Champions Major League Baseball National League: Pittsburgh Pirates
American League: Baltimore Orioles
1971 World Series: Pittsburgh (NL) def. Baltimore (AL), 4 games to 3.
Inter-league playoff: Pittsburgh (NL) declined challenge by Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. World Series MVP: Roberto Clemente All-Star Game, July 13 at Tiger Stadium: American League, 6–4; Frank Robinson, MVP
Other champions Amateur World Series: Cuba College World Series: USC Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Hankyu Braves (4–1) Big League World Series: District 44 LL, Cupertino, California Little League World Series: Tainan, Taiwan Senior League World Series: La Habra, California Pan American Games: Cuba over United States Winter Leagues 1971 Caribbean Series: Tigres del Licey Dominican Republic League: Tigres del Licey Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo Puerto Rican League: Cangrejeros de Santurce Venezuelan League: Tiburones de La Guaira
Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame Dave Bancroft Jake Beckley Chick Hafey Harry Hooper Joe Kelley Rube Marquard Satchel Paige George Weiss (executive)
Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards BBWAA Award National League American League Rookie of the Year Chris Chambliss (CLE) Earl Williams (ATL) Cy Young Award Ferguson Jenkins (CHC) Vida Blue (OAK) Most Valuable Player Joe Torre (STL) Vida Blue (OAK)Gold Glove Awards Position National League American League Pitcher Bob Gibson (STL) Jim Kaat (MIN) Catcher Johnny Bench (CIN) Ray Fosse (CLE) 1st Base Wes Parker (LAD) George Scott (BOS) 2nd Base Tommy Helms (CIN) Davey Johnson (BAL) 3rd Base Doug Rader (HOU) Brooks Robinson (BAL) Shortstop Bud Harrelson (NYM) Mark Belanger (BAL)Outfield Bobby Bonds (SF) Paul Blair (BAL) Roberto Clemente (PIT) Amos Otis (KC) Willie Davis (LAD) Carl Yastrzemski (BOS)
Statistical leaders American LeagueNational League Stat Player Total Player Total AVG Tony Oliva (MIN) .337 Joe Torre (STL) .363 HR Bill Melton (CWS) 33 Willie Stargell (PIT) 48 RBI Harmon Killebrew (MIN) 119 Joe Torre (STL) 137 W Mickey Lolich (DET) 25 Ferguson Jenkins (CHC) 24 ERA Vida Blue (OAK) 1.82 Tom Seaver (NYM) 1.76 K Mickey Lolich (DET) 308 Tom Seaver (NYM) 289
Major league baseball final standings American League final standings
National League final standings
Nippon Professional Baseball final standings Central League final standings + Central League Team G W L T Pct. GBYomiuri Giants 130 70 52 8 .574 —Chunichi Dragons 130 65 60 5 .520 6.5Taiyo Whales 130 61 59 10 .508 8.0Hiroshima Toyo Carp 130 63 61 6 .508 8.0Hanshin Tigers 130 57 64 9 .471 12.5Yakult Atoms 130 52 72 6 .419 19.0
Pacific League final standings + Pacific League Team G W L T Pct. GBHankyu Braves 130 80 39 11 .672 —Lotte Orions 130 80 46 4 .635 3.5Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 130 65 60 5 .520 18.0Nankai Hawks 130 61 65 4 .484 22.5Toei Flyers 130 44 74 12 .373 35.5Nishitetsu Lions 130 38 84 8 .311 43.5
Events January
January 7 – The ruptured Achilles tendon of Cincinnati Reds centerfielder Bobby Tolan brings an end to two sports seasons. Tolan suffers the injury while playing basketball for the Reds' offseason squad. He will miss the 1971 season because of the injury and the Cincinnati front office orders the basketball team to be disbanded. January 11 – Detroit Tigers pitcher John Hiller suffers a heart attack at age 27. He'll miss the 1971 season but will make a full recovery and remarkable comeback. January 18 – The Pittsburgh Pirates sign Tony Armas as a free agent. January 23 – The Milwaukee Brewers hire Frank "Trader" Lane as general manager, replacing Marvin Milkes. Eight days from his 76th birthday, Lane is the former GM of four MLB teams between 1948 and 1961, and is known for his relentless roster-churning and player transactions. By the time he retires after the 1972 season, Lane will have made more than 400 deals during his MLB career. January 29 – Making a trade within their division, the St. Louis Cardinals acquire well-traveled southpaw George Brunet and former NL batting champ Matty Alou from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for right-hander Nelson Briles and outfielder Vic Davalillo. January 31 – The new Special Veterans Committee selects seven men for enshrinement to the Hall of Fame: former players Dave Bancroft, Jake Beckley, Chick Hafey, Harry Hooper, Joe Kelley and Rube Marquard, and executive George Weiss.
February February 9 – Former Negro leagues pitcher Satchel Paige is nominated for the Hall of Fame. On June 10, the Hall's new Veterans Committee will formally select Paige for induction. February 10 – The Los Angeles Dodgers acquire left-handed pitcher Al Downing from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Andy Kosco. In 1974, Downing will become part of history as the pitcher who surrenders Hank Aaron's 715th career home run, which breaks the all-time record set by Babe Ruth.
