1943 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1943 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1943 in baseball.

1943 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 20 – October 3, 1943 (AL) April 21 – October 3, 1943 (NL) World Series: October 5–11, 1943
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Spud Chandler (NYY) NL: Stan Musial (SLC)
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Washington Senators
NL champions	St. Louis Cardinals
NL runners-up	Cincinnati Reds
World Series
Champions	New York Yankees
Runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
MLB seasons
← 1942 1944 →

Red Sox

White Sox   

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons
National League

The 1943 major league baseball season began on April 20, 1943. The regular season ended on October 3, 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 40th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 5 on October 11. In the fourth iteration of this World Series matchup (and a rematch of the previous year), the Yankees defeated the Cardinals, four games to one, capturing their tenth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1941.

The 11th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 13, hosted by the Philadelphia Athletics at the Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the American League winning, 5–3. This was also the first All-Star Game held at night.

In order to conserve rail transport during World War II, the 1943 spring training sites was limited to an area east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River. Spring training sites included the Chicago White Sox in French Lick, Indiana; the Washington Senators in College Park, Maryland; and the Yankees in Asbury Park, New Jersey. ^[1]

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1943 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.

American League Opening Day took place on April 20 with a game between the Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place on the following day, featuring four teams. This was the first season since 1941 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on October 3, which saw all sixteen teams play, also the first time since 1941. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 11.

Teams

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

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager [2]
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	78,811	Lou Boudreau
			League Park*	22,500*
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Briggs Stadium	58,000	Steve O'Neill
	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	Ossie Bluege
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	37,746	Casey Stengel
					Bob Coleman
	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 Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,000	Bucky Harris
					Freddie Fitzsimmons
	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

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	98	56	.636	—	54‍–‍23	44‍–‍33
Washington Senators	84	69	.549	13½	44‍–‍32	40‍–‍37
Cleveland Indians	82	71	.536	15½	44‍–‍33	38‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	82	72	.532	16	40‍–‍36	42‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers	78	76	.506	20	45‍–‍32	33‍–‍44
St. Louis Browns	72	80	.474	25	44‍–‍33	28‍–‍47
Boston Red Sox	68	84	.447	29	39‍–‍36	29‍–‍48
Philadelphia Athletics	49	105	.318	49	27‍–‍51	22‍–‍54

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	105	49	.682	—	58‍–‍21	47‍–‍28
Cincinnati Reds	87	67	.565	18	48‍–‍29	39‍–‍38
Brooklyn Dodgers	81	72	.529	23½	46‍–‍31	35‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	74	.519	25	47‍–‍30	33‍–‍44
Chicago Cubs	74	79	.484	30½	36‍–‍38	38‍–‍41
Boston Braves	68	85	.444	36½	38‍–‍39	30‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies	64	90	.416	41	33‍–‍43	31‍–‍47
New York Giants	55	98	.359	49½	34‍–‍43	21‍–‍55

Postseason

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	New York Yankees	4
	NL	St. Louis Cardinals	1

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Detroit Tigers	Del Baker	Steve O'Neill
Philadelphia Phillies	Hans Lobert	Bucky Harris
Washington Senators	Bucky Harris	Ossie Bluege

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Boston Braves	Casey Stengel	Bob Coleman
Philadelphia Phillies	Bucky Harris	Freddie Fitzsimmons

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders ^[3]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Luke Appling (CWS)	.328
OPS	Charlie Keller (NYY)	.922
HR	Rudy York (DET)	34
RBI	Rudy York (DET)	118
R	George Case (WSH)	102
H	Dick Wakefield (DET)	200
SB	George Case (WSH)	61

Pitching leaders ^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Spud Chandler (NYY) Dizzy Trout (DET)	20
L	Lum Harris (PHA)	21
ERA	Spud Chandler (NYY)	1.64
K	Allie Reynolds (CLE)	151
IP	Jim Bagby (CLE)	273.0
SV	Gordon Maltzberger (CWS)	14
WHIP	Spud Chandler (NYY)	0.992

National League

Hitting leaders ^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Stan Musial (SLC)	.357
OPS	Stan Musial (SLC)	.988
HR	Bill Nicholson (CHC)	29
RBI	Bill Nicholson (CHC)	128
R	Arky Vaughan (BKN)	112
H	Stan Musial (SLC)	220
SB	Arky Vaughan (BKN)	20

Pitching leaders ^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Mort Cooper (SLC) Elmer Riddle (CIN) Rip Sewell (PIT)	21
L	Nate Andrews (BSB)	20
ERA	Max Lanier (SLC)	1.90
K	Johnny Vander Meer (CIN)	174
IP	Al Javery (BSB)	303.0
SV	Les Webber (BKN)	10
WHIP	Whit Wyatt (BKN)	1.007

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player	Stan Musial (SLC)	Spud Chandler (NYY)

Other awards

The Sporting News Awards
Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player [7]	Stan Musial (SLC)	Spud Chandler (NYY)
Player of the Year [8]	—	Spud Chandler (NYY)
Manager of the Year [9]	—	Joe McCarthy (NYY)
Executive of the Year [10]	—	Clark Griffith (WSH)

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Brooklyn Dodgers [11]	81	−22.1%	661,739	−36.2%	8,594
New York Yankees [12]	98	−4.9%	618,330	−32.9%	8,030
Detroit Tigers [13]	78	6.8%	606,287	4.5%	7,773
Washington Senators [14]	84	35.5%	574,694	42.4%	7,562
St. Louis Cardinals [15]	105	−0.9%	517,135	−6.6%	6,384
Chicago White Sox [16]	82	24.2%	508,962	19.5%	6,697
Chicago Cubs [17]	74	8.8%	508,247	−14.0%	6,777
Pittsburgh Pirates [18]	80	21.2%	498,740	11.1%	6,394
Philadelphia Phillies [19]	64	52.4%	466,975	102.9%	5,987
New York Giants [20]	55	−35.3%	466,095	−40.2%	6,053
Cleveland Indians [21]	82	9.3%	438,894	−4.5%	5,700
Cincinnati Reds [22]	87	14.5%	379,122	−11.2%	4,861
Philadelphia Athletics [23]	49	−10.9%	376,735	−11.0%	4,769
Boston Red Sox [24]	68	−26.9%	358,275	−50.9%	4,653
Boston Braves [25]	68	15.3%	271,289	−4.9%	3,523
St. Louis Browns [26]	72	−12.2%	214,392	−16.1%	2,784

See also

• 1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season

References

1. Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 103. Random House. ISBN   0-394-50253-1.
2. "1943 Major League Baseball Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
3. "1943 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
4. "1943 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
5. "1943 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "1943 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
8. "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
9. "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
10. "MLB Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
11. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
20. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
21. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
22. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
23. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
24. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
25. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
26. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.

External links

• 1943 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference