# 1936 Major League Baseball season

The 1936 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1936. The regular season ended on September 27, 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 33rd World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 6 on October 6. In the fourth iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Giants, four games to two, capturing their fifth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1932, and their first in a four-World Series run. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Detroit Tigers from the 1935 season.
The fourth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 7 at National League Park in Boston, Massachusetts, home of the Boston Bees. The National League had their first All-Star victory, winning 4–3.
The Boston Braves changed their nickname to "Bees" this season; they would revert to the Braves in 1941.

## Schedule

The 1936 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 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day, April 14, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the 1934 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27 and featured fourteen teams (the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns finished their season the day before). This was the first season which didn't feature all sixteen teams since the 1929 season. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 6.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 35,000 | Joe Cronin |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 52,000 | Jimmy Dykes |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park | 22,500 | Steve O'Neill |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 30,000 | Mickey Cochrane |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 30,000 | Del Baker |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 62,000 | Joe McCarthy |
| American League | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,000 | Connie Mack |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Rogers Hornsby |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 32,000 | Bucky Harris |
| National League | Boston Bees | Boston, Massachusetts | National League Park | 46,500 | Bill McKechnie |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 32,000 | Casey Stengel |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 40,000 | Charlie Grimm |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 26,060 | Chuck Dressen |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 56,000 | Bill Terry |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Baker Bowl | 18,800 | Jimmie Wilson |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 41,000 | Pie Traynor |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Frankie Frisch |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 102 | 51 | .667 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 46‍–‍30 |
| Detroit Tigers | 83 | 71 | .539 | 19½ | 44‍–‍33 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Washington Senators | 82 | 71 | .536 | 20 | 42‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍36 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 70 | .536 | 20 | 43‍–‍32 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 80 | 74 | .519 | 22½ | 49‍–‍30 | 31‍–‍44 |
| Boston Red Sox | 74 | 80 | .481 | 28½ | 47‍–‍29 | 27‍–‍51 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | 95 | .375 | 44½ | 31‍–‍43 | 26‍–‍52 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 100 | .346 | 49 | 31‍–‍46 | 22‍–‍54 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 92 | 62 | .597 | — | 52‍–‍26 | 40‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5 | 43‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍34 |
| Chicago Cubs | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5 | 50‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 70 | .545 | 8 | 46‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 80 | .481 | 18 | 42‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍46 |
| Boston Bees | 71 | 83 | .461 | 21 | 35‍–‍43 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 67 | 87 | .435 | 25 | 37‍–‍40 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38 | 30‍–‍48 | 24‍–‍52 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | New York Giants | 2 |

## Managers
### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Detroit Tigers | Mickey Cochrane | Del Baker |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Luke Appling (CWS) | .388 |
| OPS | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 1.174 |
| HR | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 49 |
| RBI | Hal Trosky (CLE) | 162 |
| R | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 167 |
| H | Earl Averill (CLE) | 232 |
| SB | Lyn Lary (SLB) | 37 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Tommy Bridges (DET) | 23 |
| L | Gordon Rhodes (PHA) | 20 |
| ERA | Lefty Grove (BRS) | 2.81 |
| K | Tommy Bridges (DET) | 175 |
| IP | Wes Ferrell (BRS) | 301.0 |
| SV | Pat Malone (NYY) | 9 |
| WHIP | Lefty Grove (BRS) | 1.192 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Paul Waner (PIT) | .373 |
| OPS | Mel Ott (NYG) | 1.036 |
| HR | Mel Ott (NYG) | 33 |
| RBI | Joe Medwick (SLC) | 138 |
| R | Arky Vaughan (PIT) | 122 |
| H | Joe Medwick (SLC) | 223 |
| SB | Pepper Martin (SLC) | 23 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 26 |
| L | Bucky Walters (PHP) | 21 |
| ERA | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 2.31 |
| K | Van Lingle Mungo (BKN) | 238 |
| IP | Dizzy Dean (SLC) | 315.0 |
| SV | Dizzy Dean (SLC) | 11 |
| WHIP | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 1.059 |

## Milestones

The New York Yankees set a Major League record for the most runs batted in during a season, with 995.

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | Lou Gehrig (NYY) |

### Other awards

The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | Lou Gehrig (NYY) |
| Player of the Year | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | — |
| Manager of the Year | — | Joe McCarthy (NYY) |
| Executive of the Year | Branch Rickey (STL) | — |

### Baseball Hall of Fame

* Ty Cobb
* Babe Ruth
* Honus Wagner
* Christy Mathewson
* Walter Johnson

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Yankees | 102 | 14.6% | 976,913 | 48.6% | 12,687 |
| Detroit Tigers | 83 | −10.8% | 875,948 | −15.4% | 11,376 |
| New York Giants | 92 | 1.1% | 837,952 | 11.9% | 10,743 |
| Chicago Cubs | 87 | −13.0% | 699,370 | 1.0% | 9,083 |
| Boston Red Sox | 74 | −5.1% | 626,895 | 12.2% | 8,141 |
| Cleveland Indians | 80 | −2.4% | 500,391 | 25.8% | 6,178 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 67 | −4.3% | 489,618 | 4.1% | 6,198 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 8.8% | 466,345 | 4.0% | 6,136 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | −9.4% | 448,078 | −11.5% | 5,819 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 9.5% | 440,810 | −6.3% | 5,877 |
| Washington Senators | 82 | 22.4% | 379,525 | 48.8% | 4,929 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | −2.3% | 372,524 | 5.6% | 4,902 |
| Boston Bees | 71 | 86.8% | 340,585 | 46.3% | 4,311 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | −8.6% | 285,173 | 22.3% | 3,704 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 54 | −15.6% | 249,219 | 21.3% | 3,195 |
| St. Louis Browns | 57 | −12.3% | 93,267 | 15.3% | 1,211 |

## Events

* July 16 – The Cincinnati Reds – Brooklyn Dodgers game is cancelled due to extreme heat.
* July 30 – The Boston Red Sox are the first Major League team to travel by aircraft to an away game, when they travel from St. Louis to play Chicago.