# 1939 Chicago Cubs season

The 1939 Chicago Cubs season was the 68th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 64th in the National League and the 24th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League with a record of 84–70.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 55‍–‍25 | 42‍–‍32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 61 | .601 | 4½ | 51‍–‍27 | 41‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 69 | .549 | 12½ | 51‍–‍27 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 44‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍36 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 74 | .510 | 18½ | 41‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 85 | .444 | 28½ | 35‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Boston Bees | 63 | 88 | .417 | 32½ | 37‍–‍35 | 26‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 106 | .298 | 50½ | 29‍–‍44 | 16‍–‍62 |

### Record vs. opponents

1939 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–11 | 13–8 | 9–12 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–2 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 17–4–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Chicago | 16–6 | 11–11–2 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 16–6 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 19–3 | 16–6 | 11–11–2 |
| New York | 11–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 11–11 | — | 14–7 | 11–11 | 9–12 |
| Philadelphia | 8–13 | 4–17–1 | 10–12 | 3–19 | 7–14 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 11–11–2 | 12–9 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Gabby Hartnett | 97 | 306 | 85 | .278 | 12 | 59 |
| 1B | Rip Russell | 143 | 542 | 148 | .273 | 9 | 79 |
| 2B | Billy Herman | 156 | 623 | 191 | .307 | 7 | 70 |
| SS | Dick Bartell | 105 | 336 | 80 | .238 | 3 | 34 |
| 3B | Stan Hack | 156 | 641 | 191 | .298 | 8 | 56 |
| OF | Augie Galan | 148 | 549 | 167 | .304 | 6 | 71 |
| OF | Jim Gleeson | 111 | 332 | 74 | .223 | 4 | 45 |
| OF | Hank Leiber | 112 | 365 | 113 | .310 | 24 | 88 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Carl Reynolds | 88 | 281 | 69 | .246 | 4 | 44 |
| Gus Mancuso | 80 | 251 | 58 | .231 | 2 | 17 |
| Bill Nicholson | 58 | 220 | 65 | .295 | 5 | 38 |
| Bobby Mattick | 51 | 178 | 51 | .287 | 0 | 23 |
| Joe Marty | 23 | 76 | 10 | .132 | 2 | 10 |
| Phil Cavarretta | 22 | 55 | 15 | .273 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Mesner | 17 | 43 | 12 | .279 | 0 | 6 |
| Bob Garbark | 24 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Bill Lee | 37 | 282.1 | 19 | 15 | 3.44 | 105 |
| Claude Passeau | 34 | 221.0 | 13 | 9 | 3.05 | 108 |
| Dizzy Dean | 19 | 96.1 | 6 | 4 | 3.36 | 27 |
| Clay Bryant | 4 | 31.1 | 2 | 1 | 5.74 | 9 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Larry French | 36 | 194.0 | 15 | 8 | 3.29 | 98 |
| Charlie Root | 35 | 167.1 | 8 | 8 | 4.03 | 65 |
| Vance Page | 27 | 139.1 | 7 | 7 | 3.88 | 43 |
| Earl Whitehill | 24 | 89.1 | 4 | 7 | 5.14 | 42 |
| Gene Lillard | 20 | 55.0 | 3 | 5 | 6.55 | 31 |
| Kirby Higbe | 9 | 22.2 | 2 | 1 | 3.18 | 16 |
| Ray Harrell | 4 | 17.1 | 0 | 2 | 8.31 | 5 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Jack Russell | 39 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3.67 | 32 |
| Vern Olsen | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Milwaukee Brewers | American Association | Mickey Heath |
| AA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Truck Hannah |
| B | Bloomington Bloomers | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Merv Connelly |
| B | Moline Plowboys | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Mike Gazella |
| C | Hot Springs Bathers | Cotton States League | Spike Hunter |
| C | St. Joseph Angels | Western Association | Goldie Holt |
| D | Bisbee Bees | Arizona–Texas League | Carl Dittmar |
| D | Hopkinsville Hoppers | KITTY League | Harry Griswold |
| D | Eau Claire Bears | Northern League | Ivy Griffin |
| D | Sioux Falls Canaries | Western League | Ralph Brandon |