1929 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1929 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1929 in baseball.

1929 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 16 – October 6, 1929 World Series: October 8–14, 1929
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular Season
Season MVP	NL: Rogers Hornsby (CHC)
AL champions	Philadelphia Athletics
AL runners-up	New York Yankees
NL champions	Chicago Cubs
NL runners-up	Pittsburgh Pirates
World Series
Champions	Philadelphia Athletics
Runners-up	Chicago Cubs
MLB seasons
← 1928 1930 →

Red Sox

White Sox   

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1923–1931 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Robins

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1920–1931 National League seasons
National League

The 1929 Major League baseball season began on April 16, 1929. The regular season ended on October 6, with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 26th World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 5 on October 14. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Athletics defeated the Cubs, four games to one, capturing their fourth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1913.

Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run this season on August 11 at Cleveland. Game 4 of the World Series featured a historic 10-run rally by the Athletics, nicknamed "The Mack Attack," after the team's manager, Connie Mack. ^[1]

This was the last of eight seasons that "League Awards", a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), were issued. Only a National League award was given in 1929.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1929 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 16 and saw eight teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on October 6. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 14.

Rule changes

The 1929 season saw the following rule changes:

• For all ballparks, foul poles must be constructed to be at least 25 feet above the outer barrier, to aid umpires in calling balls fair or foul. The poles were to be constructed either on top of the grandstand roof, or the outer fence of the ballpark. This was coupled with the home run rule, the interpretation of which follows the early-1920 rule, which states that balls are to be called based on where the ball crosses the outfield fence. This rule now accounts for all balls which leave the ballpark, including those which completely leave the ballpark. The American League would implement this home run rule in 1931. ^[2]
• The American League implements the ground rule double rule, which states that balls that bounce over the fence entitle the batter to two bases. The rule would be implemented by the National League in 1931. ^{[3] [4]}
• The Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees are the first teams to make uniform numbers on the back of the jersey permanent. In the past teams, such as the St Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians, had experimented with numbers before, but only on the sleeves and only for a few weeks.

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [5]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000	Bill Carrigan
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	52,000	Lena Blackburne
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	Dunn Field	21,414	Roger Peckinpaugh
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	30,000	Bucky Harris
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	62,000	Miller Huggins
					Art Fletcher
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	30,000	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Dan Howley
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	27,000	Walter Johnson
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	46,500	Emil Fuchs
	Brooklyn Robins	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	28,000	Wilbert Robinson
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	40,000	Joe McCarthy
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Redland Field	26,060	Jack Hendricks
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	55,000	John McGraw
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Baker Bowl	20,000	Burt Shotton
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	41,000	Donie Bush
					Jewel Ens
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Billy Southworth
					Gabby Street
					Bill McKechnie

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Athletics	104	46	.693	—	57‍–‍16	47‍–‍30
New York Yankees	88	66	.571	18	49‍–‍28	39‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians	81	71	.533	24	44‍–‍32	37‍–‍39
St. Louis Browns	79	73	.520	26	41‍–‍36	38‍–‍37
Washington Senators	71	81	.467	34	37‍–‍40	34‍–‍41
Detroit Tigers	70	84	.455	36	38‍–‍39	32‍–‍45
Chicago White Sox	59	93	.388	46	35‍–‍41	24‍–‍52
Boston Red Sox	58	96	.377	48	32‍–‍45	26‍–‍51

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	98	54	.645	—	52‍–‍25	46‍–‍29
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	65	.575	10½	45‍–‍31	43‍–‍34
New York Giants	84	67	.556	13½	39‍–‍37	45‍–‍30
St. Louis Cardinals	78	74	.513	20	43‍–‍32	35‍–‍42
Philadelphia Phillies	71	82	.464	27½	39‍–‍37	32‍–‍45
Brooklyn Robins	70	83	.458	28½	42‍–‍35	28‍–‍48
Cincinnati Reds	66	88	.429	33	38‍–‍39	28‍–‍49
Boston Braves	56	98	.364	43	34‍–‍43	22‍–‍55

Postseason

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Philadelphia Athletics	4
	NL	Chicago Cubs	1

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Boston Braves	Rogers Hornsby	Emil Fuchs
Detroit Tigers	George Moriarty	Bucky Harris
St. Louis Cardinals	Bill McKechnie	Billy Southworth
Washington Senators	Bucky Harris	Walter Johnson

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
New York Yankees	Miller Huggins	Art Fletcher
Pittsburgh Pirates	Donie Bush	Jewel Ens
St. Louis Cardinals	Billy Southworth	Gabby Street
	Gabby Street	Bill McKechnie

