1940: Baseball

The World Series.

The National League made a clean sweep of the major feature events of the 1940 baseball season. The Cincinnati Reds, after winning their second straight National League pennant, were victorious in the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, American League champions, achieving the world championship in a 7-game series, 4 games to 3.

More money was paid by the public for World Series tickets this year than ever before in baseball history. The gate receipts, $1,221,817.84, eclipsed the former high of $1,207,864.00, established in 1926, the year the St. Louis Cardinals won a 7-game world championship from the New York Yankees. To this year's gate receipts was added the sum of $100,000 paid for the radio broadcasting privileges, the combined sum of $1,321,817.84 eclipsing the previous all-time high of $1,304,399.00, the combined gate and radio receipts of the 1930 series between the two New York clubs.

World Series time this year — October 2 to 8, 1940 — found the country at large in the throes of an eventful Presidential election campaign, and gravely concerned about the European war. Total attendance at the series, 281,842, nevertheless was only about 21,000 below the all-time attendance record of 302,924, set in 1936, and for the time being, the election and the war had to share the front page headlines with the National Game.

The World Series spectators at the 4 Cincinnati games and the 3 in Detroit, as well as the hundreds of thousands in the radio audiences throughout the United States and the West Indies, found their own heroes to crown in the daily tide of battle — Cincinnati's great pitching duo of Paul Derringer and Bucky Walters, the gallant Bucky Newsome, Detroit's ace, who won 2 games and made a mighty bid to win a third in the final decisive battle; Jimmy Wilson, the 40-year-old Cincinnati coach who tackled the arduous position of catcher in the emergency and recorded the only stolen base of the series as a striking touch to his all-around performances; Jimmy Ripple, the Reds' World Series batting star after spending most of the playing season in the International League, a sub-major circuit; Greenberg, York, Bridges, and more.

The 1940 World Series touched the all-time record book in other departments than financial. Bill McKechnie, manager of the Reds, became the first manager in 100 years of baseball to win the world championship in 2 different cities. His 1025 Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the American League champion Washingtons.

McKechnie also acted as manager of the National League teams in the two All-Star games of 1940, making him the first manager ever to achieve triumphs in 3 major league inter-league events in one year.

Bill Klem, the 66-year-old dean of all active umpires, renowned from Coast to Coast as the original 'Old Arbitrator,' was a World Series official for the 18th time. No other umpire ever appeared in more than 10 World Series assignments. Klem's all-time record bids fair to stand perpetually.

Two members of the contesting world series teams — Frank McCormick, of the Reds, and Hank Greenberg, of the Tigers, were voted the Most Valuable Players in their respective leagues by the annual balloting of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. It was the third straight year the National League award went to a Cincinnati player. The writers picked Walters in 1939 and Catcher Ernie Lombardi in 1938.

Two major league All-Star Games were played — a spring training season benefit contest for Finnish Relief in addition to the annual July fixture. The National League was triumphant in both these games between picked teams of stars representing the two major circuits of baseball, defeating the American League stars by a 2 to 1 score in the game at Tampa, Fla., March 17, and by 4 to 0 in St. Louis July 9.

Big League Games.

The pennant races in the 2 major leagues were in strong contrast to each other and to the history of recent years in their own circuits. Instead of having a hard fight and a close finish, decided by the traditional National League September drive, Cincinnati won its pennant by the widest margin in the annals of the senior circuit since 1931. In the American League, the race was the closest since 1926, with Detroit, Cleveland and New York all in the race until the closing weekend.

Brooklyn, which led the elder league at the start, was Cincinnati's closest contender throughout, finishing second, with St. Louis third, then Pittsburgh, Chicago, New York, Boston and Philadelphia, in that order. The American League final standing showed Detroit, Cleveland and New York at the top and St. Louis, Washington, Philadelphia, in the last 3 positions, with Boston and Chicago tied for 4th and 5th.

Minor League Games.

Beyond the scope of the two major leagues, professional baseball in 1940 was played in 44 minor leagues, 43 of which completed their seasons successfully. In the 3 highest-ranking circuits, Class AA, Seattle won the Pacific Coast League pennant and also the post-season playoff round. Neither Kansas City, American Association pennant-winner, nor Rochester, International League flag-winner, was successful in the playoffs. Louisville and Newark winning the playoffs, with Newark conquering the 'Colonels' to bring victory to the International League in the 'Little World Series.'

In the Class A-1 bracket, two pennant-winners went on to win the playoffs, Nashville in the Southern Association and Houston the Texas League. The time-honored 'Dixie Series' between the champions of these two circuits saw the Vols vanquish the Lone Star representatives.

In the Class A Eastern League, Scranton won the pennant with Binghamton the playoff champion. In 2 of 5 Class B leagues, the pennant-winner won the playoffs, Jackson in the Southeastern League and Cedar Rapids in the Three-I League. In the Piedmont League, the Richmond pennant-winners had to give way to Durham as playoff champs; Savannah's South Atlantic League pennant bowed to Columbus, Ga., for the playoff title; Tacoma's playoff crown supplanted Spokane's pennant, in the western International League.

Six Class C leagues also showed only two 2-way champions: Monroe, which won the Cotton States League pennant and playoffs, and Akron, which captured both titles in the Middle Atlantic League. Ottawa won the Canadian-American pennant, but the playoff diadem landed on this side of the border at Amsterdam, N. Y. In the East Texas League, Henderson was first at the season's close, but Marshall was post-season victor. Salt Lake City's pennant had to yield to Ogden in the Pioneer League finals, and St. Joseph emerged eventual winner in the Western Association after Muskogee captured the flag in the season's play.

Of the 27 Class D leagues, the Arkansas-Missouri League was the only one which failed to play out its schedule.

The minor league enrollment was larger this year than at any time in the past 20 years. The fact that virtually every minor league in every sector of the baseball map played out its season and the all-time high recorded in the World Series financial statistics put together a splendid health report for our National Game as of 1940 ad. (See also SOFTBALL.)