On Wednesday, May 14, the New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians 4-1 before a crowd of 10,406 at Yankee Stadium. (Since the Yankees would not install lights until after World War II, they played all home games in the daytime.)
The loss, the Yanks' fourth in a row, dropped them to 14-14, 5.5 games behind the Indians.

• CF Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-3 with a walk against Mel Harder to drop his average to .306.
• Joe's younger brother, Dom, centerfielder for the second place Boston Red Sox, was hitting 74 points higher in his second season in the American League.
• The Red Sox 22-year-old LF Ted Williams, still battling an ankle injury he suffered in spring training, went 0-for-5 to drop his average to .339.

It was the last time the Yankees' DiMaggio would go hitless in a game for two months.

10,272 trudged into Yankee Stadium to watch the 15-15 Yanks face the White Sox.

• A morning rain cancelled batting practice and delayed the start of the game by 10 minutes.
• Joe DiMaggio singled in the second inning and drew a base on balls later in a 1-for-3 afternoon. Twice Joe left two men on, grounding out once and popping out in the end the 8th.
• Johnny Rigney, Chicago's tall right-handed pitcher, limited the Yanks to five hits to outduel Spud Chandler 3-2.

A crowd of 20,000 at Fenway Park watched the Indians outslug the Red Sox 12-9 to drop the fifth-place Yankees 7.5 games behind.

• Bob Feller garnered his 7th victory of the young season despite allowing 10 hits and six runs in six innings.
• Ted Williams smacked two doubles and a single in five at-bats to raise his average to .353.

The defending American League champions, the Detroit Tigers, took the train down from Boston to start a two-game series at Yankee Stadium. Their chances of repeat­ing had been dealt a severe blow when Hank Greenberg became the first "big-name" ballplayer drafted into the service after the game of May 6.

• DiMaggio drove in a run in the first inning with a fly out, which in those days was not scored as a sacrifice fly. He later got a single off Tiger starter School­boy Rowe.
• Joe got another harmless single off Al Benton, who replaced Rowe in the seventh.

The Tigers took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

• Johnny Sturm, one of the few first basemen to bat leadoff, and 3B Red Rolfe both singled. RF Tommy Henrich then doubled them home to tie the game.
• With the winning run on second, DiMaggio strode to the plate. Neither he nor anyone in the pressbox or stands expected the Tigers to pitch to him. Yet Manager Del Baker ordered Benton to do just that.
• The strategy paid off as DiMaggio dribbed a roller to 3B Eric McNair, who threw him out while Henrich held second. At this point, Joe probably felt that he wasn't earning his $37,500 salary, which was triple the major league average.
• Baker further astounded the spectators by ordering Benton to walk Charlie Keller. This strategy worked also as Henrich died on second to send the game to extra innings.

In the tenth, Rolfe's triple drove home Sturm to secure the victory 5-4.

• The three hitters ahead of DiMaggio in the lineup combined for 10 hits, five runs scored, and four RBI.
• The Yankees moved to 18-17. No one knew it at the time, but they would stay above .500 the rest of the season.

In Boston, the Red Sox scored two in the bottom of the eighth to beat the St. Louis Browns 8-6.

• Ted Williams had a great day, 4-for-5 including a double.
• His average jumped to .369.

Born that day: Ronald Isley, one of the singing brothers
Major event: The first American ship was sunk by German U-boats.

The Red Sox, with Joe's little brother Dominic patrolling centerfield, came to the Bronx for a three-day weekend series.

• Younger by 2 1/2 years, 24-year-old Dom had a solid rookie campaign in 1940: .301 BA in 108 games, 81 runs, 46 RBI, 32 doubles, and eight home runs.
• Although the younger sibling had slumped in the last week, his .333 average for 1941 topped his brother's by nine points.
• The Yankees resided in third place in the American League, 5.5 games behind the leading Indians with the White Sox second. Boston occupied the fourth spot only a game behind the Yanks.

The game began at 3 pm with a threat of rain and a crowd of only 8,584.

• The Red Sox used five pitchers to New York's four in a contest with 23 hits and 19 walks. As a result, the game dragged on for 3:05, a very long time in that era.
• With dark clouds making it difficult to see the ball and no lights, the umpires called the game at the end of the ninth inning with the teams tied at nine. Under the rules, the game would be replayed in its entirety later in the season.
• Dom went 2-for-4 while Joe managed only an eighth-inning single off Dick New­some that put the Yankees temporarily in front. Since his brief hitting streak had not yet attracted any attention, no one mentioned that he had gone down to the last of his five at-bats before extending it.
• Williams joined in the hitting fun with 1-for-3 and three RBI.

Died that day: Herbert Astin, British motor car manufacturer
Major event: At Griffith Stadium, Washington, Joe Louis defeated Buddy Baer to retain the Heavyweight crown.