The following are the baseball events of the year 2002 throughout the world.  

This year in baseball

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See also

Baseball Major League Baseball Minor league baseball Negro League baseball Japanese baseball

Sources

Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Almanac Baseball Library Baseball Reference National Pastime The Deadball Era

Champions

Major League Baseball

• Regular Season Champions

League	Eastern Division Champion	Central Division Champion	Western Division Champion	Wild Card Qualifier
American League	New York Yankees	Minnesota Twins	Oakland Athletics	Anaheim Angels
National League	Atlanta Braves	St. Louis Cardinals	Arizona Diamondbacks	San Francisco Giants

• World Series Champion - Anaheim Angels
• Postseason - October 1 to October 27

	Division Series TV: ESPN/ABC/FOX					League Championship Series TV: FOX					World Series TV: FOX
	1	New York Yankees	1
	4	Anaheim Angels	3
						4	Anaheim Angels	4
	American League
						3	Minnesota Twins	1
	2	Oakland Athletics	2
	3	Minnesota Twins	3
											AL4	Anaheim Angels	4
											NL4	San Francisco Giants	3
	1	Atlanta Braves	2
	4	San Francisco Giants	3
						4	San Francisco Giants	4
	National League
						3	St. Louis Cardinals	1
	2	Arizona Diamondbacks	0
	3	St. Louis Cardinals	3

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 American League Champion has home field advantage during World Series as a result of the pre-2003 "alternating years" rule.

• Postseason MVPs
  • World Series MVP - Troy Glaus
  • ALCS MVP - Adam Kennedy
  • NLCS MVP - Benito Santiago
• All-Star Game, July 9 at Miller Park - Tie game, 7-7 (11 inn.); no MVP selected
  • Home Run Derby, July 8 - Jason Giambi, New York Yankees

Other champions

• Caribbean World Series: Tomateros de Culiacán (Mexico)
• College World Series: Texas
• Cuban National Series: Holguín over Sancti Spíritus (4-3)
• European Cup (baseball): Neptunus (Netherlands) over HCAW Bussum (Netherlands)
• Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Seibu Lions (4-0)
• Little League World Series: Valley Sports American, Louisville, Kentucky

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
  • Miguel Tejada, Oakland Athletics, SS (AL)
  • Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, OF (NL)
• Cy Young Award
  • Barry Zito, Oakland Athletics (AL)
  • Randy Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks (NL)
• Rookie of the Year
  • Eric Hinske, Toronto Blue Jays, 3B (AL)
  • Jason Jennings, Colorado Rockies, P (NL)
• Manager of the Year Award
  • Mike Scioscia, Anaheim Angels (AL)
  • Tony La Russa, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)

MLB Statistical Leaders

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat AVG Manny Ramirez BOS .349 Barry Bonds SFG .370 HR Alex Rodriguez TEX 57 Sammy Sosa CHC 49 RBI Alex Rodriguez TEX 142 Lance Berkman HOU 128 Wins Barry Zito OAK 23 Randy Johnson ARI 24 ERA Pedro Martinez BOS 2.26 Randy Johnson ARI 2.32 Ks Pedro Martinez BOS 239 Randy Johnson ARI 334

Major League Baseball final standings

American League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
EAST
1st	New York Yankees	103	58	.640	--
2nd	Boston Red Sox	93	69	.574	10.5
3rd	Toronto Blue Jays	78	84	.481	25.5
4th	Baltimore Orioles	67	95	.414	36.5
5th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	55	106	.342	48.0
CENTRAL
1st	Minnesota Twins	94	67	.584	--
2nd	Chicago White Sox	81	81	.500	13.5
3rd	Cleveland Indians	74	88	.457	20.5
4th	Kansas City Royals	62	100	.383	32.5
5th	Detroit Tigers	55	106	.342	39.0
WEST
1st	Oakland Athletics	103	59	.636	--
2nd	Anaheim Angels *	99	63	.611	4.0
3rd	Seattle Mariners	93	69	.574	10.0
4th	Texas Rangers	72	90	.444	31.0

