1940 Major League Baseball season


The 1940 Major League Baseball season saw many stars have great years, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series against the Detroit Tigers and the following players won MVP in their respective divisions, Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers and Frank McCormick of the Cincinnati Reds. The season started on April 16 and was carried out until October 8, 1940.

Awards and honors

1940 NL MVP and 9x All-Star

Statistical leaders

1 American League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Season Overview

The 1940 MLB season was dominated by stars such as Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, and Frank McCormick. Bob Feller took home the American league pitching triple crown by having the most wins, strikeouts and lowest era in his respective league. Debs Garms led the entire league in batting average by hitting.355. Hank Greenberg and Johnny Mize led their respective leagues in homerun's and runs batted in by having and. The Sporting News manager of the year award went to Bill McKechnie for leading his team to the world series and winning it. The world series was won in game 7 by the Reds over the Tigers, due to a strong pitching performance by Paul Derringer.

1940 All Star Game

This was the 8th time the MLB all star game "mid summer classic" had been played. It was held in St. Louis Missouri at Sportsman's Park on July 9, 1940. The NL was led to victory by the lone home run of the game by Max West of the Braves and they won the game 4–1. The two starting pitchers of the game were Red Ruffing of the New York Yankees for the American League who took the loss for this game and Paul Derringer of the Cincinnati Reds for the National League who got the win in this game.
The starting rosters for the both the National League and the American League are shown below:
OrderPlayerTeamPosition
1Cecil TravisSenators3B
2Ted WilliamsRed SoxLF
3Charlie KellerYankeesRF
4Joe DiMaggioYankeesCF
5Jimmie FoxxRed Sox1B
6Luke ApplingWhite SoxSS
7Bill DickeyYankeesC
8Joe GordonYankees2B
9Red RuffingYankeesP

Negro League Standings

At this time there was also a separate professional baseball league composed primarily of African American and Latin baseball players which was called the Negro League. These leagues were created for minorities to play professional baseball because of the racism at the time that would not allow certain races to play in the Major Leagues.
The standings for the 1940 Negro League season are shown below:
TeamGWLWin %
Kansas City Monarchs19127.632
Birmingham Black Barons1899.500
Memphis Red Sox241212.500
Cleveland Bears201010.500
Chicago American Giants24915.375
Indianapolis Crawfords835.375

Playoffs

In a 7 game world series between the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds the Cincinnati Reds won in game 7. The 1940 World Series was a showdown between the best team in each league. The Reds were led by NL MVP Frank McCormick and the Tigers were led by AL MVP Hank Greenberg. This series game down to the very last game where Paul Derringer threw a complete game no earned runs, and the Reds won 2-1.

Managers

American League

National League

Events

April 16, 1940 – Bob Feller pitches his first career no hitter on opening day against the Chicago White Sox. This no hitter remains the only no hitter ever on opening day.
April 23, 1940 – Pee Wee Reese makes his Major League Baseball debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Pee Wee Reese later in his career goes into the Hall of Fame.
June 6, 1940 – Warren Spahn signs with the Boston Bees. Spahn later becomes a pitcher icon and wins the Cy young award.
July 9, 1940 – All star game held at Sportsman Park in St. Louis Missouri. The National League beat the American League 4–1 with help from Max West's home run.
September 24, 1940 – Jimmie Foxx "The Beast" hits his 500th career home run.
October 8, 1940 – The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Detroit Tigers in game 7 of the World Series. This is the second time the Reds have won the World Series, they were led by NL MVP Frank McCormick.