1940 in baseball

Last updated October 22, 2026

The following are the baseball events of the year 1940 throughout the world.

Champions

Major League Baseball

World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Detroit Tigers (4–3)
All-Star Game, July 9 at Sportsman's Park: National League, 4–0

Other champions

Amateur World Series: Cuba
Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: East, 11–0
Mexican League: Azules de Veracruz

Awards and honors

Most Valuable Player
- Hank Greenberg (AL) – OF, Detroit Tigers
- Frank McCormick (NL) – 1B, Cincinnati Reds
The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
- Bob Feller – P, Cleveland Indians
The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award
- Hank Greenberg (AL) – OF, Detroit Tigers
- Frank McCormick (NL) – 1B, Cincinnati Reds
The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
- Bill McKechnie – Cincinnati Reds

Statistical leaders

	American League		National League		Negro American League		Negro National League
Stat	Player	Total	Player	Total	Player	Total	Player	Total
AVG	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)	.352	Debs Garms (PIT)	.355	Ed Mayweather (SNS)	.376	Monte Irvin (NE)	.380
HR	Hank Greenberg (DET)	41	Johnny Mize (STL)	43	Turkey Stearnes (KCM)	5	Buster Clarkson (NE) Bill Hoskins (BEG) Buck Leonard (HOM) Henry McHenry (PHS) Lennie Pearson (NE)	8
RBI	Hank Greenberg (DET)	150	Johnny Mize (STL)	137	Turkey Stearnes (KCM)	33	Howard Easterling (HOM)	45
W	Bob Feller ¹ (CLE)	27	Bucky Walters (CIN)	22	Frank Bradley (KCM) Lefty Calhoun (SNS) Jack Matchett (KCM)	6	Ray Brown (HOM)	17
ERA	Bob Feller ¹ (CLE)	2.61	Bucky Walters (CIN)	2.48	George Walker (KCM)	1.29	Ray Brown (HOM)	2.07
K	Bob Feller ¹ (CLE)	261	Kirby Higbe (PHI)	137	Preacher Henry (CBR)	63	Henry McHenry (PHS)	86

¹ American League Triple Crown pitching winner

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

v
t
e
American League
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

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1940 American League season

American League

National League final 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

Bees

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1938–1940 National League seasons

National League

Negro league baseball final standings

All Negro leagues standings below are per MLB and Seamheads.^[1]^[2]

Negro American League final standings

vs. Negro American League						vs. Major Black teams
Negro American League	W	L	T	Pct.	GB	W	L	T	Pct.
Kansas City Monarchs	38	13	1	.740	—	43	21	3	.664
Memphis Red Sox	31	26	0	.544	10	45	43	0	.511
Cleveland Bears	18	18	1	.500	12½	22	21	1	.511
St. Louis–New Orleans Stars	24	25	1	.490	13	30	35	3	.463
Chicago American Giants	22	26	2	.460	14½	25	33	2	.433
Birmingham Black Barons	16	29	0	.356	19	20	39	0	.339
Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords	9	21	1	.306	18½	12	25	1	.329

Black Barons

American Giants

Bears

Monarchs

Red Sox

Stars*

Crawfords

Locations of teams for the 1940 Negro American League season

Negro American League
Notes: The Crawfords split time between Toledo and Indianapolis.
*The Stars split time between St. Louis and New Orleans.

Negro National League final standings

vs. Negro National League						vs. Major Black teams
Negro National League	W	L	T	Pct.	GB	W	L	T	Pct.
Homestead Grays	28	13	0	.683	—	53	23	2	.692
Baltimore Elite Giants	25	14	0	.641	2	44	29	0	.603
Newark Eagles	25	16	1	.607	3	30	24	2	.554
Philadelphia Stars	17	30	0	.362	14	31	40	0	.437
New York Black Yankees	9	19	0	.321	12½	26	27	0	.491
New York Cubans	8	20	1	.293	13½	15	34	2	.314

Elite Giants

Grays

Black Yankees

Eagles

Stars

Locations of teams for the 1940 Negro National League season

Negro National League
Traveling team: New York Cubans
Note: Homestead Grays play their games equally between Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh.

Independent teams final standings

Several All Star teams played against individual teams of established leagues.

vs. All Teams
Independent Clubs	W	L	T	Pct.	GB
North All Stars	1	0	0	1.000	—
Taylor's All Stars	0	1	0	.000	1
Satchel Paige All Stars	0	2	0	.000	1½

Events

January

January 4
- The contestants in last year's World Series, the Cincinnati Reds and champion New York Yankees, make an all-pitcher trade when Cincinnati obtains right-hander Joe Beggs from the Bombers for left-hander Lee Grissom. Beggs, 29, spent all of last season in the minors as a starting pitcher; converted to a reliever in 1940, he'll help the Reds to another National League pennant, winning 12 games and saving seven others.
- The St. Louis Browns claim side-arming knuckleball hurler Johnny Niggeling on waivers from the Reds.
January 10
- The Chicago White Sox obtain shortstop/second baseman Skeeter Webb from the Cleveland Indians for middle infielders Ollie Bejma and Johnny Gerlach.
- The Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Wes Ferrell as a free agent. Ferrell, 31, has gone 191–127 (4.03) with six 20-or-more-victory seasons during his 13-year American League career, which ended when the Yankees released him on May 28, 1939; he'll make only one official appearance as a Dodger (on May 10) before drawing his release on May 14, 1940.
January 14
- Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis voids the Detroit Tigers' December 1939 trade that would have sent pitcher George Coffman and second baseman Benny McCoy to the Philadelphia Athletics for outfielder Wally Moses, because the Tigers—via "fake agreements [and] cover-up deals"—had illegally impeded the careers of McCoy and 90 other "farmhands" through secret working agreements with minor-league teams.^[3] McCoy and the other 90 men are declared free agents, and Coffman and Moses are sent back to their former clubs. On January 16, Landis issues new rules intended to eliminate secret agreements and covert player transfers between major- and minor-league teams.
- Detroit major- and minor-leaguers granted freedom today by the ruling also include Roy Cullenbine, Guy Curtright, Dutch Dietz, Danny Gardella, Paul Gillespie, Catfish Metkovich, Dee Phillips, Johnny Sain, Bryan Stephens and Tommy Tatum.^[4]
- The Landis decision leaves only 78 players in the entire Detroit organization, including 35 on the Tigers' MLB roster, 30 with the team-owned Beaumont Exporters of the high-level Texas League, and 13 with the Henderson Oilers of the Class C East Texas League.^[5]
January 20 – The Cleveland Indians swap outfielders with the Tigers, acquiring outfielder Beau Bell from Detroit for Bruce Campbell. Former All-Star Bell, 32, led the American League in hits (218) and doubles (51) in 1937.
January 23 – The Boston Bees release veteran right-hander Fred Frankhouse, 35, ending the hurler's 13-year National League career.
January 29 – Benny McCoy, liberated from the Detroit Tigers 15 days ago, signs with the Philadelphia Athletics as a free agent after a multi-team bidding war.^[4] The Athletics, who had tried to trade for McCoy last month, ultimately "get their man," but it costs Connie Mack a record $45,000 bonus. McCoy, 24, hit.302 in 55 games after Detroit recalled him from Toledo in July 1939.
January 30
- The Tigers keep dealing, obtaining lefty-swinging catcher Billy Sullivan Jr. from the St. Louis Browns for pitcher George Coffman, whose earlier trade, with McCoy, to Philadelphia had been voided by Commissioner Landis.
- The Browns make a second deal, purchasing the contract of outfielder Wally Judnich, 24, from the Newark Bears, one of the New York Yankees' top minor-league affiliates.
January 31
- Eight of the 14 MLB stadia will host night baseball in 1940, with today's announcement that St. Louis' Sportsman's Park will install lights by May. Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates revealed that Forbes Field will be illuminated this season, and the New York Giants earlier announced plans to bring lights to the Polo Grounds.

- The Boston Red Sox release catcher Moe Berg, ending his playing career after 15 MLB seasons and 663 games played. In the short term, Berg, 37, joins manager Joe Cronin's staff as a coach, but beginning in 1942, the master linguist will take up a new occupation as an espionage agent for the United States and its Allies, working against the Axis powers.^[6]
- The Brooklyn Dodgers purchase the contract of veteran right-hander Tex Carleton from Milwaukee of the American Association. Carleton, 33, won 94 games and was a member of three NL champions between 1932 and 1938 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.

February

February 1 – Speaking at Boston's annual baseball writers' dinner, Larry MacPhail, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, attacks Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis' recently released 3,000-word plan to reform minor league baseball by "abolishing all farm systems." MacPhail claims that the presidents of 15 minor leagues have contacted him, worried that their circuits will have to shut down for the coming season if Landis' plan becomes reality.^[7]
- On February 6, at their late-winter confab, National League owners will vote unanimously to establish a four-man subcommittee to study Landis' reforms, but to delay any changes in the major-minor league agreement until the current pact expires in January 1942.
February 2 – The election of a Negro National League president ends in a deadlock, with three owners voting for incumbent Tom Wilson and three voting for New York City businessman C. B. Powell.
February 5 – The Brooklyn Dodgers sign outfielder Roy Cullenbine, 26, who appeared in 75 games for the 1939 Detroit Tigers. Cullenbine, granted free agency January 14 by Commissioner Landis in his ruling that punished the Tigers for manipulation of players' contracts in their farm system, will get a reported $25,000 for signing with Brooklyn.
February 8 – The St. Louis Browns purchase the contract of right-hander Elden Auker from the Boston Red Sox. Auker, 29, will win 16 games for the 1940 Brownies.
February 11 – Minor-league czar William G. Bramham expels for life the manager of the 1939 Lenoir Indians of the Class D Tar Heel League for forging signatures on players' contracts. The club's president and five directors are fined and suspended for the same offense.
February 12 – The Red Sox sell the contract of last season's regular left-fielder, Joe Vosmik, to the Dodgers. A former All-Star who has batted.311 with 1,550 hits in ten American League seasons, the 29-year-old veteran is dealt so that the Red Sox can move sophomore slugging star Ted Williams from right field to Vosmik's old left-field position.
February 13
- After only one season, MLB's Rules Committee again eliminates the "sacrifice fly" rule, deciding that batters who hit run-scoring fly balls will be charged with an official at bat in 1940. The contemporary SF rule, which credits the hitter with a sacrifice and does not cost him an at bat, won't return for good until 1954.^[8]
- Major- and minor-league owners and officials and Kenesaw Mountain Landis reach a compromise that preserves the farm system model while preventing abuses such as those committed by the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals in recent seasons that ultimately led to the free agency of over 150 players.
February 15 – The Philadelphia Athletics sign catcher Buddy Hancken as a free agent. Hancken will appear in just one game in the majors, this May 14, as a defensive replacement for Earle Brucker, catching one inning in a 9–7 win over the Cleveland Indians.^[9]
February 20 – The Brooklyn Dodgers acquire a "substantial" ownership interest in their top farm system affiliate, the Montreal Royals of the International League.
February 23 – A compromise by Alex Pompez ends a three-week stalemate among Negro National League clubs over the election of a league president and the role of promoter Eddie Gottlieb. League president Tom Wilson, vice president Ed Bolden, and secretary Cumberland Posey are all reelected for the 1940 season. Newark Eagles owner Abe Manley, who opposed Wilson's reelection, becomes league treasurer. Gottlieb is allowed to continue promoting the majority of games at Yankee Stadium, but the New York Black Yankees are empowered to promote a double-header at their own home field.^[10]
February 29 – A federal judge rules in favor of Grace Comiskey, widow of J. Louis Comiskey, and awards her ownership of the Chicago White Sox. The First National Bank of Chicago, intent on selling the team, had contested the will, arguing that it contained no specific language granting her the team upon her husband's death.

March

March 3 – The Boston Bees sell the contract of outfielder Debs Garms to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although he records only 385 plate appearances, Garms, 32, will breeze to the National League batting crown (127-for-358, .355) in the season to come.
March 13 – Vowing that his arm feels "swell," erstwhile holdout Dizzy Dean signs his 1940 contract and leaves for the Chicago Cubs' Catalina training camp. Dean, 30 years old and a future Hall of Famer, has been struggling with a sore arm since a broken toe suffered in the 1937 MLB All-Star Game caused him to alter his pitching motion. He was 6–4 (3.36) in only 19 games and 961⁄3 innings pitched for the 1939 Cubs.
March 17 – In Tampa, the National League defeats the American League, 2–1, in a special, charity exhibition game organized by former President Herbert Hoover to benefit the Finnish Relief Fund. The contest, broadcast on the Mutual radio network, raises more than $20,000 to help citizens of Finland whose homes and businesses were destroyed in 1939's attack from the Soviet Union.^[11] Tampa native Al López scores the winning run in the bottom of the ninth off losing hurler Bob Feller before 13,180 fans.
March 23
- Seeking to entice the major leagues to Southern California, a consortium of unidentified—but wealthy—local sportsmen offer a $5 million financial package to the owners of the financially struggling Boston Bees, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Browns to transfer one of their teams to Los Angeles. MLB officials reject the bid, which would require traveling by air, rather than exclusively by rail.^[12]
- The Detroit Tigers acquire outfielder Jimmy Outlaw from the Bees in a cash transaction.

April

April 7 – The New York Yankees, four-times-running World Series champions, are prohibitive favorites (7–20) to win their fifth straight American League pennant in 1940, according to annual odds issued by New York's betting commissioner. The defending Senior Circuit champ Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals, both 11–5, are co-favorites in the National League. Later this week, an Associated Press poll will anoint the Yankees and Cardinals as pennant favorites.
April 16
- On Opening Day across the major leagues, the Cleveland Indians' Bob Feller fires a 1–0 no-hitter, the first of three he will throw in his Hall-of-Fame career, against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park—as of 2026, MLB's only no-hitter in a season inaugural. Feller, 21, walks five and strikes out eight. Second baseman Ray Mack's brilliant defensive play on Taffy Wright's grounder preserves the no-no, and secures the 27th out in the ninth.^[13]^[14]
- At Crosley Field, Paul Derringer limits the Chicago Cubs to six hits and one run, and the Cincinnati Reds begin defense of their NL title by taking their opening game, 2–1. Solo homers account for all three tallies, with Ival Goodman's eighth inning blow off Bill Lee the game-winner for Cincinnati.^[15]
- Before the day's largest crowd, 49,417 at Briggs Stadium, the Detroit Tigers can muster only seven hits against the second-division St. Louis Browns and fall, 5–1.^[16] Wracked by its off-season farm-system scandal, Detroit was picked to finish fourth in the AL by odds-makers and sportswriters earlier this week.
- At Shibe Park, the New York Yankees, favored to win their fifth straight AL flag, drop a ten-inning, 2–1 decision to the lowly Philadelphia Athletics. Chubby Dean pitches a complete game and knocks in the winning run himself with a run-scoring fly ball.^[17]

April 22 – With heavy rains and cold temperatures wreaking havoc with the opening week of the MLB season, the rising floodwaters of the Ohio River and its tributaries threaten the opening contest of a three-game series between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals at Crosley Field. Players sit on benches at field level, because the dugouts are inundated with one foot of water.^[18] With rain still falling, Cincinnati wins its third straight, 6–1, behind Bucky Walters' complete game and three runs batted in. The final two games of the series will be postponed when Crosley's playing surface itself is submerged during peak flood stage.
April 23 – Future Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese makes his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Playing shortstop (in place of Leo Durocher, his manager) and batting eighth, Reese, 21, singles in three at bats, scores two runs and drives in another, and commits an error in the field in an 8–3 win over the Boston Bees.^[19]
April 26 – The Washington Senators reacquire hard-hitting Zeke Bonura from the New York Giants for $20,000. The first baseman, 31, batted.321 in 123 games for the 1939 Giants. Bonura had spent 1938 with Washington, knocking in 114 runs, before his contract was sold to the Giants that November.
April 30 – Rescued from the minor leagues on January 31, veteran righty Tex Carleton no-hits the Cincinnati Reds, 3–0, at postdiluvial Crosley Field for the Dodgers' ninth straight win to start the 1940 season. Carleton walks two, fans four, and survives three Brooklyn errors committed behind him.^[14]^[20] Tomorrow, the Reds halt the Dodgers' streak, scoring eight runs in the fourth inning and running away with a 9–2 victory.

May

May 7
- Joe DiMaggio appears in the New York Yankees' lineup for the first time since the 1940 American League season began over three weeks ago, going one-for-five in a 4–2 loss to the Detroit Tigers in the Bronx. The Yanks won only six of the 15 games DiMaggio missed due to his injured knee.
- The St. Louis Cardinals overwhelm the Brooklyn Dodgers, 18–2, at Sportsman's Park. The Cards rack up 49 total bases on 20 hits, with 13 for extra bases, including seven home runs—tying a National League record for homers in a game, and the most by any MLB team in a contest this season.^[21] Eddie Lake, who drives in five, and Johnny Mize each slug two long-balls. Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher leaves starter Hugh Casey in the game for seven innings; he surrenders 13 runs, all earned.^[22]
  - In the ninth inning, St. Louis catcher Bill DeLancey, 28, appears in a major-league box score for the first time since September 29, 1935. A key part of the 1934 "Gashouse Gang" as a rookie and on a path to stardom, DeLancey was stricken with tuberculosis at age 23 in 1935, and has been battling to regain his health ever since. He'll play in only 15 games this season, catching 371⁄3 innings, in his final major-league campaign.^[23]
May 8 – The Cincinnati Reds trade outfielder Vince DiMaggio to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Johnny Rizzo.
May 9 – An estimated 10,000 fans greet the Dodgers when their chartered airplane lands at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field. Although their first-place team is returning from a successful (8–2) road trip, the event's excitement is generated by its pioneering of air travel, introduced by club president Larry MacPhail. Tonight's flight from Chicago is the Dodgers' second of the week. Catcher Babe Phelps declines the airborne journey, boarding an eastbound train instead.^[24]
May 11 – The first-place Boston Red Sox (16–5) score two runs in the visitors' 11th inning to break a seven-all tie, then hold on during the home half of the frame to defeat the host New York Yankees, 9–8. Boston wins its sixth straight, and pins the eighth consecutive defeat on the Yankees, now 6–14. Heavy, if not prohibitive, favorites to win their fifth straight AL pennant in 1940, the Bombers are now eighth and last in the Junior Circuit, 9½ games behind the Red Sox and two full games out of seventh.
May 13 – In a blunder committed by the National League office, no umpires are assigned to the St. Louis Cardinals–Cincinnati Reds contest at Crosley Field. Veteran NL arbiter and Cincinnati resident Larry Goetz, who had a scheduled day off, is hastily summoned to the park to officiate behind the plate; Reds' coach Jimmie Wilson and Cardinals' pitcher Lon Warneke (a future NL umpire) are stationed at first and third bases.^[25]
- The game, delayed 29 minutes while the situation is resolved, features three homers by Redbird slugger Johnny Mize, and the teams play to an 8–8 tie in 14 innings over three hours and 35 minutes before a curfew halts matters. Mize's achievement and all statistics will count, but the game will be replayed in its entirety on August 11.^[14]^[26]
May 17 – At League Park, the host Cleveland Indians score ten runs in the first inning and cruise to an 18–1 rout of the Washington Senators. Cleveland capitalizes on the wildness of Washington starting pitcher Sid Hudson, who walks five of the six hitters he faces, without recording an out.^[27] The victory enables the 15–8 Indians to move within 2½ games of first place.
May 20
- Detroit Tigers third baseman Pinky Higgins belts three home runs, hitting them in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings in the Tigers' 10–7 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.^[14] Detroit is 14–11, in third place and four games behind Boston.
- The Chicago White Sox, who have lost their first nine home games of 1940, finally win at Comiskey Park, defeating the Senators, 5–4. The White Sox, now 10–16, have stayed afloat by winning nine of their 16 road games thus far.
May 22 – The Brooklyn Dodgers sign infielder and future front-office executive Al Campanis as a free agent. Campanis, 23, turns professional after graduating from New York University, where he was a multi-sport athlete.
May 24 – Two major league ballparks introduce night baseball.
- The American League's St. Louis Browns play their first home game under artificial lights, but their fans—24,827 strong—leave Sportsman's Park unhappy when the home side fall to Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians, 3–2.
- In the National League, 22,260 witness the first night contest at the Polo Grounds, where the New York Giants defeat the Boston Bees, 8–1.
May 25 – Larry MacPhail picks up another useful former American Leaguer when he purchases the contract of outfielder Jimmy Wasdell from the Washington Senators. Since becoming general manager of the Dodgers in 1938, MacPhail has acquired hidden stars like Dixie Walker and Whit Wyatt from AL teams. Wasdell's impact will not be as great, but he'll be a valuable platoon outfielder and left-handed bat for Brooklyn this season and in 1941.
- Continuing to shake up the Dodger outfield over the next four days, MacPhail will exchange Roy Cullenbine for the right-handed-swinging Joe Gallagher of the St. Louis Browns, then sell the contract of Gene Moore to the left-handed hitter's former club, the Boston Bees.
May 30 – Only Johnny Hudson stands between Carl Hubbell and a perfect game at Ebbets Field. The Brooklyn second baseman's third-inning single is the only baserunner the Giants' Hall-of-Fame southpaw will allow in today's 7–0, one-hit victory. When Hudson is promptly erased by a double play, Hubbell faces the minimum of 27 batters. He fans seven.^[28]

