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The following are the baseball events of the year 1941 throughout the world.
Headline events of the year
- Joe Dimaggio hits in 56 consecutive games. After being hitless in the 57th game, he hit safely in 16 more consecutive games for a streak of 72 of 73 games.
- Ted Williams ended the season with a .406 batting average. No hitter (qualifying for the batting title) has hit over .400 since the 1941 season.
Champions
Major League Baseball
Other champions
Awards and honors
MLB Statistical Leaders
Major League Baseball final standings
American League final standings
National League final standings
Negro League Baseball final standings
Negro National League final standings
- Washington beat New York 2 games to 0 games in a play-off.
Events
January-March
April-June
July-September
- July 8 - At the All-Star Game at Detroit's Briggs Stadium, Boston's Ted Williams, hitting .405 at the break, homers off Chicago Cubs pitcher Claude Passeau with 2 outs and 2 on in the 9th inning to give the American League a dramatic 7-5 victory. Williams' 4 RBIs are matched by National League shortstop Arky Vaughan, who hits home runs in the 7th and the 8th.
- July 16 - Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak ends at 56 games against the Cleveland Indians.
- July 25 - Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox earns his 300th career win, which is also his last.
- August 30 - Lon Warneke pitches a no-hitter, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
- September 28 - Entering the last day of the season, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox was hitting .3995, which would have been good for a .400 average. However, Williams decided to play in both games of a double-header at Shibe Park against the Philadelphia Athletics to make it completely legitimate; he would go 6 for 8 in the two games to leave his average at .406. It remains the last time any player has hit .400 in a season.
- September 29 - The Fort Custer team won the national amateur championship of the American Baseball Congress with a 3-2 victory over the Charlotte, North Carolina team. It was the last time the amateur World Series was held until after the war.
October-December
- November 25 - Cleveland Indians shortstop Lou Boudreau is named as the new team manager. Boudreau takes over for Roger Peckinpaugh, who moves up to the front office as the Indians general manager. At 24 of age, Boudreau, becomes the youngest player to manage a team in the 20th century. Jim McCormick, the first ballplayer born in Scotland to appear in a major league game, managed Cleveland in 1879 at age 23.
- November 27 - in a controversial vote, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees is named American League MVP over Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox (291 points for DiMaggio, 254 for Williams). DiMaggio, who set a 56-game hitting streak record in the season, batted .357 with 30 home runs and led AL in RBI (125). Williams finished even stronger to close the season with a majors lead .406 average and 120 RBI, while led the American League in home runs (37), runs (135), OBP (.553) and SLG (.735). Both the 56-game hitting streak and the .400 plateau have not been touched since then.
Births
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
Deaths
January-March
- January 6 - Charley O'Leary, 58, shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns between 1904 and 1934, who later coached for many years with the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs
- January 9 - Fred Smith, 77, pitcher who posted a 19-13 record with a .327 ERA in his only major league season with the 1890 Toledo Maumees
- January 20 - Jack Lelivelt, 55, outfielder for the Senators, Highlanders, Yankees and Naps from 1909-14, who also set an International League record with a 42-game streak in 1912, which was broken by Brandon Watson in 2007
- January 24 - Tommy Bond, 84, Irish 19th century pitcher who posted a 234-163 record for six different clubs from 1874 to 1884, and also was the first Triple Crown winner in 1877, leading the National League with 40 wins, 170 strikeouts, and a 2.11 ERA
- February 8 - Frank Beck, 79, pitcher who played with the Pittsburg Alleghenys and Baltimore Monumentals in the 1884 season
- February 21 - Frank Corridon, 60, pitcher from 1904-10 for the Cubs, Phillies and Cardinals, who is credited with being the first major league pitcher to use the spitball
- March 1 - Ivey Wingo, 50, catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1911-14) and Cincinnati Reds (1915-26, 1929), who hit .571 as a member of the 1919 World Series Champions Reds
- March 3 - Doc Parker, 68, pitcher for the Chicago Colts and Cincinnati Reds between the 1893 and 1901 seasons
- March 31 - Kit McKenna, 68, pitcher for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1898) and Baltimore Orioles (1899)
April-June
- April 4 - Alex Jones, 71, pitcher for the Alleghenys, Colonels, Senators, Phillies and Tigers from 1889 to 1903
- April 13 - Germany Schultz, 47, outfielder from 1912-25 for every National League club with the exception of the New York Giants; later a minor league manager and MLB executive
- May 8 - Bill Joyce, 75, third baseman for five teams (1890-98) and manager of the New York Giants (1896-98), who tied for the National League home runs title with Ed Delahanty (1896) and finished second three times
- May 19 - Joe Gedeon, 47, second baseman for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns from 1913 to 1920, who led American League batters with 48 sacrifice hits in 1920
- May 23 - Jack Clements, 76, left-handed catcher for six different teams between 1884 and 1900, who caught 1,073 games and also is credited with being the first catcher to wear a chest protector
- May 25 - Bob Higgins, 54, catcher from 1909 to 1912 for the Cleveland Naps and Brooklyn Dodgers
- June 2 - Lou Gehrig, 37, Hall of Fame first baseman for the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1939, a 2-time MVP, the 1934 Triple Crown winner, and the second player to hit 400 home runs, who retired to end a record 2,130-game playing streak upon being diagnosed with the terminal illness that now bears his name
- June 3 - Andy Cooper, 43, pitcher for the Negro Leagues' Detroit Stars and Kansas City Monarchs
- June 16 - Mike Flynn, 69, Irish catcher who played in one game with the Boston Reds of the American Association
July-September
- July 7 - Jack Gilbert, 65, outfielder for the Senators, NY Giants and Pirates from 1898 to 1904
- July 8 - Jack Wadsworth, 73, pitcher from 1890 to 1895 for the Cleveland Spiders, Baltimore Orioles and Louisville Colonels
- July 15 - Frank Isbell, 65, White Sox first baseman, second baseman, and outfielder (1901-1909)
- July 17 - Rube Kisinger, 64, pitcher for the 1902-03 Detroit Tigers, who also led the Buffalo Bisons to their first Eastern League pennant in 1904
- July 30 - Mickey Welch, 82, the third pitcher to win 300 games, winner of 44 games in 1885 and over 30 in three other years
- September 8 - Joe Boehling, 50, pitcher who posted a 55-50 record with a 2.97 ERA for the Senators and Indians from 1912-1920
- September 24 - Luis Castro, 64, Colombian second baseman for the 1902 Philadelphia Athletics, who is regarded as the first Latin player to appear in a major league game
October-December
- October 3 - Bert Inks, 70, 19th century pitcher who played from 1891-96 for six different clubs, mainly with the Louisville Colonels
- October 25 - Bill Phillips, pitcher for Pittsburgh and Cincinnati between 1890 and 1903, who is best remembered for managing the 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers to the Federal League pennant
- November 29 - Ed Hahn, 66, outfielder for the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox from 1905 to 1910
- December 9 - Ed Mars, 75, pitcher for the 1890 Syracuse Stars of the American Association
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