1941 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1941 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1941 in baseball.

The 1941 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1941. The regular season ended on September 28, with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 38th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 5 on October 6. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to one, capturing their ninth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1939. This was the first Subway Series World Series to feature the Dodgers (the previous five featured the New York Giants). Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Cincinnati Reds from the 1940 season.

1941 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 14 – September 28, 1941 (AL) April 15 – September 28, 1941 (NL) World Series: October 1–6, 1941
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Joe DiMaggio (NYY) NL: Dolph Camilli (BKN)
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Boston Red Sox
NL champions	Brooklyn Dodgers
NL runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series
Champions	New York Yankees
Runners-up	Brooklyn Dodgers

Red Sox

White Sox  

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1941 American League season
American League

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1941 National League season
National League

The ninth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 8 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, home of the Detroit Tigers. The American League won, 7–5.

In addition to a five-game World Series between New York City teams, highlights of the season included Ted Williams batting .406, and Joe DiMaggio having a 56-game hitting streak; it has been called the "best baseball season ever".^[1]

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1941 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 a game between the New York Yankees and Washington Senators, while National League Opening Day took place on the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since 1939 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on September 28 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend since the previous season. The World Series took place between October 1 and October 6.

Rule changes

The 1941 season saw the following rule changes:

• In what was termed the "Baltimore Amendment", major league teams can now sign players for the purpose of assigning them to a minor-league club, with two caveats: The assignment must be between affiliated clubs, and all assignment transactions were to be reported to the commissioner.^[2]
• Despite both the National and American Leagues previously ruling that a maximum of seven night games could be played (1935 and 1939, respectively,) the St. Louis Browns had played 14 night games the previous season. Despite disagreements between the two leagues during the 1940 Winter Meetings, (the NL wanted to maintain seven days, while the AL wanted to have fewer than seven), Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis reaffirmed the National League's seven night game position for both leagues.^[2]
• A national defensive service list was implemented. If players were called to active military duty, they would be placed on the list, their contracts would remain with their teams, but they would not be counted against a club’s player limit.^[2]
• A two-person-maximum 60-day disabled list (called "injured list" since 2019) was created for each team. The disabled list was 60 calendar days, except after August 1.^[2]
• Rules regarding doubleheaders were clarified: doubleheaders could be scheduled beginning with the fourth Sunday of the season (both St. Louis teams were unofficially allowed to start them a week earlier).^[2]

Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager[3]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000	Joe Cronin
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	50,000	Jimmy Dykes
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	League Park	22,500	Roger Peckinpaugh
			Cleveland Stadium*	78,811*
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Briggs Stadium	58,000	Del Baker
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	71,699	Joe McCarthy
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,000	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Fred Haney
					Luke Sewell
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	32,000	Bucky Harris
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	National League Park	37,746	Casey Stengel
	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	35,000	Leo Durocher
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	38,396	Jimmie Wilson
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	29,401	Bill McKechnie
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	56,000	Bill Terry
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,000	Doc Prothro
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	33,537	Frankie Frisch
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023	Billy Southworth

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	101	53	.656	—	51‍–‍26	50‍–‍27
Boston Red Sox	84	70	.545	17	47‍–‍30	37‍–‍40
Chicago White Sox	77	77	.500	24	38‍–‍39	39‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians	75	79	.487	26	42‍–‍35	33‍–‍44
Detroit Tigers	75	79	.487	26	43‍–‍34	32‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns	70	84	.455	31	40‍–‍37	30‍–‍47
Washington Senators	70	84	.455	31	40‍–‍37	30‍–‍47
Philadelphia Athletics	64	90	.416	37	36‍–‍41	28‍–‍49

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	100	54	.649	—	52‍–‍25	48‍–‍29
St. Louis Cardinals	97	56	.634	2½	53‍–‍24	44‍–‍32
Cincinnati Reds	88	66	.571	12	45‍–‍34	43‍–‍32
Pittsburgh Pirates	81	73	.526	19	45‍–‍32	36‍–‍41
New York Giants	74	79	.484	25½	38‍–‍39	36‍–‍40
Chicago Cubs	70	84	.455	30	38‍–‍39	32‍–‍45
Boston Braves	62	92	.403	38	32‍–‍44	30‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies	43	111	.279	57	23‍–‍52	20‍–‍59

Postseason

The postseason began on October 1 and ended on October 6 with the New York Yankees defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1941 World Series in five games.

