| 1919 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 140 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant Winners | |
| AL champions | Chicago White Sox |
| AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
| NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| NL runners-up | New York Giants |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| Runners-up | Chicago White Sox |
| MLB seasons | |
The1919 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1919. The regular season ended on September 29, with theCincinnati Reds andChicago White Sox as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the16th World Series, known for the infamousBlack Sox Scandal, on October 1 and ended with Game 8 on October 9. TheCincinnati Reds defeated theChicago White Sox, five games to three, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theBoston Red Sox from the1918 season.
The Black Sox Scandal, for which the 1919 season is best remembered for, saw the Chicago White Sox throw (purposely lose) theWorld Series to the Cincinnati Reds, 5–3, in order to illegally gain money fromgambling. This scandal resulted in the dissolution of theNational Baseball Commission and the creation of the office of theCommissioner of Baseball. The new commissioner,Kenesaw Mountain Landis,banned eight players from baseball for life.[1]
The 1919 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This 140-game schedule format had been previously used in 1903. The 154-game schedule was re-instituted for the1920 season.
National League Opening Day took place on April 19, when theBrooklyn Robins defeated theBoston Braves 5–2 atBraves Field in the first game of adoubleheader.[2] American League Opening Day (and most other National League teams' Opening Day) wouldn't take place until April 23, where each league saw six of their teams play. This continued the trend from theprevious season which saw both leagues' Opening Day start on different days. The National League regular season ended on September 28, while the American League regular season ended on September 29 with theNew York Yankees defeating thePhiladelphia Athletics 4–2 atShibe Park.[3] This was the first season since1915 which saw both leagues end on different days, as well as the first season since1903 that saw the leagues begin and conclude on different days. The World Series would begin inCincinnati on October 1, before concluding on October 9.
Theminor leagues withdrew from theNational Agreement, resulting in the abolition of theRule 5 draft, as well as all existing optional agreements betweenmajor- andminor-league teams. The only way in which major-league clubs could acquire players from the minors was by directly purchasing their contracts. This change resulted in the previous $2,500 (equivalent to $45,300 in 2024) draft fee cap being removed.[4]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | 88 | 52 | .629 | — | 48–22 | 40–30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 84 | 55 | .604 | 3½ | 44–25 | 40–30 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 59 | .576 | 7½ | 46–25 | 34–34 |
| Detroit Tigers | 80 | 60 | .571 | 8 | 46–24 | 34–36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 67 | 72 | .482 | 20½ | 40–30 | 27–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 66 | 71 | .482 | 20½ | 35–30 | 31–41 |
| Washington Senators | 56 | 84 | .400 | 32 | 32–40 | 24–44 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 36 | 104 | .257 | 52 | 21–49 | 15–55 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 96 | 44 | .686 | — | 51–19 | 45–25 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 53 | .621 | 9 | 46–23 | 41–30 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 65 | .536 | 21 | 40–31 | 35–34 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 71 | 68 | .511 | 24½ | 39–31 | 32–37 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 69 | 71 | .493 | 27 | 36–34 | 33–37 |
| Boston Braves | 57 | 82 | .410 | 38½ | 29–38 | 28–44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 54 | 83 | .394 | 40½ | 34–35 | 20–48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 47 | 90 | .343 | 47½ | 26–44 | 21–46 |
5 tie games (3 in AL, 2 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on October 1 and ended on October 9 with theCincinnati Reds defeating theChicago White Sox in the1919 World Series in eight games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Chicago White Sox | 3 | ||
| NL | Cincinnati Reds | 5 | ||
Only one team announced a newmanager in the offseason:
| Date | Team | New manager | Replaced | Former job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31 | Chicago White Sox | Kid Gleason | Pants Rowland | Coach for the Chicago White Sox (1912–1914,1916–1917) |
| January 30 | Cincinnati Reds | Pat Moran | Christy Mathewson &Heinie Groh | Won the1915 World Series as manager of thePhiladelphia Phillies. |
| — | Philadelphia Phillies | Jack Coombs | Pat Moran | Pitcher for thePhiladelphia Athletics andBrooklyn Robins |
| — | St. Louis Cardinals | Branch Rickey | Jack Hendricks | General manager for theSt. Louis Cardinals (1917–1918) |
One team replaced their manager during the season:
| Date | Team | New Manager | Replaced | Previous Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 8 | Philadelphia Phillies | Gavvy Cravath | Jack Coombs | Right fielder for thePhiladelphia Phillies (became player-manager) |
| July 18 | Cleveland Indians | Tris Speaker | Lee Fohl | Center fielder for theCleveland Indians (became player-manager) |
Any team shown insmall text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ty Cobb (DET) | .384 |
| OPS | Babe Ruth (BOS) | 1.114 |
| HR | Babe Ruth (BOS) | 29 |
| RBI | Babe Ruth (BOS) | 114 |
| R | Babe Ruth (BOS) | 103 |
| H | Ty Cobb (DET) Bobby Veach (DET) | 191 |
| SB | Eddie Collins (CWS) | 33 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) | 29 |
| L | Harry Harper (WSH) | 21 |
| ERA | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 1.49 |
| K | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 147 |
| IP | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) Jim Shaw (WSH) | 306.2 |
| SV | Allen Russell (BOS/NYY) Jim Shaw (WSH) Bob Shawkey (NYY) | 5 |
| WHIP | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 0.985 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Edd Roush (CIN) | .321 |
| OPS | Heinie Groh (CIN) | .823 |
| HR | Gavvy Cravath (PHI) | 12 |
| RBI | Hy Myers (BRO) | 73 |
| R | George Burns (NYG) | 86 |
| H | Ivy Olson (BRO) | 164 |
| SB | George Burns (NYG) | 40 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Jesse Barnes (NYG) | 25 |
| L | Lee Meadows (PHI/STL) | 20 |
| ERA | Grover Alexander (CHC) | 1.72 |
| K | Hippo Vaughn (CHC) | 141 |
| IP | Hippo Vaughn (CHC) | 306.2 |
| SV | Oscar Tuero (STL) | 4 |
| WHIP | Babe Adams (CIN) | 0.896 |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants[23] | 87 | 22.5% | 708,857 | 176.2% | 10,273 |
| Detroit Tigers[24] | 80 | 45.5% | 643,805 | 216.0% | 9,197 |
| Chicago White Sox[25] | 88 | 54.4% | 627,186 | 221.5% | 8,960 |
| New York Yankees[26] | 80 | 33.3% | 619,164 | 119.5% | 8,482 |
| Cleveland Indians[27] | 84 | 15.1% | 538,135 | 82.1% | 7,799 |
| Cincinnati Reds[28] | 96 | 41.2% | 532,501 | 226.7% | 7,607 |
| Chicago Cubs[29] | 75 | −10.7% | 424,430 | 25.8% | 5,978 |
| Boston Red Sox[30] | 66 | −12.0% | 417,291 | 67.2% | 6,323 |
| Brooklyn Robins[31] | 69 | 21.1% | 360,721 | 330.3% | 5,153 |
| St. Louis Browns[32] | 67 | 15.5% | 349,350 | 186.2% | 4,991 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[33] | 71 | 9.2% | 276,810 | 29.6% | 3,954 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[34] | 47 | −14.5% | 240,424 | 96.6% | 3,386 |
| Washington Senators[35] | 56 | −22.2% | 234,096 | 28.5% | 3,251 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[36] | 36 | −30.8% | 225,209 | 26.6% | 3,217 |
| Boston Braves[37] | 57 | 7.5% | 167,401 | 97.1% | 2,462 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[38] | 54 | 5.9% | 167,059 | 51.0% | 2,421 |
