| 1931 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:Lefty Grove (PHA) NL:Frankie Frisch (STL) |
| AL champions | Philadelphia Athletics |
| AL runners-up | New York Yankees |
| NL champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
| NL runners-up | New York Giants |
| World Series | |
| Champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Runners-up | Philadelphia Athletics |
| MLB seasons | |
The1931 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1931. The regular season ended on September 27, with theSt. Louis Cardinals andPhiladelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the28th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 7 on October 10. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup (and a rematch of theprevious year), the Cardinals defeated the Athletics, four games to three, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in1926. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were thePhiladelphia Athletics from the1930 season.
This was the first season that theBaseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) selected aMost Valuable Player in each league.
The 1931 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, April 14, featured all sixteen teams, the first time since the1926 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27, which also saw all sixteen teams play on the final day continuing the trend which began theprevious season. This was the first time that both Opening Day and the final day of the season saw all sixteen teams play. TheWorld Series took place between October 1 and October 10.
The 1931 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 | 107 | 45 | .704 | — | 60–15 | 47–30 |
| New York Yankees | 94 | 59 | .614 | 13½ | 51–25 | 43–34 |
| Washington Senators | 92 | 62 | .597 | 16 | 55–22 | 37–40 |
| Cleveland Indians | 78 | 76 | .506 | 30 | 45–31 | 33–45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 63 | 91 | .409 | 45 | 39–38 | 24–53 |
| Boston Red Sox | 62 | 90 | .408 | 45 | 39–40 | 23–50 |
| Detroit Tigers | 61 | 93 | .396 | 47 | 36–41 | 25–52 |
| Chicago White Sox | 56 | 97 | .366 | 51½ | 31–45 | 25–52 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 54–24 | 47–29 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 65 | .572 | 13 | 50–27 | 37–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | .545 | 17 | 50–27 | 34–43 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 79 | 73 | .520 | 21 | 46–29 | 33–44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 44–33 | 31–46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 88 | .429 | 35 | 40–36 | 26–52 |
| Boston Braves | 64 | 90 | .416 | 37 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 58 | 96 | .377 | 43 | 38–39 | 20–57 |
9 tie games (5 in AL, 4 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 10 with theSt. Louis Cardinals defeating thePhiladelphia Athletics in the1931 World Series in seven games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Philadelphia Athletics | 3 | ||
| NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | Heinie Wagner | Shano Collins |
| New York Yankees | Bob Shawkey | Joe McCarthy |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Al Simmons (PHA) | .390 |
| OPS | Babe Ruth (NYY) | 1.195 |
| HR | Lou Gehrig (NYY) Babe Ruth (NYY) | 46 |
| RBI | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 185 |
| R | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 163 |
| H | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 211 |
| SB | Ben Chapman (NYY) | 61 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 31 |
| L | Pat Caraway (CWS) Sam Gray (SLB) | 24 |
| ERA | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 2.06 |
| K | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 175 |
| IP | Rube Walberg (PHA) | 291.0 |
| SV | Firpo Marberry (WSH) Wilcy Moore (BBOS) | 8 |
| WHIP | Lefty Grove (PHA) | 1.077 |
1 American LeagueTriple Crown pitching winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Chick Hafey (STL) | .349 |
| OPS | Rogers Hornsby (CHC) | .996 |
| HR | Chuck Klein (PHI) | 31 |
| RBI | Chuck Klein (PHI) | 121 |
| R | Chuck Klein (PHI) Bill Terry (NYG) | 121 |
| H | Lloyd Waner (PIT) | 214 |
| SB | Frankie Frisch (STL) | 28 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Jumbo Elliott (PHI) Bill Hallahan (STL) Heinie Meine (PIT) | 19 |
| L | Si Johnson (CIN) | 19 |
| ERA | Bill Walker (NYG) | 2.26 |
| K | Bill Hallahan (STL) | 159 |
| IP | Heinie Meine (PIT) | 284.0 |
| SV | Jack Quinn (BRO) | 13 |
| WHIP | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 1.121 |
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Frankie Frisch (STL) | Lefty Grove (PHA) |
| The Sporting NewsAwards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[12] | Chuck Klein (PHI) | Lou Gehrig (NYY) |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs[13] | 84 | −6.7% | 1,086,422 | −25.8% | 14,109 |
| New York Yankees[14] | 94 | 9.3% | 912,437 | −22.0% | 11,850 |
| New York Giants[15] | 87 | 0.0% | 812,163 | −6.5% | 10,412 |
| Brooklyn Robins[16] | 79 | −8.1% | 753,133 | −31.4% | 9,910 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[17] | 107 | 4.9% | 627,464 | −13.1% | 8,366 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[18] | 101 | 9.8% | 608,535 | 19.7% | 7,802 |
| Boston Braves[19] | 64 | −8.6% | 515,005 | 10.8% | 6,603 |
| Washington Senators[20] | 92 | −2.1% | 492,657 | −19.8% | 6,236 |
| Cleveland Indians[21] | 78 | −3.7% | 483,027 | −8.6% | 6,356 |
| Detroit Tigers[22] | 61 | −18.7% | 434,056 | −33.2% | 5,637 |
| Chicago White Sox[23] | 56 | −9.7% | 403,550 | −0.6% | 5,241 |
| Boston Red Sox[24] | 62 | 19.2% | 350,975 | −21.0% | 4,387 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[25] | 66 | 26.9% | 284,849 | −4.7% | 3,748 |
| Cincinnati Reds[26] | 58 | −1.7% | 263,316 | −31.9% | 3,420 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[27] | 75 | −6.3% | 260,392 | −27.2% | 3,338 |
| St. Louis Browns[28] | 63 | −1.6% | 179,126 | 17.8% | 2,326 |
Across 80 homes games, theBoston Red Sox played all 15 of their Sunday games at theBoston Braves home field ofBraves Field (the remaining 65 home games were played atFenway Park).[29][30] This was the last of three consecutive seasons playing all Sunday games at Braves Field and 3rd of four consecutive season playing some games at Braves Field.
This was the last of 31 consecutive seasons that theCleveland Indians played at their inaugural field,League Park (they would play full seasons at the Park in1934 and1935, while1932, and1936 to1946 saw home games split withCleveland Stadium.
