January 3 – The Cincinnati Reds announce that manager Fred Hutchinson has contracted lung cancer. He will begin two months of radiology treatment in Seattle and will make spring training with the team.
The Chicago White Sox introduce their new powder-blue road uniforms.
January 15:
Major League Baseball executives vote to hold a free-agent draft in New York City. A new TV pact is also signed.
Willie Mays‚ the highest-paid player in baseball‚ signs a $105‚000 contract with the Giants.
January 16 – American League owners vote 9–1 against Charlie Finley's attempt to move his club to Louisville. Finley is given an ultimatum to sign a lease in Kansas City or lose his franchise.
January 28 – Cincinnati center fielder Vada Pinson is cleared of assault charges stemming from a September 5‚ 1963 incident when local sportswriter Earl Lawson does not pursue charges further.
January 29 – Pitcher-author Jim Brosnan is given permission by the Chicago White Sox to make his own deal with another team. His in-season writing has been censured by Sox general manager Ed Short.
January 30 – The United States Senate Subcommittee on Monopolies begins hearings on baseball.
Finally, Charlie Finley gives in to American League pressure and signs a four-year lease with the municipal government to keep the Athletics in Kansas City. Finley wanted a two-year deal. His exasperated AL colleagues voted 9–1 that KC's offer was reasonable.
April 1 – Cleveland Indians manager Birdie Tebbetts suffers a heart attack. Third-base coach George Strickland will fill in for three months until the 51-year old skipper returns to the team with limited duties.
April 8 – Houston Colt .45s relief pitcher Jim Umbricht dies of cancer at the age of 33. In 1965, the franchise will retire his uniform number 32.
April 9 – To the chagrin of special consultant Branch Rickey, the St. Louis Cardinals trade Jimmie Coker and Gary Kolb to the Milwaukee Braves for reserve catcher Bob Uecker. After introducing himself, the Redbirds' new backstop is quickly informed by Rickey. "I didn't want you. I wouldn't trade one Gary Kolb for a hundred Bob Ueckers".
April 13 – After beating the Reds 6–3 in the traditional home opener in Cincinnati, the Houston Colt .45s sit in first place in the National League for the only time under their original nickname. The next year the Colt .45s are renamed the Astros, to reflect Houston's status as the home of the NASA space program.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets sell the contract of 1950s Dodger legend Duke Snider, 37, to the San Francisco Giants. Snider will spend the last year of his 18-season, Hall-of-Fame MLB career with the arch-rival Giants, batting .210 largely as a pinch hitter.
April 23 – At Colt Stadium, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45sno-hits his former team, the Cincinnati Reds, but loses 1–0. Two ninth-inning errors allow the Reds to score the game's lone run: a two-base throwing error by Johnson himself on Pete Rose's ground ball, and the second by Nellie Fox on Vada Pinson's grounder, which scores Rose. To date, the game is the only one in Major League history whose losing pitcher had pitched a nine-inning no-hitter.
May 6 – Dave Nicholson of the Chicago White Sox hits a home run off of Athletics' pitcher Moe Drabowsky which either bounces atop the left-field roof of Comiskey Park or is said to have entirely cleared it. The home run is officially measured at 573 feet, one of baseball's longest of all time.
June 21 – On Father's Day at Shea Stadium, Jim Bunning fans ten, drives in two runs, and pitches the first perfect game (excluding Don Larsen's 1956 World Series effort, and Harvey Haddix's 1959 extra-innings loss) since Charlie Robertson's on April 30, 1922, as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 6–0. Bunning also becomes the first pitcher to throw no-hitters in both leagues, and Gus Triandos becomes the first catcher to catch a no-hitter in each league. Bunning throws just 90 pitches in winning his second no-hitter. The next time Bunning faces the Mets he will shut them out, the first no-hit pitcher in the 20th century to do that. The Mets fare little better in the nightcap, as 18-year-old rookie Rick Wise pitches into the seventh inning to win his first game, giving up just three hits and three walks (Johnny Klippstein pitched the final three innings). The Phillies increase their National League lead to two games over the San Francisco Giants.
June 26 – Hard-hitting sophomore Cleveland Indians third baseman Max Alvis, 26, is hospitalized in Boston after an attack of spinal meningitis. He will recover completely but miss six weeks of action.
