1970 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1970 throughout the world.  

Champions

Major Leagues

• World Series MVP: Brooks Robinson
• All-Star Game, July 14 at Riverfront Stadium: National League, 5-4 (12 innings); Carl Yastrzemski, MVP

Other champions

• Caribbean World Series: Navegantes del Magallanes (Venezuela)
• College World Series: USC
• Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Lotte Orions (4-1)
• Little League World Series: American, Wayne, New Jersey

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
  • Boog Powell (AL)
  • Johnny Bench (NL)
• Cy Young Award
  • Jim Perry (AL)
  • Bob Gibson (NL)
• Rookie of the Year
  • Thurman Munson (AL)
  • Carl Morton (NL)

Statistical leaders

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Events

January–April

• January 16 - Curt Flood, Gold Glove outfielder of the St. Louis Cardinals, files a civil lawsuit challenging Major League Baseball's reserve clause, a suit that will have historic implications. Flood refused to report to the Philadelphia Phillies after he was traded by the Cardinals three months ago, contending the baseball rule violates federal antitrust laws.

• January 17 - The Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s.

• January 20 - Lou Boudreau is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America on 232 of 300 ballots. Ralph Kiner finishes second with 167, 58 votes short.

• February 1 - The Hall of Fame Special Committee on Veterans selects former commissioner Ford Frick and former players Earle Combs and Jesse Haines for enshrinement.

• February 19 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the suspension of Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain, effective April 1, for McLain's alleged involvement in a bookmaking operation. The suspension is indefinite, but will later be set at three months.

• April 1 - The Milwaukee Brewers organization, headed by Bud Selig, purchases the Seattle Pilots franchise for $10,800,000. Although negotiations were conducted over a period of months, it was not until March 13 when a federal bankruptcy referee declared the Pilots bankrupt. Brewers tickets go on sale the next day. Team equipment is shipped to Milwaukee County Stadium, where the Pilots insignia is ripped off of the uniforms, since there is no time for new uniforms to be made.

• April 7 - Major league baseball returns to Wisconsin after a 4-year absence as the Brewers play their first game in Milwaukee, losing to the California Angels 12–0 before a crowd of 37,237.

• April 7 - Pitcher Dave McNally struck out 13 in nine innings as the Baltimore Orioles ripped the Indians, 8-2, in Opening Day at Cleveland Stadium. The attack was led by Paul Blair, who drove in a pair of runs and scored three times. McNally held the Indians to two runs on four hits and three walks to get the win. Rookie Roy Foster belted a two-run home run for the only offense for Cleveland.

• April 11 - At Comiskey Park, Danny Walton hits the first two home runs in Milwaukee Brewers history, both two-run shots coming against White Sox starter Billy Wynne. The Brewers win for the first time, 8-4.

• April 22 - The New York Mets' Tom Seaver strikes out 19 San Diego Padres, including the last 10 in succession, in winning 2-1 for the Mets. Mike Corkins takes the loss. In this century, no one had ever struck out 10 in a row, a major league record. Counting the 10 whiffs, the Pads have struck out 29 times in two games, a National League record that will be topped in 1998 when the Houston Astros miss 31 times in two days. Jerry Grote adds one foul fly catch to his 19 putouts via K's.

May–August

• May 10 - Hoyt Wilhelm makes his 1,000th pitching appearance; the first pitcher in history to do so.

• May 12 - At Chicago's Wrigley Field, Ernie Banks becomes the 8th member of the 500 home run club, connecting off Atlanta Braves pitcher Pat Jarvis during a 4-3 11-inning Chicago Cubs win over the Braves. It his 1,600th career RBI. Ex-Cub Frank Secory is umpiring this game; he was one of the umpires in the 1953 game in which Banks hit his first home run. Billy Williams' homer in the 9th ties the game and Ron Santo's RBI single in the 11th wins it. Atlanta's Rico Carty meanwhile, has three singles and has hit in 30 consecutive games.

• May 17 - In the second game of a double header, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves gets his 3000th career hit, and is the founding member of the 3000-500 Club.

