# 1938 Chicago Cubs season

The 1938 Chicago Cubs season was the 67th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 63rd in the National League and the 23rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished first in the National League with a record of 89–63. The team was swept four games to none by the New York Yankees in the World Series.
The team is known for the season of pitcher Dizzy Dean. While pitching for the NL in the 1937 All-Star Game, Dean suffered a big toe fracture. Coming back too soon from the injury, Dean changed his pitching motion to avoid landing too hard on his sore toe enough to affect his mechanics. As a result, he hurt his arm, losing his great fastball. By 1938, Dean's arm was largely gone. Cubs scout Clarence "Pants" Rowland was tasked with the unenviable job of obeying owner Philip K. Wrigley's direct order to buy a washed-up Dean's contract at any cost. Rowland signed the ragged righty for $185,000, one of the most expensive loss-leader contracts in baseball history. Dean still helped the Cubs win the 1938 pennant.
On July 20, Wrigley named 37-year-old Gabby Hartnett as the team's player-manager, replacing Charlie Grimm. When Hartnett took over, the Cubs were in third place, six games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates who were led by Pie Traynor. By September 27, with one week left in the season, the Cubs had battled back to within a game and a half game of the Pirates in the National League standings as the two teams met for a crucial three-game series. Dean pitched the opening game of the series and with his ailing arm, relied more on his experience and grit to defeat the Pirates by a score of 2 to 1. Dean would later call it the greatest outing of his career. The Cubs cut the Pirates' lead to a half game and set the stage for one of baseball's most memorable moments.
On September 28, the two teams met for the second game of the series, where Hartnett experienced the highlight of his career. With darkness descending on the lightless Wrigley Field and the score tied at 5 runs apiece, the umpires ruled that the ninth inning would be the last to be played. The entire game would have to be replayed the following day if the score remained tied. Hartnett came to bat with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. With a count of 0 balls and 2 strikes, Hartnett connected on a Mace Brown pitch, launching the ball into the darkness, before it eventually landed in the left-center field bleachers. The stadium erupted into pandemonium as players and fans stormed the field to escort Hartnett around the bases. Hartnett's walk-off home run became immortalized as the Homer in the Gloamin'. The Cubs were now in first place, culminating a 19–3–1 record in September, and the pennant would be clinched three days later.
It would be 50 years before lights were installed at Wrigley Field.

## Regular season
### Season standings

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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1938 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 11–9 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 |
| Brooklyn | 10–12 | — | 9–11–1 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 15–7 | 9–11 | 9–12–1 |
| Chicago | 12–10 | 11–9–1 | — | 11–11 | 12–10 | 18–4 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 |
| Cincinnati | 9–11 | 13–9 | 11–11 | — | 12–9 | 14–7 | 10–12 | 13–9–1 |
| New York | 14–8 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 9–12 | — | 16–5 | 9–13–1 | 11–9–1 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 7–15 | 4–18 | 7–14 | 5–16 | — | 8–12–1 | 6–16 |
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 11–9 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 12–8–1 | — | 15–7 |
| St. Louis | 9–13–1 | 12–9–1 | 9–13–1 | 9–13–1 | 9–11–1 | 16–6 | 7–15 | — |

### Schedule

1938 Chicago Cubs Game Log :
April
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1
April 19
@Reds8–7 Grimm (1–0)McKechnie (0–1) Logan (1) 34,148 1–0 :

## 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 | 88 | 299 | 82 | .274 | 10 | 59 |
| 1B | Ripper Collins | 143 | 490 | 131 | .267 | 13 | 61 |
| 2B | Billy Herman | 152 | 624 | 173 | .277 | 1 | 56 |
| SS | Billy Jurges | 137 | 465 | 114 | .245 | 1 | 47 |
| 3B | Stan Hack | 152 | 609 | 195 | .320 | 4 | 67 |
| OF | Carl Reynolds | 125 | 497 | 150 | .302 | 3 | 67 |
| OF | Augie Galan | 110 | 395 | 113 | .286 | 6 | 69 |
| OF | Frank Demaree | 129 | 476 | 130 | .273 | 8 | 62 |

#### 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 |
| Phil Cavarretta | 92 | 268 | 64 | .239 | 1 | 28 |
| Ken O'Dea | 86 | 247 | 65 | .263 | 3 | 33 |
| Joe Marty | 76 | 235 | 57 | .243 | 7 | 35 |
| Tony Lazzeri | 54 | 120 | 32 | .267 | 5 | 23 |
| Bob Garbark | 23 | 54 | 14 | .259 | 0 | 5 |
| Coaker Triplett | 12 | 36 | 9 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Asbell | 17 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 3 |
| Steve Mesner | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Mattick | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 | 44 | 291.0 | 22 | 9 | 2.66 | 121 |
| Clay Bryant | 44 | 270.1 | 19 | 11 | 3.10 | 135 |
| Larry French | 43 | 201.1 | 10 | 19 | 3.80 | 83 |
| Tex Carleton | 33 | 167.2 | 10 | 9 | 5.42 | 80 |
| Dizzy Dean | 13 | 74.2 | 7 | 1 | 1.81 | 22 |
| Kirby Higbe | 2 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Charlie Root | 44 | 160.2 | 8 | 7 | 2.86 | 70 |
| Vance Page | 13 | 68.0 | 5 | 4 | 3.84 | 18 |
| Al Epperly | 9 | 27.0 | 2 | 0 | 3.67 | 10 |

#### 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 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3.34 | 29 |
| Bob Logan | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.78 | 10 |
| Newt Kimball | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |

## 1938 World Series
### Game 1

October 5, 1938 at Wrigley Field (Chicago) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| Chicago (N) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| WP: Red Ruffing (1–0) LP: Bill Lee (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 6, 1938 at Wrigley Field (Chicago) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| Chicago (N) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
| WP: Lefty Gomez (1–0) LP: Dizzy Dean (0–1) Sv: Johnny Murphy (1) Home runs: Away: Frankie Crosetti (1), Joe DiMaggio (1) Home: None |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 8, 1938 at Yankee Stadium (New York City) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | x | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| WP: Monte Pearson (1–0) LP: Clay Bryant (0–1) Home runs: Away: Joe Marty (1) Home: Joe Gordon (1), Bill Dickey (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 9, 1938 at Yankee Stadium (New York City) :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | x | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| WP: Red Ruffing (2–0) LP: Bill Lee (0–2) Home runs: Away: Ken O'Dea (1) Home: Tommy Henrich (1) |||||||||||||

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Truck Hannah |
| A1 | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Fresco Thompson |
| B | Moline Plowboys | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Mike Gazella |
| B | Portsmouth Cubs | Piedmont League | Dick Luckey |
| C | Helena Seaporters | Cotton States League | Riggs Stephenson |
| C | Hot Springs Bathers | Cotton States League | Spike Hunter |
| C | Ponca City Angels | Western Association | Goldie Holt |
| D | Greeneville Burley Cubs | Appalachian League | Sam Alexander |
| D | Bisbee Bees | Arizona–Texas League | Charlie Mogli |
| D | Eau Claire Bears | Northern League | Ed Garrity |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Ponca City, Greeneville