Mickey Mantle hits a home run from both sides of the plate in a 7–3 Yankees win over the Chicago White Sox. It is the tenth time in his career that he has done so and a major league record for switch-hit homers in a game.
At Crosley Field, the Cincinnati Reds host an emotional, 45th-birthday tribute to their cancer-stricken manager, Fred Hutchinson, before their game with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hutchinson has managed the Reds for 109 of their 115 games while undergoing treatment. But he will enter the hospital the next day to fight the disease for the rest of the baseball season, while coach Dick Sisler pilots the Reds. Hutchinson will resign as manager October 19, and he passes away November 12.
August 17 – With the fifth-place St. Louis Cardinals at 62–55 (.530) and nine games behind the Phillies, owner August A. Busch Jr. replaces general managerBing Devine with Bob Howsam, former owner of the minor-league Denver Bears. The roster that Howsam inherits goes 31–14 (.689) to edge Philadelphia and Cincinnati for the National League pennant, and defeats the Yankees in the 1964 World Series. Devine, meanwhile, earns his second consecutive Major League Executive of the Year award from The Sporting News.
August 20 – At Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox complete a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 5–0 shutout. As the Yankees' team bus heads to O'Hare International Airport after the game, infielder Phil Linz takes out a harmonica and plays a plaintive version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Manager Yogi Berra tells Linz to put the harmonica away. After Linz asks what Berra had said, Mickey Mantle tells Linz to "play it louder", which he does, prompting an unusually angry Berra to storm to the back to the bus and slap the harmonica out of Linz' hands; the instrument strikes Joe Pepitone's knee. The "Harmonica Incident" convinces the Yankee front office that Berra has lost control of the team and cannot command respect from his players. As a result, the decision is made to fire Berra at the end of the season.
September 5 – Locked in a three-team struggle for the American Leaguepennant, the New York Yankees bolster their bullpen by acquiring veteran right-hander Pedro Ramos from the Cleveland Indians. Ramos, 29, earns eight saves in 13 games over the next four weeks and goes 1–0 (1.25), as the Bombers—in third place and three games behind when the Ramos deal occurs—leapfrog the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox to win the AL flag by a single game October 3.
September 17 – Seattle Mayor James d'Orma Braman announces publicly his intentions on luring the Cleveland Indians to the city. The following month, the Indians' board of directors announce the club will remain in Cleveland.
September 20 – Jim Bunning strikes out John Roseboro in the ninth inning to preserve the Philadelphia Phillies' 3–2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles. The win comes after two straight losses (both charged to Jack Baldschun) and leaves the first place Phils in front of the National League by six and a half games with 12 games to play. When they return to Philadelphia in the early morning, 2,000 fans, including mayor James Tate are on hand to greet the team.
September 21 – John Tsitouris hurls a 1–0 shutout for the Cincinnati Reds over Art Mahaffey and the first-place Phillies, launching a 10-game Phillies losing streak. Rookie Chico Ruiz scores the only run when, with Frank Robinson at bat, he steals home with two outs in the sixth inning.
September 27 – Johnny Callison hits three home runs, but the Phillies lose to the Milwaukee Braves 14–8. The Phils suffer the seventh loss in their 10-game losing streak, while the Reds sweep the New York Mets (4–1 and 3–1). These results knock Philadelphia out of first place, with the Reds replacing them atop the NL standings. The Phillies would never return to first place in 1964.
September 29 – The Pittsburgh Pirates blank the Reds 2–0 at Crosley Field (despite the Reds getting 11 hits off Bob Friend) to end the Reds' nine-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Ray Sadecki records his 20th victory as his St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Phillies 4–2 at Busch Stadium, the seventh win in the Cardinals' eight-game winning streak and the ninth loss in the Phillies' 10-game losing streak. The win puts the Cardinals into a tie for first place with the Reds; St. Louis had been 11 games out of first on August 23.
September 30 – Danny Murtaugh, 46, announces his pending retirement as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates due to ill health after 7½ seasons, including their 1960 world championship campaign. But he remains with team in a front-office post, and will return to the Pirates' helm three more times through 1976, and lead them to a second world title in 1971.
