1919 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1919 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1919 in baseball.

1919 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 19 – October 9, 1919
Number of games	140
Number of teams	16
Pennant Winners
AL champions	Chicago White Sox
AL runners-up	Cleveland Indians
NL champions	Cincinnati Reds
NL runners-up	New York Giants
World Series
Champions	Cincinnati Reds
Runners-up	Chicago White Sox
MLB seasons
← 1918 1920 →

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of AL teams for the 1916–1919 MLB seasons
American League

Braves

Robins

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of NL teams for the 1916–1919 MLB seasons
National League

The 1919 Major League Baseball season began on April 19, 1919. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 16th World Series, known for the infamous Black Sox Scandal, on October 1 and ended with Game 8 on October 9. The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago White Sox, five games to three.

The Black Sox Scandal, for which the 1919 season is best remembered for, saw the Chicago White Sox throw (purposely lose) the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, 5–3, in order to illegally gain money from gambling. This scandal resulted in the dissolution of the National Baseball Commission and the creation of the office of the Commissioner of Baseball. The new commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned eight players from baseball for life. ^[1]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	28,000
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park	21,414
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	23,000
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Brush Stadium	36,000
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	23,000
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	18,000
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	27,000
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	40,000
	Brooklyn Robins	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	30,000
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Weeghman Park	15,000
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Redland Field	20,696
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Brush Stadium	36,000
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	25,000
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Robison Field	21,000

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1919 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This 140-game schedule format had been previously used in 1903. The 154-game schedule was re-instituted for the 1920 season.

The season began on April 19, when the Brooklyn Robins defeated the Boston Braves 5–2 at Braves Field in the first game of a doubleheader. ^[2] The regular season ended on September 29 with the New York Yankees defeating the Philadelphia Athletics 4–2 at Shibe Park. ^[3] The World Series would begin in Cincinnati on October 1, before concluding on October 9.

Standings

American League v t e American League W L Pct. GB Home Road Chicago White Sox 88 52 0.629 — 48–22 40–30 Cleveland Indians 84 55 0.604 3½ 44–25 40–30 New York Yankees 80 59 0.576 7½ 46–25 34–34 Detroit Tigers 80 60 0.571 8 46–24 34–36 St. Louis Browns 67 72 0.482 20½ 40–30 27–42 Boston Red Sox 66 71 0.482 20½ 35–30 31–41 Washington Senators 56 84 0.400 32 32–40 24–44 Philadelphia Athletics 36 104 0.257 52 21–49 15–55

National League v t e National League W L Pct. GB Home Road Cincinnati Reds 96 44 0.686 — 51–19 45–25 New York Giants 87 53 0.621 9 46–23 41–30 Chicago Cubs 75 65 0.536 21 40–31 35–34 Pittsburgh Pirates 71 68 0.511 24½ 39–31 32–37 Brooklyn Robins 69 71 0.493 27 36–34 33–37 Boston Braves 57 82 0.410 38½ 29–38 28–44 St. Louis Cardinals 54 83 0.394 40½ 34–35 20–48 Philadelphia Phillies 47 90 0.343 47½ 26–44 21–46

Postseason

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Chicago White Sox	3
	NL	Cincinnati Reds	5

Managerial changes

Off-season changes

Only one team announced a new manager in the offseason:

Date	Team	New manager	Replaced	Former job
January 30	Cincinnati Reds	Pat Moran	Christy Mathewson	Won the 1915 World Series as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Regular Season changes

One team replaced their manager during the season:

Date	Team	New Manager	Replaced	Previous Job
July 8	Philadelphia Phillies	Gavvy Cravath	Jack Coombs	Played right field for the Philadelphia Phillies (became player manager)

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders Stat Player Total AVG Ty Cobb (DET) .384 HR Babe Ruth (BRS) 29 RBI Babe Ruth (BRS) 114 R Babe Ruth (BRS) 103 H Ty Cobb (DET) Bobby Veach (DET) 191 SB Eddie Collins (CWS) 33

Pitching leaders Stat Player Total W Eddie Cicotte (CWS) 29 L Harry Harper (WSH) 21 ERA Walter Johnson (WSH) 1.49 K Walter Johnson (WSH) 147 IP Eddie Cicotte (CWS) Jim Shaw (WSH) 306.2 SV Allen Russell (NYY/BRS) Jim Shaw (WSH) Bob Shawkey (NYY) 5

National League

Hitting leaders Stat Player Total AVG Edd Roush (CIN) .321 HR Gavvy Cravath (PHP) 12 RBI Hi Myers (BKN) 73 R George Burns (NYG) 86 H Ivy Olson (BKN) 164 SB George Burns (NYG) 40

Pitching leaders Stat Player Total W Jesse Barnes (NYG) 25 L Lee Meadows (SLC/PHP) 20 ERA Grover Cleveland Alexander (CHC) 1.72 K Hippo Vaughn (CHC) 141 IP Hippo Vaughn (CHC) 306.2 SV Oscar Tuero (SLC) 4

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
New York Giants [4]	87	22.5%	708,857	176.2%	10,273
Detroit Tigers [5]	80	45.5%	643,805	216.0%	9,197
Chicago White Sox [6]	88	54.4%	627,186	221.5%	8,960
New York Yankees [7]	80	33.3%	619,164	119.5%	8,482
Cleveland Indians [8]	84	15.1%	538,135	82.1%	7,799
Cincinnati Reds [9]	96	41.2%	532,501	226.7%	7,607
Chicago Cubs [10]	75	-10.7%	424,430	25.8%	5,978
Boston Red Sox [11]	66	-12.0%	417,291	67.2%	6,323
Brooklyn Robins [12]	69	21.1%	360,721	330.3%	5,153
St. Louis Browns [13]	67	15.5%	349,350	186.2%	4,991
Pittsburgh Pirates [14]	71	9.2%	276,810	29.6%	3,954
Philadelphia Phillies [15]	47	-14.5%	240,424	96.6%	3,386
Washington Senators [16]	56	-22.2%	234,096	28.5%	3,251
Philadelphia Athletics [17]	36	-30.8%	225,209	26.6%	3,217
Boston Braves [18]	57	7.5%	167,401	97.1%	2,462
St. Louis Cardinals [19]	54	5.9%	167,059	51.0%	2,421

Significant events

Pictured is Ray Caldwell before his move from the Yankees to the Indians, who's eventful 1919 season included throwing a no-hitter and being struck by lightning during the 9th inning of a game.

