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1940 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 1940 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1940 in baseball.
1940 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 16 – September 29, 1940
World Series:
  • October 2–8, 1940
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Hank Greenberg (DET)
NL: Frank McCormick (CIN)
AL championsDetroit Tigers
  AL runners-upCleveland Indians
NL championsCincinnati Reds
  NL runners-upBrooklyn Dodgers
World Series
ChampionsCincinnati Reds
  Runners-upDetroit Tigers
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1940 American League season
American League
Locations of teams for the 1938–1940 National League seasons
National League

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.

Schedule

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See also: Major League Baseball schedule

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.

Rule change

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The 1940 season saw the following rule change:

  • The scoring sacrifice fly, exempting a batter from a time at bat when a runner scored after the putout on a fly ball, was eliminated after being re-implemented the previous season. The sacrifice fly would be reimplemented in 1954.[1]

Teams

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

League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager
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* 		Ossie Vitt
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Briggs Stadium 58,000 Del Baker
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 71,699 Joe McCarthy
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Fred Haney
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 32,000 Bucky Harris
National League Boston Bees Boston, Massachusetts National League Park 45,000 Casey Stengel
Brooklyn Dodgers New York, New York Ebbets Field 35,000 Leo Durocher
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 38,000 Gabby Hartnett
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Crosley Field 29,401 Bill McKechnie
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 56,000 Bill Terry
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Doc Prothro
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 33,537 Frankie Frisch
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Ray Blades,
Mike González,
Billy Southworth

Standings

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American League

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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

National League

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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

Postseason

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Bracket

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World Series
         
AL Detroit Tigers 7 3 7 2 8 0 1
NL Cincinnati Reds 2 5 4 5 0 4 2

Managerial changes

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Off-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Philadelphia Athletics Earle Mack Connie Mack
Pittsburgh Pirates Pie Traynor Frankie Frisch

In-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
St. Louis Cardinals Ray Blades Mike González
Mike González Billy Southworth

League leaders

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American League

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Hitting leaders
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
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W Bob Feller1 (CLE) 27
L George Caster (PHA)
Dutch Leonard (WSH) 		19
ERA Bob Feller1 (CLE) 2.61
K Bob Feller1 (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

National League

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Hitting leaders
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
Pitching leaders
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

Awards and honors

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Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP
Frank McCormick 1940 NL MVP and 9x All-Star

Regular season

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Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award National League American League
Most Valuable Player Frank McCormick (CIN) Hank Greenberg (DET)

Other awards

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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)

Home field attendance

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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

Retired numbers

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Events

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References

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  1. ^ admin. "The Sacrifice Fly – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  2. ^ "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  3. ^ "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  4. ^ "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  5. ^ "MLB Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  6. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Chicago Cubs 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. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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