Year In Review : 1951 National League

Off the field...

On May 12th, the United States military detonated the first hydrogen bomb on an uninhabited testing island in the Pacific. The development of an A-bomb by the Russians had convinced the U.S. to proceed with development of the H-bomb version, which was several times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki to prompt the end of World War II.

Remington Rand Corporation debuted the first commercial digital computer, called the "UNIVAC" (Universal Automatic Computer). The first "UNIVAC" was sold to the United States Census Bureau to assist in the storage, compiling and managing of the U.S. population data. It weighed some 16,000 pounds, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, and could perform about 1,000 calculations per second. "UNIVAC" was also used to predict the 1952 presidential election. No one involved in the project actually believed its prediction (based on 1% vote in) that Eisenhower would sweep the election...he did.

The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) introduced its first color television broadcast across five American cities for two and a half hours a day. However, due to the proprietary system used by CBS, more than 10½ million monochrome sets in the United States were blind to these telecasts. In response to the company forcing their own receivers on the consumer, the National Production Authority issued Order M-90 prohibiting the manufacturing of color sets for general public sale. Two years later, during a Congressional hearing on March 25, 1953, CBS announced that it had no plans to resume its own proprietary color system and the NPA lifted its ban on receiver manufacturing the following day.

In the American League...

During a March 26 exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the University of California, an up-and-coming nineteen year old rookie named Mickey Mantle hit a home run (estimated at six-hundred feet) out of U.S.C.'s Bovard Stadium. "The Mick" went on to finish the day with four hits and seven runs batted in (including two, two-run home runs and a bases-loaded triple) as the Major Leaguers prevailed 15-1. Mantle struggled at the plate over the next few months while striking out fifty-two times and was eventually sent back to the Minor League team in Kansas City.

St. Louis owner Bill Veeck had everyone in stitches after substituting a midget to pinch-hit during the first inning in game two of a doubleheader. Eddie Gaedel, a three-foot, seven inch dwarf, emerged from a cake wearing the number 1/8 during pre-game festivities, then took the plate for center fielder Frank Saucer and walked on four balls. The Detroit Tigers had the last laugh however after posting a 6-2 victory over the comedic Browns.

In the National League...

Howie Pollet finally ended the New York Giants sixteen-game winning streak with a clutch three hitter for a 2-0 Pittsburgh Pirates victory. The sixteen games (lasting from August 12th to 28th) represented the longest winning streak in National League history since 1935.

On September 13th, the St. Louis Cardinals became the first team since 1883 to play a doubleheader against two different teams on the same day. First they went up against the New York Giants (for a rescheduled rain game) and lost 4-6, then they fell 0-2 to the Boston Braves in their regularly scheduled night game.

The New York Giants literally snatched the National League pennant from the clutches of their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, after Bobby Thomson hit the infamous "shot heard 'round the world". It was a perfect ending to a career season in which Thomson hit .293 with thirty-two home runs and one-hundred one RBIs.

Around the League...

National League president Ford Frick was elected to a seven-year term as Major League Baseball's third commissioner. Frick, who had held the top office of the National League since 1934, also made a name for himself as a respected sports journalist and as Babe Ruth's "ghost" writer.

TOPPS debuted its first baseball cards (a five set series) that featured such favorites as Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Ralph Kiner, Phil Rizzuto, Enos Slaughter, Duke Snider and Warren Spahn.

A resolution was put forth by the South Carolina House to reinstate "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who had been banished from baseball because of his part in the 1919 "Black Sox Scandal". Jackson was one of eight players convicted of throwing the Series (five games to three) in favor of the underdog Cincinnati Reds. After a lengthy investigation in 1920, members of Chicago's tainted team were amazingly acquitted the following year despite their own confessions (which were recanted later). All of the players involved were banned from baseball because of their undeniable link to gamblers. Jackson himself had batted a Series-leading .375 but later acknowledged that he had let up in key situations.