June

June 4 – Sportsman's Park hosts the St. Louis Cardinals' first home night game. Joe Medwick goes five for five, hitting three doubles, yet fails to score a single run and his Redbirds fall to the Brooklyn Dodgers, 10–1. Official attendance is 23,500.^[29]
June 6
- The struggling Cardinals, projected to contend but now 14–24, in sixth place in the National League and 13½ games behind, fire second-year manager Ray Blades. To replace him, owner Sam Breadon selects Billy Southworth, 47, whose Rochester Red Wings are 29–13 and dominating the International League. His hiring gives Southworth a second chance to manage the Cardinals; he had been fired after only 88 games as the rookie pilot of the 1929 Redbirds. After the team turns around to post a 69–40 record under him this season and 97 wins in 1941, Southworth will lead the Cardinals to three straight NL pennants (1942–1944) and two World Series titles through 1945, and be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.^[30]^[31]
- The Boston Bees sign 19-year-old left-handed pitcher Warren Spahn, a recent high school graduate from Buffalo who will become MLB's winningest southpaw of all time (363 career victories), winner of the 1957 Cy Young Award, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
June 8 – At Crosley Field, the Cincinnati Reds' Harry Craft hits for the cycle and goes five-for-five with six runs batted in in a 23–2 romp over the Brooklyn Dodgers. It's the first "cycle" of 1940, with five other big-leaguers eventually equalling Craft's feat.^[14] The Reds' 27 hits are the most of an MLB team in a 1940 game,^[21] and—in addition to Craft's perfect, five-hit day—three other Cincinnati players (Lonny Frey, Ernie Lombardi and Frank McCormick) lash four hits themselves.
June 12 – The Dodgers and Cardinals pull off a blockbuster trade when Brooklyn acquires slugging outfielder Joe Medwick and pitcher Curt Davis from St. Louis for pitchers Carl Doyle and Sam Nahem, infielder Bert Haas, outfielder Ernie Koy and $125,000. Medwick, 28, is a future Hall of Famer who has already won a batting Triple Crown and National League MVP Award (in 1937), and led the NL in runs batted in three times. But he has worn out his welcome in St. Louis this season after a lengthy contract dispute and inconsistency at the plate: mired in a one-for-12 slump, he was booed by Sportsman's Park fans during the Cardinals' recent five-game losing skid.^[32]
June 13 – The Cleveland Indians, embroiled in a four-team American League pennant race and only 1½ games out of first place, mutiny when a delegation of veteran players meets with owner Alva Bradley to demand the firing of acerbic, old-school manager Ossie Vitt. In what will become famous as the "Crybaby Rebellion," players charge Vitt with multiple offenses ranging from his abusive treatment of them to his "wild man" and "jittery" behavior on the bench. They claim that Vitt is sabotaging the team's chances in the AL race.^[33]^[34]
- In today's standings, the four main contenders—Boston (27–16), Cleveland (29–21), Detroit (26–20), and New York (25–22)—are separated by four games.
- The rebellion will not immediately cost Vitt his job. Opposing bench jockeys and fans will heckle the Indians all season long as "crybabies"—with some spectators in enemy cities dressing up as babies to rub in the insult.^[35]
June 15
- In a 12–1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Polo Grounds, the New York Giants' Harry Danning hits for the cycle,^[14] capped by a ninth-inning, inside-the-park home run. Danning's blow becomes lodged behind the Eddie Grant memorial, erected below the Giants' center-field clubhouse, 483 feet (147 m) from home plate.^[36]
- The defending NL champion Cincinnati Reds, two games behind Dodgers in the standings, swap outfielders with the sixth-place Philadelphia Phillies, sending recently acquired Johnny Rizzo to the Phils for 1939 All-Star Morrie Arnovich.
- Another contender, the Giants—also two games out of first place and in the midst of an eight-game winning streak—obtain veteran second baseman Tony Cuccinello, 32, from the last-place Boston Bees for pitcher Manny Salvo and infielder Al Glossop.
June 18 – Joe Medwick, recently acquired by the Brooklyn Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals, is beaned by former teammate Bob Bowman in the first inning of today's 7–5 St. Louis victory at Ebbets Field. As Medwick is carried off on a stretcher, enraged Brooklyn club president Larry MacPhail charges onto the field, demanding criminal charges be brought against Bowman, who had exchanged taunts with Dodger manager Leo Durocher before the game.^[37]
June 22 – Casey Stengel's hapless Boston Bees (17–32) commit eight errors—seven by their four infielders and one by hurler Bill Posedel—and drop a 9–2 decision to the Cardinals at "the Beehive."
June 23
- The Cleveland Indians win their eighth game in a row, downing the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a doubleheader before 56,569 at massive Cleveland Stadium. The Indians are 10–1 since news broke of a player rebellion against manager Ossie Vitt. Their win streak propels them into first place in the Junior Circuit, two games ahead of the Detroit Tigers.
- New York Giants shortstop Billy Jurges suffers a severe concussion when he's accidentally struck in the head by a Bucky Walters fastball in the seventh inning of the Cincinnati Reds' 7–4 victory at the Polo Grounds. Jurges will be able to appear in only ten more games during the season. The Giants, 33–21 and today only three games out of first place, will go only 39–59 for the remainder of the year and finish a distant sixth.

July

July 1 – Detroit Tigers right-hander Bobo Newsom wins his 11th straight decision and throws his 11th complete game of 1940 with today's 3–1 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Briggs Stadium. Gunning for his third straight season of 20 or more wins, the colorful Newsom, 32, has not lost since Opening Day on April 16.
July 2 – The White Sox "lose" again—without throwing a pitch—when American League president Will Harridge upholds the New York Yankees' protest of Chicago's 1–0 victory that took place June 20 at Comiskey Park. The dispute centered on whether Chicago outfielder Moose Solters held Bill Dickey's fly ball long enough to record an out before dropping it. Harridge today rules the game a "no-decision," it goes into the books as a tie, and individual statistics will stand: Johnny Rigney gains credit for an 11-inning, complete game shutout—but no victory.^[38]
- The game will be replayed in full on September 18, when the ChiSox and Bombers split a doubleheader.
July 5 – In the longest game, by innings, of 1940,^[21] the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the seventh-place Boston Bees, 6–2, scoring four runs in the top of the 20th inning. Shoddy fielding again dooms Boston, which commits two errors in the decisive frame. Rookie Pee Wee Reese delivers a clutch, two-RBI single to put the game out of the Bees' reach.^[39]
July 7 – In a front-page story, The New York Times reports—ultimately erroneously—that James Farley, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Postmaster General, is leaving politics to purchase the New York Yankees from the estate of the late Jacob Ruppert for between $3.5 and $4 million.^[40] Farley will indeed abandon politics, but economic conditions and the looming threat of war discourage would-be investors and his bid for the Bombers collapses.
July 9
- Boston Bees outfielder Max West hits a three-run home run off Red Ruffing in the first inning, as the host National League defeats the American League, 4–0, in the All-Star Game at Sportsman's Park. Five NL pitchers hurl the Midsummer Classic's first shutout and narrow the AL's series edge to five victories against three losses.
- This year's All-Star break sees tight races in each league. In the American, the Detroit Tigers (44–27) lead the Cleveland Indians (45–29) by a half game, with the Boston Red Sox (41–31) 3½ out. In the National, the defending champion Cincinnati Reds (46–23) are just a half-game in front of the Brooklyn Dodgers (45–23). The "second half" of the year will see busier schedules, as games postponed by the early season's cold and rainy weather are made up.
July 13 – St. Louis Cardinals slugger Johnny Mize hits for the cycle in a 7–6 triumph over the visiting New York Giants. His triple, which completes the "cycle," comes in the bottom of the ninth, and results in Mize scoring the winning run on an error by catcher Harry Danning, who himself notched a cycle on June 15 of this season.^[14]
July 19
- Catcher Buddy Rosar, who normally backs up hard-hitting, Hall of Famer Bill Dickey in the New York Yankees' lineup, hits for the cycle in a 15–6 drubbing of the Cleveland Indians in the Bronx.^[14] The loss, Cleveland's sixth in a row, drops the Indians to 1½ games behind the Detroit Tigers, who shut out the Boston Red Sox, 4–0, behind Tommy Bridges.
- In a battle of AL tail-enders, the St. Louis Browns break a club-record, 14-game losing streak by holding off the Philadelphia Athletics, 9–7, at Shibe Park. Future actor Johnny Berardino, who'll become famous as a longtime star of General Hospital , seals the Brownie win with a ninth-inning home run.
- The Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs brawl at Wrigley Field after Brooklyn's Hugh Casey throws two pitches at batter Claude Passeau's head, then hits him in the back with another offering. Passeau fires his bat at Casey, the benches clear, and ultimately Brooklyn's Joe Gallagher and Passeau are ejected by umpire Ziggy Sears. Casey, however, stays in the game, which Chicago wins, 11–4.
July 21 – The American League front-runners each sweep doubleheaders, on the road, separating themselves—for now—from would-be competitors.
- The second-place Cleveland Indians (51–35) tame the hard-hitting, third-place Boston Red Sox twice at Fenway Park, 3–2 and 2–0, behind Bob Feller and Joe Dobson.
- In the Bronx, the first-place Detroit Tigers (52–33) maintain their 1½-game lead over Cleveland, edging the fourth-place New York Yankees twice, 4–3 and 3–2. The Yankee Stadium crowd of 68,590 showers home plate umpire Joe Rue with pop bottles, fruit, and other debris after Rue's controversial call in the fifth inning of Game 2 foils a Bomber rally; the outburst is quelled only when uniformed police enter the stadium and restore order.^[41]
July 23 – The defending NL champion Cincinnati Reds continue their midsummer hot streak, sweeping a twin bill against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 4–3 and 9–2, to extend their lead to seven full games over the Dodgers. Cincinnati has won 11 of 13 since the All-Star Game.
- The opener is marred by an eighth-inning brawl, when Cincinnati's Lonny Frey slides with spikes high into Dodger second baseman Pete Coscarart, successfully disrupting a potential double play and enabling the Reds to tie the score, three-all. Coscarart comes up swinging and players from each club swarm the combatants, with Brooklyn pitcher Whit Wyatt slapping Frey in the face with his glove. Frey and Coscarart are ejected by umpire Bick Campbell. Reds starting pitcher Junior Thompson leaves the game with spike wounds inflicted during the fight. Cincinnati wins in 11 innings on rookie Mike McCormick's RBI single.^[42]
- Highly touted Dodger rookie "Pistol Pete" Reiser, 21, is recalled from Montreal and debuts as Brooklyn's right-fielder in Game 1; he goes 0-for-3.
July 26 – Ernie Lombardi, the Reds' five-time NL All-Star and future Hall-of-Fame catcher, badly sprains an ankle during a pinch-hitting appearance in Cincinnati's seventh straight victory, a 9–5 decision over the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park. Back-up catcher Willard Hershberger, hitting a robust .354 in 42 games so far in 1940, becomes Cincinnati's primary backstop while Lombardi recovers.
July 29 – After the Pittsburgh Pirates score six ninth-inning runs to erase the Brooklyn Dodgers' 6–0 lead in a sweltering afternoon game at Ebbets Field, the Bucs' Arky Vaughan and the Dodgers' Babe Phelps engage in a spirited fist-fight at first base in the bottom of the frame. Both are ejected by arbiter Lou Jorda, then the Dodgers pull out a 7–6 win four batters later. It's Brooklyn's third on-field fight in the last ten days.^[43]

