| 1938 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Regular season | |
| SeasonMVP | AL:Jimmie Foxx (BOS) NL:Ernie Lombardi (CIN) |
| AL champions | New York Yankees |
| AL runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
| NL champions | Chicago Cubs |
| NL runners-up | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| World Series | |
| Champions | New York Yankees |
| Runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
| MLB seasons | |
The1938 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1938. The regular season ended on October 2, with theChicago Cubs andNew York Yankees as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the35th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 4 on October 9. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees swept the Cubs in four games, capturing their seventh championship in franchise history, and their third in a four-World Series run, becoming the first team to win three consecutive World Series.
Thesixth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 6 atCrosley Field inCincinnati,Ohio, home of theCincinnati Reds. TheNational League won, 4–1.
The 1938 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.
American League Opening Day took place on April 18 with four teams playing, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since1932 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on October 2 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend since theprevious season. TheWorld Series took place between October 5 and October 9.
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 99 | 53 | .651 | — | 55–22 | 44–31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 61 | .591 | 9½ | 52–23 | 36–38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 66 | .566 | 13 | 46–30 | 40–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 16 | 48–31 | 36–39 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 76 | .497 | 23½ | 44–33 | 31–43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 65 | 83 | .439 | 32 | 33–39 | 32–44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 97 | .362 | 44 | 31–43 | 24–54 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 99 | .349 | 46 | 28–47 | 25–52 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 89 | 63 | .586 | — | 44–33 | 45–30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 64 | .573 | 2 | 44–33 | 42–31 |
| New York Giants | 83 | 67 | .553 | 5 | 43–30 | 40–37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 68 | .547 | 6 | 43–34 | 39–34 |
| Boston Bees | 77 | 75 | .507 | 12 | 45–30 | 32–45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | 80 | .470 | 17½ | 36–41 | 35–39 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 69 | 80 | .463 | 18½ | 31–41 | 38–39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 105 | .300 | 43 | 26–48 | 19–57 |
16 tie games (8 in AL, 8 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on October 5 and ended on October 9 with theNew York Yankees sweeping theChicago Cubs in the1938 World Series in four games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 | ||
| NL | Chicago Cubs | 0 | ||
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Jimmie Foxx (BOS) | .349 |
| OPS | Jimmie Foxx (BOS) | 1.166 |
| HR | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 58 |
| RBI | Jimmie Foxx (BOS) | 175 |
| R | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 143 |
| H | Joe Vosmik (BOS) | 201 |
| SB | Frankie Crosetti (NYY) | 27 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Red Ruffing (NYY) | 21 |
| L | George Caster (PHA) | 20 |
| ERA | Lefty Grove (BOS) | 3.08 |
| K | Bob Feller (CLE) | 240 |
| IP | Bobo Newsom (SLB) | 329.2 |
| SV | Johnny Murphy (NYY) | 11 |
| WHIP | Dutch Leonard (WSH) | 1.227 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ernie Lombardi (CIN) | .342 |
| OPS | Johnny Mize (STL) | 1.036 |
| HR | Mel Ott (NYG) | 36 |
| RBI | Joe Medwick (STL) | 122 |
| R | Mel Ott (NYG) | 116 |
| H | Frank McCormick (CIN) | 237 |
| SB | Stan Hack (CHC) | 16 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Bill Lee (CHC) | 22 |
| L | Hugh Mulcahy (PHI) | 20 |
| ERA | Bill Lee (CHC) | 2.66 |
| K | Clay Bryant (CHC) | 135 |
| IP | Paul Derringer (CIN) | 307.0 |
| SV | Dick Coffman (NYG) | 12 |
| WHIP | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 1.140 |
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Ernie Lombardi (CIN) | Jimmie Foxx (BSN) |
| The Sporting NewsAwards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[6] | Ernie Lombardi (CIN) | Jimmie Foxx (BSN) |
| Player of the Year[7] | Johnny Vander Meer (CIN) | — |
| Manager of the Year[8] | — | Joe McCarthy (NYY) |
| Executive of the Year[9] | Warren Giles (CIN) | — |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees[10] | 99 | −2.9% | 970,916 | −2.7% | 12,290 |
| Chicago Cubs[11] | 89 | −4.3% | 951,640 | 6.3% | 12,359 |
| New York Giants[12] | 83 | −12.6% | 799,633 | −13.7% | 10,954 |
| Detroit Tigers[13] | 84 | −5.6% | 799,557 | −25.4% | 10,121 |
| Cincinnati Reds[14] | 82 | 46.4% | 706,756 | 71.9% | 9,179 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[15] | 69 | 11.3% | 663,087 | 37.4% | 8,961 |
| Cleveland Indians[16] | 86 | 3.6% | 652,006 | 15.4% | 8,579 |
| Boston Red Sox[17] | 88 | 10.0% | 646,459 | 15.5% | 8,619 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[18] | 86 | 0.0% | 641,033 | 39.5% | 8,218 |
| Washington Senators[19] | 75 | 2.7% | 522,694 | 31.4% | 6,701 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[20] | 53 | −1.9% | 385,357 | −10.5% | 5,070 |
| Boston Bees[21] | 77 | −2.5% | 341,149 | −11.5% | 4,549 |
| Chicago White Sox[22] | 65 | −24.4% | 338,278 | −42.6% | 4,634 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[23] | 71 | −12.3% | 291,418 | −32.4% | 3,598 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[24] | 45 | −26.2% | 166,111 | −21.9% | 2,215 |
| St. Louis Browns[25] | 55 | 19.6% | 130,417 | 5.9% | 1,694 |
Over 76 home games, theCleveland Indians played 58 games at League Park and 18 games at Cleveland Stadium.[26] All Thursday games took place at League Park. This would be the 4th of 12 seasons since1932 that saw the Indians play at both venues.
TheDetroit Tigers' venue, Navin Field, named after former ownerFrank Navin, was renamed toBriggs Stadium, named after new ownerWalter Briggs Sr., prior to the season's start.
ThePhiladelphia Phillies would play their last game at theBaker Bowl on June 30 after 28 home games, having played 52 seasons there going back to1887, and moved into thePhiladelphia Athletics' home atShibe Park, where they would go on to play for 33 seasons through1970.
