| 1942 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:Joe Gordon (NYY) NL:Mort Cooper (STL) |
| AL champions | New York Yankees |
| AL runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
| NL champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
| NL runners-up | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| World Series | |
| Champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Runners-up | New York Yankees |
| MLB seasons | |
The1942 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1942. The regular season ended on September 27, with theSt. Louis Cardinals andNew York Yankees as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the39th World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 5 on October 5. In the third iteration of this World Series matchup, the Cardinals defeated the Yankees, four games to one, capturing their fourth championship in franchise history, since their previous in1934. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theNew York Yankees from the1941 season.
Thetenth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 6 at thePolo Grounds inNew York,New York, home of theNew York Giants. TheAmerican League won, 3–1.
In the National League, theBrooklyn Dodgers had a record of 104–50, but finished twogames behind the Cardinals; the Dodgers tied the1909 Chicago Cubs, who had a record of 104–49, for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason.[1]
ThePhiladelphia Athletics set a record for the fewestruns batted in during a season, with only 354.[2]
TheSt. Louis Browns nearly moved toLos Angeles,California for the start of the 1942 season. During the 1941Winter Meetings inChicago,Illinois, a vote was scheduled for the morning of December 8, and was expected to be approved. However, due to theattack on Pearl Harbor byJapan the previous day (and subsequententry of the United States intoWorld War II), when it came time to vote, all teams (including the Browns) unanimously voted against the move.[3][4] The team would eventually leave forBaltimore,Maryland in1954 where they remain today as theBaltimore Orioles, while Los Angeles would eventually get a major league team in1958 when theDodgers moved fromBrooklyn,New York.
The 1942 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 the1940 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27 and featured ten teams. TheWorld Series took place between September 30 and October 5.
The 1942 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 103 | 51 | .669 | — | 58–19 | 45–32 |
| Boston Red Sox | 93 | 59 | .612 | 9 | 53–24 | 40–35 |
| St. Louis Browns | 82 | 69 | .543 | 19½ | 40–37 | 42–32 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 79 | .487 | 28 | 39–39 | 36–40 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 30 | 43–34 | 30–47 |
| Chicago White Sox | 66 | 82 | .446 | 34 | 35–35 | 31–47 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 89 | .411 | 39½ | 35–42 | 27–47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | 99 | .357 | 48 | 25–51 | 30–48 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 106 | 48 | .688 | — | 60–17 | 46–31 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 104 | 50 | .675 | 2 | 57–22 | 47–28 |
| New York Giants | 85 | 67 | .559 | 20 | 47–31 | 38–36 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 76 | .500 | 29 | 38–39 | 38–37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 81 | .449 | 36½ | 41–34 | 25–47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 68 | 86 | .442 | 38 | 36–41 | 32–45 |
| Boston Braves | 59 | 89 | .399 | 44 | 33–36 | 26–53 |
| Philadelphia Phils | 42 | 109 | .278 | 62½ | 23–51 | 19–58 |
9 tie games (2 in AL, 7 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on September 30 and ended on October 5 with theSt. Louis Cardinals defeating theNew York Yankees in the1942 World Series in five games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | New York Yankees | 1 | ||
| NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | Roger Peckinpaugh | Lou Boudreau |
| New York Giants | Bill Terry | Mel Ott |
| Philadelphia Phils | Doc Prothro | Hans Lobert |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ted Williams1 (BOS) | .356 |
| OPS | Ted Williams (BOS) | 1.147 |
| HR | Ted Williams1 (BOS) | 36 |
| RBI | Ted Williams1 (BOS) | 137 |
| R | Ted Williams (BOS) | 141 |
| H | Johnny Pesky (BOS) | 205 |
| SB | George Case (WSH) | 44 |
1 American LeagueTriple Crown batting winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Tex Hughson (BOS) | 22 |
| L | Eddie Smith (CWS) | 20 |
| ERA | Ted Lyons (CWS) | 2.10 |
| K | Tex Hughson (BOS) Bobo Newsom (WSH) | 113 |
| IP | Tex Hughson (BOS) | 281.0 |
| SV | Johnny Murphy (NYY) | 11 |
| WHIP | Tiny Bonham (NYY) | 0.987 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ernie Lombardi (BSN) | .330 |
| OPS | Mel Ott (NYG) | .912 |
| HR | Mel Ott (NYG) | 30 |
| RBI | Johnny Mize (NYG) | 110 |
| R | Mel Ott (NYG) | 118 |
| H | Enos Slaughter (STL) | 188 |
| SB | Pete Reiser (BRO) | 20 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Mort Cooper (STL) | 22 |
| L | Jim Tobin (BSN) | 21 |
| ERA | Mort Cooper (STL) | 1.78 |
| K | Johnny Vander Meer (CIN) | 186 |
| IP | Jim Tobin (BSN) | 287.2 |
| SV | Hugh Casey (BRO) | 13 |
| WHIP | Mort Cooper (STL) | 0.987 |
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Mort Cooper (STL) | Joe Gordon (NYY) |
| The Sporting NewsAwards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[14] | Mort Cooper (STL) | Joe Gordon (NYY) |
| Player of the Year[15] | — | Ted Williams (BOS) |
| Manager of the Year[16] | Billy Southworth (STL) | — |
| Executive of the Year[17] | Branch Rickey (STL) | — |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers[18] | 104 | 4.0% | 1,037,765 | −14.6% | 13,136 |
| New York Yankees[19] | 103 | 2.0% | 922,011 | −4.4% | 11,974 |
| New York Giants[20] | 85 | 14.9% | 779,621 | 2.2% | 9,869 |
| Boston Red Sox[21] | 93 | 10.7% | 730,340 | 1.6% | 9,485 |
| Chicago Cubs[22] | 68 | −2.9% | 590,972 | 8.4% | 7,577 |
| Detroit Tigers[23] | 73 | −2.7% | 580,087 | −15.3% | 7,534 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[24] | 106 | 9.3% | 553,552 | −12.6% | 7,097 |
| Cleveland Indians[25] | 75 | 0.0% | 459,447 | −38.4% | 5,743 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[26] | 66 | −18.5% | 448,897 | −6.9% | 5,830 |
| Cincinnati Reds[27] | 76 | −13.6% | 427,031 | −33.6% | 5,546 |
| Chicago White Sox[28] | 66 | −14.3% | 425,734 | −37.1% | 6,082 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[29] | 55 | −14.1% | 423,487 | −19.9% | 5,572 |
| Washington Senators[30] | 62 | −11.4% | 403,493 | −2.9% | 5,240 |
| Boston Braves[31] | 59 | −4.8% | 285,332 | 8.2% | 4,019 |
| St. Louis Browns[32] | 82 | 17.1% | 255,617 | 45.0% | 3,320 |
| Philadelphia Phils[33] | 42 | −2.3% | 230,183 | −0.5% | 3,111 |
Over 80 home games, theCleveland Indians played 46 games at Cleveland Stadium and 34 games at League Park.[34] All Thursday home games took place at League Park. This would be the 8th of 12 seasons since1932 that saw the Indians play at both venues.
Following the reversion of the Boston Bees name toBoston Braves theprevious season, National League Park's name was also reverted, toBraves Field.
TheCincinnati Reds re-enteredWillard Hershberger's No. 5 into circulation, onlytwo years after his number was retired. This was the first number to be de-retired by any team in MLB. His number would later be re-retired to honorJohnny Bench in1984.