August

August 1 – The Detroit Tigers release infielder Red Kress, a 13-year MLB veteran, and add him to their coaching staff.
August 2 – Player–manager Joe Cronin registers the major leagues' fifth "cycle" of 1940, enabling his third-place Boston Red Sox to down the league-leading Tigers, 12–9, at Briggs Stadium.^[14]^[44] It's also the second cycle of Cronin's career (his first coming against the Red Sox on September 2, 1929). The Bosox are now 5½ games behind Detroit.
August 3
- Distraught by what he viewed as his poor performance as the Cincinnati Reds' emergency first-string catcher, Willard Hershberger fails to report for a Saturday doubleheader against the Boston Bees at National League Park and takes his own life in his hotel room. The Reds (61–31) have lost five of the nine games Hershberger has started during a grueling, East Coast road trip since July 23, but they remain six games ahead in the NL race. Manager Bill McKechnie tells his shaken team: "We must now win the pennant and give his widowed mother a full share of the World Series money."^[35]^[45]^[46]
- Veteran right-hander Willis Hudlin continues his major-league odyssey, joining his fourth team of the 1940 season, the St. Louis Browns, as a free agent. Hudlin, 34, had won 157 games over 15 years with the Cleveland Indians until they released him May 13. He has since toiled for the Washington Senators (released mid-July) and New York Giants (released July 28) before signing with the Browns, who will release him on September 10.^[47]
August 5 – The Browns' "Silent" John Whitehead holds the Detroit Tigers hitless over six full innings at Sportsman's Park before the game is stopped by rain. He fans two, walks one and allows a second baserunner on an error. Whitehead's only MLB victory of 1940 lowers his earned run average from 8.44 to 6.59.^[48]
August 12
- With the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers both 64–44 and in a dead heat at the top of the American League, Bob Feller wins his 20th game of 1940, defeating another future Hall of Famer, Hal Newhouser, 8–5, at League Park. Feller (who has lost six) goes the distance, and is supported by first-inning homers from Hal Trosky and Beau Bell. The Indians now lead the Tigers by a game in the topsy-turvy AL pennant race.^[49]
- The Cincinnati Reds activate coach Jimmie Wilson to serve as backup catcher to starter Ernie Lombardi. Wilson, 40, a former NL All-Star, has appeared in only 46 games since 1937, devoting his time to managing and coaching in the meantime. Still reeling from Willard Hershberger's August 3 suicide, the Reds are seeking to improve their depth at catcher.
August 15 – Pee Wee Reese, rookie shortstop of the NL's second-place Brooklyn Dodgers, breaks a bone in his left heel during a slide; the injury ends his season after 84 games and hampers his team's pennant chances. The Dodgers will go 25–21 the rest of the way and finish second.
August 18 – At Comiskey Park, the East routs the West, 11–0, in the East–West All-Star Game, which features the greatest players in the Negro leagues. Buck Leonard and Marvin Barker lead a 12-hit attack; Henry McHenry gets the victory.
August 23 – The Cincinnati Reds, now 71–43 and 6½ games up on the Dodgers, acquire veteran outfielder Jimmy Ripple, 30, on waivers from Brooklyn's Montreal farm club. It's a "steal" for general manager Warren Giles: Ripple starts 30 of Cincinnati's last 33 games and bats .307 with 31 hits to help win the NL pennant—then starts all seven games of the 1940 World Series in left field, bats .333, and scores the clinching run in Game 7 to win the world championship.
August 24 – With the second-place Detroit Tigers boasting an 11–1 lead in the eighth inning at Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox manager Joe Cronin calls sophomore hitting sensation Ted Williams in from left field to "mop up" and pitch the last two frames of the contest. Williams, 21, a former San Diego high-school mound star, enters today batting .345 with 18 homers and 85 runs batted in. In Williams' only pitching appearance in the majors, he faces nine men, allowing three hits, one walk, and one earned run, and strikes out Detroit slugger Rudy York, looking.^[50]

September

September 2 – Labor Day sees the American League pennant race welcome a new contender, the four-time defending champion New York Yankees, now 71–55 and virtually tied with the 72–56 Detroit Tigers; both are 3½ games behind the Cleveland Indians (75–52). The Yankees, below .500 as recently as August 8, split their holiday doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics today, while Cleveland falls twice to the St. Louis Browns and Detroit is swept by the Chicago White Sox.
- In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds (80–56) split their twin bill with the onrushing St. Louis Cardinals to remain 7½ lengths ahead of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
September 4–6 – The American League race takes another wild turn when the host Tigers sweep the first-place Indians in a critical three-game series at Briggs Stadium to slash Cleveland's lead from four games to a single contest. The one-sided scores are 7–2, 11–3 and 10–5; Detroit out-homers (7–1) and out-hits (35–26) Cleveland, and extends the Indians' losing streak to five games.^[51]
September 5 – The St. Louis Cardinals acquire left-hander Al Brazle from the Boston Red Sox for righty Mike Ryba. Brazle will post a sterling 97–64 (3.31) record in his ten-year Cardinal career, starting as a "swing man" before focusing mainly on relief; he'll lead the NL in saves in both 1952 and 1953.
September 8
- Johnny Mize belts three home runs in a game for the second time this season, but his Redbirds fall, 16–14, to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Sportsman's Park. Maurice Van Robays stars for Pittsburgh, with four hits (including a homer) and four runs batted in.^[14]
- Joe Gordon of the rampaging Yankees hits for the cycle and scores three runs in a 9–4 romp over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Gordon's is the sixth "cycle" in the big leagues this season.^[14] He reaches base in all six plate appearances, going four-for-four and drawing two walks. New York, which has posted a 25–6 record over the past month, remains a game behind the virtually tied AL-leading Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers.^[52]
September 16
- A 21-year-old Ebbets Field fan, enraged by an umpire's reversed call that went against his Brooklyn Dodgers, jumps onto the playing field and punches arbiter George Magerkurth; the two men trade multiple blows but are not seriously injured. The man is arrested for third-degree assault and Brooklyn loses, 4–3, to fall further behind in the NL pennant chase.
- With brutal wars raging in both Europe and China, and the Empire of Japan signing an alliance with the Axis Powers, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Selective Service Act of 1940 into law, creating a peacetime military draft for the first time in U.S. history. By the end of 1941, two million American men will be in uniform.^[53]
September 18 – Famed for his consecutive no-hitters in 1938, Johnny Vander Meer adds another line to his résumé, lasting 12 innings on the mound, then scoring the winning run in the Cincinnati Reds' pennant-clinching, 4–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park. Joe Beggs works the 13th to nail down the save.^[54] Vander Meer spent part of 1940 in the minor leagues to improve his command of the strike zone. The Reds, wrapping up their second straight NL flag, third overall, are in the midst of an 11-game winning streak.
September 20–22 – The Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers, both now 85–61 and deadlocked at the top of the AL standings, meet for a three-game series at Briggs Stadium for the second time this month. In this confrontation, the Tigers take two out of three to secure a one-game lead. Detroit grabs the first two contests, 6–5 and 5–0, with wins going to Hal Newhouser and Schoolboy Rowe; in the third, Bob Feller wins his 27th game of the season and helps his own cause with a home run to salvage the finale, 10–5.^[55]
September 24 – Jimmie Foxx of the Boston Red Sox slugs the 500th home run of his MLB career; it happens in a familiar ballyard (Shibe Park) against his original team (the Philadelphia Athletics). Foxx's blow comes off right-hander George Caster in the sixth inning of Boston's 16–8 victory in the first game of a twin bill, and is part of a five-batter sequence in which Ted Williams, Foxx, and Joe Cronin homer, Bobby Doerr triples, and Jim Tabor homers.^[56]
September 25 – The host Detroit Tigers sweep their nemesis, the Chicago White Sox, in a doubleheader, 10–9 and 3–2, to dramatically improve their pennant chances. Bobo Newsom wins both games, his 20th and 21st victories of 1940, closing the opener with two innings of scoreless relief, then starting the nightcap and firing a complete game. The Tigers had entered today only 7–13 against the fourth-place Pale Hose; by day's end, at 89–62, they hold a two-game advantage over Cleveland (87–64).
September 27
- Needing one victory in his club's final three-game series against the rival Indians at Cleveland Stadium to win the pennant, Tigers' manager Del Baker chooses obscure Floyd Giebell as his starter to oppose Cleveland's 27-game winner and future Hall of Famer Bob Feller in today's opener. Giebell, 30, has made only one previous appearance for Detroit in 1940. He proceeds to go the distance and shut out the Indians on six hits; Detroit gets only three safeties off Feller, but one of them is Rudy York's two-run homer. Giebell's 2–0 win seals the Tigers' sixth American League championship, and their first since 1935.^[57]
  - The third-place New York Yankees, a half game behind the Indians, are also eliminated from contention by Giebell's feat.
  - Feller's defeat mars an exceptional season for the 21-year-old fireballer: he wins a "pitching Triple Crown," topping AL hurlers in games won, earned run average (2.61) and strikeouts (261). What's more, his 31 complete games, four shutouts, 3201⁄3 innings pitched and 9.8 bWAR also are league-bests.^[58]
- The also-ran Boston Red Sox, 77–72 and fifth in the AL, thrash the Washington Senators, 24–4, in the opener of a Fenway Park doubleheader. Rookie Dominic DiMaggio scores five runs, and pitcher Fritz Ostermueller tallies four times.^[59] The 24 runs are the most scored by a team in an MLB game this year.^[21] The Red Sox will win their final five games to squeak into the first division, tying the Chicago White Sox for fourth place, eight games behind the Tigers.
September 29 — Cleveland wins its anticlimactic two final contests to ultimately finish one game behind Detroit, disappointing baseball fans rooting for what would have been the only "All-Ohio" World Series in baseball history; Cincinnati had already breezed to the 1940's NL title by 12 games.

October

October 2 – The 37th World Series opens at Crosley Field. With his proud father, Henry, in the stands, Bobo Newsom, the Detroit Tigers' 21-game winner, scatters eight hits over nine innings, while Paul Derringer, the Cincinnati Reds' 20-game winner, is driven from the mound during the Tigers' five-run, second-inning uprising, and Detroit takes Game 1, 7–2. Pinky Higgins and Dick Bartell deliver two-run singles to help chase Derringer.
- Ernie Lombardi, Cincinnati's future Hall-of-Fame catcher, is unable to play today because of his chronic ankle injury; Jimmie Wilson, a 40-year-old former full-time coach, is the starter behind the plate. Lombardi will start only one game and catch only seven innings of this year's seven-game Fall Classic.
- Early the next morning, Newsom's father, a 68-year-old retired farmer, suffers a fatal heart attack in his Cincinnati hotel room. The devastated pitcher forsakes traveling to Hartsville, South Carolina, for the funeral to remain with the Tigers. On October 6, he will start Game 5 in Detroit and allow only three hits in an 8–0 complete-game victory, giving the Tigers a three-games-to-two series lead.^[35]^[60]
October 8 – In the decisive Game 7, the host Cincinnati Reds defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–1, to win their second World Series, four games to three. Bobo Newsom—pitching on one day's rest—goes eight innings and surrenders only two runs and seven hits, but he's out-dueled by Paul Derringer.
- Cincinnati captures its first Fall Classic victory since the infamous Black Sox scandal in 1919. Bill McKechnie becomes the first skipper to win a World Series with two different teams, after capturing the 1925 Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On the field, the Reds' triumph is led by Billy Werber (ten hits and four walks in 31 plate appearances), Jimmy Ripple (seven hits, including a homer, and four walks in 25 PAs), and the unsung Jimmie Wilson (six games caught and a .353 batting average, plus a stolen base); Derringer and Bucky Walters each win two games.
October 18 – MLB officials pledge full support and cooperation with the U.S. military draft as it begins to take effect. "Baseball will do its part," vows Warren Giles, general manager of the world-champion Reds and a World War I veteran. The Selective Service Act currently requires all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register with local draft boards for potential induction, training and service in the armed forces. Of current big-league stars, Bob Feller and Hank Greenberg are cited as more vulnerable to calls to service because they are not yet married.^[61]
October 28 – Ossie Vitt, embattled manager of the "crybaby" Cleveland Indians, is fired by the club's board of directors. Known for motivating his team through ridicule, and nervous behavior on the bench, Vitt barely survived a mass player mutiny in June and has sharply criticized his front office and individual players—including Bob Feller—for lack of support and disloyalty since the season ended.^[34]^[62] The 1940 Indians ultimately came within one game of the American League pennant and Vitt compiled a 262–198 (.570) record with three first-division finishes in his three years at the helm. But the talkative, 50-year-old ex-third baseman will never again manage in the major leagues.

November

November 6 – The BBWAA elects Hank Greenberg of the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers the American League's Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career. With 16 of 24 first-place votes and 292 points, he outdistances Bob Feller (222 points with six first-place votes) of the league-runnerup Cleveland Indians. Greenberg led the AL in home runs (41) and runs batted in (150) this past season.^[63] His previous MVP Award came in 1935.
November 8 – Clark Griffith, patriarch of the Washington Senators and known as an outspoken opponent of night baseball, changes course and announces that he's investing $130,000 to equip his club's home ballpark with lights. The Senators plan to host seven night contests in 1941.
November 11 – Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Larry MacPhail acquires starting pitcher Kirby Higbe from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for pitchers Bill Crouch and Vito Tamulis, catcher Mickey Livingston and $100,000. Higbe won 14 games this past season for the financially struggling Phillies; in 1941, his 22 victories as a Dodger will lead National League pitchers.
November 12 – Roger Peckinpaugh gets a second chance to manage the Cleveland Indians, signing a two-year contract to return to the team that fired him on June 8, 1933. The 49-year-old ex-shortstop, a Cleveland native, compiled a 415–402 mark during his first term, which lasted 5½ seasons. He takes over a dissension-riddled club that openly rebelled against ex-skipper Ossie Vitt, yet finished second in 1940.^[64]
November 13
- Frank McCormick, hard-hitting first baseman of the World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds, is chosen by baseball writers as the National League's Most Valuable Player of 1940. McCormick's 16 first place votes and 274 points eclipse Johnny Mize of the third-place St. Louis Cardinals' 209 points (and six first-place nods).^[63] McCormick led the NL in hits (191) and finished second to Mize in runs batted in (127), as his Reds ran away with the pennant by a 12-game margin.
- After a fifth-place, 75–79 season, owner Philip K. Wrigley shocks Chicago Cubs fans by firing Gabby Hartnett as player–manager and handing the 19-year veteran and future Hall-of-Fame catcher his unconditional release. In 1938, Hartnett had led Chicago to the NL pennant; then, this past August 27, Wrigley had announced he was retaining Hartnett for 1941. As a player, Hartnett, 39, has so far slugged 231 home runs—setting a record for MLB catchers—and appeared in 1,926 games, all as a Cub.
  - Tomorrow, Wrigley will spring a second surprise when he appoints a leading critic of his franchise, sportswriter James T. Gallagher, 36, to replace Charles Weber as the Cubs' general manager.
November 18 – The Chicago Cubs' major off-season announcements come in threes when Wrigley and Gallagher hire World Series hero Jimmie Wilson as field manager, succeeding Gabby Hartnett. Wilson, 40, came off the Cincinnati Reds' coaching lines to bat .353 and catch all four of the team's victories during October's Fall Classic. Wilson previously managed the woeful 1934–1938 Philadelphia Phillies to a 280–477 (.370) record.
November 19 – The St. Louis Cardinals purchase the contract of right-hander Tot Pressnell from the Brooklyn Dodgers.
November 25 – The New York Giants acquire second baseman Joe Orengo from the St. Louis Cardinals in a cash transaction.

December

December 3
- The St. Louis Cardinals sell the contract of third baseman/second baseman Stu Martin, a former National League All-Star, to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- The pitching-poor Boston Red Sox deal right-hander Denny Galehouse and southpaw Fritz Ostermueller to the St. Louis Browns in a cash-only transaction. The pair started a total of 36 games for Boston in 1940.
- At their annual winter meeting, owners of minor-league teams blame radio broadcasts for the marked decline in fan attendance experienced during 1940.
December 4
- The Cardinals and their emerging-rival Brooklyn Dodgers make their second major trade of 1940 when Brooklyn acquires starting catcher Mickey Owen from St. Louis for fellow backstop Gus Mancuso, minor-league pitcher John Pintar, and $65,000. Owen, 24, will make four All-Star teams as a Dodger. Although Mancuso, 34, is a popular former Cardinal, the cash payment is key to the trade; says St. Louis owner Sam Breadon: "We had to have money. You can't run a big organization like ours on a home gate of 332,000 admissions."^[65]
- The World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds trade their former starting shortstop and team captain, Billy Myers, 30, to the Chicago Cubs for shortstop Bobby Mattick, 24, and outfielder Jim Gleeson.
December 5
- The Pittsburgh Pirates release "Big Poison"—future Hall of Famer and three-time NL batting champion Paul Waner. The 37-year-old outfielder has appeared in 2,154 games over 15 seasons in a Pirate uniform, batting .340 with 2,868 hits, and starring with younger brother Lloyd, nicknamed "Little Poison."
- The New York Yankees sell the contract of reserve outfielder Jake Powell to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Powell, 31, played in only 12 games in 1940 after suffering a severe brain concussion when he struck his head on an outfield wall during an April 10 exhibition game in Ashland, Kentucky.
December 9 – The Brooklyn Dodgers acquire the Cincinnati Reds' former starting third baseman, Lew Riggs, a 1936 NL All-Star, for veteran second baseman Pep Young.
December 10
- Major-league owners re-elect Kenesaw Mountain Landis, 74, to a fourth term as Commissioner of Baseball. Landis' contract runs for four years at a salary of $65,000 (equivalent to about $1.5 million in 2026).^[65]
- The New York Giants sign free agent Gabby Hartnett as a player-coach and purchase the contract of outfielder Morrie Arnovich from the champion Cincinnati Reds. Hartnett, a Hall-of-Fame catcher and former skipper of the Chicago Cubs, will bat .300 in limited duty for the 1941 Giants in his final big-league season.
December 12
- The Boston Red Sox send five-time All-Star outfielder Doc Cramer, who led the American League in base hits (200) in 1940, to the Washington Senators for Gee Walker, another outfielder; then, they package Walker with pitcher Jim Bagby Jr. and catcher Gene Desautels and deal the trio to the Cleveland Indians for young right-hander Joe Dobson, catcher Frankie Pytlak and infielder Odell Hale. Dobson will win 106 games for Boston.
- The Bosox also purchase veteran outfielder Pete Fox's contract from the Detroit Tigers.
December 16
- The Chicago White Sox acquire third baseman Dario Lodigiani from the Philadelphia Athletics for pitcher Jack Knott.
- The St. Louis Cardinals deal right-hander Tot Pressnell, whom they acquired from the Brooklyn Dodgers less than a month ago, to the Cincinnati Reds for cash.
December 18 – The AL champion Detroit Tigers obtain infielder Eric McNair on waivers from the White Sox. In so doing, they comply with the "Yankee Law" imposed by the Junior Circuit a year ago to thwart the "perennial" champ New York Yankees by forbidding its pennant-winner to acquire any player—except through the waiver process. The prohibition was renewed by a vote of league owners at this month's winter meetings.^[65] The Bombers finished third in 1940, and the Tigers suffer the consequences.
December 24 – The Cleveland Indians make a pair of Christmas Eve deals, trading away two alleged ring-leaders of the "Crybaby Rebellion." In one, they sell the contract of veteran pitcher Johnny Allen to the St. Louis Browns for $20,000.^[66] In the other, they trade outfielder Ben Chapman to the Washington Senators for left-hander Joe Krakauskas.^[67]
December 28 – The National Baseball Congress, umbrella organization for U.S. semi-professional baseball, will experiment with replacing pitchers in the batting order with an early form of the designated hitter in 1941.^[68] The announcement is made by J. G. Taylor Spink, editor and publisher of The Sporting News and an advocate of a rule change that, 32 years later, will be introduced into the American League.
December 30 – The New York Yankees trade veteran righty Monte Pearson to the Cincinnati Reds for third baseman Don Lang and $20,000. Pearson, 32, was a 1940 AL All-Star; coincidentally, he and Johnny Allen had been traded for each other on December 11, 1935.