The season of 1931 provided a cakewalk for the Washington Senators, finishing a strong 16 games ahead of the Tigers and ending a 7-year drought. They had the lead by 13 1/2 games over Detroit and coasted the rest of the way. Charlie Root won 27 games and had an ERA of 2.84 to lead the way for the Senators. At the plate Washington was led by the league's MVP, Lou Gehrig, who batted .336 with 25 HRs and 113 RBIs. Dave Harris chipped in with 104 ribbies and scoring 109 times. George Uhle recorded 19 victories to help Root. The Detroit Tigers finished a distant second behind the bat of Chuck Klein, who led the AL in home runs with 31, and the junior circuit's Outstanding Pitcher award winner, Lefty Grove. Cleveland, who had sent Shoeless Joe Jackson packing to the Phillies in early June, finished in third place, a whopping 23 games behind the front running Senators. Paul Waner batted .342, third best in the AL, and Chick Hafey had 23 homers and drove in 104 runs to lead the Indians' attack.
The Cubs were leading the senior circuit by 3 1/2 games over the Giants as the schedule headed into September and clinched the NL title midway through the last week of the regular season. Babe Herman led the charge with 24 home runs and driving in 113 while Earl Averill led the majors in RBI with 115. Joe "Ducky" Medwick (.328-9-66) broke into the lineup and won the NL's Rookie of the Year award. Chicago was led on the mound by the NL's Outstanding Pitcher award winning Red Lucas, who won 21 games and had a 3.09 ERA. Mel Ott, Earl Combs and Hack Wilson helped provide the punch to the Giants' lineup and led New York to a second place finish, 5 games behind Chicago.
In the World Series, the Cubs and Senators split the two games in Griffith Park with Chicago winning 2 of 3 at Wrigley to send the series back to our nation's capital. A six-run outburst in the top of the fourth inning against Washington's Eppa Rixey, broke open game six as the Cubs went on to win the game, 9-4, and the World Series, 4 games to 2.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
Washington 102 52 .662 -- Chicago 94 60 .610 --
Detroit 86 68 .558 16 New York 89 65 .578 5
Cleveland 79 75 .513 23 Philadelphia 83 71 .539 11
New York 72 82 .468 30 Boston 80 74 .519 14
St.Louis 72 82 .468 30 Pittsburgh 78 76 .506 16
Boston 69 85 .448 33 Cincinnati 75 79 .487 19
Chicago 68 86 .442 34 St.Louis 59 95 .383 35
Philadelphia 68 86 .442 34 Brooklyn 58 96 .377 36
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
B.Terry-NY .380 E.Combs-NY .350
S.Fisher-PHI .349 H.Manush-PIT .347
P.Waner-CLE .342 C.Grimm-BOS .335
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
C.Klein-DET 31 M.Ott-NY 25
L.Gehrig-WAS 25 B.Herman-CHI 24
C.Hafey-CLE 23 H.Wilson-NY 24
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
L.Gehrig-WAS 113 E.Averill-CHI 115
C.Hafey-CLE 104 B.Herman-CHI 113
D.Harris-WAS 104 H.Wilson-NY 111
Runs Scored RS Runs Scored RS
L.Gehrig-WAS 132 B.Herman-CHI 115
D.Harris-WAS 109 E.Averill-CHI 110
P.Waner-CLE 105 B.Myer-CHI 110
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
G.Watkins-WAS 33 B.Chapman-PIT 44
C.Hafey-CLE 26 F.Frisch-PHI 37
J.Neun-STL 25 T.Lazzeri-BRO 37
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
L.Grove-DET 2.31 V.Mungo-CHI 2.61
D.Ulrich-DET 2.78 T.Carleton-PHI 3.05
C.Root-WAS 2.84 R.Lucas-CHI 3.09
Wins W Wins W
C.Root-WAS 27 E.Brandt-CHI 21
L.Grove-DET 25 R.Lucas-CHI 21
G.Uhle-WAS 19 S.Johnson-NY 20
Saves SV Saves SV
H.Kelley-WAS 18 A.Yeargin-CIN 11
E.Strelecki-PHI 14 A.Kellett-BRO 10
F.Heimach-CLE 11 J.Brillheart-BOS 9
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
L.Grove-DET 260 B.Hallahan-STL 174
R.Ruffing-BOS 178 B.Hadley-CIN 158
J.Allen-STL 153 C.Hubbell-CIN 137
1931 World Series
Game #1
Chicago (N) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 4 9 0
Washington 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 10 0
J.Shaute and M.Ruel, C.Beck (9)
C.Root, P.Murray (9) and B.Dickey
WP - J.Shaute (1-0)
LP - C.Root (0-1)
HR - None
Game #2
Chicago (N) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 6 0
Washington 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 x - 5 13 0
R.Lucas and M.Ruel
G.Uhle and B.Dickey
WP - G.Uhle (1-0)
LP - R.Lucas (0-1)
HR - None
Game #3
Washington 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 7 2
Chicago (N) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 x - 4 7 1
E.Rixey and B.Dickey
E.Brandt, L.Jacobus (8) and S.Davis
WP - L.Jacobus (1-0)
LP - E.Rixey (0-1)
HR - None
Game #4
Washington 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 - 4 9 1
Chicago (N) 0 5 0 3 0 2 0 0 x - 10 13 0
C.Root, P.Murray (6) and B.Dickey
J.Shaute and S.Davis
WP - J.Shaute (2-0)
LP - C.Root (0-2)
HR - CHI: B.Myer (1), B.Herman (1)
Game #5
Washington 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 - 6 15 2
Chicago (N) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 0
G.Uhle and B.Dickey
R.Lucas, E.Rommel (8) and S.Davis
WP - G.Uhle (2-0)
LP - R.Lucas (0-2)
HR - WAS: K.Davis (1), B.Dickey (1)
Game #6
Chicago (N) 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 - 9 18 1
Washington 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 - 4 6 1
E.Brandt, L.Jacobus (7) and S.Davis
E.Rixey, P.Murray (6), H.Kelley (9) and B.Dickey
WP - E.Brandt (1-0)
LP - E.Rixey (0-2)
HR - CHI: S.Davis (1), P.Crawford (1)
WAS: L.Gehrig (1), D.Harris (1)