1940 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: Hank Greenberg (DET) NL: Frank McCormick (CIN) |
AL champions | Detroit Tigers |
AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
NL runners-up | Brooklyn Dodgers |
World Series | |
Champions | Cincinnati Reds |
Runners-up | Detroit Tigers |
The 1940 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1940. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 37th World Series on October 2 and ended with Game 7 on October 8. The Reds defeated the Tigers, four games to three, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1919.
The eighth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 9, hosted by the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, with the National League winning, 4–0.
The 1940 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 16, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the 1936 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 29, which also saw all sixteen teams play, the first since the 1938 season. This was the first time since 1934 that all sixteen teams that all sixteen teams played their first and last games on the same days. The World Series took place between October 2 and October 8.
The 1940 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Tigers | 90 | 64 | .584 | — | 50–29 | 40–35 |
Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 1 | 51–30 | 38–35 |
New York Yankees | 88 | 66 | .571 | 2 | 52–24 | 36–42 |
Boston Red Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 8 | 45–34 | 37–38 |
Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 8 | 41–36 | 41–36 |
St. Louis Browns | 67 | 87 | .435 | 23 | 37–39 | 30–48 |
Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | .416 | 26 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 100 | .351 | 36 | 29–42 | 25–58 |
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 |
World Series | ||||||||||
AL | Detroit Tigers | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | ||
NL | Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
---|---|---|
Philadelphia Athletics | Earle Mack | Connie Mack |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Pie Traynor | Frankie Frisch |
Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
---|---|---|
St. Louis Cardinals | Ray Blades | Mike González |
St. Louis Cardinals | Mike González | Billy Southworth |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
AVG | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | .352 |
OPS | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 1.103 |
HR | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 41 |
RBI | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 150 |
R | Ted Williams (BRS) | 134 |
H | Doc Cramer (BRS) Barney McCosky (DET) Rip Radcliff (SLB) | 200 |
SB | George Case (WSH) | 35 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
W | Bob Feller 1 (CLE) | 27 |
L | George Caster (PHA) Dutch Leonard (WSH) | 19 |
ERA | Bob Feller 1 (CLE) | 2.61 |
K | Bob Feller 1 (CLE) | 261 |
IP | Bob Feller (CLE) | 320.1 |
SV | Al Benton (DET) | 17 |
WHIP | Bob Feller (CLE) | 1.133 |
1 American League Triple Crown pitching winner
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
AVG | Debs Garms (PIT) | .355 |
OPS | Johnny Mize (SLC) | 1.039 |
HR | Johnny Mize (SLC) | 43 |
RBI | Johnny Mize (SLC) | 137 |
R | Arky Vaughan (PIT) | 113 |
H | Stan Hack (CHC) Frank McCormick (CIN) | 191 |
SB | Lonny Frey (CIN) | 22 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
W | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 22 |
L | Hugh Mulcahy (PHP) | 22 |
ERA | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 2.48 |
K | Kirby Higbe (PHP) | 137 |
IP | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 305.0 |
SV | Joe Beggs (CIN) Jumbo Brown (NYG) Mace Brown (PIT) | 7 |
WHIP | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 1.092 |
Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
---|---|---|
BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
Most Valuable Player | Frank McCormick (CIN) | Hank Greenberg (DET) |
The Sporting News Awards | ||
---|---|---|
Award | National League | American League |
Most Valuable Player [2] | Frank McCormick (CIN) | Hank Greenberg (DET) |
Player of the Year [3] | — | Bob Feller (CLE) |
Manager of the Year [4] | Bill McKechnie (CIN) | — |
Executive of the Year [5] | — | Walter Briggs Sr. (DET) |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Tigers [6] | 90 | 11.1% | 1,112,693 | 33.1% | 14,085 |
New York Yankees [7] | 88 | −17.0% | 988,975 | 15.0% | 13,013 |
Brooklyn Dodgers [8] | 88 | 4.8% | 975,978 | 2.1% | 12,049 |
Cleveland Indians [9] | 89 | 2.3% | 902,576 | 60.1% | 11,007 |
Cincinnati Reds [10] | 100 | 3.1% | 850,180 | −13.4% | 11,041 |
New York Giants [11] | 72 | −6.5% | 747,852 | 6.5% | 9,840 |
Boston Red Sox [12] | 82 | −7.9% | 716,234 | 25.0% | 9,066 |
Chicago White Sox [13] | 82 | −3.5% | 660,336 | 11.1% | 8,466 |
Chicago Cubs [14] | 75 | −10.7% | 534,878 | −26.4% | 6,946 |
Pittsburgh Pirates [15] | 78 | 14.7% | 507,934 | 34.8% | 6,772 |
Philadelphia Athletics [16] | 54 | −1.8% | 432,145 | 9.4% | 6,087 |
Washington Senators [17] | 64 | −1.5% | 381,241 | 12.4% | 4,951 |
St. Louis Cardinals [18] | 84 | −8.7% | 324,078 | −19.0% | 4,209 |
Boston Bees [19] | 65 | 3.2% | 241,616 | −15.5% | 3,222 |
St. Louis Browns [20] | 67 | 55.8% | 239,591 | 119.5% | 3,112 |
Philadelphia Phillies [21] | 50 | 11.1% | 207,177 | −25.5% | 2,622 |
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