October 1 – Johnny Pesky is fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox with two games remaining in his second season. Future Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman, 55, the Bosox' third-base coach, replaces Pesky.
As a result of the now-concluded Philadelphia Phillies' ten-game losing streak, the day begins with four teams still having a mathematical shot at the National Leaguepennant, and a four-way tie is also still a possibility. But then one of the four, the San Francisco Giants, is eliminated with a 10–7 loss to the Chicago Cubs. At the end of the day, the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals are tied for first place, with the Phillies a game back. In recent days, the NL has had to scramble to schedule various possible playoffs.
October 4
The Phillies defeat the Reds, 10–0, in the last regular-season game for both teams unless there is a playoff; because of the Reds' loss, the Cardinals clinch a tie for the NL pennant. At the end of that game, the Phillies and Reds are a half-game back of the Cardinals, and await the result of the Cardinals-Mets game. Then, the Cardinals, never in first place until the last week of the season, clinch their first pennant since 1946 with an 11–5 win over the New York Mets, who had just beaten the Cardinals twice in the two preceding days. The win by the Cardinals averts a three-way tie for the NL pennant, with the Phillies and the Reds finishing one game back in a second-place tie.
October 15 – The St. Louis Cardinals take an early lead in the deciding World Series Game Seven over the New York Yankees. Lou Brock hits a fifth-inning home run to give pitcher Bob Gibson a 6–0 lead. Mickey Mantle, Clete Boyer and Phil Linz homer for New York, but the Yankees fall short. The Cardinals win the game 7–5 and are the World Champions. The Boyer brothers, Ken for St. Louis and Clete for the Yankees, homer in their last World Series appearance, a first in major league history.
October 16 – The day after the final game of the World Series, the managerial posts of both pennant winning teams are vacant. In the morning, Johnny Keane, manager of the victorious St. Louis Cardinals, resigns, much to the surprise of owner Gussie Busch. Hours later, New York Yankee general manager Ralph Houk fires Yogi Berra as his manager, citing Berra's lack of control over team and his inability to command respect from his players. Less than a week later, Houk replaces Berra with Keane, who himself will be replaced (as St. Louis manager) by coach and former Cardinal star Red Schoendienst. Meanwhile, Berra reunites with Casey Stengel by becoming a coach with the New York Mets.
October 19 – Harry "The Hat" Walker is named to succeed Danny Murtaugh as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A gifted batting instructor and successful minor-league pilot, Walker's last MLB managerial assignment came with the Cardinals during the latter half of the 1955 season.
November 2 – CBS Broadcasting Inc. becomes the first corporate owner of a Major League team after buying eighty percent of the New York Yankees assets for $11,200,000.
November 18 – Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson, who hit .317 with 28 home runs and 118 RBI, is named American League Most Valuable Player with 269 points, becoming the first non-Yankee to win the award since Nellie Fox of the Chicago White Sox in 1959. The Yankees' Mickey Mantle (171) and his Yankee teammate Elston Howard (124) are the runners-up.
November 24 – St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer, who hit .295 with 24 home runs and 119 RBI, is named National League Most Valuable Player with 243 points, becoming the first Cardinals player to win the award since Stan Musial won his 3rd MVP award in 1948. The Phillies' Johnny Callison (187) and Boyer's Cardinal teammate Bill White (106) are the runners-up.
November 29 – In need of a regular first baseman, the Philadelphia Phillies acquire slugger Dick Stuart from the Boston Red Sox for southpaw pitcher Dennis Bennett. In his two seasons with Boston, Stuart has hit 75 home runs and amassed 232 RBI, but his lackadaisical defense has earned him the nickname "Doctor Strangeglove".
The Houston Colt .45s officially change their nickname to Astros. The change coincides with the team's impending move from Colt Stadium to the Harris County Domed Stadium, also known as the Astrodome. A change in name for the three-year-old franchise is necessitated due to a dispute with the Colt firearm company; the Astros name is chosen due to Houston being the home of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (later the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center).
Alarmed by the $200,000 signing bonus the Los Angeles Angels bestowed upon University of Wisconsin outfielder Rick Reichardt during the summer, MLB owners vote to implement an amateur free agent draft beginning in 1965. The inverse order of the previous year's standings will be used to select high school and college players. Drafts will occur in June and January, and each will have both primary and secondary phases, the latter for previously drafted, but unsigned, athletes. International free agents, from outside the U.S. and Canada, are not affected.