National League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
EAST
1st	Atlanta Braves	101	59	.631	--
2nd	Montréal Expos	83	79	.512	19.0
3rd	Philadelphia Phillies	80	81	.497	21.5
4th	Florida Marlins	79	83	.488	23.0
5th	New York Mets	75	86	.466	26.5
CENTRAL
1st	St. Louis Cardinals	97	65	.599	--
2nd	Houston Astros	84	78	.519	13.0
3rd	Cincinnati Reds	78	84	.481	19.0
4th	Pittsburgh Pirates	72	89	.447	24.5
5th	Chicago Cubs	67	95	.414	30.0
6th	Milwaukee Brewers	56	106	.346	41.0
WEST
1st	Arizona Diamondbacks	98	64	.605	--
2nd	San Francisco Giants *	95	66	.590	2.5
3rd	Los Angeles Dodgers	92	70	.568	6.0
4th	Colorado Rockies	73	89	.451	25.0
5th	San Diego Padres	66	96	.407	32.0

 

• The asterisk denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league.

Events

January–March

• January 8 - Ozzie Smith is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Smith, named on 91.7 percent of the ballots, is the 37th player to be elected in his first year.

• February 11 - Major league owners approve the sales of the Florida Marlins and Montréal Expos. Florida owner John Henry is selling the Marlins to Jeffrey Loria for $158.5 million, while Loria is selling the Expos to "Baseball Expos LP", a limited partnership owned by the other 29 teams, for $120 million.

• February 12 - Mets assistant general manager Omar Minaya becomes the first Hispanic GM by accepting the position with the Montreal Expos. Frank Robinson is also announced as the manager of the team, which will be run by Major League Baseball for the 2002 season.

• February 27 - The sale of the Boston Red Sox to a group headed by John Henry becomes official.

• March 1 - The Red Sox fire GM Dan Duquette and hire Mike Port on an interim basis.

• March 11 - The Red Sox hire Grady Little as their new manager.

April–June

• April 2 - In beating the San Diego Padres 9–0, the Arizona Diamondbacks become the first defending World Champions to open the season with back-to-back shutouts since the 1918-19 Red Sox; the Red Sox shutouts were thrown by Carl Mays and Sad Sam Jones. The last team to start the year with consecutive shutouts was the 1994 San Francisco Giants. Curt Schilling is the winner today, following Randy Johnson's 2–0 two–hitter yesterday over the Padres.

• April 3 - The Giants defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 12–0, as Barry Bonds hits a pair of home runs for the second day in a row. He becomes only the second player in history to begin a season with a pair of 2–HR games; Eddie Mathews was the other.

• April 3 - At home, the Oakland Athletics lose to the Texas Rangers 9–6, as the Rangers score three in the 8th. The loss snaps the A's string of 20 straight wins at home stretching back to August 24. The A's move past the 1974–75 Cincinnati Reds for most consecutive home wins over two seasons; the Reds' mark was 17.

• April 5 - The Giants defeat the Padres 3–1 in 10 innings on Barry Bonds' 5th home run of the year. In doing so, Bonds ties the mark for most home runs in the first four games of the season, set by Lou Brock in 1967.

• April 7 - Arizona defeats the Milwaukee Brewers 2–0, as Curt Schilling strikes out 17 batters in hurling a one–hitter. Raul Casanova's 2nd–inning single is the only Milwaukee hit.

• April 11 - The Baltimore Orioles pound the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 15–6, scoring a franchise–high 12 runs in the 6th inning. They also collect a club–high 11 hits in 16 at bats.

• April 16 - The Detroit Tigers win for the first time this season, defeating Tampa Bay 9–3. The Tigers had lost its first 11 games for the 5th-worst start by a major league team.

• April 21 - Rafael Furcal hits three triples to tie the modern major league record as the Atlanta Braves defeat the Florida Marlins 4–2. The last player to accomplish the feat was Lance Johnson of the Chicago White Sox in 1995.

• April 21 - The Diamondbacks trounce the Rockies 7–1, as Randy Johnson strikes out 17 batters in becoming the first pitcher this year to win five games. It is the 6th time he has fanned 17 or more in a game.

• April 21 - Making his first start in almost seven years, the Cincinnati Reds' José Rijo allows one unearned run in five innings as the Reds defeat the Cubs 5–3. It is Rijo's first win since July 13, 1995.

• April 27 - Boston pitcher Derek Lowe hurls Fenway Park's first no-hitter since 1965, shutting out Tampa Bay 10–0. It is the first career complete game for Lowe, who began last season as the Red Sox closer. In his first start this year, he hurled seven hitless innings against the Orioles.

• April 29 - Former major league outfielder Darryl Strawberry is sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating the terms of his probation six times.

• May 2 - The Seattle Mariners rout the White Sox by a score of 15–4, as outfielder Mike Cameron becomes the 13th player in major league history to slug four home runs in a single game, all solo shots. Cameron is also hit by a pitch and flies out to deep right field in a bid for a 5th homer. Cameron and second baseman Bret Boone also become the first teammates in history to hit back–to–back home runs twice in the same inning, performing the feat in Seattle's 10–run 1st inning. The Mariners also tie a team record with seven homers in the game. James Baldwin is the easy winner, with seven innings pitched. There had only been 39 previous occasions of a player hitting two home runs in an inning, according to the [[Elias Sports Bureau\\. Eric Karros was last to do it, on August 22, 2000, for the Dodgers. Mark McGwire was the previous AL player to do it, on September 22, 1996 for Oakland.

• May 4 - Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a Giant, leading his team to a 3–0 win over Cincinnati. Bonds is the first player to hit 400 homers for one team and 100 with another.

• May 10 - The Anaheim Angels crush the White Sox 19–0. The Angels join the 1923 Indians, 1939 Yankees and 1950 Red Sox as the only teams to beat two opponents by 19 or more runs in the same season. Earlier this year, the Angels beat the Indians 21–2. The Anaheim calcimine of Chicago is just the 11th since 1901 in which a team scored 19 or more runs while shutting out its opponent, and the first such shutout in the AL since 1955 when Cleveland beat Boston 19–0.

• May 23 - At Miller Park, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green becomes the 14th man in major league history to hit four home runs in a game and sets a big league record with 19 total bases. He goes 6-for-6, scores six runs (both Dodgers records), and gets seven RBI in a 16-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Green is the second player this year to hit four home runs in a game. He also surpasses Joe Adcock's former mark of 18 total bases, set in 1954. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, six players have produced 17 or more total bases in a game, with the last being Mike Schmidt in 1976. Green also is the first major league player to collect six hits while hitting four homers, and his four homers plus a double ties the NL mark for extra base hits. The Dodgers hit eight homers in the game, another franchise record. Before today's power display, Green had gone 0-for-15, and had been benched May 18.

• May 24 - The Dodgers lose to the Diamondbacks 14–3, despite Shawn Green's 5th home run in two games, tying a major league record. Green also hits two singles to tie another mark with 25 total bases in the two games.

• May 25 - The Colorado Rockies beat the Giants 6–3, as Barry Bonds takes over sole possession of 5th place on the all-time home run list with the 584th four-bagger of his career.

• May 25 - The Dodgers top Arizona 10–5, as Shawn Green hits two more home runs and drives home six runs. The seven home runs in three games is a new major league record.

• May 29 - In an article in Sports Illustrated, former National League MVP Ken Caminiti says that about 50 percent of current major league players use some form of steroids.

• June 4 - The Twins score 10 runs in the 7th inning to close out the scoring in a 23–2 win over the Indians, the most runs in franchise history, stroke a franchise-record 25 hits (the team hit 24 five times while playing as the Washington Senators) in the contest, and tie the AL record as four players have four or more hits - Jacque Jones, Dustan Mohr, A.J. Pierzynski and Luis Rivas. The Twins are the 5th team to do it on the flip side; the Indians tie their team record for biggest loss, tying the mark set in a 21-0 loss to the Tigers on September 15, 1901. Cleveland also becomes the first team since the 1969 San Diego Padres to lose two games in the same season by 19 or more runs.

• June 5 - The Giants batter the Padres 12–2, as Barry Bonds hits his 587th home run to move him into 4th place on the all-time list, ahead of Frank Robinson.

