1938 World Series

Last updated

1938 World Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season
New York Yankees (4) Joe McCarthy 99–53, .651, GA: 9+12
Chicago Cubs (0) Gabby Hartnett (player/manager) 89–63, .586, GA: 2
DatesOctober 1–4
Venue Wrigley Field (Chicago)
Yankee Stadium (New York)
Umpires Charley Moran (NL), Cal Hubbard (AL)
Ziggy Sears (NL), Lou Kolls (AL)
Hall of Famers Umpire:
Cal Hubbard
Yankees:
Joe McCarthy (manager)
Bill Dickey
Joe DiMaggio
Lou Gehrig
Lefty Gomez
Joe Gordon
Red Ruffing
Cubs:
Dizzy Dean
Gabby Hartnett
Billy Herman
Tony Lazzeri
Broadcast
Radio NBC, CBS, Mutual
Radio announcersNBC Red:
Red Barber
Tom Manning
George Hicks
NBC Blue:
Johnny O'Hara
George Higgins
Rosey Rowswell
CBS:
John Harrington
Pat Flanagan
France Laux
Bill Dyer
Mel Allen
Mutual:
Bob Elson
Quin Ryan
David Driscoll
Stan Lomax
  1937 World Series 1939  

The 1938 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1938 season. The 35th edition of the World Series, it matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees swept the Series in four games for their seventh championship overall and record third straight (they would win four in a row from 1936 to 1939, and five in a row later from 1949 to 1953).

Contents

Dizzy Dean, who had helped carry the Cubs to the National League pennant despite a sore arm, ran out of gas in the Series as the Yanks crushed the Cubs again, as they had in 1932. Yankee starting pitcher Red Ruffing won two games, although he allowed 17 hits in 18 innings pitched. After Game 2 of the Series, the Bronx Bombers would not return to Wrigley Field for nearly 65 years until a three-game interleague series with the Cubs beginning June 6, 2003.

This was the first World Series played at Wrigley Field following the bleacher reconstruction of 1937, which had significantly shortened the left-center field power alley.

Summary

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (0)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 1New York Yankees – 3, Chicago Cubs – 1 Wrigley Field 1:5343,642 [1]  
2October 2New York Yankees – 6, Chicago Cubs – 3Wrigley Field1:5342,108 [2]  
3October 3Chicago Cubs – 2, New York Yankees – 5 Yankee Stadium 1:5755,236 [3]  
4October 4Chicago Cubs – 3, New York Yankees – 8Yankee Stadium2:1159,847 [4]

Matchups

Game 1

Saturday, October 1, 1938 1:30 pm (CT) at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
Team123456789 R H E
New York0200010003121
Chicago001000000191
WP: Red Ruffing (1–0)   LP: Bill Lee (0–1)

Game 1 of the Series matched the Yankees' Red Ruffing, who had won 21 games during the season, against the Cubs' 22-game winner Bill Lee. In the top of the second inning, Lou Gehrig walked and moved to third on a single by Bill Dickey. George Selkirk then reached on an error by Cub second baseman Billy Herman scoring Gehrig, and Joe Gordon drove Dickey in with a single for a 2–0 Bomber lead.

In the bottom of the third, the Cubs cut the lead in half when Ripper Collins singled to lead off and moved to second on a groundout by Lee. Stan Hack's single to right scored Collins, Hack taking second on the throw home. But when he attempted to score on an infield single by Herman, he was gunned down at home. The top of the sixth saw New York extend its lead to 3–1 when Tommy Henrich belted a double to right and scored on a Dickey single. The Cubs could muster nothing further off Ruffing, who scattered nine hits over the course of the game, and the Yankees held on for the win and a 1–0 lead in the Series.

Game 2

Sunday, October 2, 1938 1:30 pm (CT) at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
Team123456789 R H E
New York020000022672
Chicago1020000003110
WP: Lefty Gomez (1–0)   LP: Dizzy Dean (0–1)   Sv: Johnny Murphy (1)
Home runs:
NYY: Frankie Crosetti (1), Joe DiMaggio (1)
CHC: None

Game 2 pitted the Yankees' Lefty Gomez against former St. Louis Cardinals ace Dizzy Dean, who had been traded to Chicago in April and won seven of his eight regular-season wins for his new team on finesse after having lost his fastball by changing his pitching motion to avoid putting weight on the toe he had fractured during the 1937 All-Star Game (on a low line drive back to the mound by Earl Averill). Game 2 of the 1938 Series thus became known as "Ol' Diz's Last Stand".

The Cubs gave Dean a 1–0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Hack singled, advanced to third on a single by Frank Demaree and scored on Joe Marty's fly ball. But the Bronx Bombers took the lead in the next half-inning when a Gordon double scored both Joe DiMaggio and Gehrig. In the bottom of the third, the Cubs went back out in front by a run when Hack and Herman hit back-to-back singles, were sacrificed to third and second by Demaree, and scored on Marty's double.

Dean pitched effectively for the next four innings, giving up only a single to Gehrig in the fourth. But in the top of the eighth, the Yankees stormed back on a two-run homer by Frankie Crosetti that scored pinch-hitter Myril Hoag for a 4–3 Bomber lead, and DiMaggio added a two-run dinger of his own in the top of the ninth that scored Henrich. Johnny Murphy, in relief of Gomez, held Chicago at bay for the final two innings for a 6–3 Yankee win as the Series moved east to New York with a 2–0 Series advantage for the Yankees.

Game 3

Monday, October 3, 1938 1:30 pm (ET) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York
Team123456789 R H E
Chicago000010010251
New York00002201X582
WP: Monte Pearson (1–0)   LP: Clay Bryant (0–1)
Home runs:
CHC: Joe Marty (1)
NYY: Joe Gordon (1), Bill Dickey (1)

For Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, the Cubs threw Clay Bryant against the Bombers' Monte Pearson. Both pitchers matched zeroes for the first four innings. In the top of the fifth, the Cubs drew first blood when Hack doubled, moved to third on Gordon's error on Phil Cavarretta and scored on Marty's forceout of Cavarretta at second. In the bottom half of the inning, however, Gordon atoned for his mistake by walloping a solo home run off Bryant to tie the game. Pearson followed with a single to right, advanced to second on a Crosetti walk and scored on a Red Rolfe single to give the Yankees a 2–1 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, New York tacked on two more runs with a two-run single by Gordon. In the top of the eighth, the Cubs cut the lead in half when Marty hit a home run to notch his fifth RBI of the Series, but Dickey answered for the Yankees with a shot of his own in the bottom half. The Bombers held on for a 5–2 win and a 3–0 Series stranglehold.

Game 4

Tuesday, October 4, 1938 2:00 pm (ET) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York
Team123456789 R H E
Chicago000100020381
New York03000104X8111
WP: Red Ruffing (2–0)   LP: Bill Lee (0–2)
Home runs:
CHC: Ken O'Dea (1)
NYY: Tommy Henrich (1)

Game 4 was a rematch of the Game 1 starters, Ruffing vs. Lee. Like the closely contested series opener, it stayed close until New York pulled away with four runs in the bottom of the eighth.

In the bottom of the second, the Yankees struck for three runs. Hoag reached on Hack's throwing error from the hot corner, and advanced to third on a Gordon single. Ruffing helped his own cause by singling in Hoag, and Crosetti's triple to left scored Gordon and Ruffing. The Cubs broke the shutout with a Billy Jurges fielder's choice scoring Demaree, but in the sixth the Bombers got the run back with Henrich's solo homer off veteran Cub reliever Charlie Root.

In the top of the eighth, the Cubs cut the New York lead to one with a Ken O'Dea home run scoring Cavarretta ahead of him. But in the bottom half, the Yankees broke the game open with a four-run outburst off four Cub pitchers—Vance Page, Larry French, Tex Carleton and Dean. Crosetti drove in two with a double off Dean, giving him four RBI for the game and six for the Series. As in Game 1, Ruffing went the distance, allowing two earned runs and eight hits with six strikeouts.

This was the last World Series game ever played by Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig. He had one hit in four at-bats. Defensively he had five putouts and two assists.

Composite line score

1938 World Series (4–0): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Chicago Cubs (N.L.)

Team123456789 R H E
New York Yankees 07002407222376
Chicago Cubs 1031100309333
Total attendance: 200,833  Average attendance: 50,208
Winning player's share: $5,729  Losing player's share: $4,675 [5]

Umpires

Umpires Cal Hubbard and Lou Kolls were selected from the American League while Charley Moran and Ziggy Sears were chosen from the National League by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. [6]

Notes

  1. "1938 World Series Game 1 – New York Yankees vs. Chicago Cubs". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  2. "1938 World Series Game 2 – New York Yankees vs. Chicago Cubs". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. "1938 World Series Game 3 – Chicago Cubs vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  4. "1938 World Series Game 4 – Chicago Cubs vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  5. "World Series Gate Receipts and Player Shares". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  6. "Umpires Named". The Pittsburgh Press. October 3, 1938. p. 21. Retrieved March 30, 2020.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 American League Championship Series</span> 34th edition of Major League Baseballs American League Championship Series

The 2003 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was played between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees from October 8 to 16, 2003. The Yankees won the series four games to three to advance to the World Series, where they lost in six games to the National League champion Florida Marlins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1945 World Series</span> 1945 Major League Baseball championship series

The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won the Series in seven games, giving them their second championship and first since 1935.

The 1943 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1943 season. The 40th edition of the World Series, it matched the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees, in a rematch of the 1942 Series. The Yankees won the Series in five games for their tenth championship in 21 seasons. It was Yankees manager Joe McCarthy's final Series win. This series was also the first to have an accompanying World Series highlight film, a tradition that persists.

The 1942 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees against the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Cardinals winning the Series in five games for their first championship since 1934 and their fourth overall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1926 World Series</span> 1926 Major League Baseball championship series

The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season. The 23rd edition of the Series, it pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees. The Cardinals defeated the Yankees four games to three in the best-of-seven series, which took place from October 2 to 10, 1926, at Yankee Stadium and Sportsman's Park.

The 1928 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1928 season. The 25th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees versus the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees beat the Cardinals in four games to win their third championship and become the first team to do back-to-back sweeps.

The 1932 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1932 season. The 29th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees versus the National League champions Chicago Cubs. The Yankees won in a four-game sweep. By far its most noteworthy moment was Babe Ruth's "called shot" home run, in his 10th and last World Series. It was punctuated by fiery arguments between the two teams, heating up the atmosphere before the World Series even began. A record 13 future Hall of Famers played in this World Series, with three other future Hall of Famers also participating: umpire Bill Klem, Yankees manager Joe McCarthy, and Cubs manager Rogers Hornsby. It was also the first World Series in which both teams wore uniforms with numbers on the backs of the shirts.

The 1935 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1935 season. The 32nd edition of the World Series, it matched the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won in six games for their first championship in five Series appearances, as they had lost in 1907, 1908, 1909, and 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1936 World Series</span> 1936 Major League Baseball championship series

The 1936 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1936 season. The 33rd edition of the World Series, it matched the New York Yankees against the New York Giants, with the Yankees winning in six games to earn their fifth championship.

The 1937 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees and the New York Giants in a rematch of the 1936 Series. The Yankees won in five games, for their second championship in a row and their sixth in 15 years.

The 1939 World Series featured the three-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds, who were making their first Series appearance since winning the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series. The Yankees swept the Series in four games for the second straight year, winning their record fourth consecutive title. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy won his fifth title, tying the record held by Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Crosetti</span> American baseball player (1910-2002)

Frank Peter Joseph Crosetti was an American baseball shortstop. Nicknamed "The Crow", he spent his entire seventeen-year Major League Baseball playing career with the New York Yankees before becoming a coach with the franchise for an additional twenty seasons. As a player and third base coach for the Yankees, Crosetti was part of seventeen World Championship teams and 23 World Series participants overall (1932–1964), the most of any individual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Cavarretta</span> American baseball player and manager

Philip Joseph Cavarretta was an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and manager. He was known to friends and family as "Phil" and was also called "Philibuck", a nickname bestowed by Cubs manager Charlie Grimm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Hack</span> American baseball player and manager

Stanley Camfield Hack, nicknamed "Smiling Stan", was an American third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the National League's top third baseman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Usually a leadoff hitter, he batted .301 lifetime, scored 100 runs seven times and led the NL in hits and stolen bases twice each. His 1092 walks ranked fourth in NL history when he retired, and remain a franchise record; he also hit .348 in the World Series, which he competed in four times. His .394 career on-base percentage was the highest by a 20th-century third baseman until Wade Boggs exceeded it in the late 1980s, and was the top NL mark until 2001. Hack led the NL in putouts five times, in double plays three times and in assists and fielding percentage twice each. At the end of his career he ranked second in major league history to Pie Traynor in games (1836) at third base, second in NL history to Traynor in putouts (1944), assists (3494) and total chances (5684), and third in NL history in double plays (255).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Henrich</span> American baseball player and coach

Thomas David Henrich, nicknamed "the Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was an American professional baseball player of German descent. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a right fielder and first baseman for the New York Yankees. Henrich led the American League in triples twice and in runs scored once, also hitting 20 or more home runs four times. He is best remembered for his numerous exploits in the World Series; he was involved in one of the most memorable plays in Series history in 1941, was the hitting star of the 1947 Series with a .323 batting average, and hit the first walk-off home run in Series history in the first game of the 1949 World Series.

The following are the baseball events of the year 1939 throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Pipgras</span> American baseball player (1899-1986)

George William Pipgras was an American right-handed starting pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball.

The 1939 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished first in the National League, winning the pennant by 4+12 games over the St. Louis Cardinals with a record of 97–57. The team went on to the 1939 World Series, which they lost in four straight games to the New York Yankees.

The 1939 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 17 to October 8, 1939. The Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Yankees then defeated the Reds in the World Series, four games to none. The Yankees became the first team to win the World Series four years in a row.

The 2003 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2003 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series. This was the first edition of the postseason where home-field advantage in the World Series was awarded to the league who won the MLB All-Star Game, a rule which lasted until 2016.

References