Wikipedia

2001 in baseball

See also: 2001 Major League Baseball season and 2001 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The following are the baseball events of the year 2001 throughout the world.

Champions

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Major League Baseball

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  • Regular Season Champions
League Eastern Division Champion Central Division Champion Western Division Champion Wild Card Qualifier
American League New York Yankees Cleveland Indians Seattle Mariners Oakland Athletics
National League Atlanta Braves Houston Astros Arizona Diamondbacks St. Louis Cardinals
Division Series
TV: ESPN/ABC Family/FOX 		League Championship Series
TV: FOX 		World Series
TV: FOX
         
1 Seattle Mariners 3
3 Cleveland Indians 2
1 Seattle Mariners 1
American League
2 New York Yankees 4
2 New York Yankees 3
4 Oakland Athletics 2
AL New York Yankees 3
NL Arizona Diamondbacks 4
1 Houston Astros 0
3 Atlanta Braves 3
3 Atlanta Braves 1
2 Arizona Diamondbacks 4
2 Arizona Diamondbacks 3
4 St. Louis Cardinals 2

Click on any series score to link to that series' page.
Higher seed has home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series.
The National League Champion has home field advantage during the World Series as a result of the pre-2003 "alternating years" rule.
American League is seeded 1-3/2-4 as a result of the AL regular season champion (Seattle Mariners) and the AL wild card (Oakland Athletics) coming from the same division.
National League is seeded 1-3/2-4 as a result of the NL regular season champion (Houston Astros) and the NL wild card (St. Louis Cardinals) coming from the same division.

Other champions

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Awards and honors

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MLB statistical leaders

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  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
AVG Ichiro Suzuki SEA .350 Larry Walker COL .350
HR Alex Rodriguez TEX 52 Barry Bonds1 SFG 73
RBI Bret Boone SEA 141 Sammy Sosa CHC 160
Wins Mark Mulder OAK 21 Matt Morris STL
Curt Schilling ARI		 22
ERA Freddy García SEA 3.05 Randy Johnson ARI 2.49
Ks Hideo Nomo BOS 220 Randy Johnson ARI 372

1Major League single season home run record

Major League Baseball final standings

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  • The asterisk denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league.
  • Note: St. Louis and Houston finished the season tied, and Houston was awarded the division title due to winning their season series.
  • ** The Seattle Mariners break the single season record for most wins in the AL with 116.

Events

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January

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  • January 16 – Outfielders Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year on the ballot.
  • January 22 – World Series standout Tommie Agee dies of a cardiac arrest in Manhattan at the age of 58. As the New York Mets center fielder, the 1966 AL Rookie of the Year made two memorable catches (saving possibly five runs) and hit a home run in a 5–0 Game Three victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 Fall Classic.
  • January 23 – The Northern League announced that it had awarded a franchise to Northwest Sports Ventures, later to be named the Gary SouthShore RailCats.
  • January 26 – Alex Rodriguez signs as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. The ten-year contract worth $252 million is the most lucrative contract in sports history. The deal is worth $63 million more than the second-richest baseball deal.

February

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March

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  • March 6 – Second baseman Bill Mazeroski and Negro league pitcher Hilton Smith are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
  • March 8 – The Baltimore Orioles announce that Albert Belle is "totally disabled and unable to perform as a major league baseball player" due to a severe case of degenerative arthritis of the right hip.
  • March 23 – A panel of veteran baseball writers, historians and executives selects a roster of the 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians Players,[1] as part of the club's 100th Anniversary Celebration.
  • March 24 – One of Major League Baseball's more bizarre moments occurs in a Spring training game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Randy Johnson is on the mound and pitches as a bird flies between the mound and the plate. The ball hits the bird in an "explosion of feathers" that kills the bird. The official call is a "no pitch".

April

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May

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June

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  • June 8 – Damion Easley of the Detroit Tigers hits for the cycle against the Milwaukee Brewers, becoming the first American League player to accomplish this feat in interleague play.
  • June 16 – John Olerud of the Seattle Mariners hits for the cycle against the San Diego Padres, joining Bob Watson as the only players in major league history to hit for the cycle in both leagues.
  • June 17 – Blake Stein of the Kansas City Royals strikes out eight straight batters, and 11 in 5+2⁄3 innings, but Kansas City loses to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5–2. Only Nolan Ryan (twice), Ron Davis and Roger Clemens have struck out eight in a row in the American League. Tom Seaver holds the major league record with 10 consecutive strikeouts, which was set in 1970.

July

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  • July 10 – The American League defeats the National League 4–1 in the All–Star Game. Cal Ripken Jr. playing in his final All-Star Game thrills the crowd by hitting a home run and is selected the MVP. Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordóñez also homer for the American League. A memorable moment occurs when Alex Rodriguez vacates his position as shortstop to Ripken for one inning as Ripken had played at shortstop for most of his career.
  • July 13 – Mike Piazza hits his 300th career home run.
  • July 18:
    • Randy Johnson comes into a game as a reliever and strikes out 16 Padres batters, an all-time record for a relief appearance, while allowing just one hit over seven innings.
    • An Enron Field first: Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros hits for the cycle in a 17-11 Astros win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

August

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September

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October

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November

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  • November 1 – The New York Yankees pull off two incredible comebacks. With the Arizona Diamondbacks leading 3–1 with 2 outs in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, Tino Martinez hits a game-tying 2-run home run. One inning later (at 12:04 ET) Derek Jeter hits a walk-off home run to win Game 4, while fans wave a banner which says "Mr. November". Later that night in Game 5, with the Yankees trailing 2–0 in the 9th inning with 2 outs, Scott Brosius hits a 2-run game-tying home run to tie that game at 2. The Yankees win 3–2 and take a 3–2 series lead.
  • November 4 – The Arizona Diamondbacks win the first World Series of their four-year existence with a come-from-behind 3–2 win over the New York Yankees. Mariano Rivera, considered by many to be the best closer in postseason history, begins the bottom of the 9th inning with a 1-run lead, but is unable to protect it, allowing two runs, including a game-winning RBI single by Luis González. Randy Johnson gets the win in relief and shares World Series MVP honors with Curt Schilling.
  • November 6 – Major League Baseball owners vote 28–2 to contract two teams for the following season, with the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos—the teams expected to be eliminated—casting the dissenting votes.
  • November 11 – Mark McGwire announces his retirement. His 583 career home runs place him fifth on the all-time list.
  • November 12:
    • Albert Pujols, just one year after playing Class-A baseball, hits a .329 batting average with 37 home runs and 130 RBI and is named the National League Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA. The St. Louis Cardinals freshman sets NL rookie marks in RBI, total bases (360) and extra base hits (88), and falls one home run shy of tying the NL rookie record of 38 established by Frank Robinson in 1956 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.
    • Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who leads the American League with a .350 batting average, is named Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA.
  • November 27 – The major league owners vote unanimously to extend baseball commissioner Bud Selig's contract through 2006.
  • November 30 – Major League Baseball's plan to contract by two teams next season is put into jeopardy by Minnesota courts. The state's Supreme Court refuses to grant the request for a speedy review of the appeal of the injunction which forces the Twins to play in 2002, and the appellate court sets the hearing for December 27, a date many believe is too late to make the elimination of two teams a reality. Unsure of their future, the Expos sign a one-year lease to play their home games of the 2002 season at Olympic Stadium. Due to the threat of being eliminated because of the proposed contraction, the agreement gives the Expos the right to unilaterally cancel the contract.

December

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Movies

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Births

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January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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Deaths

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January

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  • January   3 – Alex Sabo, 90, backup catcher for the Washington Senators in the 1936 and 1937 seasons.
  • January   6 – Tom Poholsky, 71, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in a span of six seasons from 1950 to 1957.
  • January   6 – Tot Pressnell, 94, who pitched from 1938 through 1942 for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
  • January   8 – Bert Hodges, 83, third baseman for the 1942 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • January 14 – Joe Zapustas, 93, Latvian-born outfielder who appeared in two games for the 1933 Philadelphia Athletics.
  • January 19 – Johnny Babich, 87, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Bees and Philadelphia Athletics during five seasons between 1934 and 1941.
  • January 22 – Tommie Agee, 58, All-Star center fielder and two-time Gold Glove winner, who played from 1962 through 1973 for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals, winning the 1966 AL Rookie of the Year; best remembered for two outstanding catches in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series that helped the Mets win the World Championship title over the high favored Baltimore Orioles.
  • January 28 – Curt Blefary, 57, left fielder who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres in eight seasons spanning 1965–1972, winning both the American League Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards in 1965; member of the Orioles team that won the 1966 World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

February

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  • February   1 – Sam Harshaney, 90, backup catcher for the St. Louis Browns from 1937 to 1940.
  • February   5 – Jerry McQuaig, 89, outfielder for the 1934 Philadelphia Athletics.
  • February 16 – Bob Buhl, 72, All-Star pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies from 1953 to 1967, who posted a 166–133 record and a 3.52 ERA in 457 games, while leading National League pitchers with a .720 winning percentage in 1957.
  • February 18 – Eddie Mathews, 69, Hall of Fame third baseman for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta, who retired with 512 home runs, sixth most in history, hitting 40 homers four times and leading NL twice, while hitting .300 or more three times, recording 100 runs eight times and five 100-RBI seasons; a fine defensive player, Matthews set major league records with 2,181 games and 4,323 assists at third base, setting a NL mark with 369 double plays; appeared on the first cover of Sports Illustrated in 1954; was manager of the Braves in 1974 when former teammate Hank Aaron broke the all-time career home run record.
  • February 18 – Butch Wensloff, 85, pitcher who played from 1943 to 1947 with the New York Yankees and for the Cleveland Indians in 1948.
  • February 20 – Bill Rigney, 83, All-Star infielder (1948) who played for the New York Giants from 1946 to 1953 and appeared in the 1951 World Series; as a manager between 1956 and 1976, he was the last pilot of the Giants in New York and their first in San Francisco, the first manager in history of the MLB Los Angeles Angels franchise, and guided the Minnesota Twins to the 1970 AL West Division title.
  • February 24 – Phil Collier, 75, sportswriter for the San Diego Union-Tribune, while covering the Dodgers, Angels and Padres from 1958 to 1999.
  • February 25 – Bitsy Mott, 82, backup infielder for the 1946 Philadelphia Phillies, who also worked later as the personal security guard for rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley.

March

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  • March   5 – Leo Thomas, 77, first baseman who played from 1950 to 1952 with the St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox.
  • March   7 – Janice O'Hara, 82, one of the original players to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for its inaugural season in 1943.
  • March 12 – Bill Reeder, 79, relief pitcher who appeared in 21 contests for the 1949 St. Louis Cardinals.
  • March 15 – Fern Battaglia, 70, infielder for the Battle Creek Belles of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
  • March 20 – Luis Alvarado, 52, Puerto Rican infielder who played for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets and Detroit Tigers in a span of seven season from 1968 to 1977.
  • March 22 – Newt Kimball, 85, relief pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies over part of six seasons from 1937 to 1943.
  • March 31 – Brian Cole, 22, outfielder in the New York Mets minor league system and one of the top prospects in baseball, who died in a car accident during spring training.

April

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  • April   1 – Nelson Burbrink, 79, catcher for the 1955 St. Louis Cardinals; later a scout for multiple clubs and scouting director for the New York Mets.
  • April   1 – Jo-Jo Moore, 92, left fielder who played his entire 1,335-game career (1930–1941) with New York Giants; six-time National League All-Star and member of 1933 World Series champs; batted .298 lifetime with 1,615 hits.
  • April   2 – Lloyd Gearhart, 77, first baseman for the 1947 New York Giants, and later a longtime player-manager for the Atlanta Crackers minor league team.
  • April   9 – Willie Stargell, 61, Hall of Fame and seven-time All-Star left fielder and first baseman, feared power hitter, and a leader on the field and in the clubhouse during his 21 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1962 to 1982, who hit a slash line of .282/.360/.529 with 475 home runs and 1540 RBI, leading the Pirates to World Series titles in 1971 and 1979, while winning the National League MVP Award, the NL Championship Series MVP Award and the World Series MVP Award in 1979, becoming the first player to collect all three awards in a Major League Baseball season.
  • April 16 – Hank Riebe, 79, catcher for the Detroit Tigers in four seasons between 1942 and 1949, as well as a highly decorated World War II veteran.
  • April 21 – Sandy Ullrich, 79, Cuban pitcher for the Washington Senators from 1944 to 1945.
  • April 21 – Hal White, 82, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals over 12 seasons from 1941 to 1954, who earned shutouts in his first two major league starts, and later worked as a coach and scout.

