The 1942 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1942. The regular season ended on September 27, with the St. Louis Cardinals 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 39th 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 in . Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the season.
The 10th All-Star Game was played on July 6 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York, home of the New York Giants. The American League won, 3–1.
In the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a record of 104–50, but finished two games behind the Cardinals; the Dodgers tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs, who had a record of 104–49, for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason.
The Philadelphia Athletics set a record for the fewest runs batted in during a season, with only 354.
The St. Louis Browns nearly moved to Los Angeles, California for the start of the 1942 season. During the 1941 Winter Meetings in Chicago, Illinois, a vote was scheduled for the morning of December 8, and was expected to be approved. However, due to the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan the previous day (and subsequent entry of the United States into World War II), when it came time to vote, all teams (including the Browns) unanimously voted against the move. The team would eventually leave for Baltimore, Maryland in where they remain today as the Baltimore Orioles, while Los Angeles would eventually get a major league team in when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn, New York.
Schedule
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 the season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.
Opening Day, April 16, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27 and featured ten teams. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 5.
Rule changes The 1942 season saw the following rule changes: Any player drafted for World War II would be regarded as voluntarily retired, though placed on a separate list. Regarding doubleheaders: It was made official that both St. Louis teams could schedule doubleheaders after the third Sunday home game (as opposed to the other fourteen teams, who must wait until after the fourth home Sunday game). Regularly scheduled games could not be pushed back to the final series of the season for the purpose of causing a doubleheader. If the postponement of a contest requires transfer between cities, a game cannot be called off less than one hour before the game’s scheduled start time. In the American League, a rule that was previously implemented for the season, which limited a defending champion team from trading with other American League teams, except through waivers, was repealed. The number of night games allowed per team was increased from 7 to 14 (with the Washington Senators allowed 21).
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 Park50,000Cleveland IndiansCleveland, OhioCleveland Stadium78,811League Park*22,500*Detroit TigersDetroit, MichiganBriggs Stadium58,000New York YankeesNew York, New YorkYankee Stadium70,000Philadelphia AthleticsPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaShibe Park33,000St. Louis BrownsSt. Louis, MissouriSportsman's Park34,023Washington SenatorsWashington, D.C.Griffith Stadium32,000Boston BravesBoston, MassachusettsBraves Field37,746Brooklyn DodgersNew York, New YorkEbbets Field35,000Chicago CubsChicago, IllinoisWrigley Field38,396Cincinnati RedsCincinnati, OhioCrosley Field29,401New York GiantsNew York, New YorkPolo Grounds56,000Philadelphia PhilsPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaShibe Park33,000Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaForbes Field33,467St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis, MissouriSportsman's Park34,023
Standings
American League
National League
Tie games 9 tie games (2 in AL, 7 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
American League Cleveland Indians, 2 Detroit Tigers, 2
National League Boston Braves, 2 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1 Chicago Cubs, 1 Cincinnati Reds, 2 New York Giants, 2 Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 St. Louis Cardinals, 2
Postseason The postseason began on September 30 and ended on October 5 with the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the New York Yankees in the 1942 World Series in five games.
Bracket
Managerial changes Off-season Team Former Manager New ManagerCleveland IndiansRoger PeckinpaughLou BoudreauNew York GiantsBill TerryMel OttPhiladelphia PhilsDoc ProthroHans Lobert
League leaders American League
+ Hitting leadersStat PlayerTotal 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 League Triple Crown batting winner
+ Pitching leadersStat PlayerTotal 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
National League
+ Hitting leadersStat PlayerTotal 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
+ Pitching leadersStat PlayerTotal 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
Milestones Batters Paul Waner (BSN): Became the seventh member of the 3,000-hit club with a single in the fifth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 19.
Awards and honors Regular season Baseball Writers' Association of America AwardsBBWAA AwardNational LeagueAmerican LeagueMost Valuable Player Mort Cooper (STL) Joe Gordon (NYY)
Other awards The Sporting News Awards Award National League American League Most Valuable Player Mort Cooper (STL) Joe Gordon (NYY) Player of the Year — Ted Williams (BOS) Manager of the Year Billy Southworth (STL) — Executive of the Year Branch Rickey (STL) —
Baseball Hall of Fame
Rogers Hornsby
Home field attendance Team nameWinsHome attendanceBrooklyn Dodgers1044.0%1,037,765 −14.6%13,136New York Yankees1032.0%922,011 −4.4%11,974New York Giants8514.9%779,6212.2%9,869Boston Red Sox9310.7%730,3401.6%9,485Chicago Cubs68 −2.9%590,9728.4%7,577Detroit Tigers73 −2.7%580,087 −15.3%7,534St. Louis Cardinals1069.3%553,552 −12.6%7,097Cleveland Indians750.0%459,447 −38.4%5,743Pittsburgh Pirates66 −18.5%448,897 −6.9%5,830Cincinnati Reds76 −13.6%427,031 −33.6%5,546Chicago White Sox66 −14.3%425,734 −37.1%6,082Philadelphia Athletics55 −14.1%423,487 −19.9%5,572Washington Senators62 −11.4%403,493 −2.9%5,240Boston Braves59 −4.8%285,3328.2%4,019St. Louis Browns8217.1%255,61745.0%3,320Philadelphia Phils42 −2.3%230,183 −0.5%3,111
Venues Over 80 home games, the Cleveland Indians played 46 games at Cleveland Stadium and 34 games at League Park. All Thursday home games took place at League Park. This would be the 8th of 12 seasons since that saw the Indians play at both venues.
Following the reversion of the Boston Bees name to Boston Braves the previous season, National League Park's name was also reverted, to Braves Field.
Retired numbers The Cincinnati Reds re-entered Willard Hershberger's No. 5 into circulation, only two 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 honor Johnny Bench in .
See also 1942 in baseball (Events, Movies, Births, Deaths)
References
External links 1942 Major League Schedule at Baseball Reference