# 1941 Major League Baseball season

The 1941 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1941. The regular season ended on September 28, with the Brooklyn Dodgers 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 38th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 5 on October 6. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to one, capturing their ninth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1939. This was the first Subway Series World Series to feature the Dodgers (the previous five featured the New York Giants). Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Cincinnati Reds from the 1940 season.
The ninth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 8 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, home of the Detroit Tigers. The American League won, 7–5.
In addition to a five-game World Series between New York City teams, highlights of the season included Ted Williams batting .406, and Joe DiMaggio having a 56-game hitting streak; it has been called the "best baseball season ever".

## Schedule

The 1941 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.
American League Opening Day took place on April 14 with a game between the New York Yankees and Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place on the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since 1939 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on September 28 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend since the previous season. The World Series took place between October 1 and October 6.

## 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 | League Park | 22,500 | Roger Peckinpaugh |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium* | 78,811* | Roger Peckinpaugh |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Briggs Stadium | 58,000 | Del Baker |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 71,699 | 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 | Fred Haney |
| 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 | National League Park | 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 | Bill Terry |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,000 | Doc Prothro |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 33,537 | 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 | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 51‍–‍26 | 50‍–‍27 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 17 | 47‍–‍30 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | 77 | .500 | 24 | 38‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 42‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40‍–‍37 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40‍–‍37 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 64 | 90 | .416 | 37 | 36‍–‍41 | 28‍–‍49 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 100 | 54 | .649 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 48‍–‍29 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 97 | 56 | .634 | 2½ | 53‍–‍24 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 66 | .571 | 12 | 45‍–‍34 | 43‍–‍32 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 73 | .526 | 19 | 45‍–‍32 | 36‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 74 | 79 | .484 | 25½ | 38‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 70 | 84 | .455 | 30 | 38‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Boston Braves | 62 | 92 | .403 | 38 | 32‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 43 | 111 | .279 | 57 | 23‍–‍52 | 20‍–‍59 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Chicago Cubs | Gabby Hartnett | Jimmie Wilson |
| Cleveland Indians | Ossie Vitt | Roger Peckinpaugh |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| St. Louis Browns | Fred Haney | Luke Sewell |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ted Williams (BRS) | .406 |
| OPS | Ted Williams (BRS) | 1.287 |
| HR | Ted Williams (BRS) | 37 |
| RBI | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 125 |
| R | Ted Williams (BRS) | 135 |
| H | Cecil Travis (WSH) | 218 |
| SB | George Case (WSH) | 33 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Bob Feller (CLE) | 25 |
| L | Bobo Newsom (DET) | 20 |
| ERA | Thornton Lee (CWS) | 2.37 |
| K | Bob Feller (CLE) | 260 |
| IP | Bob Feller (CLE) | 343.0 |
| SV | Johnny Murphy (NYY) | 15 |
| WHIP | Thornton Lee (CWS) | 1.165 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Pete Reiser (BKN) | .343 |
| OPS | Pete Reiser (BKN) | .964 |
| HR | Dolph Camilli (BKN) | 34 |
| RBI | Dolph Camilli (BKN) | 120 |
| R | Pete Reiser (BKN) | 117 |
| H | Stan Hack (CHC) | 186 |
| SB | Danny Murtaugh (PHP) | 18 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Kirby Higbe (BKN) Whit Wyatt (BKN) | 22 |
| L | Rip Sewell (PIT) | 17 |
| ERA | Elmer Riddle (CIN) | 2.24 |
| K | Johnny Vander Meer (CIN) | 202 |
| IP | Bucky Walters (CIN) | 305.0 |
| SV | Jumbo Brown (NYG) | 8 |
| WHIP | Whit Wyatt (BKN) | 1.058 |

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Dolph Camilli (BKN) | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) |

### Other awards

The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Dolph Camilli (BKN) | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) |
| Player of the Year | — | Ted Williams (BRS) |
| Manager of the Year | Billy Southworth (SLC) | — |
| Executive of the Year | — | Ed Barrow (NYY) |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 100 | 13.6% | 1,214,910 | 24.5% | 15,379 |
| New York Yankees | 101 | 14.8% | 964,722 | −2.5% | 12,368 |
| New York Giants | 74 | 2.8% | 763,098 | 2.0% | 9,783 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | −15.7% | 745,948 | −17.4% | 9,688 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 2.4% | 718,497 | 0.3% | 9,331 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | −16.7% | 684,915 | −38.4% | 8,895 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | −6.1% | 677,077 | 2.5% | 8,571 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | −12.0% | 643,513 | −24.3% | 8,146 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 97 | 15.5% | 633,645 | 95.5% | 8,021 |
| Chicago Cubs | 70 | −6.7% | 545,159 | 1.9% | 7,080 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 64 | 18.5% | 528,894 | 22.4% | 6,869 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 3.8% | 482,241 | −5.1% | 6,183 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 9.4% | 415,663 | 9.0% | 5,329 |
| Boston Braves | 62 | −4.6% | 263,680 | 9.1% | 3,469 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 43 | −14.0% | 231,401 | 11.7% | 3,045 |
| St. Louis Browns | 70 | 4.5% | 176,240 | −26.4% | 2,231 |