January [?] – Al Cabrera, 82, native of Spain (Canary Islands) who appeared in one game as shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals on May 16, 1913.
January 13 – Margaret Stefani, 46, All-Star infielder in the 1943 inaugural season of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
January 15 – Ed Henderson, 79, who pitched in 1914 with the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League.
January 15 – Bob Larmore, 67, backup shortstop for the 1918 St. Louis Cardinals.
January 16 – Howard Baker, 75, third baseman who played for the Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox and New York Giants in parts of three seasons spanning 1912–1915.
January 17 – John Grimes, 94, who pitched in three games for the 1897 St. Louis Browns.
January 31 – John Huber, 55, primarily a catcher and pitcher for Philadelphia of the Negro National League and Chicago, Birmingham, Memphis and Indianapolis of the Negro American League between 1941 and 1947.
February 4 – Fred Smith, 85, pitcher for the 1907 Cincinnati Reds.
February 12 – Ted Pawelek, 44, catcher for the Chicago Cubs who played four MLB games during the 1946 season.
February 12 – Al Pierotti, 68, pitcher for the Boston Braves from 1920 to 1921, who was also an offensive lineman in the American Professional Football League from 1920 through 1929.
February 14 – Bill Stewart, 69, National League umpire from 1933 to 1954 who worked four World Series, four All-Star Games and the 1951 NL pennant playoff; also a hockey coach and referee who led the Chicago Black Hawks to the 1938 Stanley Cup title.
February 15 – Ken Hubbs, 22, Gold Glove-winning second baseman for the Chicago Cubs and the 1962 National League Rookie of the Year, in the crash of his private plane.
February 15 – Fred Trautman, 71, pitcher for the 1915 Newark Peppers of the Federal League.
February 22 – Kid Butler, 76, infielder for the 1907 St. Louis Browns.
February 22 – Ike Samuels, 90, third baseman for the 1895 St. Louis Browns of the National League.
February 24 – Henry Baldwin, 69, backup infielder for the 1927 Philadelphia Phillies.
February 27 – Tony Smith, 79, shortstop for the AL Washington Senators (1907) and the NL Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers (1910–1911).
February 28 – Guy Ousley, 53, shortstop for Chicago of the Negro National League and Memphis and Louisville of the Negro Southern League in 1932–1933.
April 1 – Casey Hageman, 76, who pitched from 1911 through 1914 for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.
April 5 – Bob Clemens, 77, outfielder who played with the St. Louis Browns in 1914.
April 7 – Johnny Tillman, 70, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in 1915.
April 8 – George Moriarty, 79, third baseman who played 1,075 gams for four MLB clubs, notably the 1909–1915 Detroit Tigers, and American League umpire (1917–1926 and 1929–1940), interrupting his officiating tenure to serve a two-year term as manager of 1927–1928 Tigers.
April 8 – Mickey O'Neil, 63, catcher for the Boston Braves, Brooklyn Robins, Washington Senators and New York Giants, in a span of nine seasons from 1919 to 1927.
April 8 – Jim Umbricht, 33, relief pitcher for the Houston Colt .45s, who battled back from cancer surgery to post a 4–3 record for the club in 1963.
April 10 – Chief Yellow Horse, 66, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1921 to 1922; a Native American from the Pawnee tribe who was the first full-blooded American Indian to have played in Major League Baseball history.
April 13 – Ed Pipgras, 59, pitcher in five games for the 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers; his brother was a mound star for the "Murderers' Row" Yankees of the late 1920s.
April 14 – Enos Kirkpatrick, 79, third baseman who played from 1912 through 1915 for the Brooklyn Dodgers/Superbas and the Baltimore Terrapins.
April 16 – Charlie Case, 84, pitcher who played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1901 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1906.
April 16 – Gus Williams, 75, outfielder for the St. Louis Browns during five seasons from 1911 to 1915.
April 17 – Kid Willson, 78, outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox in part of two seasons spanning 1918–1927.