George Halas during his brief and unsuccessful tenure as a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees

• April 19 – Legislature is passed by future New York City mayor Jimmy Walker that allows teams in the state of New York to play baseball on Sundays. The New York Giants were the first team to take advantage of this change, losing 4–3 to the Philadelphia Phillies in front of 35,000 fans at the Polo Ground. ^[20]
• May 11 – Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hod Eller pitches a 6–0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. ^[21]
  • Walter Johnson retires 28 consecutive batters during a 12-inning scoreless tie against Jack Quinn and the New York Yankees. Future football immortal George Halas, batting leadoff for New York, goes 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. ^[22]
• May 20 – Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth hit his first career grand slam home run; the bomb comes against Dave Davenport of the St. Louis Browns in St. Louis. Boston wins 6–4. ^[23]
• August 11 – Cleveland Indians center fielder Tris Speaker ties the AL record for run scoring, crossing the plate five times in 15–9 win at New York. ^[24]
• July 1 – Going 5-for-5 in a 9–4 win over the Phillies, Brooklyn's Ed Konetchy gets his 10th straight hit, tying Jake Gettman's record set with Washington in 1897. Both will be topped by Walt Dropo in 1952.
• August 14 – Babe Ruth hits his 17th home run, the first of seven homers in 12 days, which will include his fourth grand slam, setting an AL record until 1959. ^[25]
• August 24 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell is hit by lightning during the ninth inning of his début for the tribe. He quickly recovered, reportedly saying "Give me that danged ball and turn me toward the plate", before pitching the final out of the game. ^[26]
• September 2 – The National Commission recommends a best-of-nine World Series, abandoning the traditional seven-game series. However, the change was reverted three years later, and the seven-game format has remained ever since.
• September 10 – Ray Caldwell, the pitcher hit by lightning just a couple of weeks before, throws a no hitter in the Cleveland Indians 3–0 victory over his former team, the New York Yankees. ^[27]
• September 16 – Dutch Ruether beats the New York Giants, 4–3, to clinch the Cincinnati Reds first NL pennant and their first pennant of any kind since their American Association days. ^[28]
• September 21 – In a period of rapidly played games, the Cubs beat the Braves 3–0 in 58 minutes of playing time. ^[29] It takes the Robins 55 minutes to beat the Reds 3–1, ^[30] with Slim Sallee throwing 65 pitches, managing to top Christy Mathewson's 69-pitch complete game.
• September 24:
  • The Chicago White Sox's 6–5 win over the St. Louis Browns clinches the AL pennant; the final margin will be 3½ games over the Cleveland Indians. ^[31]
  • The Brooklyn Robins defeat the Phillies twice on Fred Luderus Day in Philadelphia. The second game is the 525th in a row played by the Phillies first baseman, who is presented with a diamond stickpin and gold watch between the games to commemorate his endurance effort. He will end the season with a consecutive-game streak of 553. ^[32]
  • Boston Red Sox pitcher Waite Hoyt throws nine perfect innings against the New York Yankees, but they score in the 13th in which he gives up 5 hits, ruining his perfect game, and losing the game 2–1. ^[33]
• September 27 – Babe Ruth hit his 29th home run and his first of the year in Washington, to become the first player to hit at least one home run in every AL park in the same season. ^[23]
• September 28 – The New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies set a record for the quickest nine-inning game in Major League history – 51 minutes for a Giants 6–1 victory at the Polo Grounds. ^[34]

References

1. Purdy, Dennis (2006). The Team-by-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. New York City: Workman. ISBN   0-7611-3943-5.
2. "April 19, 1919 Brooklyn Robins at Boston Braves Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
3. "September 29, 1919 New York Yankees at Philadelphia Athletics Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
4. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
5. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
6. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
7. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
8. "Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
9. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
10. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
11. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
12. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
13. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
14. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
15. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
16. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
17. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
18. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
19. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
20. "May 4, 1919 Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
21. "May 11, 1919 St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
22. "May 11, 1919 Washington Senators at New York Yankees Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
23. "Babe Ruth Career Home Runs – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
24. "August 11, 1919 Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
25. "August 14, 1919 Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
26. "Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame – Special Features – 35 Years Ago Today Ray Caldwell Survived Lightning To Beat A's". Chautauquasportshalloffame.org. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
27. "September 10, 1919 Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
28. "Regular Season Standings". Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
29. "September 21, 1919 Boston Braves at Chicago Cubs Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
30. "September 21, 1919 Brooklyn Robins at Cincinnati Reds Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
31. "Regular Season standings". Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
32. "The Ballplayers – Fred Luderus – baseballbiography.com". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
33. "September 24, 1919 Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
34. "September 28, 1919 Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants Box Score and Play by Play – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 26, 2014.

External links

• 1919 American League season on Baseball-Reference.com
• 1919 National League season on Baseball-Reference.com
• 1919 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference