1940 Cincinnati Reds season

1940  Cincinnati Reds
World Series Champions National League Champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Crosley Field
City	Cincinnati
Owners	Powel Crosley, Jr.
General managers	Warren Giles
Managers	Bill McKechnie
Radio	WCPO (Harry Hartman) WSAI (Roger Baker, Dick Bray)
←  1939 Seasons 1941  →

The 1940 Cincinnati Reds season was the 58th season for the franchise. Cincinnati entered the season as the reigning National League champions, having been swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series the previous year. They would defeat the Detroit Tigers four games to three to take the World Series title.

Offseason

• October 14, 1939: Hank Sauer was drafted by the Reds from the New York Yankees in the 1939 minor league draft. ^[1]
• October 19, 1939: Al Simmons was released by the Reds. ^[2]

Regular season

Cincinnati won 100 games for the first time in franchise history. The team finished first in the National League with a record of 100–53, winning the pennant by 12 games over the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the best record in MLB. They went on to face the Detroit Tigers in the 1940 World Series, beating them in seven games. This was their first championship since 1919.

In August, back up catcher Willard Hershberger, depressed over what he felt was culpability for losing both games of a doubleheader, took his life. Coach Jimmie Wilson was added to the roster as the back up catcher. The Reds players would vote to send Hershberger's share of the World Series winnings to his mother ^[3]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	100	53	.654	—	55‍–‍21	45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers	88	65	.575	12	41‍–‍37	47‍–‍28
St. Louis Cardinals	84	69	.549	16	41‍–‍36	43‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	76	.506	22½	40‍–‍34	38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	75	79	.487	25½	40‍–‍37	35‍–‍42
New York Giants	72	80	.474	27½	33‍–‍43	39‍–‍37
Boston Bees	65	87	.428	34½	35‍–‍40	30‍–‍47
Philadelphia Phillies	50	103	.327	50	24‍–‍55	26‍–‍48

Detailed record

Team Home Away Total Win % National League Brooklyn 6–5 8–3–1 14–8–1 .636 Boston 7–4 5–5 12–9 .591 Chicago 9–2 7–4 16–6 .727 New York 8–3 7–4 15–7 .682 Philadelphia 8–2 7–5 15–7 .682 Pittsburgh 10–1 6–5 16–6 .727 St. Louis 7–4–1 5–6 12–10–1 .545 55–21 46–30 100–53 .654

Month Games Won Lost Win % April 9 6 3 .667 May 26 19 7 .731 June 27 16 11 .593 July 28 20 8 .714 August 32 16 16 .500 September 31 23 8 .742 153 100 53 .654 Games Won Lost Win % Home 76 55 21 .724 Away 77 45 32 .584

Record vs. opponents

1940 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	9–13	8–14	9–12	7–15	15–6	9–13	8–14
Brooklyn	13–9	—	10–12	8–14–1	16–5	17–5	15–7–1	9–13–1
Chicago	14–8	12–10	—	6–16	12–10	12–10	11–11	8–14
Cincinnati	12–9	14–8–1	16–6	—	15–7	15–7	16–6	12–10–1
New York	15–7	5–16	10–12	7–15	—	12–10	12–10	11–10
Philadelphia	6–15	5–17	10–12	7–15	10–12	—	6–16	6–16
Pittsburgh	13–9	7–15–1	11–11	6–16	10–12	16–6	—	15–7–1
St. Louis	14–8	13–9–1	14–8	10–12–1	10–11	16–6	7–15–1	—

Notable transactions

• August 23, 1940: Jimmy Ripple was selected off waivers by the Reds from the Brooklyn Dodgers. ^[4]

Roster

1940 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers 42 Red Barrett 43 Joe Beggs 30 Paul Derringer 19 Lefty Guise 40 Johnny Hutchings 35 Whitey Moore 41 Elmer Riddle 37 Milt Shoffner 39 Junior Thompson 34 Jim Turner 33 Johnny Vander Meer 31 Bucky Walters		Catchers  6 Bill Baker  5 Willard Hershberger  4 Ernie Lombardi  5 Dick West  3 Jimmie Wilson Infielders 11 Lonny Frey 17 Eddie Joost 10 Frank McCormick 12 Billy Myers 15 Lew Riggs 18 Billy Werber		Outfielders 21 Morrie Arnovich 23 Harry Craft 22 Mike Dejan 21 Vince DiMaggio 25 Lee Gamble 24 Ival Goodman 20 Mike McCormick 22 Jimmy Ripple 21 Johnny Rizzo Other batters 22 Wally Berger		Manager  1 Bill McKechnie Coaches  2 Hank Gowdy  3 Jimmie Wilson