May

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  • May   3 – Hank Schmulbach, 76, who was used as a pinch runner by the St. Louis Browns for one game in the 1943 season.
  • May   7 – Dick Kimble, 85, shortstop for the 1945 Washington Senators.
  • May 17 – Ike Brown, 59, colorful utilityman for the Detroit Tigers from 1969 through 1974, who was one of the last alumni of the Negro leagues, along with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, to be still active in the Major Leagues.
  • May 19 – Joe Lovitto, 50, center fielder who played 306 games for the Texas Rangers from 1972 through 1975.
  • May 20 – Bob Keely, 91, rarely used catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1944 to 1945, who later served as a coach for 12 seasons from 1946 through 1957 for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves.
  • May 20 – Bud Thomas, 91, pitcher for the Washington Senators, Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers in a span of seven seasons from 1932 to 1941, who faced Babe Ruth twice, striking him out the second time, and surrendered the first major league home run ever hit by Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams.
  • May 21 – Mel Hoderlein, 77, utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox and Washington Senators in four seasons from 1951 to 1954.
  • May 21 – Stuart Meyer, 67, Anheuser-Busch executive who was president of the St. Louis Cardinals between 1992 and 1994.
  • May 22 – Ralph Hamner, 84, pitcher who played from 1946 through 1949 with the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs.

June

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  • June   1 – Nancy Warren, 79, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League All-Star pitcher and member of the 1954 champion team.
  • June   2 – Jimmy Bragan, 72, MLB coach for the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos and Milwaukee Brewers for eight years between 1967 and 1977 and a longtime scout; president of Double-A Southern League from 1981 to 1994; brother of Bobby Bragan.
  • June   2 – Gene Woodling, 78, All-Star left fielder who played for seven different teams in a span of 17 seasons from 1943 to 1962, most notably with the New York Yankees, winning five World Series rings with them while hitting a .318/.442/.529 slash line and scoring 21 runs in 26 Series games.
  • June   4 – John Corriden, 83, pinch runner who made one appearance for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1946 season; son of longtime MLB coach Red Corriden.
  • June   6 – Ford Garrison, 85, outfielder who played from 1943 through 1946 for the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics; later served as a coach on the staff of Cincinnati Redlegs manager Rogers Hornsby in 1953.
  • June 11 – Lou Lombardo, 72, pitcher who played in two games for the New York Giants in 1948.
  • June 15 – Marcelino Solis, 70, Mexican left-handed pitcher who appeared in 15 games in 1958 for the Chicago Cubs.
  • June 16 – Wally Hood, 75, pitcher for the 1949 New York Yankees.
  • June 16 – Sam Jethroe, 84, All-Star outfielder in the Negro leagues who broke the color line in Boston as the first black player on the Braves franchise in 1950; as winner of the National League Rookie of the Year Award at age 32, he remains the oldest player to receive this honor.
  • June 20 – Bob Keegan, 80, All-Star pitcher who played from 1953 to 1958 for the Chicago White Sox, going 40–36 with a 3.66 ERA in 135 appearances, including a no-hitter over the Washington Senators on August 20, 1957.
  • June 25 – John LeRoy, 26, relief pitcher for the 1997 Atlanta Braves who earned a victory in his only MLB game on September 26.

July

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  • July   9 – Al Lary, 72, pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs in a span of three seasons between 1954 and 1962; brother of Frank Lary.
  • July 10 – Tony Criscola, 86, outfielder who played from 1942 through 1944 for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, as well as one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II.
  • July 16 – John Dagenhard, 84, pitcher for the 1943 Boston Braves.
  • July 17 – Elon Hogsett, 97, relief pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators in 11 seasons (1929–1938, 1944) appearing in two World Series with the Tigers, winning a championship in 1935.
  • July 18 – Barry Shetrone, 63, backup outfielder who played for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Senators in part of five seasons from 1959 to 1963.
  • July 28 – John Easton, 68, utility man who played for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1955 and 1959 seasons.
  • July 30 – Thelma Grambo, 77, Canadian catcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1946 season.

August

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  • August 10 – Lou Boudreau, 84, Hall of Fame and eight-time All-Star shortstop, who won both the American League MVP Award and the MLB Player of the Year Award in 1948 while leading the Cleveland Indians to the World Series title as a player-manager, the last big leaguer to do so; won the AL League batting crown with a .327 average in 1944 and led the league in AL three times; skippered Cleveland from 1942 to 1950, then managed the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Athletics and Chicago Cubs in all or part of seven years between 1952 and 1960; longtime member of Cubs' radio broadcast team.
  • August 10 – Ramón Monzant, 68, Venezuelan pitcher who played for the Giants in New York and San Francisco during six seasons from 1954 to 1959, whose best performance came in 1956 in an 8–1 complete game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, allowing only a one-out, first inning single to Del Ennis which cost him a no-hitter game.
  • August 13 – Jim Hughes, 78, pitcher who played from 1952 through 1957 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, being also a member of four National League pennant-winning Dodgers clubs, in 1952–1953 and 1955–1956, though he played in only the 1953 World Series.
  • August 23 – Shirley Kleinhans, 72, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player.
  • August 24 – Hank Sauer, 84, two-time All-Star who played for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York and San Francisco Giants during 15 seasons spanning 1941–1959; won the 1952 National League Most Valuable Player Award with the Cubs after leading the league with 121 RBI and tying Ralph Kiner for home run title with 37 bombs.
  • August 29 – Sid Peterson, 83, pitcher for the 1943 St. Louis Browns.
  • August 29 – Eric Tipton, 86, backup left fielder who played with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1939 to 1941, and for the Cincinnati Reds from 1942 to 1945.
  • August 29 – Dick Selma, 57, pitcher for six MLB clubs between 1965 and 1974; won first game in the history of the MLB San Diego Padres in 1969 – a 10-inning shutout, 1–0 victory over the Atlanta Braves; a year later, saved 22 games for the 1970 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • August 31 – Crash Davis, 82, infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1940 to 1942, whose nickname was given to the Kevin Costner character in the film Bull Durham.

September

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  • September   3 – Carl Lindquist, 82, pitcher who played with the Boston Braves in the 1943 and 1944 seasons.
  • September 11 – Clem Dreisewerd, 85, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and New York Giants between 1944 and 1948, who also enjoyed a long and successful minor league career.
  • September 11 – Vince Ventura, 84, left fielder for the 1945 Washington Senators.
  • September 13 – Jorge Comellas, 84, Cuban pitcher who played for the 1945 Chicago Cubs.
  • September 17 – Bubba Church, 77, pitcher who played from 1950 through 1955 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs and Chicago Cubs; played a key role in his rookie season for the famed 1950 Whiz Kids Phillies in their fight for the National League pennant.
  • September 19 – Bill Stafford, 62, pitcher for the New York Yankees and Kansas City Athletics in eight seasons from 1960 to 1967, winning two World Series rings with the Yankees in 1961 and 1962, and the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1962 World Series.
  • September 20 – George Archie, 87, corner infielder who played for the Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns in a span of three seasons from 1938 to 1946, another ballplayer whose career was interrupted by the war.
  • September 20 – Joe Stephenson, 80, backup catcher for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox in part of three seasons spanning 1943–1947; later a longtime scout for the Boston Red Sox; father of the MLB pitcher and scout.
  • September 25 – Ritter Collett, 80, sports editor and columnist for the Dayton Journal-Herald and Dayton Daily News for over fifty years, who along with Bob Prince and Jim Enright created the Hutch Award in honor of Cincinnati Reds manager Fred Hutchinson, and also received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award distinction in 1991.
  • September 25 – John Powers, 72, backup outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians in part of six seasons from 1955 to 1960.
  • September 27 – Dick Rozek, 74, relief pitcher who played from 1950 through 1954 for the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Athletics.
  • September 28 – Jack Maguire, 76, utility man for the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Browns in part of two seasons from 1950 to 1951.
  • September 29 – John Noriega, 57, middle relief pitcher who made 13 appearances for the Cincinnati Reds from 1969 to 1970, including for the Big Red Machine club that clinched the 1970 National League pennant.

October

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  • October   5 – Woody Jensen, 94, backup outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates during nine seasons from 1931 to 1939, a .324 hitter in his rookie season, whose Major League record of 696 at bats set in 1936 remained intact for 33 seasons until Pirates' outfielder Matty Alou broke it in 1969.
  • October   6 – Miguel del Toro, 29, Mexican pitcher for the San Francisco Giants between 1999 and 2000.
  • October 10 – Dave Gerard, 65, pitcher whose career extended for ten seasons from 1955 to 1964, including 39 games as a reliever for the Chicago Cubs in 1962.
  • October 14 – Ben Sankey, 94, shortstop who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates over parts of three seasons from 1929 to 1931.
  • October 18 – Ferris Fain, 80, first baseman for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians in nine seasons from 1947 to 1955, who won consecutive American League batting titles in 1951 and 1952, and was named five times to the All-Star Game.
  • October 19 – Joe Murray, 80, pitcher for the 1950 Philadelphia Athletics.
  • October 19 – Hugh Mulcahy, 88, All-Star pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates in a span of nine seasons from 1935 to 1947, earning national distinction when he became the very first big leaguer to be drafted into military service before the United States entered World War II.[4]
  • October 24 – Bill Mueller, 80, center fielder who played for the Chicago White Sox in the 1942 and 1945 seasons, whose career was interrupted while he served in the military during World War II.
  • October 30 – Johnny Lucadello, 82, second baseman who played for the St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees in part of six seasons from 1939 to 1947, another ballplayer whose career was interrupted by the war.

November

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  • November 1 – Tom Cheney, 67, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and expansion Washington Senators in a span of eight seasons from 1957 to 1966, as well as a member of the 1960 World Champion Pirates, who is most notable for striking out 21 Baltimore Orioles hitters in a 2–1, 16-inning complete game victory while pitching for the Senators in 1962, setting a record for the most strikeouts in an extra-inning game for a pitcher in MLB history.
  • November 1 – H. Gabriel Murphy, 98, 40 percent owner of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise from 1950 to 1984 who battled majority owner Calvin Griffith in court in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the team from abandoning the U.S. capital after the 1960 season.
  • November 4 – Bob Gillespie, 82, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox over part of four seasons spanning 1944–1950.
  • November 11 – Tadashi Sugiura, 66, Hall of Fame NPB pitcher and manager who played for the Nankai Hawks from 1958 to 1970 and managed them from 1986 to 1989.
  • November 13 – Frank Messer, 76, play-by-play broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles (1964–1967) and New York Yankees (1968–1985).
  • November 15 – Ernie Stewart, 92, American League umpire who worked 691 games from April 15, 1941, through July 31, 1945, and the 1942 All-Star game; fired by AL for complaining about umpires' working conditions and low salaries.
  • November 16 – Tal Abernathy, 80, pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1942 through 1944.
  • November 16 – Red Steiner, 86, catcher who played for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox during the 1945 season.
  • November 18 – Mel Deutsch, 86, pitcher for the 1946 Boston Red Sox.
  • November 23 – Bo Belinsky, 64, pitcher who enjoyed a 10-win rookie season in 1962 with the Los Angeles Angels, including the first no-hitter on the West Coast, but whose raucous personal life derailed his promising career.
  • November 29 – Marcelino López, 58, Cuban left-handed pitcher for six teams in nine seasons from 1963 to 1972, who went 14–13 with a 2.93 earned run average and 122 strikeouts for the Los Angeles Angels to finish second to Curt Blefary in the 1965 American League rookie of the year balloting, and later became one of the most reliable relievers in the Baltimore Orioles bullpen during its 1970 World Championship season.

December

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  • December 4 – Eddie Popowski, 88, coach for the Boston Red Sox between 1967 and 1976 who twice served as the Bosox' interim manager; long-time minor league player, skipper and instructor.
  • December 18 – Bill Howerton, 80, backup outfielder who appeared in 247 games from 1949 through 1952 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants.
  • December 21 – Karl Winsch, 86, pitcher who played in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system; also a successful manager in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
  • December 22 – Bob Davis, 68, pitcher who played for the Kansas City Athletics in the 1958 and 1960 seasons.
  • December 24 – Hank Soar, 87, American League umpire from 1950 to 1971 who worked in five World Series and the 1971 ALCS before becoming a league supervisor; former football player with the New York Giants.
  • December 25 – Ramón García, 77, Cuban pitcher for the 1948 Washington Senators.
  • December 26 – Tom McBride, 87, outfielder who batted .305 for the 1945 Red Sox, getting six RBI in one inning in August.
  • December 27 – John Hoffman, 58, backup catcher who played from 1964 to 1965 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2001 in baseball.
  1. ^ "Top 100 Greatest Cleveland Indians Players". Cleveland State University Library. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  2. ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Boston Red Sox 10, Texas Rangers 7". www.retrosheet.org.
  3. ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Colorado Rockies 10, New York Mets 0". www.retrosheet.org.
  4. ^ First Major League Regular to Enter Military Service in World War II. Baseball in Wartime. Retrieved on November 16, 2019.
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