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1975 in baseball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: 1975 Major League Baseball season and 1975 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The following are the baseball events of the year 1975 throughout the world.

Years in baseball
1975 in sports

Champions

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Major League Baseball

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League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS)		World Series
EastBoston765
WestOakland133
ALBoston62552712*3
NLCincinnati03610*4664
EastPittsburgh313
WestCincinnati86510

*Denotes walk-off

Other champions

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Winter Leagues

Awards and honors

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Statistical leaders

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American League National League
AVG Rod Carew MIN .359 Bill Madlock CHC .354
HR Reggie Jackson OAK &
George Scott MLW		 36 Mike Schmidt PHI 38
RBIs George Scott MLW 109 Greg Luzinski PHI 120
Wins Catfish Hunter NYY &
Jim Palmer BAL		 23 Tom Seaver NYM 22
ERA Jim Palmer BAL 2.09 Randy Jones SDP 2.25
Ks Frank Tanana CAL 269 Tom Seaver NYM 243

Major League Baseball final standings

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Events

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The year will see the two Major League Baseball teams located in the San Francisco Bay Area ponder possible relocation scenarios.

  • The proposed sale of the Chicago White Sox presents opportunities for Charlie Finley's Oakland Athletics. A group from Seattle is ready to purchase the White Sox and move them there. With Chicago the site of Finley's insurance business headquarters, he is prepared to move his Athletics there to take the White Sox' place. But, due to his 20-year stadium lease with the city of Oakland (to expire in 1987), Finley is blocked. In December, Bill Veeck buys the ChiSox from owner John Allyn and keeps them in Chicago.[1]
  • Meanwhile, plunging attendance and cash flow problems create an ownership crisis for the San Francisco Giants. The financial woes facing club president Horace Stoneham—who moved the Giants to California in 1958, and whose father purchased the team in 1919 when it was based in New York—force him to put the team on the market during the summer. By the end of 1975, the most likely outcome sees the team being sold to a Canadian group that plans to move them to Toronto.

January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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Births

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January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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Deaths

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January

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  • January 2 – Jim Poole, 79, first baseman in 283 games for 1925–1927 Philadelphia Athletics; active in Organized Baseball as a player or player-manager for 28 years between 1914 and 1946.
  • January 5 – Don Wilson, 29, Houston Astros' starting pitcher who had won 104 games for them since breaking into the majors September 29, 1966, and thrown two no-hitters (on June 18, 1967 against Atlanta, and May 1, 1969 against Cincinnati); National League All-Star (1971); in 1974, he was still in the prime of his career, winning 11 games and posting a 3.08 ERA in 2042⁄3 innings pitched.
  • January 9 – Walton Cruise, 84, outfielder who played in 736 career games for the St. Louis Cardinals (1914 and 1916–1919) and Boston Braves (1919–1924).
  • January 9 – Curt Fullerton, 76, pitcher in 115 games for the Boston Red Sox (1921–1925 and 1933).
  • January 12 – Frank Kalin, 57, outfielder/pinch hitter who made brief appearances with the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates and the 1943 Chicago White Sox; went hitless in nine at bats over seven MLB games.
  • January 17 – Jim Canada, 63, first baseman for Birmingham, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Memphis of the Negro American League between 1937 and 1943.
  • January 21 – Pat Tobin, 58, pitcher who worked only one game (and one inning) in the majors, on August 21, 1941, as member of the Philadelphia Athletics.
  • January 23 – Clarence "Heinie" Mueller, 75, outfielder and first baseman who appeared in 693 career games over 11 years between 1920 and 1935 for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves and St. Louis Browns.
  • January 24 – Bobby Anderson, 75, second baseman/shortstop who appeared in 26 games for the 1920 Chicago Giants of the Negro National League.
  • January 24 – Doc Dudley, 81, first baseman for the St. Louis Giants/Stars of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1923.
  • January 26 – Astyanax Douglass, 77, catcher who played 11 games for the Cincinnati Reds over two seasons (1921 and 1925).
  • January 29 – Steve White, 90, right-hander who pitched briefly for the 1912 Washington Senators (one game) and Boston Braves (four games).