On April 18th, as part of a pre-game publicity stunt, golf legend Sam Snead teed off from home plate at Wrigley Field and bounced a golf ball off of the center field scoreboard. He was the first player ever to reach the structure and the Chicago Cubs followed suite with an 8-3 win over the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"(Ralph) Branca throws, there's a long fly, it's gonna be, I believe, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!" - Russ Hodges

1951 National League Player Review

1950 | 1951 National League Hitting Statistics | 1952

Base on Balls Ralph Kiner Pittsburgh 137 Top 25
Batting Average Stan Musial St. Louis .355 Top 25
Doubles Alvin Dark New York 41 Top 25
Hits Richie Ashburn Philadelphia 221 Top 25
Home Runs Ralph Kiner Pittsburgh 42 Top 25
On Base Percentage Ralph Kiner Pittsburgh .452 Top 25
RBI Monte Irvin New York 121 Top 25
Runs Ralph Kiner Pittsburgh 124 Top 25
Stan Musial St. Louis
Slugging Average Ralph Kiner Pittsburgh .627 Top 25
Stolen Bases Sam Jethroe Boston 35 Top 25
Total Bases Stan Musial St. Louis 355 Top 25
Triples Gus Bell Pittsburgh 12 Top 25
Stan Musial St. Louis
1951 N.L. History | 1951 A.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1951 National League Pitcher Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Warren Spahn Boston 26 Top 25
ERA Chet Nichols Boston 2.88 Top 25
Games Ted Wilks St. Louis 65 Top 25
Pittsburgh
Saves Ted Wilks St. Louis 13 Top 25
Pittsburgh
Shutouts Warren Spahn Boston 7 Top 25
Strikeouts Don Newcombe Brooklyn 164 Top 25
Warren Spahn Boston
Winning Percentage Preacher Roe Brooklyn .880 Top 25
Wins Larry Jansen New York 23 Top 25
Sal Maglie
1951 N.L. History | 1951 A.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1951 National League Team Standings

1951 All-Star Game | 1951 Team Standings | 1951 World Series

New York Giants 98 59 .624 0
Brooklyn Dodgers 97 60 .618 1
St. Louis Cardinals 81 73 .526 15½
Boston Braves 76 78 .494 20½
Philadelphia Phillies 73 81 .472 23½
Cincinnati Reds 68 86 .442 28½
Pittsburgh Pirates 64 90 .416 32½
Chicago Cubs 62 92 .403 34½

1951 National League Team Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls New York 671
Batting Average Brooklyn .275
Doubles Brooklyn 249
Hits Brooklyn 1,511
Home Runs Brooklyn 184
On Base Percentage Brooklyn .352
Runs Brooklyn 855
Slugging Average Brooklyn .434
Stolen Bases Brooklyn 89
Triples St. Louis 57

1951 National League Team Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Boston 73
ERA New York 3.48
Fewest Hits Allowed New York 1,334
Fewest Home Runs Allowed Boston 96
Fewest Walks Allowed New York 482
Saves Cincinnati 23
St. Louis
Shutouts Philadelphia 19
Strikeouts Brooklyn 693
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

What did the 1883 and 1951 National League seasons have in common? For the first time since the previous century a team, which was the St. Louis Cardinals this year, played a doubleheader versus two different opponents. The Cards lost first to the New York Giants [4-6] and then to the Boston Braves [0-2] on the same day - September 14, 1951.

Did you know that on September 27, 1951, outfielder Bill Sharman of the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first and only Major League player ejected from a game without ever playing in a single game? After a bang-bang play at home where Bob Addis was called safe, there was an argument that continued to the point where Dascoli ejected Roy Campanella and Preacher Roe then cleared the bench ejecting Sharman and Cookie Lavagetto.

On October 3, 1951, Bobby Thomson hit the Shot Heard Round The World and Russ Hodges uttered the quotation found at the top of the page. The Dodgers' announcer, Red Barber, was a little less exhuberant and described the shot with, "It's in there for the pennant."