The 1937 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1937. The regular season ended on October 3, with the New York Giants and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 34th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 5 on October 10. In the fifth iteration of this World Series matchup (and a rematch of the previous year), the Yankees defeated the Giants, four games to one, capturing their sixth championship in franchise history, and their second in a four-World Series run. With this victory, the Yankees became the team with the most World Series victories, a feat that continues today.

The fifth All-Star Game was held on July 7 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., home of the Washington Senators. The American League won, 8–3.

Schedule

The 1937 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 the season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.

Opening Day, April 19, featured four teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on October 3 and featured all sixteen teams, the first since . The World Series took place between October 6 and October 10.

Rule changes The 1937 season saw the following rule changes: Regarding night games, the National and American Leagues allowed teams to play up to seven night games per season at home as long as the visiting team agreed. It was decided to make the baseball slightly "deader" (that is, less effective off the bat), following poor pitching performances and stats of the previous season. New baseballs created would now have "Official Major League Baseball" stamped, as opposed to either National or American Leagues (although both leagues would frequently use their own branded balls through the end of the 20th century).

Teams An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at LeagueTeamCityBallparkCapacityManagerBoston Red SoxBoston, MassachusettsFenway Park33,817Chicago White SoxChicago, IllinoisComiskey Park52,000Cleveland IndiansCleveland, OhioLeague Park22,500Cleveland Stadium*78,811*Detroit TigersDetroit, MichiganNavin Field36,000New York YankeesNew York, New YorkYankee Stadium71,699Philadelphia AthleticsPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaShibe Park33,000St. Louis BrownsSt. Louis, MissouriSportsman's Park34,023Washington SenatorsWashington, D.C.Griffith Stadium32,000Boston BeesBoston, MassachusettsNational League Park41,700Brooklyn DodgersNew York, New YorkEbbets Field35,000Chicago CubsChicago, IllinoisWrigley Field40,000Cincinnati RedsCincinnati, OhioCrosley Field26,060New York GiantsNew York, New YorkPolo Grounds51,856Philadelphia PhilliesPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaBaker Bowl18,800Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaForbes Field41,000St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis, MissouriSportsman's Park34,023

Standings

American League

National League

Tie games 13 tie games (9 in AL, 4 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.

American League Boston Red Sox, 2 Cleveland Indians, 2 Detroit Tigers, 1 New York Yankees, 3 Philadelphia Athletics, 3 St. Louis Browns, 2 Washington Senators, 5

National League Brooklyn Dodgers, 2 Cincinnati Reds, 1 Philadelphia Phillies, 2 St. Louis Cardinals, 3

Postseason The postseason began on October 6 and ended on October 10 with the New York Yankees defeating the New York Giants in the 1937 World Series in five games.

Bracket

Managerial changes Off-season Team Former Manager New ManagerBrooklyn Dodgers Casey Stengel Burleigh GrimesDetroit Tigers Del Baker Mickey Cochrane In-season Team Former Manager New ManagerCincinnati Reds Chuck Dressen Bobby WallaceDetroit Tigers Mickey Cochrane Del Baker Del Baker Cy PerkinsPhiladelphia Athletics Connie Mack Earle MackSt. Louis Browns Rogers Hornsby Jim Bottomley

League leaders Any team shown in indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

American League

+ Hitting leadersStat PlayerTotal AVG Charlie Gehringer (DET) .371 OPS Lou Gehrig (NYY) 1.116 HR Joe DiMaggio (NYY) 46 RBI Hank Greenberg (DET) 184 R Joe DiMaggio (NYY) 151 H Beau Bell (SLB) 218 SB Ben Chapman (BOS/)Billy Werber (PHA) 35

+ Pitching leadersStat PlayerTotal W Lefty Gomez1 (NYY) 21 L Harry Kelley (PHA) 21 ERA Lefty Gomez1 (NYY) 2.33 K Lefty Gomez1 (NYY) 194 IP Wes Ferrell (WSH/) 281.0 SV Clint Brown (CWS) 18 WHIP Monty Stratton (CWS) 1.087 1 American League Triple Crown pitching winner

National League

+ Hitting leadersStat PlayerTotal AVG Joe Medwick2 (STL) .374 OPS Joe Medwick (STL) 1.056 HR Joe Medwick2 (STL)Mel Ott (NYG) 31 RBI Joe Medwick2 (STL) 154 R Joe Medwick (STL) 111 H Joe Medwick (STL) 237 SB Augie Galan (CHC) 23 2 National League Triple Crown batting winner

+ Pitching leadersStat PlayerTotal W Carl Hubbell (NYG) 22 L Wayne LaMaster (PHI) 19 ERA Jim Turner (BSN) 2.38 K Carl Hubbell (NYG) 159 IP Claude Passeau (PHI) 292.1 SV Mace Brown (PIT)Cliff Melton (NYG) 7 WHIP Jim Turner (BSN) 1.091

Milestones Batters Cycles

Gee Walker (DET): Walker hit for his first cycle, the third in franchise history, and the fourth reverse cycle in major league history, on April 20 against the Cleveland Indians. Joe DiMaggio (NYY): DiMaggio hit for his first cycle and the seventh in franchise history, on July 9 against the Washington Senators. Lou Gehrig (NYY): Gehrig hit for his second cycle and the eighth in franchise history, on August 1 against the St. Louis Browns.

Pitchers No-hitters

Bill Dietrich (CWS): Dietrich threw his first career no-hitter and 10th no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the St. Louis Browns 8–0 on June 1. Dietrich walked two and struck out five.

Awards and honors Regular season Baseball Writers' Association of America AwardsBBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican LeagueMost Valuable Player Joe Medwick (STL) Charlie Gehringer (DET)

Other awards The Sporting News Awards Award National League American League Most Valuable Player Joe Medwick (STL) Charlie Gehringer (DET) Player of the Year — Johnny Allen (CLE) Manager of the Year Bill McKechnie (BSN) — Executive of the Year — Ed Barrow (NYY)

Baseball Hall of Fame

Nap Lajoie Tris Speaker Cy Young Connie Mack (manager) John McGraw (manager) Morgan Bulkeley (executive) Ban Johnson (executive) George Wright (executive/pioneer contributor)

Home field attendance Team nameWinsHome attendanceDetroit Tigers897.2%1,072,27622.4%13,926New York Yankees1020.0%998,1482.2%12,635New York Giants953.3%926,88710.6%12,358Chicago Cubs936.9%895,02028.0%11,475Chicago White Sox866.2%589,24533.7%7,653Cleveland Indians833.8%564,84912.9%7,242Boston Red Sox808.1%559,659 −10.7%7,563Brooklyn Dodgers62 −7.5%482,481 −1.5%6,348Pittsburgh Pirates862.4%459,67923.4%5,893St. Louis Cardinals81 −6.9%430,811 −3.9%5,385Philadelphia Athletics541.9%430,73851.0%5,452Cincinnati Reds56 −24.3%411,221 −11.8%5,140Washington Senators73 −11.0%397,7994.8%4,972Boston Bees7911.3%385,33913.1%5,070Philadelphia Phillies6113.0%212,790 −14.6%2,876St. Louis Browns46 −19.3%123,12132.0%1,578

Venues Over 78 home games, the Cleveland Indians played 63 games at League Park and 15 games at Cleveland Stadium. Only Sunday and Monday home games saw games played at Cleveland Stadium. This would be the 3rd of 12 seasons since that saw the Indians play at both venues.

See also 1937 in baseball (Events, Births, Deaths)

References

External links 1937 Major League Schedule at Baseball Reference