1919 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1919 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1919 in baseball.

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, capturing their first championship in franchise history. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Boston Red Sox from the 1918 season.

1919 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 23 – September 29, 1919 (AL) April 19 – September 28, 1919 (NL) World Series: October 1–9, 1919
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

Red Sox

White Sox  

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1915–1922 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Robins

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1916–1919 National League seasons
National League

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]

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball 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.

National League Opening Day took place on April 19, when the Brooklyn Robins defeated the Boston Braves 5–2 at Braves Field in the first game of a doubleheader.^[2] American League Opening Day (and most other National League teams' Opening Day) wouldn't take place until April 23, where each league saw six of their teams play. This continued the trend from the previous season which saw both leagues' Opening Day start on different days. The National League regular season ended on September 28, while the American League regular season ended on September 29 with the New York Yankees defeating the Philadelphia Athletics 4–2 at Shibe Park.^[3] This was the first season since 1915 which saw both leagues end on different days, as well as the first season since 1903 that saw the leagues begin and conclude on different days. The World Series would begin in Cincinnati on October 1, before concluding on October 9.

Rule change

The minor leagues withdrew from the National Agreement, resulting in the abolition of the Rule 5 draft, as well as all existing optional agreements between major- and minor-league teams. The only way in which major-league clubs could acquire players from the minors was by directly purchasing their contracts. This change resulted in the previous $2,500 (equivalent to $45,300 in 2024) draft fee cap being removed.^[4]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager[5]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000	Ed Barrow
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	28,000	Kid Gleason
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park	21,414	Lee Fohl
					Tris Speaker
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	23,000	Hughie Jennings
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Brush Stadium	36,000	Miller Huggins
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	23,000	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	18,000	Jimmy Burke
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	27,000	Clark Griffith
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	40,000	George Stallings
	Brooklyn Robins	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	30,000	Wilbert Robinson
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Weeghman Park	15,000	Fred Mitchell
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Redland Field	20,696	Pat Moran
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Brush Stadium	36,000	John McGraw
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000	Jack Coombs
					Gavvy Cravath
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	25,000	Hugo Bezdek
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Robison Field	21,000	Branch Rickey

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	88	52	.629	—	48‍–‍22	40‍–‍30
Cleveland Indians	84	55	.604	3½	44‍–‍25	40‍–‍30
New York Yankees	80	59	.576	7½	46‍–‍25	34‍–‍34
Detroit Tigers	80	60	.571	8	46‍–‍24	34‍–‍36
St. Louis Browns	67	72	.482	20½	40‍–‍30	27‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	66	71	.482	20½	35‍–‍30	31‍–‍41
Washington Senators	56	84	.400	32	32‍–‍40	24‍–‍44
Philadelphia Athletics	36	104	.257	52	21‍–‍49	15‍–‍55

National League

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• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	96	44	.686	—	51‍–‍19	45‍–‍25
New York Giants	87	53	.621	9	46‍–‍23	41‍–‍30
Chicago Cubs	75	65	.536	21	40‍–‍31	35‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates	71	68	.511	24½	39‍–‍31	32‍–‍37
Brooklyn Robins	69	71	.493	27	36‍–‍34	33‍–‍37
Boston Braves	57	82	.410	38½	29‍–‍38	28‍–‍44
St. Louis Cardinals	54	83	.394	40½	34‍–‍35	20‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies	47	90	.343	47½	26‍–‍44	21‍–‍46

Postseason

The postseason began on October 1 and ended on October 9 with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Chicago White Sox in the 1919 World Series in eight games.

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

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

American League

Hitting leaders^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Ty Cobb (DET)	.384
OPS	Babe Ruth (BRS)	1.114
HR	Babe Ruth (BRS)	29
RBI	Babe Ruth (BRS)	114
R	Babe Ruth (BRS)	103
H	Ty Cobb (DET) Bobby Veach (DET)	191
SB	Eddie Collins (CWS)	33

Pitching leaders^[7]

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 (BRS/NYY) Jim Shaw (WSH) Bob Shawkey (NYY)	5
WHIP	Walter Johnson (WSH)	0.985

National League

Hitting leaders^[8]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Edd Roush (CIN)	.321
OPS	Heinie Groh (CIN)	.823
HR	Gavvy Cravath (PHP)	12
RBI	Hy Myers (BKN)	73
R	George Burns (NYG)	86
H	Ivy Olson (BKN)	164
SB	George Burns (NYG)	40

Pitching leaders^[9]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Jesse Barnes (NYG)	25
L	Lee Meadows (PHP/SLC)	20
ERA	Grover Alexander (CHC)	1.72
K	Hippo Vaughn (CHC)	141
IP	Hippo Vaughn (CHC)	306.2
SV	Oscar Tuero (SLC)	4
WHIP	Babe Adams (CIN)	0.896

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
New York Giants[10]	87	22.5%	708,857	176.2%	10,273
Detroit Tigers[11]	80	45.5%	643,805	216.0%	9,197
Chicago White Sox[12]	88	54.4%	627,186	221.5%	8,960
New York Yankees[13]	80	33.3%	619,164	119.5%	8,482
Cleveland Indians[14]	84	15.1%	538,135	82.1%	7,799
Cincinnati Reds[15]	96	41.2%	532,501	226.7%	7,607
Chicago Cubs[16]	75	−10.7%	424,430	25.8%	5,978
Boston Red Sox[17]	66	−12.0%	417,291	67.2%	6,323
Brooklyn Robins[18]	69	21.1%	360,721	330.3%	5,153
St. Louis Browns[19]	67	15.5%	349,350	186.2%	4,991
Pittsburgh Pirates[20]	71	9.2%	276,810	29.6%	3,954
Philadelphia Phillies[21]	47	−14.5%	240,424	96.6%	3,386
Washington Senators[22]	56	−22.2%	234,096	28.5%	3,251
Philadelphia Athletics[23]	36	−30.8%	225,209	26.6%	3,217
Boston Braves[24]	57	7.5%	167,401	97.1%	2,462
St. Louis Cardinals[25]	54	5.9%	167,059	51.0%	2,421

Significant events

Pictured is Ray Caldwell before his move from the Yankees to the Indians, whose eventful 1919 season included throwing a no-hitter and being struck by lightning during the 9th inning of a game.

George Halas during his brief and unsuccessful tenure as a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees

• April 19 – Legislation 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.^[26]
• May 11 – Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hod Eller pitches a 6–0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals.^[27]
  • 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.^[28]
• 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.^[29]
• 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.^[30]
• 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.^[31]
• 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.^[32]
• 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.^[33]
• 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.^[34]
• September 21 – In a period of rapidly played games, the Cubs beat the Braves 3–0 in 58 minutes of playing time.^[35] It takes the Robins 55 minutes to beat the Reds 3–1,^[36] 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.^[37]
  • 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.^[38]
  • 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.^[39]
• 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.^[29]
• 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.^[40]