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The following are the baseball events of the year 1970 throughout the world.
[edit] Champions
[edit] Major Leagues
[edit] Other champions
[edit] Awards and honors
[edit] Statistical Leaders
[edit] Major League Baseball final standings
[edit] American League final standings
[edit] National League final standings
[edit] Events
- 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 will last three months; it was indefinite for a while before its length was set.
- 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 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 10 - Hoyt Wilhelm makes his 1,000th pitching appearance; the first pitcher in history to do so.
- 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.
[edit] Births
[edit] January-March
[edit] April-June
[edit] July-September
[edit] October-December
[edit] Deaths
[edit] 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
[edit] 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 1900s
- 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
[edit] 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 21 - 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 24 - Bill Lamar, 73, shortstop who hit .310 in nine seasons with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Robins and Philadelphia Athletics
- 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
[edit] 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 in the early 1940, 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
[edit] 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 fir the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, who later became a MLB executive
[edit] 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