• June 18 - Jack Buck, Hall of Fame Broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals, passes away after months of hospitalization. He worked football games and playoff games as well—noted for his call in the 1988 World Series following the game winning homerun by Kurt Gibson. On the date of his death, Darryl Kile pitched the St. Louis Cardinals into a tie for first place, their first time at the time of the division since early April. It would be his final start before his sudden death.

• June 20 - Florida beats Cleveland 3–0, as the Marlins' Luis Castillo extends his hitting streak to 34 games, the longest ever by a second baseman.

• June 22 - Darryl Kile of the St. Louis Cardinals dies suddenly in his hotel room in downtown Chicago. When he didn't arrive at the ballpark, his room was checked. Kile had died in his sleep from 90% blockage of his arteries. He was 33. The game was cancelled after the fans waited in the dark for an hour. Chicago catcher Joe Girardi (later played for the Cardinals, and currently manages the Florida Marlins) made the announcement to the crowd that the game was cancelled due to, "tragedy in the Cardinal Family."

• June 28 - The Devil Rays whip their cross-state rival Marlins 4–0 behind Wilson Alvarez and two relievers. Kevin Millar of the Marlins hits a towering fly that lands on one of the catwalks that hang from the stadium's dome. It never comes down and is ruled a double. It's the second time a ball has gotten stuck in a catwalk at Tropicana Field. In 1999, José Canseco hit a home run drive that lodged there. Millar joins Ruppert Jones, Ricky Nelson, Dave Kingman, Alvaro Espinoza and Canseco as the only players in major league history to hit a fair ball that got stuck in a stadium obstruction; Jones and Nelson both had hits get caught in the overhead speakers at the old Kingdome, while the balls hit by Kingman and Espinoza were at the Metrodome, with Kingman's getting stuck in a drainage valve and Espinoza's lodging in an overhead speaker.

July

• July 2 - A combined total of 62 home runs are hit in today's games, breaking the old major league mark set on April 7, 2000. A record nine players have multiple home run games, breaking the previous mark of eight.

• July 9 - In a controversial finish, the 2002 All-Star Game held at Miller Park ends in a 7–7 tie after 11 innings as both the National and American leagues run out of pitchers. Both managers discuss it with commissioner Bud Selig, who calls the game.

• July 23 - Nomar Garciaparra hits three home runs with eight RBI on his birthday as the Boston Red Sox edge the Florida Marlins 26–9, in the opener of a day–night doubleheader. The round–trippers give him five in two games to tie a major league record.

August

• August 7 - In a historic movement, major league players end their long-held opposition to mandatory drug testing by agreeing to be tested for illegal steroids beginning in 2003.

• August 8 - Braves pitcher John Smoltz reaches 40 saves in a season faster than any pitcher in major league history.

• August 9 - The Giants' Barry Bonds hits the 600th home run of his career, but his team still falls to the Pirates by a score of 4–3. Bonds joins Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays in the exclusive 600-HR club.

• August 17 - The Yankees defeat the Mariners 8–3, as Alfonso Soriano hits a home run to become the first second baseman ever to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season.

• August 29 - First baseman Mark Bellhorn becomes the first player in NL history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning, doing so in the Cubs' 10–run 4th inning at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Chicago wins 13–10 over the Brewers. Bellhorn also ties a team record with five RBI in the inning.

• August 30 - Major league players and owners agree to a historic contract that prevents the players from going out on strike, marking the first time in over 30 years that a collective bargaining negotiation in baseball was met without a work stoppage.

• August 31 - The New York Mets are shut out by the Philadelphia Phillies 1–0, to mark their 13th consecutive home defeat. In doing so, they become the first NL team to lose all their home games over the course of a month.

September

• September 1 - Jeff Kent of the San Francisco Giants becomes the first second baseman in history to record 100 or more RBI for six consecutive years. The Giants lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks 7–6.

• September 1 - Miguel Tejada of the Oakland Athletics hits his 30th home run of the season as Oakland beats the Minnesota Twins 7–5. Tejada is only the third shortstop in history with at least three seasons with 30 or more home runs and with 30 HR in three consecutive seasons. Alex Rodriguez leads in both categories with six such seasons, five in a row.