March March 6 – Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley persuades American League president Joe Cronin to experiment with a Cactus League exhibition game in which a base on balls is granted on three balls rather than four. The game sees pitchers issue 19 walks, batters slug six home runs, and the Athletics outscore the Milwaukee Brewers, 13–9.Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.146, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, March 20 – Alex Johnson's season-long troubles with California Angels' management begin when manager Lefty Phillips removes the reigning American League batting champion from an exhibition game for failure to run out a ground ball and lackadaisical play on defense. The following day, Johnson also is pulled from a game for not running out a grounder.
April April 5: The 1971 American League season begins with a non-traditional "Presidential Opener" at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium when Richard Nixon, a devoted baseball fan, misses the contest while on a working trip to California. It also will be the last such opener for the Washington Senators, who will move to Dallas–Fort Worth after the season ends. In the game, Washington's Dick Bosman throws a six-hit, complete game shutout and the Senators blank the Oakland Athletics, 8–0, before 45,061 fans. In Cincinnati, 51,702 attend the first-ever National League opener played at Riverfront Stadium. The Atlanta Braves spoil the day for the defending NL champion Cincinnati Reds, 7–4, as Félix Millán goes four-for-four. The St. Louis Cardinals return 21-year-old first baseman Cecil Cooper to the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals had selected Cooper in the Rule 5 draft in November 1970. April 10: The Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Montreal Expos, 4–1, in the first game played at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium. Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits three home runs, including his 200th career homer. Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants becomes the first player to hit a home run in each of his team's first four games of a season. His fourth blast comes off Jerry Reuss in the third inning of a 6–4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium. Earlier, Mays had hit homers in the season's first three games against the San Diego Padres. April 13 – An unusual arrangement sees two Double-A circuits, the Southern League and Texas League, temporarily merge into one loop, called the Dixie Association, for the 1971 season. The union is necessary because each league begins the year with only seven teams. After the Charlotte Hornets, a Minnesota Twins affiliate, win the 1971 championship in September, the constituent leagues each gain an eighth team, rebalancing their schedules, and they resume their separate identities in 1972. April 16 – The Atlanta Braves sign free agent pitcher Luis Tiant, released by the Minnesota Twins. Tiant, 30, is battling a sore arm. April 26 – Out of shape and his skills rusty after sitting out the entire season, Curt Flood notifies the Washington Senators that he is quitting baseball. Flood, who collected seven singles in 35 at bats in 13 games with Washington, moves temporarily to Spain, but continues his legal challenge to the reserve clause. April 27 – Hank Aaron becomes the third player in Major League history to hit his 600th home run.
May May 6 – NBC Sports and Major League Baseball agree to a four-year, $72 million contract, running through 1976, for 26 Saturday "Game of the Week" telecasts, ten Monday night games, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, both the AL and NL League Championship Series, and the World Series. Part of the agreement stipulates that all World Series games played during the workweek be played at night. May 15: Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs hits the 300th home run of his career during a 6–4 win over the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field. The milestone homer comes off Tom Phoebus. Alex Johnson, voted the California Angels' Player of the Month for April, is held out of the lineup for failure to hustle during the previous day's game against Milwaukee at Anaheim Stadium. He will be benched four more times for similar reasons over the next six weeks. Pitcher Luis Tiant, struggling to regain his form at Triple-A Richmond, is released by the Atlanta Braves just one month after signing with them. Two days later, free-agent Tiant signs with the Boston Red Sox and is assigned to their Triple-A club, the Louisville Colonels, where he continues his comeback efforts. May 17: The Cincinnati Reds' 23-year-old superstar, Johnny Bench, hits his 100th career home run. The Cleveland Indians are involved in a bizarre play against the Washington Senators at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. The Senators' Tommy McCraw leads off the bottom of the fourth inning with a 140-foot pop fly (some sources say it was 250 feet) into short left-center for what should be an out. Instead, Indians shortstop Jack Heidemann, left fielder John Lowenstein and center fielder Vada Pinson collide as they go for the ball, which falls amongst the three players. Before the ball can be recovered, McCraw circles the bases for an inside-the-park home run; meanwhile, Heidemann, Lowenstein and Pinson are all injured and have to be replaced. Despite their embarrassing moment, the Indians defeat the Senators 6–3. May 29 – The Cincinnati Reds acquire 22-year-old outfielder George Foster from the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Vern Geishert and shortstop Frank Duffy. A powerful, right-handed hitter, Foster has been unable to crack the Giants' lineup. But given an opportunity to play by Cincinnati, he becomes the Reds' regular left-fielder (1975), leads the National League in runs batted in three consecutive years (1976–1978), smashes 52 homers to lead MLB and become his league's Most Valuable Player (1977), makes five NL All-Star teams, and wins two World Series rings (, ). May 30 – Willie Mays hits his 638th career home run and becomes the National League's all-time career leader in runs scored with 1,950. His San Francisco Giants, meanwhile, improve to 36–14 (.720) with a 5–4 win over the Montreal Expos at Candlestick Park. They lead the NL West by 10½ games over their bitter rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
June June 2 – The Atlanta Braves release third baseman Clete Boyer. The 34-year-old former Gold Glove Award-winner has been publicly feuding with Braves' management for three weeks. Boyer plays four more seasons with the Taiyo Whales of Nippon Professional Baseball. June 3 – Pitcher Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs throws the second no-hitter of his career, victimizing the host Cincinnati Reds, 1–0. Holtzman scores the only run, unearned, in the third inning, to beat Reds pitcher Gary Nolan. June 6 – Willie Mays hits his major league-leading 22nd and last career extra-inning home run. It comes against Phillies reliever Joe Hoerner.