February

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  • February 5 – Ad "Doc" Swigler, 79, graduate of the University of Pennsylvania dental school who threw six innings for the New York Giants in his only MLB game on September 25, 1917.
  • February 12 – Dutch Mele, 60, minor-league slugger who had a six-game "cup of coffee" with the 1937 Cincinnati Reds.
  • February 17 – George Twombly, 82, outfielder who appeared in 150 total games in five seasons spanning 1914 to 1919 for the Reds, Boston Braves and Washington Senators.
  • February 21 – Steve Filipowicz, 55, outfielder who played in 57 total games for the MLB New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds between 1944 and 1948; previously a running back with the NFL New York Giants in 1943.
  • February 27 – Otis Henry, 71, third baseman/outfielder who played in the Negro leagues with Memphis and Indianapolis between 1932 and 1937.

March

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  • March 2 – Scat Metha, 61, infielder and pinch-runner who appeared in 26 games between April 22 and August 10 for the pennant-bound 1940 Detroit Tigers.
  • March 7 – Joe Benes, 74, infielder who played in ten games during May and June for 1931 St. Louis Cardinals.
  • March 10 – Clint Evans, 85, coach at the University of California from 1930 to 1954 who led team to the first College World Series title in 1947.
  • March 10 – Johnny Markham, 66, a Negro league pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs and Birmingham Black Barons.
  • March 11 – Lefty Clarke, 79, pitcher whose only MLB appearance came on October 2, 1921, with the Cincinnati Reds; he allowed seven hits and seven runs (only one earned) to the Chicago Cubs in five full innings, and absorbed the loss, but was credited with a complete game when the game was called off because of darkness after it had become "official."
  • March 12 – Dick Lanahan, 63, southpaw pitcher who appeared in 56 career games for the Washington Senators (1935, 1937) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1940–1941).
  • March 13 – Red Marion, 60, outfielder in 18 games for the 1935 and 1943 Washington Senators, then a longtime minor-league manager; brother of Marty Marion.
  • March 14 – Tracy Baker, 83, University of Washington graduate who appeared in one MLB game on June 19, 1911 as a member of the Boston Red Sox and went hitless in one at bat.
  • March 17 – Diamond Pipkins, 67, left-hander who pitched for the Birmingham Black Barons and Cleveland Cubs between 1929 and 1942; led 1942 Negro American League hurlers in games won.
  • March 18 – Whitey Ock, 63, catcher who played in one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 29, 1935 and went hitless in three at bats.
  • March 21 – Joe Medwick, 63, nicknamed "Ducky" and "Ducky-Wucky," Hall of Fame left fielder and 10-time All-Star who in 1937 became the most recent National League player to win the Triple Crown, also winning the MVP; lifetime .324 hitter, who had six 100-RBI seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals; also played for Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and Boston Braves during a 17-year (1932–1948) MLB career.
  • March 25 – Tommy Holmes, 71, sportswriter who covered the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1924 until the team's move to Los Angeles in 1958.
  • March 26 – Harley Young, 91, pitcher in 14 total games for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Doves of the National League in 1908.
  • March 27 – Oscar Fuhr, 81, pitched in 63 contests for the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox between 1921 and 1925.
  • March 28 – Hy Gunning, 86, first baseman who played four games for the 1911 Boston Red Sox.

April

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  • April 3 – Merritt "Sugar" Cain, 67, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics (1932–1935), St. Louis Browns (1935–1936) and Chicago White Sox (1936–1938) who appeared in 178 career MLB games.
  • April 8 – Jim Peterson, 66, pitcher who hurled in 41 MLB games for the Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Dodgers between 1931 and 1937.
  • April 11 – Fay Washington, 60, pitcher for St. Louis–New Orleans, Birmingham and Cincinnati–Indianapolis of the Negro American League between 1940 and 1945.
  • April 16 – Frank Wayenberg, 76, pitched in two games for the 1924 Cleveland Indians.
  • April 18 – Jack Burns, 67, first baseman for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers, 1930 to 1936, appearing in 890 games; later a coach and scout for the Boston Red Sox.
  • April 19 – Wes Kingdon, 74, infielder who played 20 years in the minor leagues and batted .324 in 18 games in his only MLB trial with the 1932 Washington Senators.
  • April 25 – Bruce Edwards, 51, catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1946–1951), Chicago Cubs (1951–1952, 1954), Washington Senators (1955) and Cincinnati Redlegs (1956); two-time National League All-Star.

