The 1919 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1919. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 16th World Series, known for the infamous Black Sox Scandal, on October 1 and ended with Game 8 on October 9. The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago White Sox, five games to three.
| 1919 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Number of games | 140 |
| Number of teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant Winners | |
| AL champions | Chicago White Sox |
| AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
| NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| NL runners-up | New York Giants |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Cincinnati Reds |
| Runners-up | Chicago White Sox |
The Black Sox Scandal, for which the 1919 season is best remembered for, saw the Chicago White Sox throw (purposely lose) the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, 5–3, in order to illegally gain money from gambling. This scandal resulted in the dissolution of the National Baseball Commission and the creation of the office of the Commissioner of Baseball. The new commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned eight players from baseball for life.[1]
Teams
Schedule
The 1919 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This 140-game schedule format had been previously used in 1903. The 154-game schedule was re-instituted for the 1920 season.
The season began on April 19, when the Brooklyn Robins defeated the Boston Braves 5–2 at Braves Field in the first game of a doubleheader.[2] The regular season ended on September 29 with the New York Yankees defeating the Philadelphia Athletics 4–2 at Shibe Park.[3] The World Series would begin in Cincinnati on October 1, before concluding on October 9.
Standings
National League
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 96 | 44 | 0.686 | — | 51–19 | 45–25 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 53 | 0.621 | 9 | 46–23 | 41–30 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 65 | 0.536 | 21 | 40–31 | 35–34 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 71 | 68 | 0.511 | 24½ | 39–31 | 32–37 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 69 | 71 | 0.493 | 27 | 36–34 | 33–37 |
| Boston Braves | 57 | 82 | 0.410 | 38½ | 29–38 | 28–44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 54 | 83 | 0.394 | 40½ | 34–35 | 20–48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 47 | 90 | 0.343 | 47½ | 26–44 | 21–46 |
Postseason
Bracket
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Chicago White Sox | 3 | ||
| NL | Cincinnati Reds | 5 | ||
Managerial changes
Off-season changes
Only one team announced a new manager in the offseason:
| Date | Team | New manager | Replaced | Former job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31 | Chicago White Sox | Kid Gleason | Pants Rowland | Coach for the Chicago White Sox (1912–1914, 1916–1917) |
| January 30 | Cincinnati Reds | Pat Moran | Christy Mathewson & Heinie Groh | Won the 1915 World Series as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. |
| — | Philadelphia Phillies | Jack Coombs | Pat Moran | Pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Robins |
| — | St. Louis Cardinals | Branch Rickey | Jack Hendricks | General manager for the St. Louis Cardinals (1917–1918) |
In-season changes
One team replaced their manager during the season:
| Date | Team | New Manager | Replaced | Previous Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 8 | Philadelphia Phillies | Gavvy Cravath | Jack Coombs | Right fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies (became player-manager) |
| July 18 | Cleveland Indians | Tris Speaker | Lee Fohl | Center fielder for the Cleveland Indians (became player-manager) |
League leaders
American League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) | 29 |
| L | Harry Harper (WSH) | 21 |
| ERA | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 1.49 |
| K | Walter Johnson (WSH) | 147 |
| IP | Eddie Cicotte (CWS) Jim Shaw (WSH) | 306.2 |
| SV | Allen Russell (NYY/BRS) Jim Shaw (WSH) Bob Shawkey (NYY) | 5 |
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Jesse Barnes (NYG) | 25 |
| L | Lee Meadows (SLC/PHP) | 20 |
| ERA | Grover Cleveland Alexander (CHC) | 1.72 |
| K | Hippo Vaughn (CHC) | 141 |
| IP | Hippo Vaughn (CHC) | 306.2 |
| SV | Oscar Tuero (SLC) | 4 |
Home field attendance
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants[4] | 87 | 22.5% | 708,857 | 176.2% | 10,273 |
| Detroit Tigers[5] | 80 | 45.5% | 643,805 | 216.0% | 9,197 |
| Chicago White Sox[6] | 88 | 54.4% | 627,186 | 221.5% | 8,960 |
| New York Yankees[7] | 80 | 33.3% | 619,164 | 119.5% | 8,482 |
| Cleveland Indians[8] | 84 | 15.1% | 538,135 | 82.1% | 7,799 |
| Cincinnati Reds[9] | 96 | 41.2% | 532,501 | 226.7% | 7,607 |
| Chicago Cubs[10] | 75 | -10.7% | 424,430 | 25.8% | 5,978 |
| Boston Red Sox[11] | 66 | -12.0% | 417,291 | 67.2% | 6,323 |
| Brooklyn Robins[12] | 69 | 21.1% | 360,721 | 330.3% | 5,153 |
| St. Louis Browns[13] | 67 | 15.5% | 349,350 | 186.2% | 4,991 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[14] | 71 | 9.2% | 276,810 | 29.6% | 3,954 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[15] | 47 | -14.5% | 240,424 | 96.6% | 3,386 |
| Washington Senators[16] | 56 | -22.2% | 234,096 | 28.5% | 3,251 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[17] | 36 | -30.8% | 225,209 | 26.6% | 3,217 |
| Boston Braves[18] | 57 | 7.5% | 167,401 | 97.1% | 2,462 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[19] | 54 | 5.9% | 167,059 | 51.0% | 2,421 |
Significant events
- April 19 – Legislature is passed by future New York City mayor Jimmy Walker that allows teams in the state of New York to play baseball on Sundays. The New York Giants were the first team to take advantage of this change, losing 4–3 to the Philadelphia Phillies in front of 35,000 fans at the Polo Ground.[20]
- May 11 – Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hod Eller pitches a 6–0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals.[21]
- Walter Johnson retires 28 consecutive batters during a 12-inning scoreless tie against Jack Quinn and the New York Yankees. Future football immortal George Halas, batting leadoff for New York, goes 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.[22]
- May 20 – Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth hit his first career grand slam home run; the bomb comes against Dave Davenport of the St. Louis Browns in St. Louis. Boston wins 6–4.[23]
- August 11 – Cleveland Indians center fielder Tris Speaker ties the AL record for run scoring, crossing the plate five times in 15–9 win at New York.[24]
- July 1 – Going 5-for-5 in a 9–4 win over the Phillies, Brooklyn's Ed Konetchy gets his 10th straight hit, tying Jake Gettman's record set with Washington in 1897. Both will be topped by Walt Dropo in 1952.
- August 14 – Babe Ruth hits his 17th home run, the first of seven homers in 12 days, which will include his fourth grand slam, setting an AL record until 1959.[25]
- August 24 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell is hit by lightning during the ninth inning of his début for the tribe. He quickly recovered, reportedly saying "Give me that danged ball and turn me toward the plate", before pitching the final out of the game.[26]
- September 2 – The National Commission recommends a best-of-nine World Series, abandoning the traditional seven-game series. However, the change was reverted three years later, and the seven-game format has remained ever since.
- September 10 – Ray Caldwell, the pitcher hit by lightning just a couple of weeks before, throws a no hitter in the Cleveland Indians 3–0 victory over his former team, the New York Yankees.[27]
- September 16 – Dutch Ruether beats the New York Giants, 4–3, to clinch the Cincinnati Reds first NL pennant and their first pennant of any kind since their American Association days.[28]
- September 21 – In a period of rapidly played games, the Cubs beat the Braves 3–0 in 58 minutes of playing time.[29] It takes the Robins 55 minutes to beat the Reds 3–1,[30] with Slim Sallee throwing 65 pitches, managing to top Christy Mathewson's 69-pitch complete game.
- September 24:
- The Chicago White Sox's 6–5 win over the St. Louis Browns clinches the AL pennant; the final margin will be 3½ games over the Cleveland Indians.[31]
- The Brooklyn Robins defeat the Phillies twice on Fred Luderus Day in Philadelphia. The second game is the 525th in a row played by the Phillies first baseman, who is presented with a diamond stickpin and gold watch between the games to commemorate his endurance effort. He will end the season with a consecutive-game streak of 553.[32]
- Boston Red Sox pitcher Waite Hoyt throws nine perfect innings against the New York Yankees, but they score in the 13th in which he gives up 5 hits, ruining his perfect game, and losing the game 2–1.[33]
- September 27 – Babe Ruth hit his 29th home run and his first of the year in Washington, to become the first player to hit at least one home run in every AL park in the same season.[23]
- September 28 – The New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies set a record for the quickest nine-inning game in Major League history – 51 minutes for a Giants 6–1 victory at the Polo Grounds.[34]
References
External links
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