1934 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1934 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1934 in baseball.

1934 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 17 – September 30, 1934 World Series: October 3–9, 1934
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Mickey Cochrane (DET) NL: Dizzy Dean (SLC)
AL champions	Detroit Tigers
AL runners-up	New York Yankees
NL champions	St. Louis Cardinals
NL runners-up	New York Giants
World Series
Champions	St. Louis Cardinals
Runners-up	Detroit Tigers
MLB seasons
← 1933 1935 →

Red Sox

White Sox   

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1934–1939 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1932–1935 National League seasons
National League

The 1934 major league baseball season began on April 17, 1934. The regular season ended on September 30, with the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 31st World Series on October 3 and ended with Game 7 on October 9. The Cardinals then defeated the Tigers, four games to three, capturing their third championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1931. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Giants from the 1933 season.

The second Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 10 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York, home of the New York Giants. The American League won, 9–7.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1934 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, April 17, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the 1931 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 30, which also saw all sixteen teams play, continued the trend which began with the 1930 season. This was the second time that both Opening Day and the final day of the season saw all sixteen teams play, the previous being in 1931. The World Series took place between October 3 and October 9.

Rule changes

The 1934 season saw the following rule changes:

• The National and American Leagues agree to adopt a uniform ball, authorizing respective Presidents John Heydler and Will Harridge to meet with manufactures and settle on a ball for both leagues. ^[1]
• Both leagues agreed to prohibit "synthetic" doubleheaders (which is when teams would postpone weekday games to have two games on a weekend day) on Sundays until after June 15. ^[1]
• Both leagues altered the practices governing counting players on option toward team limits and salary responsibility for optioned players. ^[1]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [2]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000	Bucky Harris
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	52,000	Lew Fonseca
					Jimmy Dykes
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park	21,414	Walter Johnson
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	30,000	Mickey Cochrane
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	62,000	Joe McCarthy
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,000	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Rogers Hornsby
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	32,000	Joe Cronin
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	46,500	Bill McKechnie
	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	32,000	Casey Stengel
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	40,000	Charlie Grimm
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	26,060	Bob O'Farrell
					Burt Shotton
					Chuck Dressen
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	56,000	Bill Terry
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Baker Bowl	18,800	Jimmie Wilson
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	41,000	George Gibson
					Pie Traynor
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Frankie Frisch

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	101	53	.656	—	54‍–‍26	47‍–‍27
New York Yankees	94	60	.610	7	53‍–‍24	41‍–‍36
Cleveland Indians	85	69	.552	16	47‍–‍31	38‍–‍38
Boston Red Sox	76	76	.500	24	42‍–‍35	34‍–‍41
Philadelphia Athletics	68	82	.453	31	34‍–‍40	34‍–‍42
St. Louis Browns	67	85	.441	33	36‍–‍39	31‍–‍46
Washington Senators	66	86	.434	34	34‍–‍40	32‍–‍46
Chicago White Sox	53	99	.349	47	29‍–‍46	24‍–‍53

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	95	58	.621	—	48‍–‍29	47‍–‍29
New York Giants	93	60	.608	2	49‍–‍26	44‍–‍34
Chicago Cubs	86	65	.570	8	47‍–‍30	39‍–‍35
Boston Braves	78	73	.517	16	40‍–‍35	38‍–‍38
Pittsburgh Pirates	74	76	.493	19½	45‍–‍32	29‍–‍44
Brooklyn Dodgers	71	81	.467	23½	43‍–‍33	28‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies	56	93	.376	37	35‍–‍36	21‍–‍57
Cincinnati Reds	52	99	.344	42	30‍–‍47	22‍–‍52

Postseason

The postseason began on October 3 and ended on October 9 with the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Detroit Tigers in the 1934 World Series in seven games.