May

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  • May 6 – Les Burke, 72, second baseman for the Detroit Tigers from 1923 to 1926.
  • May 10 – Harold Kaese, 66, sportswriter for the Boston Transcript and The Boston Globe from 1933 to 1973.
  • May 15 – Johnny Gooch, 77, catcher who played in 11 MLB seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1921–1928), Brooklyn Robins (1928–1929), Cincinnati Reds (1929–1930) and Boston Red Sox (1933); member of 1925 World Series champions.
  • May 16 – Al Helfer, 63, play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Colt .45s, Oakland Athletics, and Mutual's "Game of the Day" during a sportscasting career that stretched from 1933 to 1970.
  • May 17 – Sig Broskie, 64, catcher in 11 games for 1940 Boston Bees.
  • May 22 – Lefty Grove, 75, Hall of Fame pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox who became the second left-hander to win 300 games, leading AL in ERA nine times and in winning percentage five times, both records; won the pitching triple crown twice, also winning MVP in 1931 after 31–4 campaign; also led AL in strikeouts seven consecutive years.
  • May 25 – Bruce Hartford, 83, shortstop in eight games for the 1914 Cleveland Naps.
  • May 30 – Bert Cole, 78, left-handed pitcher who worked in 177 career games for the Detroit Tigers (1921–1925), Cleveland Indians (1925) and Chicago White Sox (1927).

June

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  • June 2 – Spoke Emery, 78, outfielder in five games for 1925 Philadelphia Phillies; collected two hits in his three MLB at bats (.667).
  • June 9 – Ownie Carroll, 72, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers between 1925 and 1934, who later coached at Seton Hall University for 25 years.
  • June 16 – Clint Courtney, 48, catcher for five American League teams between 1951 and 1961 and the first major leaguer at his position to wear eyeglasses; manager of Triple-A Richmond Braves at the time of his death.
  • June 17 – Sid Gordon, 57, All-Star left fielder and third baseman, primarily for the New York Giants (1941–1943, 1946–1949 and 1955) and Boston/Milwaukee Braves (1950–1953), who had five 20-HR seasons.
  • June 23 – Marty Callaghan, 75, outfielder who appeared in 295 career games for the Chicago Cubs (1922–1923) and Cincinnati Reds (1926 and 1928).
  • June 28 – Audrey Bleiler, 42, infielder for two All-American Girls Professional Baseball League champion teams.

July

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  • July 5 – Joe Kiefer, 75, pitcher in 15 games for the Chicago White Sox (1920) and Boston Red Sox (1925–1926).
  • July 18 – Ted Wingfield, 75, pitcher who played in 113 games from 1923 to 1927 for the Washington Senators and Boston Red Sox.
  • July 23 – Art Mills, 72, pitcher in 19 games for the 1927–1928 Boston Braves; coach for the Detroit Tigers from 1944 to 1948, including service on 1945 World Series champion.
  • July 27 – Fred Sherry, 86, pitcher who went 0–4 (4.30 ERA) in ten games for the 1911 Washington Senators.
  • July 31 – Max Flack, 85, right fielder for the Chicago Whales of the Federal League (1914–1915), Chicago Cubs (1916–1922) and St. Louis Cardinals (1922–1925) who batted over .300 three times.

August

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  • August 5 – Bill Morrell, 82, pitcher for the 1926 Washington Senators and 1930–1931 New York Giants who worked in 48 career games.
  • August 11 – Rollin Cook, 84, pitcher who appeared in five contests for the 1915 St. Louis Browns.
  • August 12 – Lew Riggs, 65, third baseman for St. Louis Cardinals (1934), Cincinnati Reds (1935–1940) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1941–1942 and 1946); 1936 National League All-Star and member of 1940 World Series champions.
  • August 20 – Daniel Canónico, 59, pitcher who led the Venezuelan team to the 1941 Amateur World Series title, winning five of the team's games including the series-tying and deciding games against Cuba.
  • August 20 – Jake Miller, 77, pitched in an even 200 games over nine seasons in the American League, eight of them for the Cleveland Indians (1924–1931).
  • August 26 – Eddie Snead, 65, pitcher who won three of four decisions for the 1940 Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League.

