| 1940 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:Hank Greenberg (DET) NL:Frank McCormick (CIN) |
| AL champions | Detroit Tigers |
| AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
| NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| NL runners-up | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| Runners-up | Detroit Tigers |
| MLB seasons | |
The1940 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1940. The regular season ended on September 29, with theCincinnati Reds andDetroit Tigers as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the37th World Series on October 2 and ended with Game 7 on October 8. The Reds defeated the Tigers, four games to three, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in1919. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theNew York Yankees from the1939 season.
Theeighth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 9 atSportsman's Park inSt. Louis,Missouri, hosted by theSt. Louis Cardinals. TheNational League won, 4–0.
The 1940 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 16, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the1936 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 29, which also saw all sixteen teams play, the first since the1938 season. This was the first time since1934 that all sixteen teams played their first and last games on the same days. TheWorld Series took place between October 2 and October 8.
The 1940 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 90 | 64 | .584 | — | 50–29 | 40–35 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 1 | 51–30 | 38–35 |
| New York Yankees | 88 | 66 | .571 | 2 | 52–24 | 36–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 8 | 45–34 | 37–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 8 | 41–36 | 41–36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 67 | 87 | .435 | 23 | 37–39 | 30–48 |
| Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | .416 | 26 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 100 | .351 | 36 | 29–42 | 25–58 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 100 | 53 | .654 | — | 55–21 | 45–32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 88 | 65 | .575 | 12 | 41–37 | 47–28 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 84 | 69 | .549 | 16 | 41–36 | 43–33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 76 | .506 | 22½ | 40–34 | 38–42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 25½ | 40–37 | 35–42 |
| New York Giants | 72 | 80 | .474 | 27½ | 33–43 | 39–37 |
| Boston Bees | 65 | 87 | .428 | 34½ | 35–40 | 30–47 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 50 | 103 | .327 | 50 | 24–55 | 26–48 |
8 tie games (3 in AL, 5 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on October 2 and ended on October 8 with theCincinnati Reds defeating theDetroit Tigers in the1940 World Series in seven games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Detroit Tigers | 3 | ||
| NL | Cincinnati Reds | 4 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Athletics | Earle Mack | Connie Mack |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Pie Traynor | Frankie Frisch |
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | Ray Blades | Mike González |
| Mike González | Billy Southworth |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | .352 |
| OPS | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 1.103 |
| HR | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 41 |
| RBI | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 150 |
| R | Ted Williams (BOS) | 134 |
| H | Doc Cramer (BOS) Barney McCosky (DET) Rip Radcliff (SLB) | 200 |
| SB | George Case (WSH) | 35 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Bob Feller1 (CLE) | 27 |
| L | George Caster (PHA) Dutch Leonard (WSH) | 19 |
| ERA | Bob Feller1 (CLE) | 2.61 |
| K | Bob Feller1 (CLE) | 261 |
| IP | Bob Feller (CLE) | 320.1 |
| SV | Al Benton (DET) | 17 |
| WHIP | Bob Feller (CLE) | 1.133 |
1 American LeagueTriple Crown pitching winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Debs Garms (PIT) | .355 |
| OPS | Johnny Mize (STL) | 1.039 |
| HR | Johnny Mize (STL) | 43 |
| RBI | Johnny Mize (STL) | 137 |
| R | Arky Vaughan (PIT) | 113 |
| H | Stan Hack (CHC) Frank McCormick (CIN) | 191 |
| SB | Lonny Frey (CIN) | 22 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 22 |
| L | Hugh Mulcahy (PHI) | 22 |
| ERA | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 2.48 |
| K | Kirby Higbe (PHI) | 137 |
| IP | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 305.0 |
| SV | Joe Beggs (CIN) Jumbo Brown (NYG) Mace Brown (PIT) | 7 |
| WHIP | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 1.092 |
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Frank McCormick (CIN) | Hank Greenberg (DET) |
| The Sporting NewsAwards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[10] | Frank McCormick (CIN) | Hank Greenberg (DET) |
| Player of the Year[11] | — | Bob Feller (CLE) |
| Manager of the Year[12] | Bill McKechnie (CIN) | — |
| Executive of the Year[13] | — | Walter Briggs Sr. (DET) |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers[14] | 90 | 11.1% | 1,112,693 | 33.1% | 14,085 |
| New York Yankees[15] | 88 | −17.0% | 988,975 | 15.0% | 13,013 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[16] | 88 | 4.8% | 975,978 | 2.1% | 12,049 |
| Cleveland Indians[17] | 89 | 2.3% | 902,576 | 60.1% | 11,007 |
| Cincinnati Reds[18] | 100 | 3.1% | 850,180 | −13.4% | 11,041 |
| New York Giants[19] | 72 | −6.5% | 747,852 | 6.5% | 9,840 |
| Boston Red Sox[20] | 82 | −7.9% | 716,234 | 25.0% | 9,066 |
| Chicago White Sox[21] | 82 | −3.5% | 660,336 | 11.1% | 8,466 |
| Chicago Cubs[22] | 75 | −10.7% | 534,878 | −26.4% | 6,946 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[23] | 78 | 14.7% | 507,934 | 34.8% | 6,772 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[24] | 54 | −1.8% | 432,145 | 9.4% | 6,087 |
| Washington Senators[25] | 64 | −1.5% | 381,241 | 12.4% | 4,951 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[26] | 84 | −8.7% | 324,078 | −19.0% | 4,209 |
| Boston Bees[27] | 65 | 3.2% | 241,616 | −15.5% | 3,222 |
| St. Louis Browns[28] | 67 | 55.8% | 239,591 | 119.5% | 3,112 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[29] | 50 | 11.1% | 207,177 | −25.5% | 2,622 |
Over 82 home games, theCleveland Indians played 49 games at Cleveland Stadium and 33 games at League Park.[30] All Sunday home games took place at Cleveland Stadium. This would be the 6th of 12 seasons since1932 that saw the Indians play at both venues.
