.
  • April   9 – Ted Cather, 55, outfielder who played from 1912 through 1915 for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves, as well as a member of the 1914 World Champion Cardinals Team.
  • April 13 – Joe Kutina, 60, first baseman who played in 1911 and 1912 with the St. Louis Browns of the American League.
  • April 16 – Chick Fewster, 49, second baseman who played from 1917 through 1927 for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Brooklyn Robins, perhaps best known for being one of those involved in one of the most famous flubs in MLB history, the three men on third incident occurred in the 1926 season.[1]
  • April 25 – Jim Murray, 67, outfielder who played for the Chicago Orphans, St. Louis Browns and Boston Braves in parts of three seasons spanning 1902–1914.

May
  • May   2 – Joe Corbett, 69, pitcher who played for the Washington Senators, Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals National League clubs during four seasons between 1895 and 1904.
  • May   3 – Bill Stemmyer, 79, fireball pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters and Cleveland Blues from 1885 to 1898, who in 1886 led the National League in SO/9IP (6.17), but threw 63 wild pitches which is still the highest single-season total in MLB history.
  • May   6 – Eddie Zimmerman, 62, third baseman who played for with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1906 and for the 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers in 1911.
  • May 18 – Pete Cregan, 70, backup outfielder for the 1899 New York Giants and the 1903 Cincinnati Reds.
  • May 22 – Jake Atz, 65, middle infielder who played with the Washington Senators in the 1902 season and for the Chicago White Sox from 1907 to 1909.
  • May 25 – Charlie Frye, 30, pitcher for the 1940 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • May 27 – Walter Carlisle, 63, English left fielder for the 1908 Boston Red Sox, who entered the records books as the only outfielder ever to make an unassisted triple play in organized baseball, while playing for the 1911 Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League.

June
  • June   5 – Fred Lewis, 86, outfielder who played from 1881 through 1886 for the Boston Red Caps, Philadelphia Quakers, St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Maroons, and Cincinnati Red Stockings National League clubs.
  • June   8 – Bill Kemmer, 71, third baseman for the 1895 Louisville Colonels of the National League.
  • June 17 – Joe Visner, 85, catcher and outfielder who played with the Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Bridegrooms, Pittsburgh Burghers, Washington Statesmen and St. Louis Browns in a span of four seasons from 1885–1891, being also a member of the Brooklyn club that won the 1889 American Association pennant title.
  • June 18 – Sid Mercer, 64, Hall of Fame sportswriter who covered mostly boxing and baseball in St. Louis, Missouri and in New York City, and also served as an official with the St. Louis Browns from 1903 through 1905.
  • June 19 – Bob Gandy, 51, outfielder for the 1916 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • June 25 – Jack Mercer, 56, pitcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1910.
  • June 29 – Clarence Winters, 45, pitcher for the 1924 Boston Red Sox.

July
  • July   2 – Frank Grube, 40, catcher who played from 1931 through 1941 for the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns.
  • July   7 – Cal Crum, 55, pitcher who played for the Boston Braves in the 1917 and 1918 seasons.
  • July 10 – Bill Barnes, 87, outfielder who played in 1887 for the St. Paul Saints of the Union Association.
  • July 16 – Tuck Turner, 72, outfielder who played from 1893 through 1898 for the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Browns of the National League, a .320 career hitter who accomplished a rare feat by hitting an inside-the-park grand slam in 1897, whose .418 batting average posted in 1894 is ninth all-time for a single-season in MLB history, as well as the highest for a switch hitter.[2]
  • July 18 – Frank Butler, 85, backup outfielder for the 1895 New York Giants.
  • July 31 – Snapper Kennedy, 66, outfielder who played in 1902 with the Chicago Orphans of the National League.

August
  • August   7 – Bobby Veach, 57, left fielder for the Detroit Tigers who batted .310 lifetime, while leading the American League in RBI three times and in doubles twice.
  • August   9 – Art Nichols, 74, catcher, first baseman and outfielder who played from 1898 through 1903 for the Chicago Orphans and the St. Louis Cardinals.
  • August 14 – Tommy Clarke, 57, a fine defensive catcher who spent ten years from 1909 to 1918 for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, and also served as a coach on the 1933 World Championship Giants team.

September
  • September   4 – William Fischer, 54, catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins, Chicago Whales, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates during five seasons from 1913–1917, who led the Whales to the 1915 Federal League pennant.
  • September 12 – Cy Pieh, 58, pitcher who played from 1913 to 1915 with the New York Yankees.
  • September 12 – Dave Zearfoss, 77, backup catcher for the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals in parts of five seasons spanning 1896–1905.
  • September 13 – Cy Blanton, 37, All-Star pitcher and one of the mainstays of the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation in the 1930s, who won 18 games and led the National League in earned run average (2.58) and shutouts (4) in his 1935 rookie season, while leading again the league in shutouts in 1936 (4) and starts in 1937 (34).
  • September 18 – Ducky Holmes, 63, fine outfielder and smart base runner for seven different teams from 1895 through 1905, who posted a .281 career average and stole 236 bases in 933 games, and also managed 13 seasons in the Minor Leagues.
  • September 21 – Bert Humphries, 64, pitcher who played from 1910 through 1915 for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.
  • September 27 – Lou Nordyke, 69, first baseman who played for the St. Louis Browns of the American League in 1906.
  • September 29 – George Van Haltren, 79, center fielder, primarily with the New York Giants, who hit a .316 lifetime average and ranked sixth all-time in both hits (2500+) and runs upon retirement; led the National League in triples and stolen bases once each, and also won 40 games as pitcher, including a six-inning no-hitter.

October
  • October   9 – Bob Ganley, 70, outfielder who played from 1905 through 1909 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics.
  • October 12 – Henry Oxley, 87, a Canadian catcher who played in 1884 with the New York Gothams and the New York Metropolitans.
  • October 14 – Fred Tyler, 53, catcher for the 1914 Boston Braves.
  • October 16 – Hack Eibel, 51, outfielder and pitcher who played in 1912 with the Cleveland Naps and for the Boston Red Sox in 1920.
  • October 18 – Monty Pfyl, 59, first baseman for the New York Giants in the 1907 season.
  • October 25 – Ernie Baker, 70, pitcher for the 1905 Cincinnati Reds.
  • October 26 – Ernie Gust, 57, first baseman who played in 1911 for the St. Louis Browns of the American League.
  • October 27 – Jack Hannifin, 62, infielder who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, New York Giants and Boston Doves in a span of three seasons from 1906 through 1908.
  • October 27 – Taylor Shafer, 79, second baseman and outfielder who divided his playing time between the Altoona Mountain City, Kansas City Cowboys and Baltimore Monumentals of the Union Association in 1883, and later played for the Philadelphia Athletics of the National League in 1890.

November
  • November   1 – George Hale, 51, backup catcher for the St. Louis Browns in four seasons from 1914–1918.
  • November   3 – Mike Smith, 77, left fielder and pitcher who posted a .310 career batting average and a 75-57 pitching record with six teams from 1886 through 1901, while leading the American Association pitchers with a 2.94 ERA in 1887.
  • November 16 – Jake Northrop, pitcher for the Boston Braves from 1918 to 1919.
  • November 18 – Morrie Rath, 58, speedy and skilled second baseman for four teams in a span of six years from 1909–1920, who led both the American and National Leagues in fielding percentage, putouts, assists and double plays, and also was a member of the 1919 World Champion Cincinnati Reds.
  • November 22 – Dick Carroll, 61, pitcher for the 1909 New York Highlanders of the American League.
  • November 25 – Ham Patterson, 68, first baseman and outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Sox during the 1909 season.

December
  • December   3 – Bill Kay, 67, outfielder who played in 1907 for the Washington Senators of the American League.
  • December   8 – Henry Fournier, 80, pitcher for the 1894 Cincinnati Reds.
  • December 14 – Connie Murphy, 75, catcher who played from 1893 to 1894 for the Cincinnati Reds.
  • December 15 – Tom Hess, 70, catcher for the 1892 Baltimore Orioles of the National League.
  • December 22 – Bill Crouch, 59, pitcher who played in 1910 with the St. Louis Browns of the American League.
  • December 24 – Hughie Miller, 59, first baseman who played with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1911 and from 1914 to 1915 for the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League.
  • December 26 – Frank Lange, 62, pitcher for the 1910 Chicago White Sox.
  • December 27 – Gene Cocreham, pitcher who played from 1897 to 1898 for the Washington Senators of the National League.
  • December 27 – Hugh Fullerton, 72, Chicago sportswriter who helped break the story of the Black Sox Scandal and, as an early advocate of the value of baseball statistics, gained wide attention for correctly predicting the White Sox' upset of the Cubs in the 1906 World Series, even getting right the winner of each game and the day of a rainout.
  • December 27 – Cy Swaim, 71, pitcher who played with the Washington Senators of the National League in the 1897 and 1898 seasons.

Sources
  1. Nash, Bruce (2012). The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown. Rowman and Littlefield. p. 45. ISBN 9780762784004.
  2. "Biographical Information". Baseball Reference Bullpen.
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