• September 1 - Jim Thome of the Cleveland Indians becomes the only player in team history to earn 100 walks in consecutive seasons, doing so for the second time. This is his fourth consecutive season and sixth overall with at least 100 free passes.

• September 3 - The Mets lose the first game of their doubleheader against the Marlins 3–2, but bounce back to take the nightcap 11–5. The loss in the opener sets a new NL record for consecutive home losses with 15.

• September 4 - The Oakland Athletics set an AL record by defeating the Kansas City Royals 12–11 for their 20th straight win. Oakland blows an 11–0 lead, but scores in the bottom of the 9th for the victory. The old mark of 19 wins was shared between the 1906 Chicago White Sox and the 1947 New York Yankees.

• September 4 - Aaron Myette, ejected yesterday for two pitches behind Melvin Mora, starts today's game. According to The New York Times, it is the first back-to-back start by a pitcher since Steve McCatty in 1980, though five pitchers – Dennis Martínez, Bert Blyleven, Pete Vuckovich, Rick Langford and Juan Eichelberger – made their last start before the 1981 strike and their first start after.

• September 5 - In a Texas 11-2 victory over Baltimore, shortstop Alex Rodriguez becomes the fifth player in major league history to record successive 50–home run seasons.

• September 6 - The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Chicago Cubs 11–2, as brothers Andy Benes and Alan Benes oppose each other in the seventh matchup of brothers in major league history. Andy gets the win while Alan takes the loss. The Cardinals score all 11 of their runs in the third inning.

• September 6 - The Oakland Athletics' 20-game winning streak is snapped as Brad Radke pitches the Minnesota Twins to a 6-0 victory at home. The Athletics fall short of matching the second-longest winning streak in baseball history. The Chicago Cubs of 1880 and 1935 both won 21 straight.

• September 8 - The Atlanta Braves win their 11th straight NL division title when the second-place Philadelphia Phillies lose to the New York Mets 6-4.

• September 8 - The Texas Rangers set a major league record by homering in their 26th consecutive game as Texas falls to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6–3. Rafael Palmeiro's solo shot in the sixth inning is the record–breaker. The streak will be ended at 27 games two days later.

• September 9 - Pitcher Randy Johnson reaches 300 strikeouts for the fifth consecutive season, extending his major league record.

• September 9 - Texas Rangers reliever Joaquín Benoit pitches seven innings of one-hit ball against the Baltimore Orioles to record the longest save in Major League history.

• September 14 - Pitcher Derek Lowe gets his 20th victory as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 6–4. Lowe becomes the first pitcher in major league history to win 20 games the season after saving 20. He is also the first pitcher to record at least 40 saves and later win 20. Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz did it the other way around.

• September 14 - Barry Bonds ties Hank Aaron for the most 100-RBI seasons by an NL player as he drives in his 100th run of the season for the 11th time in his career. The major league record is 13, shared by Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.

• September 14 - Chin-Feng Chen becomes the first Taiwan-born player to appear in the major leagues as he walks and scores as a pinch-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Colorado Rockies. The 24-year-old first baseman-outfielder played for the 1990 Taiwan team which won the Little League World Series.

• September 15 - Sammy Sosa joins Mel Ott and Willie Mays as the only NL players to post eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons.

• September 18 - Arizona defeats San Diego 10-3, as Greg Colbrunn is the first player to hit two home runs in a game while hitting for the cycle since George Brett (May 28, 1979).

• September 20 - Shortstop Mike Bordick sets a major league record with his 102nd consecutive errorless game at shortstop. He also extends his major league mark of errorless chances at SS to 504.

• September 22 - Greg Maddux joins Cy Young as the only pitchers in major league history to win 15 or more games in 15 consecutive seasons.

• September 22 - Fred McGriff becomes the first major league player to hit 30 homers for five different teams, and the first to homer in 42 different ballparks.

• September 29 - Albert Pujols becomes the fourth hitter in the major leagues, and the first batter since Ted Williams in 1939–40, to collect more than 250 runs batted in his first two seasons in the majors. Pujols has driven in 257 runs in his first two campaigns. Joe DiMaggio holds the record with 292 RBI, Dale Alexander is second with 272, and Williams is third with 258.

October

• October 2 - Seibu Lions first baseman Alex Cabrera hits his 55th home run of the season, off Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes pitcher Akira Okamoto, to tie the Japanese League record set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by Tuffy Rhodes last year. Like Rhodes, Cabrera will see few good pitches for the remaining games.

• October 10 - The San Francisco Giants take a 2–games–to–0 lead in the NLCS with a 4–1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Jason Schmidt pitches shutout ball into the eighth inning while shortstop Rich Aurilia hits a pair of home runs with three RBI.

• October 26 - The Anaheim Angels stage one of the great comebacks in World Series history to force a seventh game. With one out in the 7th inning, the Giants are leading 5-0 and are just 8 outs from their first World Series title since moving to San Francisco. But after two singles, Scott Spezio fouls off several pitches before hitting a 3 run homer to get the Angels close. In the bottom of the 8th, Darin Erstad led off with a home run to make it 5-4. After two singles, the Giants brought in their ace reliever Rob Nen. Series MVP Troy Glaus greeted him with a 2 run double to give the Angels a 6-5 lead. Reliever Troy Percival pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.

• October 27 - The Anaheim Angels win their first World Series ever as they defeat the San Francisco Giants 4–1 in Game Seven. Pitcher John Lackey (with relief help from Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodriguez, and Troy Percival) becomes the first rookie to win a 7th game of a World Series since 1909. Garret Anderson's bases loaded double in the third inning scores three runs for Anaheim to break a 1-1 tie and provide the margin of victory. Troy Glaus is named Series MVP.

November–December

• November 22 - Houston Astros right fielder Richard Hidalgo is shot in the left forearm during a carjacking in Venezuela. He is released from the hospital and is expected to go to Houston for more tests.

• November 25 - The Boston Red Sox sign 28-year–old Theo Epstein as their new general manager. He becomes the youngest GM in major league history.

• December 2 - In support of a national strike, the Venezuelan professional league suspends its games. Many of the eight teams in the league belong to news media owners opposed to President Hugo Chávez. When the strike continues, the league will cancel its season on January 13, 2004.

• December 2 - In the biggest free agent signing this year, the Philadelphia Phillies sign Cleveland Indians first baseman Jim Thome to a 6-year contract.

Date Un-Known

• 2002 - The Gary SouthShore RailCats joined the Northern League

Books

• The Last Commissioner: A Baseball Valentine, an autobiography by Fay Vincent.
• Summerland, a novel by Michael Chabon.
• Win Shares, by Bill James, presenting the sabermetrician's new system for evaluating player performance.

Movies

• The Rookie
• Bleacher Bums (TV)

Deaths

January–March

• January 2 - Bob Stevens, 85, sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle for over 40 years
• January 31 - Harry Chiti, 69, catcher for the Cubs and Kansas City Athletics who was adept at handling the knuckleball
• February 11 - Frankie Crosetti, 91, All-Star shortstop and later a longtime coach for the New York Yankees, who spent a record 37 seasons with the team; scored 100 runs four times and led AL in steals in 1938
• February 15 - Mike Darr, 26, outfielder for the San Diego Padres (from 1999 until his death), was killed in an car accident during spring training in Arizona
• March 9 - Jack Baer, 87, coach who led Oklahoma to the 1951 College World Series title
• March 11 - Al Cowens, 50, right fielder for four AL teams who batted .312 and won a Gold Glove for the 1977 Royals, and was MVP runnerup
• March 12 - Steve Gromek, 82, All-Star pitcher who won 19 games for the 1945 Indians and hurled 2-1 victory in 1948 World Series
• March 23 - Minnie Rojas, 68, Cuban relief pitcher for the Angels who led AL in saves in 1967, was paralyzed in spring 1970 accident