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Ernie Lombardi	109	376	120	.319	14	74
1B	Frank McCormick	155	618	191	.309	19	127
2B	Lonny Frey	150	563	150	.266	8	54
SS	Billy Myers	90	282	57	.202	5	30
3B	Billy Werber	143	584	162	.277	12	48
OF	Mike McCormick	110	417	125	.300	1	30
OF	Ival Goodman	136	519	134	.258	12	63
OF	Harry Craft	115	422	103	.244	6	48

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Eddie Joost	88	278	60	.216	1	24
Morrie Arnovich	62	211	60	.284	0	21
Willard Hershberger	48	123	38	.309	0	26
Johnny Rizzo	31	110	31	.282	4	17
Jimmy Ripple	32	101	31	.307	4	20
Lew Riggs	41	72	21	.292	1	9
Bill Baker	27	69	15	.217	0	7
Lee Gamble	38	42	6	.143	0	0
Jimmy Wilson	16	37	9	.243	0	3
Dick West	7	28	11	.393	1	6
Mike Dejan	12	16	3	.188	0	2
Vince DiMaggio	2	4	1	.250	0	0
Wally Berger	2	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bucky Walters	36	305.0	22	10	2.48	115
Paul Derringer	37	296.2	20	12	3.06	115
Gene Thompson	33	225.1	16	9	3.32	103
Jim Turner	24	187.0	14	7	2.89	53

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Whitey Moore	25	116.2	8	8	3.63	60
Johnny Hutchings	19	54.0	2	1	3.50	18
Johnny Vander Meer	10	48.0	3	1	3.75	41

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Joe Beggs	37	12	3	7	2.00	25
Milt Shoffner	20	1	0	0	5.63	17
Elmer Riddle	15	1	2	2	1.87	9
Red Barrett	3	1	0	0	6.75	0
Lefty Guise	2	0	0	0	1.17	1

1940 World Series

Main article: 1940 World Series

Game 1

October 2, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (A)	0	5	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	7	10	1
Cincinnati (N)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	8	3
W: Bobo Newsom (1–0)   L: Paul Derringer (0–1)
HR: DET – Bruce Campbell (1)
Attendance: 31,739

Game 2

October 3, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (A)	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	3	1
Cincinnati (N)	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	9	0
W: Bucky Walters (1–0)   L: Schoolboy Rowe (0–1)
HR: CIN – Jimmy Ripple (1)
Attendance: 30,640

Game 3

October 4, 1940, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (N)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	10	1
Detroit (A)	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	2	x	7	13	1
W: Tommy Bridges (1–0)  L: Jim Turner (0–1)
HR: : DET – Rudy York (1), Pinky Higgins (1)

Game 4

October 5, 1940, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (N)	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	5	11	1
Detroit (A)	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	1
W: Paul Derringer (1–1)  L: Dizzy Trout (0–1)

Game 5

October 6, 1940, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0
Detroit (A)	0	0	3	4	0	0	0	1	x	8	13	0
W: Bobo Newsom (2–0)  L: Junior Thompson (0–1)
HR: : DET – Hank Greenberg (1)

Game 6

October 7, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Cincinnati (N)	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	x	4	10	2
W: Bucky Walters (2–0)   L: Schoolboy Rowe (0–2)
HR: CIN – Bucky Walters (1)

Game 7

October 8, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (A)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Cincinnati (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	x	2	7	1
W: Paul Derringer (2–1)   L: Bobo Newsom (2–1)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Wes Griffin and Jewel Ens
A1	Birmingham Barons	Southern Association	Ira Smith
B	Durham Bulls	Piedmont League	Oscar Roettger
B	Columbia Reds	Sally League	Cap Crossley
C	Tucson Cowboys	Arizona–Texas League	Lester "Pat" Patterson
C	Ogden Reds	Pioneer League	Bill McCorry
D	Troy Trojans	Alabama State League	Ellis Johnson and Harold Fehrenbacher
D	Lenoir Reds	Tar Heel League	Ray Rice

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Durham ^[5]

References

1. Hank Sauer at Baseball Reference
2. Al Simmons at Baseball Reference
3. Wilkinson, Howard (August 16, 2019). "How The Reds Redeemed Themselves In 1940". WVXU. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
4. Jimmy Ripple at Baseball Reference
5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1940 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference