1944 Major League Baseball season

Last updated

1944 MLB season
League American League (AL)
National League (NL)
Sport Baseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 18 – October 1, 1944
World Series:
  • October 4–9, 1944
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP AL: Hal Newhouser (DET)
NL: Marty Marion (SLC)
AL champions St. Louis Browns
  AL runners-up Detroit Tigers
NL champions St. Louis Cardinals
  NL runners-up Pittsburgh Pirates
World Series
Champions St. Louis Cardinals
  Runners-up St. Louis Browns
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
ButtonRed.svg American League
Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons
ButtonBlue.svg National League

The 1944 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1944. The regular season ended on October 1, with the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. In an all-St. Louis postseason, the postseason began with Game 1 of the 41st World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 6 on October 9. The Cardinals defeated the Browns, four games to two.

Contents

The 12th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 11, hosted by the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with the National League winning, 7–1.

Schedule

The 1944 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 took place on April 18, featuring fourteen teams. The final day of the regular season was on October 1, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend since the previous season. The World Series took place between October 4 and October 9.

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 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 Bob Coleman
Brooklyn Dodgers New York, New York Ebbets Field 35,000 Leo Durocher
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 38,396 Jimmie Wilson, Roy Johnson, Charlie Grimm
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 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

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Browns 8965.57854233542
Detroit Tigers 8866.571143344532
New York Yankees 8371.539647313640
Boston Red Sox 7777.5001247303047
Cleveland Indians 7282.4681739383344
Philadelphia Athletics 7282.4681739373345
Chicago White Sox 7183.4611841363047
Washington Senators 6490.4162540372453

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 10549.68254225127
Pittsburgh Pirates 9063.58814½49284135
Cincinnati Reds 8965.5781645334432
Chicago Cubs 7579.4873035424037
New York Giants 6787.4353839362851
Boston Braves 6589.4224038402749
Brooklyn Dodgers 6391.4094237392652
Philadelphia Phillies 6192.39943½29493243

Postseason

Bracket

World Series
        
AL St. Louis Browns 22 61 0 1
NL St. Louis Cardinals 1 311*2 523

*Denotes walk-off

Managerial changes

In-season

TeamFormer ManagerNew Manager
Chicago Cubs Jimmie Wilson Roy Johnson
Chicago Cubs Roy Johnson Charlie Grimm

League leaders

American League

National League

Pitching leaders
StatPlayerTotal
W Bucky Walters (CIN)23
L Ken Raffensberger (PHP)20
ERA Ed Heusser (CIN)2.38
K Bill Voiselle (NYG)161
IP Bill Voiselle (NYG)312.2
SV Ace Adams (NYG)13

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican League
Most Valuable Player Marty Marion (SLC) Hal Newhouser (DET)

Other awards

Baseball Hall of Fame

Home field attendance

Team nameWinsHome attendancePer game
Detroit Tigers [1] 8812.8%923,17652.3%11,836
New York Yankees [2] 83−15.3%789,99527.8%10,128
New York Giants [3] 6721.8%674,48344.7%8,993
Chicago Cubs [4] 751.4%640,11025.9%8,207
Brooklyn Dodgers [5] 63−22.2%605,905−8.4%7,869
Pittsburgh Pirates [6] 9012.5%604,27821.2%7,460
Chicago White Sox [7] 71−13.4%563,53910.7%7,319
Washington Senators [8] 64−23.8%525,235−8.6%6,821
St. Louis Browns [9] 8923.6%508,644137.2%6,606
Boston Red Sox [10] 7713.2%506,97541.5%6,500
Philadelphia Athletics [11] 7246.9%505,32234.1%6,649
Cleveland Indians [12] 72−12.2%475,2728.3%6,093
St. Louis Cardinals [13] 1050.0%461,968−10.7%6,000
Cincinnati Reds [14] 892.3%409,5678.0%5,251
Philadelphia Phillies [15] 61−4.7%369,586−20.9%4,678
Boston Braves [16] 65−4.4%208,691−23.1%2,676

Retired numbers

See also

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References

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  2. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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  7. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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  13. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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  16. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.