April–June

• April 3 - Karl Swanson, 101, reserve second baseman for the 1928-29 White Sox who at the time of his death was the oldest living major leaguer
• April 26 - John Davis, 86, reserve third baseman for the 1941 New York Giants; minor league manager for 27 years
• May 17 - Joe Black, 78, pitcher who was NL Rookie of the Year in 1952, and became first black pitcher to win a World Series game
• May 28 - Wes Westrum, 79, All-Star catcher for the New York Giants who later managed the Mets and San Francisco Giants
• June 18 - Jack Buck, 77, broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals for nearly 50 years
• June 22 - Darryl Kile, 33, All-Star pitcher, with the Cardinals since 2000 when he won 20 games; also threw a no-hitter for the Astros
• June 22 - Ron Kline, 70, pitcher for nine teams, primarily the Pirates, who led AL in saves with 1965 Senators
• June 27 - Ralph Erickson, 100, relief pitcher with the 1929-30 Pirates who upon the April 3 death of Karl Swanson became baseball's oldest living player; died two days after 100th birthday
• June 30 - Pete Gray, 87, outfielder who played in the major leagues for the St. Louis Browns despite having lost his right arm in a childhood accident

July–September

• July 5 - Ted Williams, 83, Hall of Fame left fielder for the Boston Red Sox widely regarded as the greatest hitter in the sport's history, who won two Triple Crowns (1942, 1947), two MVP awards (1946, 1949) and six batting titles, including a .406 season in 1941, the last .400 mark in the major leagues; 17-time All-Star had .344 lifetime average (7th highest ever) and .634 slugging mark (2nd to Babe Ruth); 521 home runs were 3rd highest total upon retirement, with four AL titles; .482 on-base percentage is all-time record
• July 17 - Lee Maye, 67, outfielder who led the major leagues with 44 doubles in 1964
• July 24 - Pete Coscarart, 87, All-Star second baseman who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates between 1938 and 1946
• July 26 - Ed Runge, 87, American League umpire from 1954 to 1970 who worked in three World Series; son Paul and grandson Brian also became umpires
• August 5 - Darrell Porter, 50, All-Star catcher who had 100 runs and 100 RBI with 1979 Royals, and was MVP of the 1982 NLCS and World Series with the Cardinals
• August 12 - Enos Slaughter, 86, Hall of Fame right fielder for the Cardinals who batted .300 lifetime; led NL in triples twice and in doubles, hits and RBI once each, and was 1942 MVP runnerup; famed for his "mad dash" to score from first base to win the 1946 World Series
• August 16 - Johnny Roseboro, 69, All-Star catcher who won two Gold Gloves, and was noted for his 1965 scuffle with Juan Marichal
• August 23 - Hoyt Wilhelm, 80, Hall of Fame pitcher who became the first reliever so honored (1985); knuckleballer set records for career games (1,070) and saves (227) over 21 seasons, despite ending rookie year at age 30; pitched no-hitter in rare 1958 start, led NL in ERA and games in rookie season with New York Giants, and led AL in ERA in 1959; career 2.52 ERA was lowest of any modern pitcher with 2000 innings
• September 25 - Ray Hayworth, 98, catcher for the Tigers who hit .301 as a backup for the 1934-35 pennant winners; at the time of his death, was the oldest living major league player

October–December

• October 4 - Edgar Munzel, 95, sportswriter for the Chicago Herald-Examiner and Sun-Times from 1929 to 1973
• October 20 - Mel Harder, 93, All-Star pitcher who won 223 games for the Indians and pitched 13 shutout innings in All-Star competition, later a highly regarded pitching coach for five teams
• November 10 - Ken Raffensberger, 85, All-Star pitcher for four NL teams, noted for his control, who threw four one-hitters and led league in shutouts twice
• December 1 - Dave McNally, 60, All-Star pitcher for the Orioles who had four consecutive 20-win seasons (1968–71) and won 1-0 shutout in 1966 World Series clincher; refused to sign a 1975 contract for 1975, paving the way for free agency
• December 15 - Dick Stuart, 70, All-Star first baseman for Pirates noted for his poor defense; first player with 30 HRs and 100 RBI in both leagues, led AL in RBI with 1963 Red Sox