September

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  • September 3 – Irv Medlinger, 48, left-handed relief pitcher who got into nine games for the 1949 and 1951 St. Louis Browns.
  • September 9 – Ken Jungels, 59, relief pitcher who appeared in 25 total games over five seasons between 1937 and 1942 for the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • September 10 – Lance Richbourg, 77, right fielder who played 629 of his 698 MLB games for the Boston Braves (1927–1931); batted .308 lifetime.
  • September 12 – Augie Johns, 76, southpaw who pitched in 36 games for the 1926–1927 Detroit Tigers.
  • September 28 – Moose Solters, 69, left fielder with four AL teams between 1934 and 1943 who batted .300 and drove in over 100 runs three times, before his eyesight gradually failed after he was hit with a ball during a 1941 warmup.
  • September 29 – Casey Stengel, 85, Hall of Fame manager who won a record ten pennants (tied with John McGraw) in 12 seasons leading the Yankees (1949–1960), capturing seven World Series titles (tied with Joe McCarthy); also managed Dodgers, Braves and Mets, applying his trademark humor to the Mets in their woeful first season; in 25 years as an MLB manager, posted a record of 1,899–1,835 (.509); in his playing days, an outfielder for five NL clubs from 1912 to 1925; batted .393 in 28 World Series at bats (1916, 1922, 1923), hitting two game-winning home runs for the New York Giants (against the Yankees) in the 1923 Fall Classic.

October

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  • October 1 – Larry MacPhail, 85, Hall of Fame executive who introduced night games, plane travel and pensions to the major leagues while running the Cincinnati Reds (1933–1936), Brooklyn Dodgers (1938–1942) and New York Yankees (1945–1947); won 1941 National League pennant in Brooklyn and 1947 World Series with Yankees, then left baseball; father of Lee, also a Hall of Fame executive, and grandfather of Andy MacPhail, high-level executive for multiple teams between 1986 and 2020.
  • October 3 – Elmer Knetzer, 90, pitcher who won 38 games for the Pittsburgh Rebels of the "outlaw" Federal League in 1914–1915; also pitched for Brooklyn, Boston and Cincinnati of the National League from 1909 to 1912 and 1916–1917.
  • October 4 – Joan Whitney Payson, 72, founding principal owner of the New York Mets from 1961 until her death; former stockholder in New York Giants who, in 1957, voted against their transfer to San Francisco.
  • October 13 – Swede Risberg, 81, shortstop for the 1917–1920 Chicago White Sox, and member of 1917 world champions and 1919 AL champions; last survivor among the eight players barred from baseball for their involvement in the Black Sox Scandal.
  • October 15 – Mickey Grasso, 55, catcher and World War II POW who resumed his baseball career in 1946; played in 322 MLB games for the Washington Senators (1950–1953), Cleveland Indians (1954) and New York Giants (1946 and 1955).
  • October 19 – Hod Kibbie, 72, second baseman and shortstop who had an 11-game stint with the 1925 Boston Braves.

November

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  • November 8 – Les Backman, 87, right-hander who pitched in 47 games for the 1909 and 1910 St. Louis Cardinals.
  • November 8 – Vern Morgan, 47, third baseman who appeared in 31 games for the 1954–1955 Chicago Cubs; coach for the Minnesota Twins from 1969 until his death.
  • November 8 – Ray Shepardson, 78, catcher in three games for 1924 St. Louis Cardinals.
  • November 14 – Garland Buckeye, 78, southpaw pitcher who appeared in 108 MLB games between 1918 and 1928, 106 of them for the 1925–1928 Cleveland Indians.
  • November 25 – Red Sheridan, 79, infielder in five games for the Brooklyn Robins (1918, 1920).
  • November 26 – Laymon Yokely, 69, stalwart Negro leagues pitcher between 1926 and 1946, notably for the Baltimore Black Sox; led Eastern Colored League in victories, strikeouts, innings pitched and complete games in 1928; won 17 games in 1929.
  • November 27 – Eddie Dwight, 70, outfielder/second baseman who played for three Negro leagues teams, notably the Kansas City Monarchs, between 1925 and 1937.
  • November 27 – Gene Osborn, 53, play-by-play announcer who described games for the Mutual Network "Game of the Day" and the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals between 1959 and 1975.
  • November – Claudio Manela, 81, first Filipino to play in major leagues; a left-hander who pitched in 21 games for the 1921 Cuban Stars of the Negro National League.

