Baseball Magazine, November 1939
BIG LEAGUE STATISTICAL WRAP-UP
Milestones Abound in ‘39
OFFICIAL 1939 STANDINGS
Code:
AMERICAN W L PCT GB
Boston (A) 99 55 .643 --
Detroit 89 65 .578 10.0
New York (A) 86 68 .558 13.0
Cleveland 79 75 .513 20.0
Chicago (A) 72 82 .468 27.0
Philadelphia (A) 72 82 .468 27.0
Washington 72 82 .468 27.0
St. Louis (A) 47 107 .305 52.0
NATIONAL W L PCT GB
St. Louis (N) 90 65 .581 --
Pittsburgh 89 66 .574 1.0
New York (N) 85 69 .552 4.5
Chicago (N) 76 78 .494 13.5
Brooklyn 75 79 .487 14.5
Cincinnati 71 83 .461 18.5
Boston (N) 69 85 .448 20.5
Philadelphia (N) 62 92 .403 27.5
The thrilling National League pennant race, which required a playoff game to settle, made up for a relatively unexciting American League cakewalk for the Red Sox. Looking back, the Red Sox’ superior record might well be the result of inferior competition, as no other AL team looked nearly as good as the top three teams in the senior circuit. Still, both leagues featured a number of outstanding performances by shining stars of the diamond that made the 1939 season one to remember.
The National League’s greatest offensive feat was performed by New York first baseman Buck Leonard, who won the Triple Crown for the second time in his illustrious career. Leonard hit .361, slugged 48 homers, and drove in 131 runs; he easily led the league in all three categories. Not surprisingly, Buck was crowned the NL’s Most Outstanding Batter, an award he has now won three consecutive times and seven times overall. Leonard is, without doubt, the most dangerous hitter in baseball today.
The World Champion Cardinals were led offensively by a trio of .300 hitters: first baseman Johnny Mize (.344), shortstop Charlie Gelbert (.337) and rookie outfielder Trey Martin (.310). Martin and Mize finished 1-2 in on base percentage, while Mize and powerful outfielder Willard Brown both slugged over .500. Brown crushed 44 homers and drove in 120 runs, both totals second only to Leonard.
Joining Leonard and Brown with more than a hundred RBI were Mize and the Pirates’ hard-hitting infielder Tony Cuccinello. Mize’s 29 home runs were third in the league, as power hitting seemed to decline throughout the major leagues.
Base thievery was down throughout the game, too. Only Gelbert (34) and Chicago’s Archie Graham (30) stole at least thirty bases, and both of these bandits are veterans who aren’t quite the speedsters they once were.
Six National League hurlers won at least 20 games, led by the Pirate duo of Red Lucas (27 wins) and Bob Logan (22). The Dean brothers of St. Louis each won 21 contests, while Mace Brown of the Dodgers and young Victor Starffin of the Giants hit 20 on the nose.
The Cubs’ Satchel Paige led the league in innings pitched (354) and was the only NL hurler to strike out at least 300 hitters (321). Paige placed second in ERA (2.14), trailing Hilton Smith of the Braves, who posted a sparkling 1.78 mark. It was Lucas, however, who copped the Most Outstanding Pitcher prize, his sixth such honor. Lucas also won his 300th game during the season, a feat that should cinch his eventual enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
The American League batting champion was also a first baseman named Buck who plies his trade in New York City. This time, it’s Buck O’Neil, who produced a sweet .371 average in his first full season in the big leagues. O’Neil, 28, was traded to the Yankees from Pittsburgh in May, and did nothing but hit upon his arrival in the Big Apple.
Finishing behind O’Neil on the American League list was the pride of Boston, Lou Gehrig. Lou supplemented his .342 batting mark with 25 homers, including the 500th of his career. At age 36, the Red Sox slugger is perhaps not the colossus he once was, but he proved he is still a dangerous man with a bat in his hands. And, he participated in the All-Star game for the fifteenth consecutive season; only his former teammate, Pat O’Farrell, has compiled a longer such streak.
The Yankees provided the junior circuit’s home run champ, too, as exciting young flychaser Joe DiMaggio deposited 40 balls over the fence. DiMaggio drove home 121 runs, second to the Tigers’ Hank Greenberg (130), and he scored 123 times himself, placing behind only the Tigers’ Willie Wells (125).
Wells and the Athletics’ Jimmie Foxx were the only two other American Leaguers to hit thirty home runs; each of them connected exactly 31 times. Greenberg, DiMaggio, Wells, Foxx, and the Red Sox duo of Gehrig and Josh Gibson comprise the AL 100-RBI fraternity.
Base stealing was even less common in the American League than in the National. Martin Dihigo of the Red Sox led the majors with 38 steals, the lowest total ever to lead the bigs, and no other AL player swiped as many as twenty. Gone are the days when daring baserunners like Pat O’Farrell, Tillie Shafer, and even recently retired Cool Papa Bell turned singles and walks into doubles with great regularity!
The Red Sox’ ace, Big Jim Weaver, won 29 games, struck out 202 batters, and posted a 2.30 ERA to win the Pitchers’ Triple Crown. That feat earned the 35-year-old veteran his second straight Most Outstanding Pitcher award. The Indians’ Johnny Broaca (25 wins), the Senators’ Jake Winters (192 strikeouts), and Winters’ teammate Dick Coffman (3.06 ERA) finished second to Weaver in the Triple Crown categories.
A host of American League pitchers won 20 or more games, including Weaver and Broaca; the Red Sox’ Ray Brown (22), the Tigers’ Marv Gudat (22), Schoolboy Rowe of the Tigers and Browns (21), Lon Warneke (20) and Gene Schott (20) of the Yankees, and Tony Frietas of the Athletics (21).
And, finally, we salute veteran slugger Mule Suttles, who became the all-time leader in doubles late in the 1939 season. Suttles, 39, was traded from the Browns to the Tigers in July, and it was as a Tiger that he stroked the 686th two-bagger of his career to pass Pat O’Farrell’s mark. The Mule kicked six more doubles during the season, giving him a total of 692.