1938 Major League Baseball season

Last updated

1938 MLB season
League American League (AL)
National League (NL)
Sport Baseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 18 – October 2, 1938 (AL)
  • April 19 – October 2, 1938 (NL)
World Series:
  • October 5–9, 1938
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP AL: Jimmie Foxx (BSR)
NL: Ernie Lombardi (CIN)
AL champions New York Yankees
  AL runners-up Boston Red Sox
NL champions Chicago Cubs
  NL runners-up Pittsburgh Pirates
World Series
Champions New York Yankees
  Runners-up Chicago Cubs
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1934–1939 American League seasons
ButtonRed.svg American League
Locations of teams for the 1938–1940 National League seasons
ButtonBlue.svg National League

The 1938 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1938. The regular season ended on October 2, with the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 35th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 4 on October 9. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees swept the Cubs in four games, capturing their seventh championship in franchise history, and their third in a four-World Series run, becoming the first team to win three consecutive World Series.

Contents

The sixth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 6, hosted by the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the National League winning, 4–1.

Schedule

The 1938 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.

American League Opening Day took place on April 18 with four teams playing, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since 1932 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on October 2 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend since the previous season. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 9.

Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

LeagueTeamCityStadiumCapacityManager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 35,000 Joe Cronin
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 50,000 Jimmy Dykes
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio League Park
Cleveland Stadium*		22,500
78,811*		 Ossie Vitt
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Briggs Stadium 58,000 Mickey Cochrane,
Del Baker
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 71,699 Joe McCarthy
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Gabby Street,
Oscar Melillo
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 32,000 Bucky Harris
National League Boston Bees Boston, Massachusetts National League Park 41,700 Casey Stengel
Brooklyn Dodgers New York, New York Ebbets Field 35,000 Burleigh Grimes
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 38,396 Charlie Grimm,
Gabby Hartnett
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Crosley Field 29,401 Bill McKechnie
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 51,856 Bill Terry
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Baker Bowl*
Shibe Park 		18,800
33,000*		 Jimmie Wilson,
Hans Lobert
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 40,000 Pie Traynor
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Frankie Frisch,
Mike González

Standings

American League

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9953.651—55‍–‍2244‍–‍31
Boston Red Sox 8861.5919½52‍–‍2336‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians 8666.5661346‍–‍3040‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers 8470.5451648‍–‍3136‍–‍39
Washington Senators 7576.49723½44‍–‍3331‍–‍43
Chicago White Sox 6583.4393233‍–‍3932‍–‍44
St. Louis Browns 5597.3624431‍–‍4324‍–‍54
Philadelphia Athletics 5399.3494628‍–‍4725‍–‍52

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 8963.586—44‍–‍3345‍–‍30
Pittsburgh Pirates 8664.573244‍–‍3342‍–‍31
New York Giants 8367.553543‍–‍3040‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds 8268.547643‍–‍3439‍–‍34
Boston Bees 7775.5071245‍–‍3032‍–‍45
St. Louis Cardinals 7180.47017½36‍–‍4135‍–‍39
Brooklyn Dodgers 6980.46318½31‍–‍4138‍–‍39
Philadelphia Phillies 45105.3004326‍–‍4819‍–‍57

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
   
AL New York Yankees 4
NL Chicago Cubs 0

Managerial changes

Off-season

TeamFormer ManagerNew Manager
Boston Bees Bill McKechnie Casey Stengel
Cincinnati Reds Bobby Wallace Bill McKechnie
Cleveland Indians Steve O'Neill Ossie Vitt
Detroit Tigers Cy Perkins Mickey Cochrane
Philadelphia Athletics Earle Mack Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns Jim Bottomley Gabby Street

In-season

TeamFormer ManagerNew Manager
Chicago Cubs Charlie Grimm Gabby Hartnett
Detroit Tigers Mickey Cochrane Del Baker
Philadelphia Phillies Jimmie Wilson Hans Lobert
St. Louis Browns Gabby Street Oscar Melillo
St. Louis Cardinals Frankie Frisch Mike González

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders
StatPlayerTotal
AVG Jimmie Foxx (BRS).349
OPS Jimmie Foxx (BRS)1.166
HR Hank Greenberg (DET)58
RBI Jimmie Foxx (BRS)175
R Hank Greenberg (DET)143
H Joe Vosmik (BRS)201
SB Frankie Crosetti (NYY)27
Pitching leaders
StatPlayerTotal
W Red Ruffing (NYY)21
L George Caster (PHA)20
ERA Lefty Grove (BRS)3.08
K Bob Feller (CLE)240
IP Bobo Newsom (SLB)329.2
SV Johnny Murphy (NYY)11
WHIP Dutch Leonard (WSH)1.227
Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP Hank Greenberg 1937 cropped.jpg
Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP

National League

Hitting leaders
StatPlayerTotal
AVG Ernie Lombardi (CIN).342
OPS Johnny Mize (SLC)1.036
HR Mel Ott (NYG)36
RBI Joe Medwick (SLC)122
R Mel Ott (NYG)116
H Frank McCormick (CIN)237
SB Stan Hack (CHC)16
Pitching leaders
StatPlayerTotal
W Bill Lee (CHC)22
L Hugh Mulcahy (PHP)20
ERA Bill Lee (CHC)2.66
K Clay Bryant (CHC)135
IP Paul Derringer (CIN)307.0
SV Dick Coffman (NYG)12
WHIP Carl Hubbell (NYG)1.140

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Most Valuable Player Ernie Lombardi (CIN) Jimmie Foxx (BRS)

Other awards

The Sporting News Awards
AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Most Valuable Player [1] Ernie Lombardi (CIN) Jimmie Foxx (BRS)
Player of the Year [2] Johnny Vander Meer (CIN)—
Manager of the Year [3] — Joe McCarthy (NYY)
Executive of the Year [4] Warren Giles (CIN)—

Baseball Hall of Fame

Home field attendance

Team nameWins%±Home attendance%±Per game
New York Yankees [5] 99−2.9%970,916−2.7%12,290
Chicago Cubs [6] 89−4.3%951,6406.3%12,359
New York Giants [7] 83−12.6%799,633−13.7%10,954
Detroit Tigers [8] 84−5.6%799,557−25.4%10,121
Cincinnati Reds [9] 8246.4%706,75671.9%9,179
Brooklyn Dodgers [10] 6911.3%663,08737.4%8,961
Cleveland Indians [11] 863.6%652,00615.4%8,579
Boston Red Sox [12] 8810.0%646,45915.5%8,619
Pittsburgh Pirates [13] 860.0%641,03339.5%8,218
Washington Senators [14] 752.7%522,69431.4%6,701
Philadelphia Athletics [15] 53−1.9%385,357−10.5%5,070
Boston Bees [16] 77−2.5%341,149−11.5%4,549
Chicago White Sox [17] 65−24.4%338,278−42.6%4,634
St. Louis Cardinals [18] 71−12.3%291,418−32.4%3,598
Philadelphia Phillies [19] 45−26.2%166,111−21.9%2,215
St. Louis Browns [20] 5519.6%130,4175.9%1,694

References

  1. ↑ "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  4. ↑ "MLB Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  5. ↑ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ↑ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Cleveland Indians 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. ↑ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Minnesota Twins 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. ↑ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.