# 1942 Major League Baseball season

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 1934. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the 1941 season.
The tenth Major League Baseball 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.

## 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 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day, April 16, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the 1940 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.

## Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
| 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 | 50,000 | Jimmy Dykes |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium | 78,811 | Lou Boudreau |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park* | 22,500* | Lou Boudreau |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Briggs Stadium | 58,000 | Del Baker |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 70,000 | 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 | Luke Sewell |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 32,000 | Bucky Harris |
| National League | Boston Braves | Boston, Massachusetts | Braves Field | 37,746 | Casey Stengel |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 35,000 | Leo Durocher |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 38,396 | Jimmie Wilson |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,401 | Bill McKechnie |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 56,000 | Mel Ott |
| National League | Philadelphia Phils | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,000 | Hans Lobert |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 33,467 | Frankie Frisch |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Billy Southworth |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| 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 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| 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 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 1 |
| NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cleveland Indians | Roger Peckinpaugh | Lou Boudreau |
| New York Giants | Bill Terry | Mel Ott |
| Philadelphia Phils | Doc Prothro | Hans Lobert |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ted Williams$^1$ (BRS) | .356 |
| OPS | Ted Williams (BRS) | 1.147 |
| HR | Ted Williams$^1$ (BRS) | 36 |
| RBI | Ted Williams$^1$ (BRS) | 137 |
| R | Ted Williams (BRS) | 141 |
| H | Johnny Pesky (BRS) | 205 |
| SB | George Case (WSH) | 44 |
$^1$ American League Triple Crown batting winner
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Tex Hughson (BRS) | 22 |
| L | Eddie Smith (CWS) | 20 |
| ERA | Ted Lyons (CWS) | 2.10 |
| K | Tex Hughson (BRS) Bobo Newsom (WSH) | 113 |
| IP | Tex Hughson (BRS) | 281.0 |
| SV | Johnny Murphy (NYY) | 11 |
| WHIP | Tiny Bonham (NYY) | 0.987 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ernie Lombardi (BSB) | .330 |
| OPS | Mel Ott (NYG) | .912 |
| HR | Mel Ott (NYG) | 30 |
| RBI | Johnny Mize (NYG) | 110 |
| R | Mel Ott (NYG) | 118 |
| H | Enos Slaughter (SLC) | 188 |
| SB | Pete Reiser (BKN) | 20 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Mort Cooper (SLC) | 22 |
| L | Jim Tobin (BSB) | 21 |
| ERA | Mort Cooper (SLC) | 1.78 |
| K | Johnny Vander Meer (CIN) | 186 |
| IP | Jim Tobin (BSB) | 287.2 |
| SV | Hugh Casey (BKN) | 13 |
| WHIP | Mort Cooper (SLC) | 0.987 |

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Mort Cooper (SLC) | Joe Gordon (NYY) |

### Other awards

The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Mort Cooper (SLC) | Joe Gordon (NYY) |
| Player of the Year | — | Ted Williams (BRS) |
| Manager of the Year | Billy Southworth (SLC) | — |
| Executive of the Year | Branch Rickey (STL) | — |

### Baseball Hall of Fame

* Rogers Hornsby

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 104 | 4.0% | 1,037,765 | −14.6% | 13,136 |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 2.0% | 922,011 | −4.4% | 11,974 |
| New York Giants | 85 | 14.9% | 779,621 | 2.2% | 9,869 |
| Boston Red Sox | 93 | 10.7% | 730,340 | 1.6% | 9,485 |
| Chicago Cubs | 68 | −2.9% | 590,972 | 8.4% | 7,577 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | −2.7% | 580,087 | −15.3% | 7,534 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 106 | 9.3% | 553,552 | −12.6% | 7,097 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 0.0% | 459,447 | −38.4% | 5,743 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | −18.5% | 448,897 | −6.9% | 5,830 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | −13.6% | 427,031 | −33.6% | 5,546 |
| Chicago White Sox | 66 | −14.3% | 425,734 | −37.1% | 6,082 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | −14.1% | 423,487 | −19.9% | 5,572 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | −11.4% | 403,493 | −2.9% | 5,240 |
| Boston Braves | 59 | −4.8% | 285,332 | 8.2% | 4,019 |
| St. Louis Browns | 82 | 17.1% | 255,617 | 45.0% | 3,320 |
| Philadelphia Phils | 42 | −2.3% | 230,183 | −0.5% | 3,111 |

## 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 1984.