1935 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1935 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1935 in baseball.

The 1935 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1935. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 32nd World Series on October 2 and ended with Game 6 on October 7. The Tigers defeated the Cubs, four games to two, capturing their first championship in franchise history. This was the third World Series between the two teams, and the first to see the Tigers win over the Cubs. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the St. Louis Cardinals from the 1934 season.

1935 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 16 – September 29, 1935 World Series: October 2–7, 1935
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Hank Greenberg (DET) NL: Gabby Hartnett (CHC)
AL champions	Detroit Tigers
AL runners-up	New York Yankees
NL champions	Chicago Cubs
NL runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series
Champions	Detroit Tigers
Runners-up	Chicago Cubs

Red Sox

White Sox  

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1934–1939 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1932–1935 National League seasons
National League

The third Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 8 at the Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Cleveland Indians. The American League won, 4–1.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1935 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.

Opening Day took place on April 16 and saw twelve teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on September 29 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend which began with the 1930 season. The World Series took place between October 2 and October 7.

Rule changes

The 1935 season saw the following rule changes:

• The National League now allowed night games to take place, allowing teams to schedule up to seven night games. Any club scheduling more would be fined $15,000 (equivalent to $344,000 in 2024) and have its gate receipts confiscated.^[1]
• The National League adjusted their rules on waivers:
  • Waiver price increased from $4,000 to $6,000 (equivalent to $92,000 to $138,000 in 2024).^[1]
  • Time limit on waivers reduced from five days to three.^[1]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager[2]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000	Joe Cronin
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	52,000	Jimmy Dykes
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park	21,414	Walter Johnson
					Steve O'Neill
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	30,000	Mickey Cochrane
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	62,000	Joe McCarthy
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,000	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Rogers Hornsby
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	32,000	Bucky Harris
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	46,500	Bill McKechnie
	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	32,000	Casey Stengel
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	40,000	Charlie Grimm
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	26,060	Chuck Dressen
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	56,000	Bill Terry
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Baker Bowl	18,800	Jimmie Wilson
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	41,000	Pie Traynor
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Frankie Frisch

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	93	58	.616	—	53‍–‍25	40‍–‍33
New York Yankees	89	60	.597	3	41‍–‍33	48‍–‍27
Cleveland Indians	82	71	.536	12	48‍–‍29	34‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	78	75	.510	16	41‍–‍37	37‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	74	78	.487	19½	42‍–‍34	32‍–‍44
Washington Senators	67	86	.438	27	37‍–‍39	30‍–‍47
St. Louis Browns	65	87	.428	28½	31‍–‍44	34‍–‍43
Philadelphia Athletics	58	91	.389	34	30‍–‍42	28‍–‍49

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	100	54	.649	—	56‍–‍21	44‍–‍33
St. Louis Cardinals	96	58	.623	4	53‍–‍24	43‍–‍34
New York Giants	91	62	.595	8½	50‍–‍27	41‍–‍35
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	67	.562	13½	46‍–‍31	40‍–‍36
Brooklyn Dodgers	70	83	.458	29½	38‍–‍38	32‍–‍45
Cincinnati Reds	68	85	.444	31½	41‍–‍35	27‍–‍50
Philadelphia Phillies	64	89	.418	35½	35‍–‍43	29‍–‍46
Boston Braves	38	115	.248	61½	25‍–‍50	13‍–‍65

Postseason

The postseason began on October 2 and ended on October 7 with the Detroit Tigers defeating the Chicago Cubs in the 1935 World Series in six games.