• June 12 - In the first game of a doubleheader at San Diego Stadium, Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates no-hits the San Diego Padres 2-0. Years later, Ellis would claim that he was under the influence of LSD the entire game.

• June 21 - The Detroit Tigers' César Gutiérrez gets seven hits in seven at bats in 12 innings against the Cleveland Indians, setting an American League mark and tying a major league record for most hits in one game.^[1]

• June 24 - The Cincinnati Reds defeat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 in the final game that the Reds will play at Crosley Field.

• June 26 - Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles hits grand slams in consecutive innings, the fourth and fifth, in a 12-2 victory over the Washington Senators at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. The same runners are on base both times: Dave McNally on third, Don Buford on second and Paul Blair on first.

• June 28 - The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Chicago Cubs in both games of a doubleheader, 3-2 and 4-1, in the last two games played at Forbes Field.

• June 30 - Riverfront Stadium opens with the Cincinnati Reds losing to the Atlanta Braves, 8-2.

• July 2
  • Against the New York Yankees at Tiger Stadium, Joe Niekro of the Detroit Tigers has a no-hitter broken up with one out in the ninth on a Horace Clarke single, the only hit Niekro will allow in a 5-0 Tiger victory. This is the third no-hit bid Clarke has broken up in the ninth inning in less than a month; he had foiled bids by Jim Rooker on June 4 and by Sonny Siebert (who had already pitched a no-hitter in 1966) on June 19.
  • John Bateman of the Montreal Expos set a team record with seven runs batted in to pace the Expos to a 13–10 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Bateman started his feat with a grand slam in the Expos' six-run first inning.

• July 3 - Clyde Wright of the California Angels has a doubly memorable day. In a ceremony before the Angels' game against the Oakland Athletics at Anaheim Stadium, the former star pitcher at Carson-Newman College (with whom he won an NAIA Baseball World Series title in 1965) is inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame. He then no-hits the Athletics 4-0, the first no-hitter in the stadium's history.

• July 14 - At Riverfront Stadium, the National League wins its eighth straight All-Star Game, a thrilling 12-inning 5–4 victory. Pete Rose crashes into Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse to score the controversial winning run on Jim Hickman's single. Fosse, who never had the ball, hurts his right shoulder and is taken to the hospital. The game is scoreless until the 6th inning, with the NL limited to three hits in the first eight innings. In the 9th, the NL tees off on Catfish Hunter, driving in three runs to tie. Dick Dietz hits a leadoff home run in the inning. Claude Osteen pitches the 10th for the win, and Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox captures the MVP trophy for the American League.

• July 16 - Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium was opened to the public, but the Cincinnati Reds spoiled the party as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 before a crowd of 48,846. The first hit at Three Rivers Stadium was a single by Pittsburgh's Richie Hebner. The first home run at Three Rivers Stadium was hit by Cincinnati's Tony Perez.

• July 18 - Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants records his 3000th career hit.

• July 20 - At Dodger Stadium, Bill Singer of the Los Angeles Dodgers no-hits the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0. Singer's catcher, Jeff Torborg, had caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, and will later catch the first of Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters, in 1973.

• July 26 - Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds hit three straight homers off Steve Carlton of the St. Louis Cardinals. On the same day, Orlando Cepeda of the Atlanta Braves connected for three consecutive homers in an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

• August 1 - At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits three doubles and two home runs in the Pirates' 20-10 win over the Atlanta Braves. He becomes the third player in modern-day Major League history to collect five extra-base hits in one game, Lou Boudreau and Joe Adcock having done so in 1946 and 1954 respectively.

• August 11 - Philadelphia's Jim Bunning beats the Houston Astros 6-5 to become the first pitcher to win 100 games in both leagues since Cy Young.

September–December

• September 3 - Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs asks to be kept out of the lineup, snapping his National League record of 1,117 consecutive games played. His record was broken in 1983 by Steve Garvey.

• September 21 - At Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics no-hits the Minnesota Twins 6-0, the only baserunner coming on Harmon Killebrew's second-inning walk. The no-hitter caps a season that witnesses four no-hitters, all pitched in California-based Major League stadiums; Candlestick Park is the only one of the five not to have a no-hitter pitched in it.

