1942 Major League Baseball season

Last updated

1942 MLB season
League American League (AL)
National League (NL)
Sport Baseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 14 – September 27, 1942
World Series:
  • September 30 – October 5, 1942
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP AL: Joe Gordon (NYY)
NL: Mort Cooper (SLC)
AL champions New York Yankees
  AL runners-up Boston Red Sox
NL champions St. Louis Cardinals
  NL runners-up Brooklyn Dodgers
World Series
Champions St. Louis Cardinals
  Runners-up New York Yankees
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
ButtonRed.svg American League
Locations of teams for the 1942 National League season
ButtonBlue.svg National League

The 1942 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1942. The regular season ended on September 27, with the St. Louis Cardinals 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 39th World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 5 on October 5. In the third iteration of this World Series matchup, the Cardinals defeated the Yankees, four games to one, capturing their fourth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1934.

Contents

The tenth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 6, hosted by the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York City, New York, with the American League winning, 3–1.

In the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a record of 104–50, but finished two games behind the Cardinals; the Dodgers tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs, who had a record of 104–49, for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason. [1]

The Philadelphia Athletics set a record for the fewest runs batted in during a season, with only 354. [2]

Schedule

The 1942 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 1940 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27 and featured ten teams. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 5.

Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

LeagueTeamCityStadiumCapacityManager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 35,000 Joe Cronin
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 50,000 Jimmy Dykes
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Stadium
League Park*		78,811
22,500*		 Lou Boudreau
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Briggs Stadium 58,000 Del Baker
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 70,000 Joe McCarthy
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Luke Sewell
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 32,000 Bucky Harris
National League Boston Braves Boston, Massachusetts Braves Field 37,746 Casey Stengel
Brooklyn Dodgers New York, New York Ebbets Field 35,000 Leo Durocher
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 38,396 Jimmie Wilson
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Crosley Field 29,401 Bill McKechnie
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 56,000 Mel Ott
Philadelphia Phils Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Hans Lobert
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 33,467 Frankie Frisch
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Billy Southworth

Standings

American League

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10351.669—58‍–‍1945‍–‍32
Boston Red Sox 9359.612953‍–‍2440‍–‍35
St. Louis Browns 8269.54319½40‍–‍3742‍–‍32
Cleveland Indians 7579.4872839‍–‍3936‍–‍40
Detroit Tigers 7381.4743043‍–‍3430‍–‍47
Chicago White Sox 6682.4463435‍–‍3531‍–‍47
Washington Senators 6289.41139½35‍–‍4227‍–‍47
Philadelphia Athletics 5599.3574825‍–‍5130‍–‍48

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 10648.688—60‍–‍1746‍–‍31
Brooklyn Dodgers 10450.675257‍–‍2247‍–‍28
New York Giants 8567.5592047‍–‍3138‍–‍36
Cincinnati Reds 7676.5002938‍–‍3938‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates 6681.44936½41‍–‍3425‍–‍47
Chicago Cubs 6886.4423836‍–‍4132‍–‍45
Boston Braves 5989.3994433‍–‍3626‍–‍53
Philadelphia Phils 42109.27862½23‍–‍5119‍–‍58

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
       
AL New York Yankees 73 0 6 2
NL St. Louis Cardinals 4 4294

Managerial changes

Off-season

TeamFormer ManagerNew Manager
Cleveland Indians Roger Peckinpaugh Lou Boudreau
New York Giants Bill Terry Mel Ott
Philadelphia Phils Doc Prothro Hans Lobert

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders
StatPlayerTotal
AVG Ted Williams 1 (BRS).356
OPS Ted Williams (BRS)1.147
HR Ted Williams 1 (BRS)36
RBI Ted Williams 1 (BRS)137
R Ted Williams (BRS)141
H Johnny Pesky (BRS)205
SB George Case (WSH)44

1 American League Triple Crown batting winner

Pitching leaders
StatPlayerTotal
W Tex Hughson (BRS)22
L Eddie Smith (CWS)20
ERA Ted Lyons (CWS)2.10
K Tex Hughson (BRS)
Bobo Newsom (WSH)		113
IP Tex Hughson (BRS)281.0
SV Johnny Murphy (NYY)11
WHIP Tiny Bonham (NYY)0.987

National League

Hitting leaders
StatPlayerTotal
AVG Ernie Lombardi (BSB).330
OPS Mel Ott (NYG).912
HR Mel Ott (NYG)30
RBI Johnny Mize (NYG)110
R Mel Ott (NYG)118
H Enos Slaughter (SLC)188
SB Pete Reiser (BKN)20
Pitching leaders
StatPlayerTotal
W Mort Cooper (SLC)22
L Jim Tobin (BSB)21
ERA Mort Cooper (SLC)1.78
K Johnny Vander Meer (CIN)186
IP Jim Tobin (BSB)287.2
SV Hugh Casey (BKN)13
WHIP Mort Cooper (SLC)0.987

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Most Valuable Player Mort Cooper (SLC) Joe Gordon (NYY)

Other awards

The Sporting News Awards
AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Most Valuable Player [3] Mort Cooper (SLC) Joe Gordon (NYY)
Player of the Year [4] — Ted Williams (BRS)
Manager of the Year [5] Billy Southworth (SLC)—
Executive of the Year [6] Branch Rickey (STL)—

Baseball Hall of Fame

Home field attendance

Team nameWins%±Home attendance%±Per game
Brooklyn Dodgers [7] 1044.0%1,037,765−14.6%13,136
New York Yankees [8] 1032.0%922,011−4.4%11,974
New York Giants [9] 8514.9%779,6212.2%9,869
Boston Red Sox [10] 9310.7%730,3401.6%9,485
Chicago Cubs [11] 68−2.9%590,9728.4%7,577
Detroit Tigers [12] 73−2.7%580,087−15.3%7,534
St. Louis Cardinals [13] 1069.3%553,552−12.6%7,097
Cleveland Indians [14] 750.0%459,447−38.4%5,743
Pittsburgh Pirates [15] 66−18.5%448,897−6.9%5,830
Cincinnati Reds [16] 76−13.6%427,031−33.6%5,546
Chicago White Sox [17] 66−14.3%425,734−37.1%6,082
Philadelphia Athletics [18] 55−14.1%423,487−19.9%5,572
Washington Senators [19] 62−11.4%403,493−2.9%5,240
Boston Braves [20] 59−4.8%285,3328.2%4,019
St. Louis Browns [21] 8217.1%255,61745.0%3,320
Philadelphia Phils [22] 42−2.3%230,183−0.5%3,111

Retired numbers

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References

  1. ↑ Adler, David (September 30, 2019). "Best MLB teams to miss the postseason". MLB.com . Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Runs Batted In – Single Season RBI Records". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  6. ↑ "MLB Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.


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