Events
- Three clubs opened brand-new ballparks in this season.
- Boston Red Sox : Fenway Park
- Cincinnati Reds : Redland Field, which later became Crosley Field
- Detroit Tigers : Navin Field, which was renamed Briggs Stadium and later Tiger Stadium
- Fenway Park is the only one still standing.
- In response to the demand for an alternative way to statistically rate pitchers, the National League elected to officially score the Earned Run Average for the first time. New York Giants pitcher Jeff Tesreau went on to lead the new category with a 1.96 ERA.
January
- January 2 – Brooklyn Superbas president and architect Charles Ebbets announces the purchase of 4.5 acres to build a 23,000-seat concrete and steel stadium in the Flatbush Pigeon section of Brooklyn, New York. As a result, construction on the ballpark will start on March 4th. In addition, Ebbets decides to name the ballpark after himself, thus it is called Ebbets Field. Completed in just over a year, Opening Day will be on April 9, 1913.
February
- February 12 – In a transaction of outfielders, the Boston Braves send Mike Donlin to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Vin Campbell. After one season at Pittsburgh, Donlin will be waived to the Philadelphia Phillies but will refuse to report and elect to retire.
March
- March 9 – Arky Vaughan is born in Clifty, Arkansas. Vaughan, a hard-hitting shortstop, will make his major league debut in 1932 and will go on to hit for a .318 batting average during a 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Brooklyn Dodgers, while appearing in nine All-Star Games and winning a National League batting title in 1935. In 1985, Vaughan will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
April
- April 9 – In the first game ever played at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox defeat the Harvard University team in an exhibition game played in a snow storm.
- April 11 :
- The New York Highlanders, predecessors of the New York Yankees, wear pinstripes uniforms for the first time while facing the Boston Red Sox in Opening Day at Hilltop Park. In the first inning, Boston scores a run against pitcher Ray Caldwell‚ while New York respond with two runs in the bottom against Smoky Joe Wood. That is all the scoring until the ninth inning‚ when the Sox score four runs‚ including two on a Wood single. Boston wins‚ 5–3‚ on Wood's seven hitter.
- New York Giants pitcher Rube Marquard begins a 19-game winning streak with an 18–3 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- April 21 – The New York Giants and the New York Highlanders met at the Polo Grounds to play an unscheduled charity game to raise money for the survivors of the RMS Titanic, which had sunk six days earlier. The Giants prevailed, 11–2.
- April 20 – The Boston Red Sox play their first home game in the history of Fenway Park, which was built at a cost of $350,000. The Red Sox open up with an 11-inning, 7–6 victory over the New York Highlanders. Boston outfielder Tris Speaker delivers the game-winning RBI before a crowd of 27,000 fans. Minutes later, the Detroit Tigers christen their Navin Field with a 6–5 victory over the Cleveland Naps.
- April 26 – Hugh Bradley of the Boston Red Sox became the first player to hit a home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park. It was his only home run of the 1912 season, and one of only two he hit in his five-season career.
May
- May 17 – Fenway Park is officially dedicated, almost one month after hosting its first game, as the Boston Red Sox host the Chicago White Sox playing in front of an overflow crowd. Nevertheless, the home town fans had their day spoiled as the White Sox trimmed the Red Sox, 5–2.
- May 18 – The Cincinnati Reds play the first game in the history of Crosley Field.
- May 31 – The St. Louis Cardinals ended the 14-game winning streak of the New York Giants after a 5-1 effort. The Giants incredible start of 43-11 remained the best of the century and stood unmatched until 1939, when the New York Yankees tied the mark.
June
- June 9 – Boston Red Sox outfielder Tris Speaker hits for the cycle, leading his team to a 9–2 victory over the St. Louis Browns.
- June 10 – New York Giants catcher Chief Meyers hits for the cycle against the Chicago Cubs. Chicago wins, however, 9–8.
- June 28 – Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants becomes the eighth pitcher to record 300 career wins.
July
- July 2 – At Hilltop Park, Larry Gardner of the Boston Red Sox hit two inside-the-park home runs but Boston still lose to the New York Highlanders, 9–7.
- July 4 – In the second game of a double-header, George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers tosses a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in a 7–0 Tigers win. Also, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the New York Giants 10–4, snapping the Giants' sixteen game winning streak.
- July 25 – Bert Daniels, outfielder for the New York Highlanders, hits for the cycle is a 6– 4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
August
- August 15 – Guy Zinn, a little-known New York Highlanders outfielder, steals home twice in a 5–4 win over the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field. This will add to last-place New York's major-league record of 18 steals of home for a single season.
- August 22 – Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner hits for the cycle against the New York Giants.
- August 30 :
- The Boston Red Sox run their record to 87–37 with a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Athletics. Following the game, Athletics' manager Connie Mack says he never realized how strong the Red Sox were, and concedes the pennant to them. There are 30 games left for the Boston club, who will finish with a 105–47 record, 14 games over the Washington Senators and 15 over Philadelphia.
- St. Louis Browns pitcher Earl Hamilton returns the favor to the Detroit Tigers, as he tosses a no-hitter in a 7–1 Browns victory.
- September 17 – Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Casey Stengel makes an impressive major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, collecting four hits with two RBI and two stolen bases in the Dodgers 7–3 win.
September
- September 14 – Former major league catcher and manager and current president of the Connecticut League, Jim O'Rourke, catches a complete game for the New Haven Blues club at age 60. O'Rourke, who spent 32 seasons in the majors from 1872 to 1904, would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1945.
October
- October 16 – The Boston Red Sox defeat the New York Giants, 3–2, in Game 8 of the World Series, ending one of the most exciting Series in Major League history. The Red Sox win the World Championship four games to three, with Game 2 being declared a tie. Nearly all of the contests were close, as four games in this series were decided by one run, a fifth ended in a tie, and a sixth was decided by two runs. Game 7 was the only one with a margin greater than three runs. Two games, including the decisive Game 8, went to extra innings. In Games 1 and 3, the losing team had the tying and winning runs on base when the game ended. This was the first time in which a World Series was decided in the last inning of the final game, in sudden death, or sudden victory fashion. It was also the first Series where a team within one inning of losing came back to win. The next time a team that close to elimination recovered to win was in Game 6 of the 1986 Series.[1]