December

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  • December 1 – Nellie Fox, 47, Hall of Fame second baseman and 12-time All-Star for the Chicago White Sox (1950–1963) who formed half of a spectacular middle infield with Luis Aparicio; batted .300 six times, led AL in hits four times, and was 1959 MVP; overall played in 19 MLB seasons (1947–1965) with Philadelphia Athletics, White Sox and Houston Astros, and made 2,663 hits.
  • December 1 – Dave Koslo, 55, left-handed pitcher who won over 90 games for the New York Giants (1941–1942 and 1946–1953), missing 1943–1945 seasons due to wartime service; started and won Game 1 of the 1951 World Series.
  • December 8 – Fred Blackwell, 84, reserve catcher for the 1917–1919 Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • December 8 – Johnny Couch, 84, pitcher for Detroit Tigers (1917), Cincinnati Reds (1922–1923) and Philadelphia Phillies (1923–1925) who worked in 147 career games.
  • December 9 – Jeff Heath, 60, Canadian-born, two-time All-Star left fielder (1941 and 1943) with the Cleveland Indians (1936–1945); also played with Washington Senators (1946), St. Louis Browns (1946–1947) and Boston Braves (1948–1949); led American League in triples twice (1938, 1941); helped lead Boston to 1948 National League pennant, but broke his ankle late in September and missed 1948 World Series, played against Cleveland; later a broadcaster for Seattle of the Pacific Coast League; posthumously elected to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (1988).
  • December 12 – Julie Wera, 75, backup third baseman who played in 38 games as a member of the 1927 World Series champion New York Yankees.
  • December 13 – Alex Herman, 76, Negro leagues outfielder during the 1920s and 1930s; Tuskegee Institute graduate who became the first African-American elected to office in Alabama since Reconstruction; in 1925, while a player, he recommended that his club sign a young Satchel Paige, kick-starting Paige's long, Hall of Fame career.
  • December 15 – Buster Chatham, 73, third baseman-shortstop in 129 games for Boston Braves during 1930 and 1931; longtime scout and minor-league manager.
  • December 17 – Kerby Farrell, 62, manager of the 1957 Cleveland Indians; first baseman and left-handed pitcher in 188 games for 1943 Boston Braves and 1945 Chicago White Sox; coach for White Sox and Indians between 1966 and 1971; won three Minor League Manager of the Year awards during his long career as a skipper in minors.
  • December 23 – Rae Blaemire, 64, catcher in two games for 1941 New York Giants.
  • December 23 – Jim McGlothlin, 32, pitcher for the California Angels (1965–1969), Cincinnati Reds (1970–1973) and Chicago White Sox (1973); American League All-Star (1967); appeared in 1970 and 1972 World Series.
  • December 24 – Russ Lyon, 62, catcher who appeared in seven games with the 1944 Cleveland Indians.
  • December 27 – Lou Lowdermilk, 88, left-handed pitcher who played in 20 career games for the 1911–1912 St. Louis Cardinals.

References

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  1. ^ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.229, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  2. ^ Clifford, Matthew (2014). "Don Wilson: Houston's Fallen Star". sabr.org. The Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  3. ^ "1975 Cleveland Indians Schedule". Baseball Almanac. Baseball-Almanac. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  4. ^ Kates, Maxwell. "Frank Robinson". Society for American Baseball Research. SABR. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Minnesota Twins at Texas Rangers Box Score, April 8, 1975".
  6. ^ "Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score, April 16, 1975".
  7. ^ "New York Mets 4, Philadelphia Phillies 3". Baseball-Reference.com. 1975-07-04.
  8. ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: New York Yankees 8, Minnesota Twins 7". www.retrosheet.org. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Atlanta Braves 5, Montreal Expos 4", Retrosheet box score (May 15 & July 20, 1975)
  10. ^ Krell, David. "July 18, 1975: Mets' Cleon Jones Clashes With Manager Yogi Berra in 'The Fray at Shea'". sabr.org. The Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "Kansas City Royals 4, Minnesota Twins 3". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 27 January 2016.


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