1940 Major League Baseball season

The 1940 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 16 through October 8, 1940. Both the American League (AL) and National League (NL) had eight teams, with each team playing a 154-game schedule. The Cincinnati Reds won the World Series over the Detroit Tigers in seven games. Hank Greenberg of the Tigers and Frank McCormick of the Reds won the Most Valuable Player Award in the AL and NL, respectively.

This article is about the 1940 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1940 in baseball.
1940 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 16 – October 8, 1940
Number of games154
Number of teams16
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Hank Greenberg (DET)
NL: Frank McCormick (CIN)
AL championsDetroit Tigers
  AL runners-upCleveland Indians
NL championsCincinnati Reds
  NL runners-upBrooklyn Dodgers
World Series
ChampionsCincinnati Reds
  Runners-upDetroit Tigers

Awards and honors
Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP
Frank McCormick 1940 NL MVP and 9x All-Star

Statistical leaders
 American LeagueNational League
TypeNameStatNameStat
AVGJoe DiMaggio NYY.352Debs Garms PIT.355
HRHank Greenberg DET41Johnny Mize SLC43
RBIHank Greenberg DET150Johnny Mize SLC137
WinsBob Feller1 CLE27Bucky Walters CIN22
ERABob Feller1 CLE2.61Bucky Walters CIN2.48
SOBob Feller1 CLE261Kirby Higbe PHP137
SVAl Benton DET17Joe Beggs CIN
Jumbo Brown NYG
Mace Brown PIT		7
SBGeorge Case WSH35Lonny Frey CIN22

1 American League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

Standings

Postseason

Bracket

  World Series
       
  AL Detroit Tigers 3
  NL Cincinnati Reds 4

Season overview

The 1940 MLB season was dominated by stars such as Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, and Frank McCormick. Bob Feller took home the American league pitching triple crown by having the most wins, strikeouts and lowest era in his respective league. Debs Garms led the entire league in batting average by hitting .355. Hank Greenberg and Johnny Mize led their respective leagues in homerun's and runs batted in by having (41,150) and (43,137). The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award went to Bill McKechnie for leading his team to the World Series and winning it. The World Series was won in Game 7 by the Reds over the Tigers, due to a strong pitching performance by Paul Derringer.

1940 All Star Game

This was the 8th time the MLB all star game "mid summer classic" had been played. It was held in St. Louis Missouri at Sportsman's Park on July 9, 1940. The NL was led to victory by the lone home run of the game by Max West of the Braves and they won the game 4–1. The two starting pitchers of the game were Red Ruffing of the New York Yankees for the American League who took the loss for this game and Paul Derringer of the Cincinnati Reds for the National League who got the win in this game.

The starting rosters for the both the National League and the American League are shown below:

American League Starting Lineup
Order Player Team Position
1 Cecil Travis Senators 3B
2 Ted Williams Red Sox LF
3 Charlie Keller Yankees RF
4 Joe DiMaggio Yankees CF
5 Jimmie Foxx Red Sox 1B
6 Luke Appling White Sox SS
7 Bill Dickey Yankees C
8 Joe Gordon Yankees 2B
9 Red Ruffing Yankees P
National League Starting Lineup
Order Player Team Position
1 Arky Vaughan Pirates SS
2 Billy Herman Cubs 2B
3 Max West Braves RF
4 Johnny Mize Cardinals 1B
5 Ernie Lombardi Reds C
6 Joe Medwick Dodgers LF
7 Cookie Lavagetto Dodgers 3B
8 Terry Moore Cardinals CF
9 Paul Derringer Reds P

Negro leagues standings

At this time there was also a separate professional baseball league composed primarily of African American and Latin baseball players which was called the Negro leagues. These leagues were created for minorities to play professional baseball because of the racism at the time that would not allow certain races to play in the Major Leagues.

The standings for the 1940 Negro leagues season are shown below:

Negro American League final standings
Negro American League
ClubWinsLossesWin %  GB
Kansas City Monarchs 28 7 .800
Memphis Red Sox 12 4 .750
St. Louis–New Orleans Stars 3 2 .600
Chicago American Giants 11 11 .500
Birmingham Black Barons 9 11 .450
Indianapolis Crawfords 3 5 .375
Cleveland Bears 6 16 .273

Negro National League final standings
Negro National League
ClubWinsLossesWin %  GB
Washington Homestead Grays 42 23 .646
Baltimore Elite Giants 54 30 .643
Newark Eagles 32 22 .593
New York Cubans 16 21 .432
Philadelphia Stars 30 44 .405
New York Black Yankees 9 23 .281

Playoffs

In a 7 game world series between the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds the Cincinnati Reds won in game 7. The 1940 World Series was a showdown between the best team in each league. The Reds were led by NL MVP Frank McCormick and the Tigers were led by AL MVP Hank Greenberg. This series game down to the last game where Paul Derringer threw a complete game no earned runs, and the Reds won 2-1.

Managers

American League
Team Manager Comments
Boston Red Sox Joe Cronin
Chicago White Sox Jimmy Dykes
Cleveland Indians Ossie Vitt
Detroit Tigers Del Baker
New York Yankees Joe McCarthy
Philadelphia Athletics Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns Fred Haney
Washington Senators Bucky Harris

National League
Team Manager Comments
Boston Braves Casey Stengel
Brooklyn Dodgers Leo Durocher
Chicago Cubs Gabby Hartnett
Cincinnati Reds Bill McKechnie
New York Giants Bill Terry
Philadelphia Phillies Doc Prothro
Pittsburgh Pirates Frankie Frisch
St. Louis Cardinals Ray Blades, Mike González and Billy Southworth

Home Field Attendance
Team Name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per Game
Detroit Tigers[1] 90 11.1% 1,112,693 33.1% 14,085
New York Yankees[2] 88 -17.0% 988,975 15.0% 13,013
Brooklyn Dodgers[3] 88 4.8% 975,978 2.1% 12,049
Cleveland Indians[4] 89 2.3% 902,576 60.1% 11,007
Cincinnati Reds[5] 100 3.1% 850,180 -13.4% 11,041
New York Giants[6] 72 -6.5% 747,852 6.5% 9,840
Boston Red Sox[7] 82 -7.9% 716,234 25.0% 9,066
Chicago White Sox[8] 82 -3.5% 660,336 11.1% 8,466
Chicago Cubs[9] 75 -10.7% 534,878 -26.4% 6,946
Pittsburgh Pirates[10] 78 14.7% 507,934 34.8% 6,772
Philadelphia Athletics[11] 54 -1.8% 432,145 9.4% 6,087
Washington Senators[12] 64 -1.5% 381,241 12.4% 4,951
St. Louis Cardinals[13] 84 -8.7% 324,078 -19.0% 4,209
Boston Bees[14] 65 3.2% 241,616 -15.5% 3,222
St. Louis Browns[15] 67 55.8% 239,591 119.5% 3,112
Philadelphia Phillies[16] 50 11.1% 207,177 -25.5% 2,622

Events

April 16, 1940 – Bob Feller pitches his first career no hitter on opening day against the Chicago White Sox. This no hitter remains the only no hitter ever on opening day.

April 23, 1940 – Pee Wee Reese makes his Major League Baseball debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Pee Wee Reese later in his career goes into the Hall of Fame.

June 6, 1940 – Warren Spahn signs with the Boston Bees. Spahn later becomes a pitcher icon and wins the Cy young award.

July 9, 1940 – All star game held at Sportsman Park in St. Louis Missouri. The National League beat the American League 4–1 with help from Max West's home run.

September 24, 1940 – Jimmie Foxx "The Beast" hits his 500th career home run.

October 8, 1940 – The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Detroit Tigers in game 7 of the World Series. This is the second time the Reds have won the World Series, they were led by NL MVP Frank McCormick.

References
  1. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  2. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  3. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  4. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  5. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  6. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  7. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  8. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  9. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  10. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  11. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  12. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  13. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  14. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  15. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  16. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
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