1941 in baseball

March: edit 3/9

← Previous revision Revision as of 18:38, 6 April 2026 Line 190: Line 190: *March 4 – [[Grace Comiskey]] becomes the first woman to become [[president (corporate title)|president]] of an [[American League]] club when she is elected to the post by the [[Chicago White Sox]]' board of directors. The team's presidency had been vacant since the death of her husband, [[J. Louis Comiskey]], on July 18, 1939; the ChiSox, founded by J. Lou's [[Charles Comiskey|father]] at the turn of the 20th century, recently reverted to full Comiskey family control after a period of trusteeship overseen by the [[First Chicago Bank|First National Bank of Chicago]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lindberg |first=Richard C. |date= |title=History of the White Sox |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/history-of-the-white-sox/ |website=sabr.org |location= |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |access-date=April 7, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=[[United Press]] |date=March 4, 1941 |title=Mrs. Comiskey Named White Sox President |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/03/05/85242854.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.cpm |location= |publisher= |access-date=April 7, 2026}}</ref> *March 4 – [[Grace Comiskey]] becomes the first woman to become [[president (corporate title)|president]] of an [[American League]] club when she is elected to the post by the [[Chicago White Sox]]' board of directors. The team's presidency had been vacant since the death of her husband, [[J. Louis Comiskey]], on July 18, 1939; the ChiSox, founded by J. Lou's [[Charles Comiskey|father]] at the turn of the 20th century, recently reverted to full Comiskey family control after a period of trusteeship overseen by the [[First Chicago Bank|First National Bank of Chicago]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lindberg |first=Richard C. |date= |title=History of the White Sox |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/history-of-the-white-sox/ |website=sabr.org |location= |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |access-date=April 7, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=[[United Press]] |date=March 4, 1941 |title=Mrs. Comiskey Named White Sox President |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/03/05/85242854.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.cpm |location= |publisher= |access-date=April 7, 2026}}</ref> *March 8 – [[Philadelphia Phillies]] pitcher [[Hugh Mulcahy]] becomes the first Major League Baseball player drafted into the armed forces via the [[Selective Training and Service Act of 1940|Selective Service]] system established last year by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|President Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in anticipation of [[World War II]]. More than 100 major leaguers will be drafted within the next two years; two of them, [[Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]] outfielder [[Elmer Gedeon]] and [[Philadelphia Athletics]] catcher [[Harry O'Neill (catcher)|Harry O'Neill]], will be killed in action. *March 8 – [[Philadelphia Phillies]] pitcher [[Hugh Mulcahy]] becomes the first Major League Baseball player drafted into the armed forces via the [[Selective Training and Service Act of 1940|Selective Service]] system established last year by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|President Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in anticipation of [[World War II]]. More than 100 major leaguers will be drafted within the next two years; two of them, [[Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]] outfielder [[Elmer Gedeon]] and [[Philadelphia Athletics]] catcher [[Harry O'Neill (catcher)|Harry O'Neill]], will be killed in action. *March 9 – The [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] sock a $200 fine on onetime staff ace [[Van Lingle Mungo]] and temporarily kick him off the team after Mungo "falls off the water wagon." The inebriated pitcher brawls with a jealous husband after he's discovered, naked, with the man's wife and another woman in a room at the Dodgers' [[Havana]] hotel. Banished from [[Cuba]], Mungo, 29, is eventually reinstated by the Dodgers, but appears in only two games before he's sent down to [[Montreal Royals|Montreal]] on May 15, never to return to the Brooklyn squad.<ref>{{cite web |last=McGowen |first=Roscoe |date=March 10, 1941 |title=Mungo Fined, Suspended as Dodgers Divide |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/03/10/85460409.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |location= |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 6, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Alan |date= |title=Van Lingle Mungo |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Van-Lingle-Mungo/ |website=sabr.org |location= |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |access-date=April 6, 2026}}</ref> *March 9 – The [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] sock a $200 fine on onetime staff ace [[Van Lingle Mungo]] and temporarily kick him off the team after Mungo "falls off the water wagon" during [[spring training]] in [[Havana]]. The inebriated pitcher brawls with a jealous husband after he's discovered, naked, with the man's wife and another woman in a room at the Dodgers' hotel. Banished from [[Cuba]], Mungo, 29, is eventually reinstated by the Dodgers, but appears in only two games before he's sent down to [[Montreal Royals|Montreal]] on May 15, never to return to the Brooklyn squad.<ref>{{cite web |last=McGowen |first=Roscoe |date=March 10, 1941 |title=Mungo Fined, Suspended as Dodgers Divide |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/03/10/85460409.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |location= |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 6, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Alan |date= |title=Van Lingle Mungo |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Van-Lingle-Mungo/ |website=sabr.org |location= |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |access-date=April 6, 2026}}</ref> *March 19 – The [[Boston Bees]] purchase the contract of third baseman [[Ducky Detweiler]] from the [[Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952)|Wilmington Blue Rocks]] of the [[Interstate League]]. *March 19 – The [[Boston Bees]] purchase the contract of third baseman [[Ducky Detweiler]] from the [[Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952)|Wilmington Blue Rocks]] of the [[Interstate League]]. *March 23 – [[New York Yankees]] outfielder [[Joe DiMaggio]], a hold out and late arrival in [[spring training]], plays in his first [[Grapefruit League]] game. *March 23 – [[New York Yankees]] outfielder [[Joe DiMaggio]], a hold out and late arrival in [[spring training]], plays in his first [[Grapefruit League]] game.