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Detroit Tigers	3
	NL	St. Louis Cardinals	4

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Boston Red Sox	Marty McManus	Bucky Harris
Brooklyn Dodgers	Max Carey	Casey Stengel
Cincinnati Reds	Donie Bush	Bob O'Farrell
Detroit Tigers	Del Baker	Mickey Cochrane
Philadelphia Phillies	Burt Shotton	Jimmie Wilson

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Chicago White Sox	Lew Fonseca	Jimmy Dykes
Cincinnati Reds	Bob O'Farrell	Burt Shotton
	Burt Shotton	Chuck Dressen
Pittsburgh Pirates	George Gibson	Pie Traynor

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders ^[3]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Lou Gehrig 1 (NYY)	.363
OPS	Lou Gehrig (NYY)	1.172
HR	Lou Gehrig 1 (NYY)	49
RBI	Lou Gehrig 1 (NYY)	166
R	Charlie Gehringer (DET)	135
H	Charlie Gehringer (DET)	214
SB	Billy Werber (BRS)	40

¹ American League Triple Crown batting winner

Pitching leaders ^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Lefty Gomez 2 (NYY)	26
L	Bobo Newsom (SLB)	20
ERA	Lefty Gomez 2 (NYY)	2.33
K	Lefty Gomez 2 (NYY)	158
IP	Lefty Gomez (NYY)	281.2
SV	Jack Russell (WSH)	8
WHIP	Lefty Gomez (NYY)	1.133

² American League Triple Crown pitching winner

National League

Hitting leaders ^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Paul Waner (PIT)	.362
OPS	Ripper Collins (SLC)	1.008
HR	Ripper Collins (SLC) Mel Ott (NYG)	35
RBI	Mel Ott (NYG)	135
R	Paul Waner (PIT)	122
H	Paul Waner (PIT)	217
SB	Pepper Martin (SLC)	23

Pitching leaders ^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	30
L	Si Johnson (CIN)	22
ERA	Carl Hubbell (NYG)	2.30
K	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	195
IP	Van Mungo (BKN)	315.1
SV	Carl Hubbell (NYG)	8
WHIP	Carl Hubbell (NYG)	1.032

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	Mickey Cochrane (DET)

The Sporting News Awards
Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player [7]	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	Lou Gehrig (NYY)

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Detroit Tigers [8]	101	34.7%	919,161	186.4%	11,490
New York Yankees [9]	94	3.3%	854,682	17.4%	11,100
New York Giants [10]	93	2.2%	730,851	20.9%	9,745
Chicago Cubs [11]	86	0.0%	707,525	19.1%	9,189
Boston Red Sox [12]	76	20.6%	610,640	127.2%	7,930
Brooklyn Dodgers [13]	71	9.2%	434,188	−17.6%	5,639
Cleveland Indians [14]	85	13.3%	391,338	0.9%	5,017
Washington Senators [15]	66	−33.3%	330,074	−24.6%	4,343
St. Louis Cardinals [16]	95	15.9%	325,056	26.9%	4,222
Pittsburgh Pirates [17]	74	−14.9%	322,622	11.7%	4,136
Philadelphia Athletics [18]	68	−13.9%	305,847	2.9%	4,024
Boston Braves [19]	78	−6.0%	303,205	−41.4%	4,043
Chicago White Sox [20]	53	−20.9%	236,559	−40.5%	3,154
Cincinnati Reds [21]	52	−10.3%	206,773	−5.3%	2,651
Philadelphia Phillies [22]	56	−6.7%	169,885	8.6%	2,393
St. Louis Browns [23]	67	21.8%	115,305	30.9%	1,517

Events

• June 6 – Myril Hoag of the New York Yankees hits six singles against the Boston Red Sox. ^[24]
• June 9 – In the eighth inning of their game against the Boston Red Sox, the Washington Senators hit 5 consecutive doubles – the most ever hit consecutively in an inning. ^[25]
• July 8 – In the course of the Philadelphia Athletics – Boston Red Sox game, Athletics player Bob Johnson hits a fly ball off Red Sox pitcher Hank Johnson, which is caught by center fielder Roy Johnson ^[26]
• July 10 – At the All-Star Game held at the Polo Grounds in New York City, New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell strikes out five consecutive American League batters. These batters are Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin: all future Hall-of-Famers.

References

1. Long, Jason C. "1933 Winter Meetings: The Sell-Off – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved April 11, 2025.
2. "1934 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
3. "1934 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
4. "1934 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
5. "1934 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "1934 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
8. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
9. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
10. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
11. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
20. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
21. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
22. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
23. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
24. Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Book of Baseball Facts . United States: Sterling Publishing Co. pp.  352. ISBN   9781402742736.
25. "Team Doubles Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
26. Mackin, Bob (2004). The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records. Canada: Greystone Books. p. 240. ISBN   9781553650386..

External links

• 1934 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference