1923 Major League Baseball season

The 1923 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.

National League Opening Day took place on April 17 with all teams playing, while American League Opening Day took place the following day with all teams playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 7. The World Series took place between October 10 and October 15.

The 1923 season saw the following rule changes:

• A rule was passed preventing the transfer of players from one club to another after June 15 except through the waiver process.^[1]
• The leagues decided that the major-league draft would begin on the first day of the World Series, in the city where the first World Series game was held.^[1]
• Waiver rules were amended to provide that a team asking for and then withdrawing a waiver request on a player must do so within 48 hours or forfeit their rights to the player.^[1]
• The barnstorming rule, which had resulted in the suspension of Babe Ruth at the beginning of the season, was amended to prohibit players from participating in exhibition games after October 31 (the American League had already established this rule the previous season).^[1]
• During World Series games, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the president or another official of the home team were given the authority to determine when ground conditions were suitable for play, although once a game began, the decision on whether to suspend or postpone games would rest with the umpires.^[1]
• Teams would be permitted to carry 40 players on their roster until June 15, instead of the prior May 15 deadline.^[1]

The postseason began on October 10 and ended on October 15 with the New York Yankees defeating the New York Giants in the 1923 World Series in six games.

• League Award: Babe Ruth (NYY)

The New York Yankees leave the Polo Grounds, where they shared with the New York Giants for the previous 10 seasons, and open Yankee Stadium, where they would play for 84 seasons through 1973 and 1976 through 2008. The Yankees, whose home had been Manhattan for their entire existence, moved into the Bronx where they remain to this day.

Referring to the Philadelphia Phillies' home at National League Park, on July 11, The Philadelphia Inquirer coined the term Baker Bowl.^[28] "Baker Bowl" became a common name for the stadium until its closure in 1938, although the Phillies would still refer to the venue as its official "National League Park" name in newspaper advertisements.

On August 21, Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators since 1920, announced that National Park would be named after himself, Griffith Stadium.^[29][30]

• 1923 in baseball (Events, Births, Deaths)