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	New York Yankees	4
	NL	Brooklyn Dodgers	1

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Chicago Cubs	Gabby Hartnett	Jimmie Wilson
Cleveland Indians	Ossie Vitt	Roger Peckinpaugh

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
St. Louis Browns	Fred Haney	Luke Sewell

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Ted Williams (BRS)	.406
OPS	Ted Williams (BRS)	1.287
HR	Ted Williams (BRS)	37
RBI	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)	125
R	Ted Williams (BRS)	135
H	Cecil Travis (WSH)	218
SB	George Case (WSH)	33

Pitching leaders^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Bob Feller (CLE)	25
L	Bobo Newsom (DET)	20
ERA	Thornton Lee (CWS)	2.37
K	Bob Feller (CLE)	260
IP	Bob Feller (CLE)	343.0
SV	Johnny Murphy (NYY)	15
WHIP	Thornton Lee (CWS)	1.165

National League

Hitting leaders^[6]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Pete Reiser (BKN)	.343
OPS	Pete Reiser (BKN)	.964
HR	Dolph Camilli (BKN)	34
RBI	Dolph Camilli (BKN)	120
R	Pete Reiser (BKN)	117
H	Stan Hack (CHC)	186
SB	Danny Murtaugh (PHP)	18

Pitching leaders^[7]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Kirby Higbe (BKN) Whit Wyatt (BKN)	22
L	Rip Sewell (PIT)	17
ERA	Elmer Riddle (CIN)	2.24
K	Johnny Vander Meer (CIN)	202
IP	Bucky Walters (CIN)	305.0
SV	Jumbo Brown (NYG)	8
WHIP	Whit Wyatt (BKN)	1.058

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player	Dolph Camilli (BKN)	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)

Other awards

The Sporting News Awards
Award	National League	American League
Most Valuable Player[8]	Dolph Camilli (BKN)	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)
Player of the Year[9]	—	Ted Williams (BRS)
Manager of the Year[10]	Billy Southworth (SLC)	—
Executive of the Year[11]	—	Ed Barrow (NYY)

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Brooklyn Dodgers[12]	100	13.6%	1,214,910	24.5%	15,379
New York Yankees[13]	101	14.8%	964,722	−2.5%	12,368
New York Giants[14]	74	2.8%	763,098	2.0%	9,783
Cleveland Indians[15]	75	−15.7%	745,948	−17.4%	9,688
Boston Red Sox[16]	84	2.4%	718,497	0.3%	9,331
Detroit Tigers[17]	75	−16.7%	684,915	−38.4%	8,895
Chicago White Sox[18]	77	−6.1%	677,077	2.5%	8,571
Cincinnati Reds[19]	88	−12.0%	643,513	−24.3%	8,146
St. Louis Cardinals[20]	97	15.5%	633,645	95.5%	8,021
Chicago Cubs[21]	70	−6.7%	545,159	1.9%	7,080
Philadelphia Athletics[22]	64	18.5%	528,894	22.4%	6,869
Pittsburgh Pirates[23]	81	3.8%	482,241	−5.1%	6,183
Washington Senators[24]	70	9.4%	415,663	9.0%	5,329
Boston Braves[25]	62	−4.6%	263,680	9.1%	3,469
Philadelphia Phillies[26]	43	−14.0%	231,401	11.7%	3,045
St. Louis Browns[27]	70	4.5%	176,240	−26.4%	2,231