The 1930 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1930. The regular season ended on September 28, with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 27th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 6 on October 8. The Athletics defeated the Cardinals, four games to two.
| 1930 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Number of games | 154 |
| Number of teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant Winners | |
| AL champions | Philadelphia Athletics |
| AL runners-up | Washington Senators |
| NL champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
| NL runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Philadelphia Athletics |
| Runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
Offense dominated this season. The National League batted .303, with six teams batting better than .300. The American League came in at .288, with three teams batting over .300.
Teams
Schedule
The 1930 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
American League Opening Day took place on April 14 with the Boston Red Sox and Washington Senators playing, while National League Opening Day took place the following day. The final day of the regular season was on September 28, which saw all sixteen teams play on the final day for the first time. The World Series took place between October 1 and October 8.
Standings
National League
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 62 | 0.597 | — | 53–24 | 39–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 90 | 64 | 0.584 | 2 | 51–26 | 39–38 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 67 | 0.565 | 5 | 46–31 | 41–36 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 86 | 68 | 0.558 | 6 | 49–28 | 37–40 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 80 | 74 | 0.519 | 12 | 42–35 | 38–39 |
| Boston Braves | 70 | 84 | 0.455 | 22 | 39–38 | 31–46 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 59 | 95 | 0.383 | 33 | 37–40 | 22–55 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 52 | 102 | 0.338 | 40 | 35–42 | 17–60 |
Postseason
Bracket
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Philadelphia Athletics | 4 | ||
| NL | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | ||
Managerial changes
Off-season
In-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | Joe McCarthy | Rogers Hornsby |
League leaders
American League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 28 |
| L | Milt Gaston (BRS) Jack Russell (BRS) | 20 |
| ERA | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 2.54 |
| K | Lefty Grove1 (PHA) | 209 |
| IP | Ted Lyons (CWS) | 297.2 |
| SV | Lefty Grove (PHA) | 9 |
1 American League Triple Crown pitching winner
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Ray Kremer (PIT) Pat Malone (CHC) | 20 |
| L | Larry French (PIT) Benny Frey (CIN) | 18 |
| ERA | Dazzy Vance (BKN) | 2.61 |
| K | Bill Hallahan (SLC) | 177 |
| IP | Ray Kremer (PIT) | 276.0 |
| SV | Herman Bell (SLC) | 8 |
Home field attendance
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs[1] | 90 | -8.2% | 1,463,624 | -1.5% | 18,527 |
| New York Yankees[2] | 86 | -2.3% | 1,169,230 | 21.8% | 15,385 |
| Brooklyn Robins[3] | 86 | 22.9% | 1,097,329 | 49.9% | 14,251 |
| New York Giants[4] | 87 | 3.6% | 868,714 | 0.0% | 11,282 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[5] | 102 | -1.9% | 721,663 | -14.0% | 9,496 |
| Detroit Tigers[6] | 75 | 7.1% | 649,450 | -25.3% | 8,326 |
| Washington Senators[7] | 94 | 32.4% | 614,474 | 72.8% | 7,980 |
| Cleveland Indians[8] | 81 | 0.0% | 528,657 | -1.4% | 6,866 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[9] | 92 | 17.9% | 508,501 | 27.2% | 6,604 |
| Boston Braves[10] | 70 | 25.0% | 464,835 | 24.8% | 6,037 |
| Boston Red Sox[11] | 52 | -10.3% | 444,045 | 12.5% | 5,843 |
| Chicago White Sox[12] | 62 | 5.1% | 406,123 | -4.8% | 5,207 |
| Cincinnati Reds[13] | 59 | -10.6% | 386,727 | 31.1% | 5,022 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[14] | 80 | -9.1% | 357,795 | -27.2% | 4,647 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[15] | 52 | -26.8% | 299,007 | 6.3% | 3,883 |
| St. Louis Browns[16] | 64 | -19.0% | 152,088 | -45.8% | 1,950 |
Events
- On consecutive days in July 1930, the Philadelphia Phillies managed to score 15 runs in a game but were losers in both games. On July 23, the Phillies lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 16–15, and on July 24, they lost to the Chicago Cubs 19–15.[17] The July 24 game still holds the record for the most runs scored in a game without a home run.[18]