| 1930 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 | Philadelphia Athletics |
| AL runners-up | Washington Senators |
| NL champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
| NL runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Philadelphia Athletics |
| Runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
| MLB seasons | |
The1930 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1930. The regular season ended on September 28, with theSt. Louis Cardinals andPhiladelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the27th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 6 on October 8. The Athletics defeated the Cardinals, four games to two, capturing their fifth championship in franchise history, winning back-to-back World Series.
Offense dominated this season. The National League batted .303, with six teams batting better than .300. The American League came in at .288, with three teams batting over .300.
The 1930 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 14 with theBoston Red Sox andWashington Senators playing, while National League Opening Day took place the following day. The final day of the regular season was on September 28, which saw all sixteen teams play on the final day for the first time. TheWorld Series took place between October 1 and October 8.
The 1930 season saw the following rule changes:
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Athletics | 102 | 52 | .662 | — | 58–18 | 44–34 |
| Washington Senators | 94 | 60 | .610 | 8 | 56–21 | 38–39 |
| New York Yankees | 86 | 68 | .558 | 16 | 47–29 | 39–39 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 73 | .526 | 21 | 44–33 | 37–40 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 27 | 45–33 | 30–46 |
| St. Louis Browns | 64 | 90 | .416 | 38 | 38–40 | 26–50 |
| Chicago White Sox | 62 | 92 | .403 | 40 | 34–44 | 28–48 |
| Boston Red Sox | 52 | 102 | .338 | 50 | 30–46 | 22–56 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 62 | .597 | — | 53–24 | 39–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 90 | 64 | .584 | 2 | 51–26 | 39–38 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5 | 46–31 | 41–36 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 86 | 68 | .558 | 6 | 49–28 | 37–40 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 80 | 74 | .519 | 12 | 42–35 | 38–39 |
| Boston Braves | 70 | 84 | .455 | 22 | 39–38 | 31–46 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 59 | 95 | .383 | 33 | 37–40 | 22–55 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 52 | 102 | .338 | 40 | 35–42 | 17–60 |
2 tie games (0 in AL, 2 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies had two tie games each.
The postseason began on October 1 and ended on October 8 with thePhiladelphia Athletics defeating theSt. Louis Cardinals in the1930 World Series in six games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Philadelphia Athletics | 4 | ||
| NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | Joe McCarthy | Rogers Hornsby |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Al Simmons (PHA) | .381 |
| OPS | Babe Ruth (NYY) | 1.225 |
| HR | Babe Ruth (NYY) | 49 |
| RBI | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 173 |
| R | Al Simmons (PHA) | 152 |
| H | Johnny Hodapp (CLE) | 225 |
| SB | Marty McManus (DET) | 23 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 28 |
| L | Milt Gaston (BOS) Jack Russell (BOS) | 20 |
| ERA | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 2.54 |
| K | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 209 |
| IP | Ted Lyons (CWS) | 297.2 |
| SV | Lefty Grove (PHA) | 9 |
| WHIP | Lefty Grove (PHA) | 1.144 |
1 American LeagueTriple Crown pitching winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Bill Terry (NYG) | .401 |
| OPS | Hack Wilson (CHC) | 1.177 |
| HR | Hack Wilson (CHC) | 56 |
| RBI | Hack Wilson2 (CHC) | 191 |
| R | Chuck Klein (PHI) | 158 |
| H | Bill Terry (NYG) | 254 |
| SB | Kiki Cuyler (CHC) | 37 |
2 All-time single-seasonruns batted in record
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Ray Kremer (PIT) Pat Malone (CHC) | 20 |
| L | Larry French (PIT) Benny Frey (CIN) | 18 |
| ERA | Dazzy Vance (BRO) | 2.61 |
| K | Bill Hallahan (STL) | 177 |
| IP | Ray Kremer (PIT) | 276.0 |
| SV | Herman Bell (STL) | 8 |
| WHIP | Dazzy Vance (BRO) | 1.144 |
| The Sporting NewsAwards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[9] | Bill Terry (NYG) | Joe Cronin (WSH) |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs[10] | 90 | −8.2% | 1,463,624 | −1.5% | 18,527 |
| New York Yankees[11] | 86 | −2.3% | 1,169,230 | 21.8% | 15,385 |
| Brooklyn Robins[12] | 86 | 22.9% | 1,097,329 | 49.9% | 14,251 |
| New York Giants[13] | 87 | 3.6% | 868,714 | 0.0% | 11,282 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[14] | 102 | −1.9% | 721,663 | −14.0% | 9,496 |
| Detroit Tigers[15] | 75 | 7.1% | 649,450 | −25.3% | 8,326 |
| Washington Senators[16] | 94 | 32.4% | 614,474 | 72.8% | 7,980 |
| Cleveland Indians[17] | 81 | 0.0% | 528,657 | −1.4% | 6,866 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[18] | 92 | 17.9% | 508,501 | 27.2% | 6,604 |
| Boston Braves[19] | 70 | 25.0% | 464,835 | 24.8% | 6,037 |
| Boston Red Sox[20] | 52 | −10.3% | 444,045 | 12.5% | 5,843 |
| Chicago White Sox[21] | 62 | 5.1% | 406,123 | −4.8% | 5,207 |
| Cincinnati Reds[22] | 59 | −10.6% | 386,727 | 31.1% | 5,022 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[23] | 80 | −9.1% | 357,795 | −27.2% | 4,647 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[24] | 52 | −26.8% | 299,007 | 6.3% | 3,883 |
| St. Louis Browns[25] | 64 | −19.0% | 152,088 | −45.8% | 1,950 |
Across 76 homes games, theBoston Red Sox played their Saturday, April 19doubleheader against theNew York Yankees, Friday, July 4 doubleheader against thePhiladelphia Athletics, as well as all 16 of their Sunday games at theBoston Braves home field ofBraves Field (the remaining 56 home games were played atFenway Park).[26][27] This was the 2nd of three consecutive seasons playing all Sunday games at Braves Field and 2nd of four consecutive season playing some games at Braves Field.
