| 1921 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant winners | |
| AL champions | New York Yankees |
| AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| World Series | |
| Champions | New York Giants |
| Runners-up | New York Yankees |
| MLB seasons | |
The1921 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1921. The regular season ended on October 2, with theNew York Giants andNew York Yankees as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the18th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 8 on October 13. In the firstSubway Series World Series, the Giants defeated the Yankees, five games to three, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in1905. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theCleveland Indians from the1920 season.
1921 was the first of three straight seasons in which the Yankees would lead the majors in wins.Babe Ruth broke the single season home run record for the third consecutive season by hitting 59 home runs in 152 games. Ruth also brokeRoger Connor's record for the most home runs all time when he hit his 139th home run on July 18 againstBert Cole.[1] The record for career strikeouts, previously held byCy Young was also broken in 1921 byWalter Johnson; Johnson led the league in strikeouts with 143 and ended the season with 2,835 strikeouts. Young struck out 2,803 during his career.[2] TheCincinnati Reds set a Major League record for the feweststrikeouts in a season, with only 308.[3] FutureHall of FamersKiki Cuyler andGoose Goslin both debuted in September 1921.[4]
The 1921 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 the1904 season (except for1919) and would be used until1961 in the American League and1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 13 with all but theChicago White Sox andDetroit Tigers playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 2. TheWorld Series took place between October 5 and October 13.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 98 | 55 | .641 | — | 53–25 | 45–30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 94 | 60 | .610 | 4½ | 51–26 | 43–34 |
| St. Louis Browns | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17½ | 43–34 | 38–39 |
| Washington Senators | 80 | 73 | .523 | 18 | 46–30 | 34–43 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | .487 | 23½ | 41–36 | 34–43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 71 | 82 | .464 | 27 | 37–40 | 34–42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36½ | 37–40 | 25–52 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 100 | .346 | 45 | 28–47 | 25–53 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 94 | 59 | .614 | — | 53–26 | 41–33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 90 | 63 | .588 | 4 | 45–31 | 45–32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 66 | .569 | 7 | 48–29 | 39–37 |
| Boston Braves | 79 | 74 | .516 | 15 | 42–32 | 37–42 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 77 | 75 | .507 | 16½ | 41–37 | 36–38 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 70 | 83 | .458 | 24 | 40–36 | 30–47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 89 | .418 | 30 | 32–44 | 32–45 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 51 | 103 | .331 | 43½ | 29–47 | 22–56 |
3 tie games (2 in AL, 1 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The Philadelphia Athletics had two tie games. The Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators had one tie game each.
The postseason began on October 5 and ended on October 13 with theNew York Giants defeating theNew York Yankees in the1921 World Series in eight games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | New York Yankees | 3 | ||
| NL | New York Giants | 5 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | Johnny Evers | Bill Killefer |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Bill Donovan | Kaiser Wilhelm |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Rogers Hornsby (STL) | .397 |
| OPS | Rogers Hornsby (STL) | 1.097 |
| HR | George Kelly (NYG) | 23 |
| RBI | Rogers Hornsby (STL) | 126 |
| R | Rogers Hornsby (STL) | 131 |
| H | Rogers Hornsby (STL) | 235 |
| SB | Frankie Frisch (NYG) | 49 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Wilbur Cooper (PIT) Burleigh Grimes (BRO) | 22 |
| L | George Smith (PHI) | 20 |
| ERA | Bill Doak (STL) | 2.59 |
| K | Burleigh Grimes (BRO) | 136 |
| IP | Wilbur Cooper (PIT) | 327.0 |
| SV | Lou North (STL) | 7 |
| WHIP | Babe Adams (PIT) | 1.081 |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees[13] | 95 | 18.8% | 1,289,422 | 108.3% | 16,746 |
| New York Giants[14] | 86 | −1.1% | 929,609 | 31.1% | 11,620 |
| Cleveland Indians[15] | 98 | 16.7% | 912,832 | 69.6% | 11,703 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[16] | 79 | 11.3% | 429,037 | 55.0% | 5,500 |
| Detroit Tigers[17] | 61 | −23.8% | 579,650 | −10.0% | 7,431 |
| Brooklyn Robins[18] | 93 | 34.8% | 808,722 | 124.2% | 10,368 |
| Chicago White Sox[19] | 96 | 9.1% | 833,492 | 32.9% | 10,825 |
| Washington Senators[20] | 68 | 21.4% | 359,260 | 53.5% | 4,727 |
| Chicago Cubs[21] | 75 | 0.0% | 480,783 | 13.3% | 6,244 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[22] | 75 | 38.9% | 326,836 | 95.6% | 4,300 |
| St. Louis Browns[23] | 76 | 13.4% | 419,311 | 20.0% | 5,376 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[24] | 48 | 33.3% | 287,888 | 27.8% | 3,739 |
| Boston Braves[25] | 62 | 8.8% | 162,483 | −2.9% | 2,196 |
| Cincinnati Reds[26] | 82 | −14.6% | 568,107 | 6.7% | 7,378 |
| Boston Red Sox[27] | 72 | 9.1% | 402,445 | −3.6% | 5,295 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[28] | 62 | 31.9% | 330,998 | 37.7% | 4,299 |
On August 5, thePittsburgh Pirates 8–5 victory over thePhiladelphia Phillies atForbes Field was the first Major League game to be broadcast on radio.Harold Arlin calls the game for Pittsburgh stationKDKA.[29]