• October 1 - Vic Davalillo of the St. Louis Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Pirates breaks the National League single-season pinch hitting record and ties the Major League record with his 24th pinch hit of the year.^[2][3] Also, the Phillies defeated the Montreal Expos 2-1 in 10 innings in the final game at Shibe Park (Connie Mack Stadium). The occasion was marred by people literally dismantling the stadium while the game was still in progress. A special post-game ceremony — including a helicopter delivery to Veterans Stadium of home plate — was cancelled.^[4]

• October 15 - For the third time in the 1970 World Series, the Baltimore Orioles overcome a 3–0 deficit to bury the Cincinnati Reds 9–3, and win the World Championship four games to one. Frank Robinson and Merv Rettenmund each homer and drive in two runs. Third baseman Brooks Robinson, the "human vacuum cleaner", easily wins the Series MVP award.

• November 25 - New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson receives 23 of 24 first-place votes and is named American League Rookie of the Year. Munson batted .302 with six home runs and 53 RBI during the regular season. Cleveland Indians outfielder Roy Foster (.268, 23, 60) is also named on a first place ballot.

• November 27 - Pitcher Carl Morton, who posted a 18-11 record with 154 strikeouts and a 3.60 ERA for the last-place Montréal Expos, receives the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Morton beats out Cincinnati Reds outfielder Bernie Carbo, who hit .310 with 21 home runs and 63 RBI.

• December 1 - The Boston Red Sox trade second baseman Mike Andrews and shortstop Luis Alvarado to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for future Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio.

Births

January–March

• January 2 - Royce Clayton
• January 5 - Brian Runge
• January 9 - T.J. Mathews
• January 14 - Steve Cooke
• January 16 - Ron Villone
• January 19 - Rick Krivda
• January 20 - Marvin Benard
• January 23 - Alan Embree
• January 23 - Mark Wohlers
• January 27 - Jessie Hollins
• February 1 - Edwin Hurtado
• February 6 - Mark Hutton
• February 4 - John Frascatore
• February 10 - Alberto Castillo
• February 10 - Bobby J. Jones
• February 13 - Kevin Stocker
• February 14 - Takashi Saito
• February 14 - Kelly Stinnett
• February 18 - Tyler Green
• March 6 - Scott Stahoviak
• March 11 - Pedro Castellano
• March 13 - Jorge Fábregas
• March 14 - Brent Gates
• March 23 - Ricky Gutiérrez
• March 24 - Wilson Alvarez

April–June

• April 1 - Matt Herges
• April 2 - Dennis Hocking
• April 2 - Jon Lieber
• April 5 - Ryan Karp
• April 10 - Rob Butler
• April 11 - Sean Bergman
• April 13 - Ricardo Rincón
• April 14 - Steve Avery
• April 18 - Rico Brogna
• April 18 - Steve Dunn
• April 29 - J. R. Phillips
• May 5 - Juan Acevedo
• May 7 - Brook Fordyce
• May 7 - Mark Smith
• May 14 - Larry Sutton
• May 16 - Jim Mecir
• May 21 - Bryce Florie
• May 21 - Tom Martin
• May 23 - Ricky Gutiérrez
• May 25 - Joey Eischen
• May 25 - Luis Ortiz
• May 31 - Dilson Torres
• June 2 - Mike Kelly
• June 12 - Damon Buford
• June 23 - Juan Castillo
• June 25 - Aaron Sele
• June 27 - Jim Edmonds
• June 30 - Mark Grudzielanek

July–September

• July 11 - Billy Ashley
• July 14 - Mark Brandenburg
• July 16 - William Van Landingham
• July 31 - Mike Figga
• August 8 - Rick Croushore
• August 9 - Pat Mahomes
• August 15 - Tony Rodríguez
• August 16 - Quinton McCracken
• August 18 - Bobby Higginson
• August 19 - Jeff Tam
• August 21 - Craig Counsell
• August 25 - Doug Glanville
• August 27 - Jim Thome
• September 3 - Dave Berg
• September 3 - Chad Fox
• September 9 - Joey Hamilton
• September 9 - Dan Miceli
• September 16 - Paul Shuey
• September 18 - Ozzie Timmons
• September 20 - Chris Snopek
• September 22 - Mike Matheny
• September 24 - Paul Spoljaric
• September 26 - Matt Murray
• September 28 - Mike DeJean
• September 29 - Joe Hudson

October–December

• October 2 - Eddie Guardado
• October 3 - Roger Bailey
• October 6 - Darren Oliver
• October 8 - Sandy Martínez
• October 8 - Olmedo Saenz
• October 12 - Tanyon Sturtze
• October 17 - John Mabry
• October 18 - Doug Mirabelli
• October 25 - Terrell Lowery
• October 31 - Steve Trachsel
• November 5 - Javy López
• November 9 - Chad Ogea
• November 13 - Vic Darensbourg
• November 18 - Allen Watson
• November 29 - Steve Rodriguez
• December 1 - Kirk Rueter
• December 3 - Paul Byrd
• December 9 - Tony Tarasco
• December 15 - Robert Ellis
• December 15 - Rick Helling
• December 19 - Tom Wilson
• December 30 - Chad Fairchild

Deaths

January–February

• January 7 - Jumbo Elliott, 69, pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Robins, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Braves between 1923 and 1934, who led the National League with 19 wins in 1931
• January 9 - Ray Collins, 82, pitcher for the Red Sox from 1909 to 1915, later coach at University of Vermont
• January 14 - Johnny Murphy, 61, general manager of the New York Mets, formerly a relief pitcher for the Yankees who held the career saves record from 1946 to 1962
• January 21 - Casper Asbjornson, 60, catcher who played from 1928 to 1932 for the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds
• January 21 - Harry Shriver, 73, pitcher for the 1921-22 Brooklyn Robins
• January 17 - Alex Mustaikis, 60, pitcher for the 1940 Boston Red Sox
• February 5 - Rudy York, 56, 7-time All-Star first baseman who had six 100-RBI seasons for the Tigers and Red Sox; hit record 18 homers in one month as a rookie, had two grand slams in a 1946 game
• February 21 - Tom Carey, 63, infielder for the St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox between 1935 and 1946, later a coach with the Red Sox
• February 21 - Joe Shaute, 70, pitcher who won 99 games from 1922 to 1934 for the Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Robins/Dodegers and Cincinnati Reds

March–April

• March 18 - Frosty Thomas, 88, pitcher for the 1905 Detroit Tigers, who also collected 85 wins with the Minneapolis Millers (WL) from 1902–07
• March 20 - Jack Flater, 86, pitcher for the 1908 Philadelphia Athletics
• April 8 - Lee Handley, 57, an infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates during eight seasons, who also played with the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies
• April 11 - Joe Heving, 69, a pitcher for the Giants, White Sox, Indians, Red Sox and Braves between 1930 and 1945, who led American League pitchers with 63 appearances in 1944, despite being the only grandfather playing in the majors
• April 11 - Sailor Stroud, 84, pitcher who posted a 5-7 record with a 3.25 ERA and three shutouts for the Detroit Tigers (1915) and New York Giants (1916)
• April 12 - Red Shannon, 73, backup infielder who played from 1917 to 1921 with the Braves, Athletics, Red Sox, Senators and Cubs
• April 14 - John Donaldson, 78, star pitcher in the Negro Leagues, mainly with the All Nations team and Kansas City Monarchs
• April 15 - Ripper Collins, 66, All-Star first baseman who led NL in homers in 1934, then batted .367 in World Series
• April 16 - Mal Eason, 91, pitcher for the Chicago Orphans, Boston Beaneaters, Detroit Tigers and Brooklyn Superbas in the early 20th century
• April 17 - Dick Brown, 35, part-time catcher who hit 62 home runs with 223 RBI in 636 games for the Indians, White Sox, Tigers and Orioles
• April 18 - Tony York, 57, infielder for the 1944 Chicago Cubs, and one of many major leaguers who only played during World War II
• April 26 - Yats Wuestling, 66, backup shortstop who played from 1929 to 1930 for the Tigers and Yankees

May–June

• May 13 - Urbane Pickering, 70, backup infielder who hit .257 with 11 home runs and 92 RBI for the 1921-22 Red Sox
• May 16 - Dutch Ruether, 76, pitcher who won opener of 1919 World Series for Cincinnati, later a scout for the Giants
• May 19 - Ray Schalk, 77, Hall of Fame catcher for the Chicago White Sox who was noted for his defensive brilliance, setting records for career games, putouts and double plays at the position
• May 24 - Bill Lamar, 73, outfielder for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Robins and Philadelphia Athletics (1917–1927), who collected a .310 average including a .356 in 1925
• May 31 - Zip Zabel, 79, Chicago Cubs reliever who set a major league record with most innings pitched in relief (18⅓) in the 1915 season
• June 1 - George Watkins, 69, outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1930s, who owns the major league season-record for a rookie with a .373 batting average (1930)
• June 3 - Jakie May, 74, relief pitcher from 1917–32, who posted a 72-95 record with a 3.88 ERA in 410 appearances for the Cardinals, Reds and Cubs
• June 14 - Webbo Clarke, 42, Panamanian pitcher who played for the 1955 Washington Senators
• June 23 - Ross Reynolds, 82, pitcher who posted a 5-4 record with a 2.62 ERA for the 1914-15 Detroit Tigers

July–August

• July 7 - Harry Wolter, 85, outfielder/pitcher from 1907-17 for the Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, Red Sox, Highlanders, Yankees and Cubs
• July 25 - Herb Hunter, 74, utility IF/OF for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals between 1916 and 1921
• July 29 - Charley Moore, 85, infielder for the 1912 Chicago Cubs
• August 11 - Paul Gillespie, 49, fine defensive catcher for the Cubs in the early 1940s, who hit home runs both in his first and last major league at-bats
• August 15 - Ray Bates, 80, third baseman for the Cleveland Naps (1913) and Philadelphia Athletics (1917)
• August 26 - Eddie Rommel, 72, pitcher who won 171 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, later worked 22 years as an AL umpire
• August 31 - Heinie Odom, 69, third baseman for the 1925 New York Yankees

September–October

• September 19 - Dave Danforth, pitcher who posted a 71-66 record with a 3.89 ERA from 1911-25 for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns
• September 30 - Lou Novikoff, 54, outfielder for the Phillies and Cubs in the early 1940s
• September 30 - Hank Patterson, 63, catcher for the 1932 Boston Red Sox
• October 10 - Lefty Leifield, 87, pitcher who averaged 17 wins for Pittsburgh from 1906 to 1911, including a career-high 20 wins in 1907
• October 13 - Fred Mitchell, 92, manager who won 1918 pennant with Chicago Cubs, was coach at Harvard for 30 years
• October 22 - Billy Sianis, 70?, Chicago Tavern owner who took his pet goat to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series (Chicago Cubs vs. Detroit Tigers), who was later ejected from Wrigley Field, thus putting a curse on the Cubs a.k.a. The Curse of the Billy Goat
• October 23 - Sherry Robertson, 51, Canadian outfielder/infielder from 1940-52 for the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, who later became a MLB executive

November–December

• November 5 - Dave Robertson, 89, outfielder from 1912-22 for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates, who led twice the National League in home runs (1916–17)
• November 5 - Charlie Root, 71, pitcher who won a club-record 201 games for the Chicago Cubs, surrendered Babe Ruth's supposed "called shot" in 1932 World Series
• November 24 - Ivy Andrews, 63, pitcher for three American League teams from 1931–38 and a member of the New York Yankees 1932 World Champions, who later became the first pitching coach for Double-A Birmingham Barons
• December 10 - Johnny Mostil, 74, center fielder for the Chicago White Sox whose promising career was derailed by a 1927 suicide attempt
• December 12 - Doug Taitt, 68, right fielder for the Red Sox, White Sox and Phillies from 1938 to 1932, who later became a successfully hitter and manager in the minor leagues
• December 13 - Chick Gandil, 83, first baseman and the reported ringleader among the eight players who threw the 1919 World Series
• December 16 - Jim Winford, 61, pitcher from 1932-38 for the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers

References