# 1938 Major League Baseball season

The 1938 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1938. The regular season ended on October 2, with the Chicago Cubs 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 35th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 4 on October 9. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees swept the Cubs in four games, capturing their seventh championship in franchise history, and their third in a four-World Series run, becoming the first team to win three consecutive World Series.
The sixth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 6 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Cincinnati Reds. The National League won, 4–1.

## Schedule

The 1938 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 18 with four teams playing, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since 1932 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on October 2 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend since the previous season. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 9.

## 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 | Ossie Vitt |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium* | 78,811* | Ossie Vitt |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Briggs Stadium | 58,000 | Mickey Cochrane |
| 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 | Gabby Street |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Oscar Melillo |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 32,000 | Bucky Harris |
| National League | Boston Bees | Boston, Massachusetts | National League Park | 41,700 | Casey Stengel |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 35,000 | Burleigh Grimes |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 38,396 | Charlie Grimm |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 38,396 | Gabby Hartnett |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,401 | Bill McKechnie |
| 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 | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,000 | Jimmie Wilson |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,000 | Hans Lobert |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 40,000 | Pie Traynor |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Frankie Frisch |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,023 | Mike González |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 99 | 53 | .651 | — | 55‍–‍22 | 44‍–‍31 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 61 | .591 | 9½ | 52‍–‍23 | 36‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 66 | .566 | 13 | 46‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 16 | 48‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 76 | .497 | 23½ | 44‍–‍33 | 31‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 65 | 83 | .439 | 32 | 33‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 97 | .362 | 44 | 31‍–‍43 | 24‍–‍54 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | 99 | .349 | 46 | 28‍–‍47 | 25‍–‍52 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 89 | 63 | .586 | — | 44‍–‍33 | 45‍–‍30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 64 | .573 | 2 | 44‍–‍33 | 42‍–‍31 |
| New York Giants | 83 | 67 | .553 | 5 | 43‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 68 | .547 | 6 | 43‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍34 |
| Boston Bees | 77 | 75 | .507 | 12 | 45‍–‍30 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | 80 | .470 | 17½ | 36‍–‍41 | 35‍–‍39 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 69 | 80 | .463 | 18½ | 31‍–‍41 | 38‍–‍39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 105 | .300 | 43 | 26‍–‍48 | 19‍–‍57 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | Chicago Cubs | 0 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Bees | Bill McKechnie | Casey Stengel |
| Cincinnati Reds | Bobby Wallace | Bill McKechnie |
| Cleveland Indians | Steve O'Neill | Ossie Vitt |
| Detroit Tigers | Cy Perkins | Mickey Cochrane |
| Philadelphia Athletics | Earle Mack | Connie Mack |
| St. Louis Browns | Jim Bottomley | Gabby Street |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Chicago Cubs | Charlie Grimm | Gabby Hartnett |
| Detroit Tigers | Mickey Cochrane | Del Baker |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Jimmie Wilson | Hans Lobert |
| St. Louis Browns | Gabby Street | Oscar Melillo |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Frankie Frisch | Mike González |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Jimmie Foxx (BRS) | .349 |
| OPS | Jimmie Foxx (BRS) | 1.166 |
| HR | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 58 |
| RBI | Jimmie Foxx (BRS) | 175 |
| R | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 143 |
| H | Joe Vosmik (BRS) | 201 |
| SB | Frankie Crosetti (NYY) | 27 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Red Ruffing (NYY) | 21 |
| L | George Caster (PHA) | 20 |
| ERA | Lefty Grove (BRS) | 3.08 |
| K | Bob Feller (CLE) | 240 |
| IP | Bobo Newsom (SLB) | 329.2 |
| SV | Johnny Murphy (NYY) | 11 |
| WHIP | Dutch Leonard (WSH) | 1.227 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Ernie Lombardi (CIN) | .342 |
| OPS | Johnny Mize (SLC) | 1.036 |
| HR | Mel Ott (NYG) | 36 |
| RBI | Joe Medwick (SLC) | 122 |
| R | Mel Ott (NYG) | 116 |
| H | Frank McCormick (CIN) | 237 |
| SB | Stan Hack (CHC) | 16 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Bill Lee (CHC) | 22 |
| L | Hugh Mulcahy (PHP) | 20 |
| ERA | Bill Lee (CHC) | 2.66 |
| K | Clay Bryant (CHC) | 135 |
| IP | Paul Derringer (CIN) | 307.0 |
| SV | Dick Coffman (NYG) | 12 |
| WHIP | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 1.140 |

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Ernie Lombardi (CIN) | Jimmie Foxx (BRS) |

### Other awards

The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Ernie Lombardi (CIN) | Jimmie Foxx (BRS) |
| Player of the Year | Johnny Vander Meer (CIN) | — |
| Manager of the Year | — | Joe McCarthy (NYY) |
| Executive of the Year | Warren Giles (CIN) | — |

### Baseball Hall of Fame

* Grover Cleveland Alexander
* Alexander Cartwright (pioneer contributor)
* Henry Chadwick (pioneer contributor)

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Yankees | 99 | −2.9% | 970,916 | −2.7% | 12,290 |
| Chicago Cubs | 89 | −4.3% | 951,640 | 6.3% | 12,359 |
| New York Giants | 83 | −12.6% | 799,633 | −13.7% | 10,954 |
| Detroit Tigers | 84 | −5.6% | 799,557 | −25.4% | 10,121 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 46.4% | 706,756 | 71.9% | 9,179 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 69 | 11.3% | 663,087 | 37.4% | 8,961 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 3.6% | 652,006 | 15.4% | 8,579 |
| Boston Red Sox | 88 | 10.0% | 646,459 | 15.5% | 8,619 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 0.0% | 641,033 | 39.5% | 8,218 |
| Washington Senators | 75 | 2.7% | 522,694 | 31.4% | 6,701 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 53 | −1.9% | 385,357 | −10.5% | 5,070 |
| Boston Bees | 77 | −2.5% | 341,149 | −11.5% | 4,549 |
| Chicago White Sox | 65 | −24.4% | 338,278 | −42.6% | 4,634 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | −12.3% | 291,418 | −32.4% | 3,598 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | −26.2% | 166,111 | −21.9% | 2,215 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 19.6% | 130,417 | 5.9% | 1,694 |