The 1952 major league baseball season began on April 15, 1952. The regular season ended on September 28, with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 49th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 7 on October 7. In the fourth iteration of this Subway Series World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to three, capturing their 15th championship in franchise history, and their fourth in a five-run World Series. This was the fourth World Series between the two teams.
The 1952 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 15, featuring 12 teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on September 28, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. The World Series took place between October 1 and October 7.
Rule changes
The 1952 season saw the following rule changes:
The Open Classification level was created specifically for the Pacific Coast League (PCL), a level of play between Triple-A and major-league (this level of play would be eliminated following the PCL's reversion to Triple-A in 1958). Unlike other levels of the minor league, having an Open Classification came with the following stipulations:[1]
Players at the Open Classification would be excluded from the draft if they waived their selection rights or had less than five years of service.
The draft price for an Open Classification player would be $15,000 (equivalent to $178,000 in 2024) instead of the $10,000 (equivalent to $118,000 in 2024) price tag on Triple-A players.
To achieve Open Classification, a league had to show an aggregate population of 10 million, have an aggregate park capacity of 120,000, and average a paid attendance of 2,250,000 for the preceding five years.
An 11-step process was established for a league to reach major-league status:[1]
Any group of eight teams mutually agreeing to all requirements and responsibilities as provided under the proposed regulations must apply to the major-league Executive Council. The eight teams are responsible for all necessary territorial indemnities and financial obligations.
The teams must present with their application complete data establishing their ability to meet the requirements for advanced status, including a full statement of stock ownership, financial ability, and character, both for the group and its individual members.
The proposed league shall show an aggregate population of 15 million in the eight cities.
Each team shall have a potential capacity of at least 25,000 in its ballpark.
They shall have had an average total paid attendance of 3.5 million over a three-year period preceding the application.
They shall provide a balanced schedule of at least 154 games.
They shall adopt the major-league minimum-salary agreement with no maximum salary limitations.
They will become parties to the Major League Agreement and the Major-Minor League Agreement.
They will accept the uniform major-league player’s contract and agreement.
They will join in the players’ pension plan or adopt a comparable plan.
They shall apply for major-league status at least six months before the meeting at which the application must be considered, and at least 10 months before the opening of the season in which they hope to participate under major-league status.
A new rule regarding high-school players was approved. Players could be contacted at any time, but could not sign until their high-school eligibility expired. Any student who dropped out of high school before their eligibility expired must sit out one year before being eligible to sign.[1] Previously, the rules regarding high-school players was that a player could not be signed until they had received their degree or their class graduated was eliminated.[2]
Major-league players now have the right to have a liaison in the commissioner's office. The liaison would be a full-time representative and serve as a clearinghouse for any player problems that might arise.[1]
June 22 – Boston Braves player Sid Gordon hits a two-run homer over the left field fence at Braves Field. His homer won Gordon the prize of a 100-pound bear cub for being the first Braves player to homer on "State of Maine Day". After the game, Gordon was presented with the animal in the Braves clubhouse.[30]