April 20 – Eddie Dyer, 64, pitcher (1922–1927) and manager (1946–1950) for the St. Louis Cardinals who guided the team to the 1946 World Series title.
April 22 – Herb Herring, 72, who made one pitching appearance for the Washington Senators in the 1912 season.
May 2 – Sensation Clark, 61, who pitched for Pittsburgh, Memphis, Indianapolis and Cleveland of the Negro National League from 1922 to 1924.
May 3 – Gerry Shea, 82, catcher for the 1905 St. Louis Cardinals.
May 7 – Clyde Goodwin, 82, pitcher for the 1906 Washington Senators.
May 9 – Chauncey Burkam, 71, pinch hitter for the St. Louis Browns in the 1915 season.
May 10 – Charlie Butler, pitcher for the 1933 Philadelphia Phillies.
May 10 – George McConnell, 86, spitball specialist who pitched for five teams in a span of six seasons from 1909 to 1916.
May 14 – Dave Altizer, 87, shortstop who played from 1906 through 1911 for four teams, most relevantly with the Washington Senators; one of the few major leaguers to have served in the United States Army during the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901.
May 15 – Harley Boss, 55, first baseman who played for the Washington Senators and the Cleveland Indians in part of four seasons spanning 1928–1933.
May 16 – Buzz Arlett, 65, called the Babe Ruth of the Minor Leagues; slugging outfielder/pitcher who hit .341 with 432 home runs and 1,976 RBI in a 19-year career, while posting a 108–93 pitching record with a 3.39 ERA; played in 121 games in the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1931, batting .313 with 131 hits.
May 20 – Frank Moore, 86, pitcher for the 1905 Pittsburgh Pirates.
May 20 – Cy Neighbors, 83, outfielder for the 1908 Pittsburgh Pirates.
May 23 – Ernie Wolf, 75, pitcher who played for the Cleveland Naps in 1912.
May 25 – Joe Martin, 88, backup outfielder who played for the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns in the 1903 season.
May 27 – Lou Jorda, 71, National League umpire who officiated in 2,508 contests over 18 seasons (1927–1931, 1940–1952), as well as in two World Series and two All-Star games.
May 28 – Buzzy Wares, 78, shortstop for the St. Louis Browns from 1913 to 1914, later a longtime coach for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1930 to 1952, during which time the Cardinals won seven National League pennants and five World Series titles.
May 29 – Eli Cates, 87, pitcher for the 1908 Washington Senators.
May 31 – Rabbit Warstler, 60, middle infielder who played from 1930 through 1940 for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Bees and Chicago Cubs.
June 2 – Jack Kading, 79, first baseman who played with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1910 and for the Chicago Chi-Feds in 1914.
June 7 – Elmer Stricklett, 87, pitcher who played from 1904 through 1907 for the Chicago White Sox and Brooklyn Superbas.
June 11 – Jack Blott, 61, catcher for the 1924 Cincinnati Reds, as well as a football coach in the Michigan and Wesleyan universities from 1924 through 1940.
June 12 – Bud Connolly, 63, shortstop for the 1925 Boston Red Sox.
June 12 – Walter Zink, 66, pitcher for the 1921 New York Giants.
June 15 – Jim Spotts, 55, catcher who appeared in three games at age 21 for the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies.
June 16 – Dick Culler, 49, middle infielder and third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs and New York Giants in all or part of eight seasons spanning 1936–1949.
June 27 – John Shackelford, 58, third baseman for Cleveland (1924), Chicago (1926) and Birmingham (1930) of the Negro National League and Harrisburg (1925) of the Eastern Colored League; University of Michigan School of Law graduate who maintained longtime legal practices in Grand Rapids and Cleveland, and served as president of the United States League, a short-lived Negro leagues circuit, in 1945–1946.
June 27 – Tex Wisterzil, 76, third baseman who played from 1914 to 1915 for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops, Chicago Whales and St. Louis Terriers of the outlaw Federal League.
July 1 – Jay Rogers, 75, backup catcher for the 1914 New York Yankees.
July 5 – Dick Attreau, 67, first baseman who played from 1926 to 1927 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
July 7 – Glenn Gardner, 48, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1945 season.
July 19 – Len Swormstedt, 85, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Americans from 1901 to 1906.
July 20 – Bill Narleski, 64, shortstop who played in 135 games from 1929 to 1930 for the Boston Red Sox; father of Ray Narleski.
July 20 – Bill Schardt, 78, pitcher who played from 1911 to 1912 for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
July 25 – Mo Harris, 66, stalwart second baseman/outfielder in Black baseball for the Homestead Grays between 1918 and 1929 and Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1931.
July 26 – Harry Smith, 74, pitcher for the 1912 Chicago White Sox.
July 27 – Dominic Mulrenan, 70, pitcher for the 1921 Chicago White Sox.
July 27 – Lizzie Murphy, 70, billed as the Queen of Baseball, who played at first base in an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on August 14, 1922, to become the first woman to play against a Major League Baseball team.[4]
July 29 – Vean Gregg, 79, pitcher for the 1915 and 1916 World Series Champions Boston Red Sox, who posted a career record of 92–63 with a 2.70 ERA, and also led the American League in ERA in 1911.
July 30 – Jabbo Andrews, 56, hard-hitting outfielder who appeared for at least 11 different teams in five Negro leagues between 1930 and 1942; won 1933 batting title of the Negro National League with a .398 average.
August 4 – Jerry Standaert, 62, backup infielder who played for the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Red Sox in a span of three seasons from 1925 to 1929.
August 5 – Ed Coleman, 62, right fielder who played from 1932 through 1936 for the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns.
August 6 – Curly Ogden, 63, pitcher who played from 1922 through 1926 for the Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators; member of 1924 world champion Senators.
August 8 – Chester Buchanan, 56, pitcher for the Philadelphia Stars of the Negro National League (1935, 1940–1944).
August 9 – Pete Johns, 76, backup infielder who played for the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1915 and 1918.
August 17 – Happy Felsch, 72, center fielder and one of eight players banned from baseball for life for his role in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.
September 3 – Hank Ritter, 70, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants in a span of four seasons from 1912 to 1916.
September 5 – Fred Stem, 78, first baseman who played for the Boston Doves of the National League from 1908 to 1909.
September 8 – Buck Redfern, 62, backup infielder for the Chicago White Sox in the 1928 and 1929 seasons.
September 9 – Herschel Bennett, 67, outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns from 1923 through 1927.
September 9 – George Stueland, 65, pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in part of four season from 1921 to 1925.
September 11 – Red McDermott, 75, outfielder for the 1912 Detroit Tigers.
September 11 – Tom Meany, 60, sportswriter for six New York newspapers, as well as Collier's magazine from 1923 to 1956; also publicity and promotions director for the New York Mets since their 1961 formation.
September 16 – Herb Conyers, 43, first baseman who played in seven games for the Cleveland Indians in 1950; batting average champion of four different minor leagues between 1942 and 1948.
September 18 – Frank Barron, 74, pitcher for the 1914 Washington Senators.
September 22 – Red Torkelson, 70, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in 1917.
September 23 – Cy Barger, 79, dead ball era pitcher who played with four teams in three different leagues in a span of seven seasons from 1906 to 1915.
September 26 – Paul Zahniser, 68, pitcher for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, and Cincinnati Reds from 1923 to 1929.
September 27 – Jud McLaughlin, 52, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox between 1931 and 1933.
October 6 – Dan Adams, 77, pitcher who played from 1914 to 1915 for the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League.
October 6 – Barney Schreiber, 82, pitcher for the 1911 Cincinnati Reds.
October 7 – Charlie Armbruster, 84, backup catcher who played from 1905 through 1907 for the Boston Americans and the Chicago White Sox.
October 9 – Al Wingo, 66, outfielder for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers in a span of six seasons from 1919 to 1928, before joining the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League from 1929 to 1931.
October 11 – Stan Gray, 75, first baseman who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1912.
October 13 – Scrappy Moore, 71, third baseman for the 1917 St. Louis Browns.
October 14 – Tom "Big Train" Parker, 52, burly outfielder/pitcher for multiple teams in the Negro and independent leagues, notably the Homestead Grays, between 1931 and 1948; briefly managed 1943 Harrisburg Stars of the Negro National League.
October 15 – Alex Evans, 68, who pitched for Atlantic City in the Eastern Colored League and Indianapolis and Memphis of the Negro National League in 1924.
October 17 – Carson Bigbee, 69, outfielder who spent his entire Major League career with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1916 through 1926, including the Pirates team that won the 1925 World Series title.
October 19 – Grover Hartley, 76, long time backup catcher and coach who played for seven different clubs of the American and National leagues during eleven seasons spanning 1911–1934.
October 20 – John Whitehead, 55, pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns in a span of seven seasons between 1935 and 1942.
October 29 – William Sumrall, 47, pitcher for the 1938 New York Black Yankees and 1943 Memphis Red Sox.
November 5 – Dutch Stryker, 69, pitcher who played with the Boston Braves in 1924 and for the Brooklyn Robins in 1926.
November 6 – Buz Phillips, 60, pitcher in 14 games for the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies.
November 10 – Emil Sick, 70, Seattle brewer who owned the minor-league Seattle Rainiers (1937–1960) and Vancouver Capilanos (1946–1954), and built Seattle's Sick's Stadium and Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium.
November 11 – Oscar Stanage, 81, top-flight defensive catcher for the Cincinnati Reds in one game in 1906 and for the Detroit Tigers from 1909 to 1920 and in 1925; holds American League record for assists by a catcher in a season (212 in 1911).
November 12 – Fred Hutchinson, 45, for whom the Seattle cancer research and therapy center is named and inspiration for the Hutch Award; manager of the Cincinnati Reds from mid-July 1959 until taking a medical leave for cancer treatments in mid-August 1964; led Reds to 1961 National League pennant; previously an All-Star pitcher (1939–1940 and 1946–1953) and manager (1952–1954) of the Detroit Tigers, and pilot of the St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1958), where he was selected 1957 MLB Manager of the Year.
November 13 – Bris Lord, 81, outfielder who played for the Cleveland Naps, Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Braves in part of eight seasons spanning 1905–1913.
November 16 – Yam Yaryan, 72, backup catcher for the Chicago White Sox in the 1921 and 1922 seasons.
November 19 – Fred Hofmann, 70, who spent 36 years in the major leagues as a catcher, coach and scout, and also won two minor league pennants as a manager.
November 22 – Willis Flournoy, 69, southpaw who pitched for the Hilldale Club, Brooklyn Royal Giants and Baltimore Black Sox between 1923 and 1932; led Eastern Colored League in earned run average (2.32) in 1926.
November 27 – Art Gleeson, 58, play-by-play sportscaster who described MLB games for the New York Yankees (1951–1952), the Mutual Network Game of the Day (1953–1959), and Boston Red Sox (1960–1964).
December 1 – Barbara Rotvig, 35, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher for the Kenosha Comets.
December 5 – Ed Wingo, 69, Canadian catcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1920 season.
December 6 – Bobby Keefe, 82, pitcher who played for the New York Highlanders and Cincinnati Reds in a span of three seasons from 1907 to 1912.
December 7 – Bill Karlon, 55, outfielder who played in two games for the New York Yankees in 1930.
December 13 – Hank Erickson, 57, catcher for the 1935 Cincinnati Reds.
December 15 – Paul Wachtel, 76, pitcher for the 1917 Brooklyn Robins.
December 21 – Delos Brown, 72, pinch hitter who appeared in one game for the Chicago White Sox in 1914.
December 22 – Lou Fiene, 79, pitcher who played from 1906 through 1909 for the Chicago White Sox.
December 22 – William Ross, 71, pitcher/outfielder who appeared in Black baseball between 1917 and 1930, most prominently for the 1924–1926 St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League.
December 27 – Art Phelan, 77, third baseman who played for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs in part of five seasons spanning 1910–1915.
December 27 – Tom Young, 62, lefty-swinging All-Star catcher who played in Black baseball between 1926 and 1941, notably the Kansas City Monarchs (1926–1935).
December 31 – Bobby Byrne, 80, speedy third baseman who played eleven seasons from 1907 to 1917, most prominently with the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates World Series champion team.
December 31 – Red Rollings, 60, utility infielder/outfielder who played for the 1927–1928 Boston Red Sox and 1930 Boston Braves.
December 31 – Doc Wallace, 71, shortstop who played for Philadelphia Phillies in the 1919 season.