1940 Cleveland Indians season

The 1940 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American major league baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 89–65, one game behind the Detroit Tigers. Had the Indians finished ahead of the Tigers, The Indians would have played their cross state National League rivals, the National League Champion Cincinnati Reds, in the World Series. The World Series would have been the only all Ohio World series. The season is infamous for ten Indian players confronting owner Alva Bradley and demanding the removal of manager Ossie Vitt, saying the man's behavior was harming the team. When the news broke, the public sided with Vitt and the Indians were dismissed as "crybabies."^[1] The movement has since been named the "Crybaby Rebellion."^[2]

1940 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	League Park Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	Alva Bradley
General managers	Cy Slapnicka
Managers	Ossie Vitt
Radio	WCLE (Jack Graney, Pinky Hunter)
← 1939 Seasons 1941 →

Regular season

• April 16, 1940: Indians pitcher Bob Feller threw what is, to date, the only Opening Day no-hitter. Feller walked five and struck out eight as the Indians beat the White Sox, 1–0, at Comiskey Park.^[3]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	90	64	.584	—	50‍–‍29	40‍–‍35
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	1	51‍–‍30	38‍–‍35
New York Yankees	88	66	.571	2	52‍–‍24	36‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	82	72	.532	8	45‍–‍34	37‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	82	72	.532	8	41‍–‍36	41‍–‍36
St. Louis Browns	67	87	.435	23	37‍–‍39	30‍–‍48
Washington Senators	64	90	.416	26	36‍–‍41	28‍–‍49
Philadelphia Athletics	54	100	.351	36	29‍–‍42	25‍–‍58

Record vs. opponents

1940 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	11–11	8–14	11–11	9–13	18–4	12–10	13–9
Chicago	11–11	—	6–16	13–9	11–11–1	16–6	13–9	12–10
Cleveland	14–8	16–6	—	11–11	10–12	14–8	11–11–1	13–9
Detroit	11–11	9–13	11–11	—	14–8	11–11	18–4–1	16–6
New York	13–9	11–11–1	12–10	8–14	—	13–9	14–8	17–5
Philadelphia	4–18	6–16	8–14	11–11	9–13	—	8–14	8–14
St. Louis	10–12	9–13	11–11–1	4–18–1	8–14	14–8	—	11–11
Washington	9–13	10–12	9–13	6–16	5–17	14–8	11–11	—

Notable transactions

• May 13, 1940: Willis Hudlin was released by the Indians.^[4]

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
5	Lou Boudreau	SS
22	Roy Weatherly	CF
11	Ben Chapman	RF
7	Hal Trosky	1B
24	Jeff Heath	LF
25	Ken Keltner	3B
9	Rollie Hemsley	C
6	Ray Mack	2B
19	Bob Feller	P

^[5]

Roster

1940 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 15 Johnny Allen 12 Nate Andrews 17 Joe Dobson 24 Cal Dorsett 10 Harry Eisenstat 19 Bob Feller 18 Mel Harder 35 Dixie Howell 12 Willis Hudlin 21 Johnny Humphries 33 Ken Jungels 20 Al Milnar 30,25 Mike Naymick 27,32 Al Smith 14 Bill Zuber		Catchers 40 Hank Helf  9 Rollie Hemsley  8 Frankie Pytlak Infielders  5 Lou Boudreau  1 Oscar Grimes  4 Odell Hale 25 Ken Keltner  6 Ray Mack  3 Rusty Peters  7 Hal Trosky		Outfielders 23 Beau Bell 34 Soup Campbell 44,11 Ben Chapman 24,33 Jeff Heath 22 Roy Weatherly		Manager 26 Ossie Vitt Coaches 28 Johnny Bassler 27 Ski Melillo 16 Luke Sewell

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Rollie Hemsley	119	416	111	.267	4	42
1B	Hal Trosky	140	522	154	.295	25	93
2B	Ray Mack	146	530	150	.283	12	69
SS	Lou Boudreau	155	627	185	.295	9	101
3B	Ken Keltner	149	543	138	.254	15	77
OF	Beau Bell	120	444	124	.279	4	58
OF	Ben Chapman	143	548	157	.286	4	50
OF	Roy Weatherly	135	578	175	.303	12	59

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jeff Heath	100	356	78	.219	14	50
Frankie Pytlak	62	149	21	.141	0	16
Rusty Peters	30	71	17	.239	0	7
Soup Campbell	35	62	14	.226	0	2
Odell Hale	48	50	11	.220	0	6
Oscar Grimes	11	13	0	.000	0	0
Hank Helf	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Feller	43	320.1	27	11	2.61	261
Al Milnar	37	242.1	18	10	3.27	99
Mel Harder	31	186.1	12	11	4.06	76
Al Smith	31	183.0	15	7	3.44	46
Johnny Allen	32	138.2	9	8	3.44	62

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Naymick	13	30.0	1	2	5.10	15
Willis Hudlin	4	23.2	2	1	4.94	8
Nate Andrews	6	12.0	0	1	6.00	3
Dixie Howell	3	5.0	0	0	1.80	2
Ken Jungels	2	3.1	0	0	2.70	1
Cal Dorsett	1	1.0	0	0	9.00	0

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Joe Dobson	40	3	7	3	4.95	57
Harry Eisenstat	27	1	4	4	3.14	27
Johnny Humphries	19	0	2	1	8.29	17
Bill Zuber	17	1	1	0	5.63	12

Awards and honors

All Star Game

Lou Boudreau, Shortstop

Bob Feller, Pitcher

Rollie Hemsley, Catcher

Ken Keltner, Third baseman

Ray Mack, Second baseman

Al Milnar, Pitcher

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Earl Wolgamot
B	Cedar Rapids Raiders	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Ollie Marquardt
C	Flint Gems	Michigan State League	Jack Knight
C	Charleston Senators	Middle Atlantic League	Ed Hall
D	Thomasville Tommies	North Carolina State League	Jimmy Maus
D	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League	Chet Bujace and Wes Griffin
D	Mansfield Braves	Ohio State League	Dewey Strong
D	Warren Redskins	Pennsylvania State Association	Billy Rhiel
D	Salem-Roanoke Friends	Virginia League	Eli Harris and Arnold Anderson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Cedar Rapids^[6]