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders ^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Lew Fonseca (CLE)	.369
OPS	Babe Ruth (NYY)	1.128
HR	Babe Ruth (NYY)	46
RBI	Al Simmons (PHA)	157
R	Charlie Gehringer (DET)	131
H	Dale Alexander (DET) Charlie Gehringer (DET)	215
SB	Charlie Gehringer (DET)	27

Pitching leaders ^[7]

Stat	Player	Total
W	George Earnshaw (PHA)	24
L	Red Ruffing (BRS)	22
ERA	Lefty Grove (PHA)	2.81
K	Lefty Grove (PHA)	170
IP	Sam Gray (SLB)	305.0
SV	Firpo Marberry (WSH) Wilcy Moore (NYY)	9
WHIP	Firpo Marberry (WSH)	1.206

National League

Hitting leaders ^[8]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Lefty O'Doul (PHP)	.398
OPS	Rogers Hornsby (CHC)	1.139
HR	Chuck Klein (PHP)	43
RBI	Hack Wilson (CHC)	159
R	Rogers Hornsby (CHC)	156
H	Lefty O'Doul (PHP)	254
SB	Kiki Cuyler (CHC)	43

Pitching leaders ^[9]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Pat Malone (CHC)	22
L	Watson Clark (BKN)	19
ERA	Bill Walker (NYG)	3.09
K	Pat Malone (CHC)	166
IP	Watson Clark (BKN)	279.0
SV	Guy Bush (CHC) Johnny Morrison (BKN)	8
WHIP	Red Lucas (CIN)	1.204

Awards and honors

• League Award: Rogers Hornsby (CHC)
• The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award: Al Simmons (PHA) ^[10]

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Chicago Cubs [11]	98	7.7%	1,485,166	29.9%	19,041
New York Yankees [12]	88	−12.9%	960,148	−10.4%	12,469
Detroit Tigers [13]	70	2.9%	869,318	83.3%	11,290
New York Giants [14]	84	−9.7%	868,806	−5.2%	11,283
Philadelphia Athletics [15]	104	6.1%	839,176	21.7%	11,340
Brooklyn Robins [16]	70	−9.1%	731,886	10.1%	9,505
Cleveland Indians [17]	81	30.6%	536,210	42.6%	7,055
Pittsburgh Pirates [18]	88	3.5%	491,377	−0.7%	6,465
Chicago White Sox [19]	59	−18.1%	426,795	−13.6%	5,616
St. Louis Cardinals [20]	78	−17.9%	399,887	−47.5%	5,193
Boston Red Sox [21]	58	1.8%	394,620	−0.6%	5,059
Boston Braves [22]	56	12.0%	372,351	64.0%	4,836
Washington Senators [23]	71	−5.3%	355,506	−6.1%	4,558
Cincinnati Reds [24]	66	−15.4%	295,040	−39.8%	3,783
Philadelphia Phillies [25]	71	65.1%	281,200	54.4%	3,700
St. Louis Browns [26]	79	−3.7%	280,697	−17.3%	3,645

Key events

• Babe Ruth: On August 11, Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 500 home runs.
• Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs: First season since 1912 that both pennant winners won by more than 10 games. ^[27]
• Philadelphia Athletics: On October 12, during Game 4 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics scored ten runs in the seventh inning to come back from an 8–0 deficit. This was soon dubbed "The Mack Attack," after long-time manager Connie Mack. He commented that it was "The greatest thrill [he] had in 29 years of managing." ^[28] At the time, this was a record.

Deaths

• Miller Huggins, the Yankees manager, died of blood poisoning on September 25. ^[29]

References

1. "The 1929 Mack Attack | Society for American Baseball Research". sabr.org. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
2. sabr. "How Rules Changes in 1920 Affected Home Runs – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved April 22, 2024.
3. O'Gara, Connor. "Future Hall of Famer Al López Hits the Last 'Bounce' Home Run in Big League History". Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
4. "Changes are Made in the Baseball Playing Rules by Joint Rules Committee". Santa Cruz Evening News. Santa Cruz, California. December 17, 1930. p. 8. Retrieved April 16, 2020– via newspapers.com.
5. "1929 Major League Baseball Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "1929 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "1929 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
8. "1929 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
9. "1929 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
10. "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
11. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
20. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
21. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
22. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
23. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
24. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
25. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
26. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
27. Koppet, Leonard (1998). Koppet's Concise History of Major League Baseball. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 178. ISBN   1-56639-638-7.
28. Baumgartner, Stan (October 13, 1929). "Connie Calls Game "Greatest Thrill, Hugs Fans of Field". Philadelphia Inquirer.
29. "1929 Baseball Season". HowStuffWorks. August 24, 2007. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2020.

External links

• 1929 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference