1939 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | Regular season:
|
Number of games | 154 |
Number of teams | 16 (8 per league) |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | AL: Joe DiMaggio (NYY) NL: Bucky Walters (CIN) |
AL champions | New York Yankees |
AL runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
NL runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
World Series | |
Champions | New York Yankees |
Runners-up | Cincinnati Reds |
The 1939 major league baseball season began on April 17, 1939. The regular season ended on October 1, with the Cincinnati Reds 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 36th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 4 on October 8. The Yankees swept the Reds in four games. The Yankees became the first team to win the World Series four years in a row.
The seventh Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 11, hosted by the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York, with the American League winning, 3–1.
The 1939 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.
National League Opening Day took place on April 17 with a game between the Pittsburg Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, while American League Opening Day took place on the following day, with a game between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. This was the continued the trend since the previous season which saw both leagues opened on different days. It was the first season since 1901 that saw both leagues open with just one game each. The final day of the regular season was on October 1 and featured twelve teams. The World Series took place between October 4 and October 8.
The 1939 season saw the following rule change:
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 106 | 45 | .702 | — | 52–25 | 54–20 |
Boston Red Sox | 89 | 62 | .589 | 17 | 42–32 | 47–30 |
Cleveland Indians | 87 | 67 | .565 | 20½ | 44–33 | 43–34 |
Chicago White Sox | 86 | 69 | .555 | 22 | 50–27 | 36–42 |
Detroit Tigers | 81 | 73 | .526 | 26½ | 42–35 | 39–38 |
Washington Senators | 65 | 87 | .428 | 41½ | 37–39 | 28–48 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | 97 | .362 | 51½ | 28–48 | 27–49 |
St. Louis Browns | 43 | 111 | .279 | 64½ | 18–59 | 25–52 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati Reds | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 55–25 | 42–32 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 61 | .601 | 4½ | 51–27 | 41–34 |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 69 | .549 | 12½ | 51–27 | 33–42 |
Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 44–34 | 40–36 |
New York Giants | 77 | 74 | .510 | 18½ | 41–33 | 36–41 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 85 | .444 | 28½ | 35–42 | 33–43 |
Boston Bees | 63 | 88 | .417 | 32½ | 37–35 | 26–53 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 106 | .298 | 50½ | 29–44 | 16–62 |
World Series | ||||
AL | New York Yankees | 4 | ||
NL | Cincinnati Reds | 0 |
Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
---|---|---|
Philadelphia Athletics | Connie Mack | Earle Mack |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
AVG | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | .381 |
HR | Jimmie Foxx (BRS) | 35 |
RBI | Ted Williams (BRS) | 145 |
R | Red Rolfe (NYY) | 139 |
H | Red Rolfe (NYY) | 213 |
SB | George Case (WSH) | 51 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
W | Bob Feller (CLE) | 24 |
L | Vern Kennedy (SLB/ DET ) | 20 |
ERA | Lefty Grove (BRS) | 2.54 |
K | Bob Feller (CLE) | 246 |
IP | Bob Feller (CLE) | 296.2 |
SV | Johnny Murphy (NYY) | 19 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
AVG | Johnny Mize (SLC) | .349 |
HR | Johnny Mize (SLC) | 28 |
RBI | Frank McCormick (CIN) | 128 |
R | Billy Werber (CIN) | 115 |
H | Frank McCormick (CIN) | 209 |
SB | Stan Hack (CHC) Lee Handley (PIT) | 17 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
W | Bucky Walters 1 (CIN) | 27 |
L | Max Butcher (PIT/ PHP ) Bob Klinger (PIT) | 17 |
ERA | Bucky Walters 1 (CIN) | 2.29 |
K | Claude Passeau (CHC/ PHP ) Bucky Walters 1 (CIN) | 137 |
IP | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 319.0 |
SV | Clyde Shoun (SLC) | 9 |
1 National League Triple Crown pitching winner
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati Reds [2] | 97 | 18.3% | 981,443 | 38.9% | 12,117 |
Brooklyn Dodgers [3] | 84 | 21.7% | 955,668 | 44.1% | 12,252 |
New York Yankees [4] | 106 | 7.1% | 859,785 | -11.4% | 11,166 |
Detroit Tigers [5] | 81 | -3.6% | 836,279 | 4.6% | 10,722 |
Chicago Cubs [6] | 84 | -5.6% | 726,663 | -23.6% | 9,083 |
New York Giants [7] | 77 | -7.2% | 702,457 | -12.2% | 9,493 |
Chicago White Sox [8] | 85 | 30.8% | 594,104 | 75.6% | 7,716 |
Boston Red Sox [9] | 89 | 1.1% | 573,070 | -11.4% | 7,641 |
Cleveland Indians [10] | 87 | 1.2% | 563,926 | -13.5% | 7,324 |
St. Louis Cardinals [11] | 92 | 29.6% | 400,245 | 37.3% | 5,066 |
Philadelphia Athletics [12] | 55 | 3.8% | 395,022 | 2.5% | 5,198 |
Pittsburgh Pirates [13] | 68 | -20.9% | 376,734 | -41.2% | 4,893 |
Washington Senators [14] | 65 | -13.3% | 339,257 | -35.1% | 4,406 |
Boston Bees [15] | 63 | -18.2% | 285,994 | -16.2% | 3,918 |
Philadelphia Phillies [16] | 45 | 0.0% | 277,973 | 67.3% | 3,756 |
St. Louis Browns [17] | 43 | -21.8% | 109,159 | -16.3% | 1,399 |
The following are the baseball events of the year 1939 throughout the world.
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