# 1937 Major League Baseball season

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 Major League Baseball 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 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 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 1935. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 10.

## 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 | 52,000 | Jimmy Dykes |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park | 22,500 | Steve O'Neill |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium* | 78,811* | Steve O'Neill |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 36,000 | Mickey Cochrane |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 36,000 | Del Baker |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Navin Field | 36,000 | Cy Perkins |
| 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 | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,000 | Earle Mack |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Rogers Hornsby |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Jim Bottomley |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 32,000 | Bucky Harris |
| National League | Boston Bees | Boston, Massachusetts | National League Park | 41,700 | Bill McKechnie |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 35,000 | Burleigh Grimes |
| 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 | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 26,060 | Bobby Wallace |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 51,856 | 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 | 52 | .662 | — | 57‍–‍20 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 89 | 65 | .578 | 13 | 49‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 68 | .558 | 16 | 47‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 83 | 71 | .539 | 19 | 50‍–‍28 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Boston Red Sox | 80 | 72 | .526 | 21 | 44‍–‍29 | 36‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 73 | 80 | .477 | 28½ | 43‍–‍35 | 30‍–‍45 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 97 | .358 | 46½ | 27‍–‍50 | 27‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Browns | 46 | 108 | .299 | 56 | 25‍–‍51 | 21‍–‍57 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 95 | 57 | .625 | — | 50‍–‍25 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 61 | .604 | 3 | 46‍–‍32 | 47‍–‍29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 68 | .558 | 10 | 46‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 73 | .526 | 15 | 45‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Boston Bees | 79 | 73 | .520 | 16 | 43‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 62 | 91 | .405 | 33½ | 36‍–‍39 | 26‍–‍52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | .399 | 34½ | 29‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | 98 | .364 | 40 | 28‍–‍51 | 28‍–‍47 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | New York Giants | 1 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Casey Stengel | Burleigh Grimes |
| Detroit Tigers | Del Baker | Mickey Cochrane |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cincinnati Reds | Chuck Dressen | Bobby Wallace |
| Detroit Tigers | Mickey Cochrane | Del Baker |
| Detroit Tigers | Del Baker | Cy Perkins |
| Philadelphia Athletics | Connie Mack | Earle Mack |
| St. Louis Browns | Rogers Hornsby | Jim Bottomley |

## League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| 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 (BRS/WSH) Billy Werber (PHA) | 35 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Lefty Gomez$^1$ (NYY) | 21 |
| L | Harry Kelley (PHA) | 21 |
| ERA | Lefty Gomez$^1$ (NYY) | 2.33 |
| K | Lefty Gomez$^1$ (NYY) | 194 |
| IP | Wes Ferrell (WSH/BRS) | 281.0 |
| SV | Clint Brown (CWS) | 18 |
| WHIP | Monty Stratton (CWS) | 1.087 |
$^1$ American League Triple Crown pitching winner

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Joe Medwick$^2$ (SLC) | .374 |
| OPS | Joe Medwick (SLC) | 1.056 |
| HR | Joe Medwick$^2$ (SLC) Mel Ott (NYG) | 31 |
| RBI | Joe Medwick$^2$ (SLC) | 154 |
| R | Joe Medwick (SLC) | 111 |
| H | Joe Medwick (SLC) | 237 |
| SB | Augie Galan (CHC) | 23 |
$^2$ National League Triple Crown batting winner
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 22 |
| L | Wayne LaMaster (PHP) | 19 |
| ERA | Jim Turner (BSB) | 2.38 |
| K | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 159 |
| IP | Claude Passeau (PHP) | 292.1 |
| SV | Mace Brown (PIT) Cliff Melton (NYG) | 7 |
| WHIP | Jim Turner (BSB) | 1.091 |

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Joe Medwick (SLC) | Charlie Gehringer (DET) |

### Other awards

The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Joe Medwick (SLC) | Charlie Gehringer (DET) |
| Player of the Year | — | Johnny Allen (CLE) |
| Manager of the Year | Bill McKechnie (BSB) | — |
| 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 name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Detroit Tigers | 89 | 7.2% | 1,072,276 | 22.4% | 13,926 |
| New York Yankees | 102 | 0.0% | 998,148 | 2.2% | 12,635 |
| New York Giants | 95 | 3.3% | 926,887 | 10.6% | 12,358 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 6.9% | 895,020 | 28.0% | 11,475 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 6.2% | 589,245 | 33.7% | 7,653 |
| Cleveland Indians | 83 | 3.8% | 564,849 | 12.9% | 7,242 |
| Boston Red Sox | 80 | 8.1% | 559,659 | −10.7% | 7,563 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 62 | −7.5% | 482,481 | −1.5% | 6,348 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 2.4% | 459,679 | 23.4% | 5,893 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | −6.9% | 430,811 | −3.9% | 5,385 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 1.9% | 430,738 | 51.0% | 5,452 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | −24.3% | 411,221 | −11.8% | 5,140 |
| Washington Senators | 73 | −11.0% | 397,799 | 4.8% | 4,972 |
| Boston Bees | 79 | 11.3% | 385,339 | 13.1% | 5,070 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 13.0% | 212,790 | −14.6% | 2,876 |
| St. Louis Browns | 46 | −19.3% | 123,121 | 32.0% | 1,578 |