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Detroit Tigers	4
	NL	Chicago Cubs	2

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Boston Red Sox	Bucky Harris	Joe Cronin
Washington Senators	Joe Cronin	Bucky Harris

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Cleveland Indians	Walter Johnson	Steve O'Neill

League leaders

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

American League

Hitting leaders^[3]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Buddy Myer (WSH)	.349
OPS	Jimmie Foxx (PHA)	1.096
HR	Jimmie Foxx (PHA) Hank Greenberg (DET)	36
RBI	Hank Greenberg (DET)	168
R	Lou Gehrig (NYY)	125
H	Joe Vosmik (CLE)	216
SB	Billy Werber (BRS)	29

Pitching leaders^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Wes Ferrell (BRS)	25
L	Bobo Newsom (WSH/SLB)	18
ERA	Lefty Grove (BRS)	2.70
K	Tommy Bridges (DET)	163
IP	Wes Ferrell (BRS)	322.1
SV	Jack Knott (SLB)	7
WHIP	Lefty Grove (BRS)	1.223

All Star Buddy Myer

National League

Hitting leaders^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Arky Vaughan (PIT)	.385
OPS	Arky Vaughan (PIT)	1.098
HR	Wally Berger (BSB)	34
RBI	Wally Berger (BSB)	130
R	Augie Galan (CHC)	133
H	Billy Herman (CHC)	227
SB	Augie Galan (CHC)	22

Pitching leaders^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	28
L	Ben Cantwell (BSB)	25
ERA	Cy Blanton (PIT)	2.58
K	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	190
IP	Dizzy Dean (SLC)	325.1
SV	Dutch Leonard (BKN)	8
WHIP	Cy Blanton (PIT)	1.081

Awards and honors

Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and two-time MVP

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player	Gabby Hartnett (CHC)	Hank Greenberg (DET)

The Sporting News Awards
Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player[7]	Arky Vaughan (PIT)	Hank Greenberg (DET)

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Detroit Tigers[8]	93	−7.9%	1,034,929	12.6%	13,100
New York Giants[9]	91	−2.2%	748,748	2.4%	9,478
Chicago Cubs[10]	100	16.3%	692,604	−2.1%	8,995
New York Yankees[11]	89	−5.3%	657,508	−23.1%	8,885
Boston Red Sox[12]	78	2.6%	558,568	−8.5%	7,070
St. Louis Cardinals[13]	96	1.1%	506,084	55.7%	6,573
Brooklyn Dodgers[14]	70	−1.4%	470,517	8.4%	6,111
Chicago White Sox[15]	74	39.6%	470,281	98.8%	6,108
Cincinnati Reds[16]	68	30.8%	448,247	116.8%	5,898
Cleveland Indians[17]	82	−3.5%	397,615	1.6%	5,164
Pittsburgh Pirates[18]	86	16.2%	352,885	9.4%	4,583
Washington Senators[19]	67	1.5%	255,011	−22.7%	3,312
Philadelphia Athletics[20]	58	−14.7%	233,173	−23.8%	3,239
Boston Braves[21]	38	−51.3%	232,754	−23.2%	3,103
Philadelphia Phillies[22]	64	14.3%	205,470	20.9%	2,601
St. Louis Browns[23]	65	−3.0%	80,922	−29.8%	1,065

Events

• February 5 – Home run king Babe Ruth is released by the New York Yankees.
• May 24 – At Crosley Field, the Cincinnati Reds and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies played the first night game, which Cincinnati won 2–1.
• May 25 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Braves goes 4-for-4 with three home runs and six runs batted in. It is the last multi-homer game of Ruth's career, with the final home run being the first ball ever hit to clear the roof at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
• May 30 – Babe Ruth ends his playing career with the Boston Braves of the National League.
• July 8 – At Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the secondary home of the Cleveland Indians, the American League defeats the National League, 4–1, in the All-Star Game.
• August 31 – Vern Kennedy pitches a no-hitter as the Chicago White Sox defeat the Cleveland Indians 5–0.
• October 7 – The Detroit Tigers defeat the Chicago Cubs, 4–3, in Game 6 of the World Series to win their first World Championship, four games to two. This was Detroit's first Series victory after failing to win four previous times.
• November 26 – The National League takes over the bankrupt, last-place Boston Braves franchise after several failed attempts to buy the club. The league takes over only temporarily, until matters can be straightened out.