1937 Major League Baseball season
Sports season
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The 1937 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1937. The regular season ended on October 3, with the New York Giants 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 34th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 5 on October 10. In the fifth iteration of this World Series matchup (and a rematch of the previous year), the Yankees defeated the Giants, four games to one, capturing their sixth championship in franchise history, and their second in a four-World Series run. With this victory, the Yankees became the team with the most World Series victories, a feat that continues today.
National League (NL)
- April 9 â October 3, 1937
- October 6â10, 1937
| 1937 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Charlie Gehringer (DET) NL: Joe Medwick (STL) |
| AL champions | New York Yankees |
| AL runners-up | Detroit Tigers |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
| World Series | |
| Champions | New York Yankees |
| Runners-up | New York Giants |
The fifth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 7 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., home of the Washington Senators. The American League won, 8â3.
Schedule
The 1937 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, April 19, featured four teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on October 3 and featured all sixteen teams, the first since 1935. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 10.
Rule changes
The 1937 season saw the following rule changes:[1]
- Regarding night games, the National and American Leagues allowed teams to play up to seven night games per season at home as long as the visiting team agreed.
- It was decided to make the baseball slightly "deader" (that is, less effective off the bat), following poor pitching performances and stats of the previous season.
- New baseballs created would now have "Official Major League Baseball" stamped, as opposed to either National or American Leagues (although both leagues would frequently use their own branded balls through the end of the 20th century).
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
Standings
American League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 102 | 52 | .662 | â | 57âââ20 | 45âââ32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 89 | 65 | .578 | 13 | 49âââ28 | 40âââ37 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 68 | .558 | 16 | 47âââ30 | 39âââ38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 83 | 71 | .539 | 19 | 50âââ28 | 33âââ43 |
| Boston Red Sox | 80 | 72 | .526 | 21 | 44âââ29 | 36âââ43 |
| Washington Senators | 73 | 80 | .477 | 28½ | 43âââ35 | 30âââ45 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 97 | .358 | 46½ | 27âââ50 | 27âââ47 |
| St. Louis Browns | 46 | 108 | .299 | 56 | 25âââ51 | 21âââ57 |
National League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 95 | 57 | .625 | â | 50âââ25 | 45âââ32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 61 | .604 | 3 | 46âââ32 | 47âââ29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 68 | .558 | 10 | 46âââ32 | 40âââ36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 73 | .526 | 15 | 45âââ33 | 36âââ40 |
| Boston Bees | 79 | 73 | .520 | 16 | 43âââ33 | 36âââ40 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 62 | 91 | .405 | 33½ | 36âââ39 | 26âââ52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | .399 | 34½ | 29âââ45 | 32âââ47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | 98 | .364 | 40 | 28âââ51 | 28âââ47 |
Tie games
13 tie games (9 in AL, 4 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
American League
- Boston Red Sox, 2
- Cleveland Indians, 2
- Detroit Tigers, 1
- New York Yankees, 3
- Philadelphia Athletics, 3
- St. Louis Browns, 2
- Washington Senators, 5
National League
- Brooklyn Dodgers, 2
- Cincinnati Reds, 1
- Philadelphia Phillies, 2
- St. Louis Cardinals, 3
Postseason
The postseason began on October 6 and ended on October 10 with the New York Yankees defeating the New York Giants in the 1937 World Series in five games.
Bracket
| World Series | ||||
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 | ||
| NL | New York Giants | 1 | ||
Managerial changes
Off-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Casey Stengel | Burleigh Grimes |
| Detroit Tigers | Del Baker | Mickey Cochrane |
In-season
League leaders
Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
American League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Charlie Gehringer (DET) | .371 |
| OPS | Lou Gehrig (NYY) | 1.116 |
| HR | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 46 |
| RBI | Hank Greenberg (DET) | 184 |
| R | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 151 |
| H | Beau Bell (SLB) | 218 |
| SB | Ben Chapman (BOS/WSH) Billy Werber (PHA) |
35 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Lefty Gomez1 (NYY) | 21 |
| L | Harry Kelley (PHA) | 21 |
| ERA | Lefty Gomez1 (NYY) | 2.33 |
| K | Lefty Gomez1 (NYY) | 194 |
| IP | Wes Ferrell (WSH/BOS) | 281.0 |
| SV | Clint Brown (CWS) | 18 |
| WHIP | Monty Stratton (CWS) | 1.087 |
1 American League Triple Crown pitching winner
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Joe Medwick2 (STL) | .374 |
| OPS | Joe Medwick (STL) | 1.056 |
| HR | Joe Medwick2 (STL) Mel Ott (NYG) |
31 |
| RBI | Joe Medwick2 (STL) | 154 |
| R | Joe Medwick (STL) | 111 |
| H | Joe Medwick (STL) | 237 |
| SB | Augie Galan (CHC) | 23 |
2 National League Triple Crown batting winner
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 22 |
| L | Wayne LaMaster (PHI) | 19 |
| ERA | Jim Turner (BSN) | 2.38 |
| K | Carl Hubbell (NYG) | 159 |
| IP | Claude Passeau (PHI) | 292.1 |
| SV | Mace Brown (PIT) Cliff Melton (NYG) |
7 |
| WHIP | Jim Turner (BSN) | 1.091 |
Milestones
Batters
Cycles
- Gee Walker (DET):
- Walker hit for his first cycle, the third in franchise history, and the fourth reverse cycle in major league history, on April 20 against the Cleveland Indians.[7]
- Joe DiMaggio (NYY):
- DiMaggio hit for his first cycle and the seventh in franchise history, on July 9 against the Washington Senators.[8]
- Lou Gehrig (NYY):
- Gehrig hit for his second cycle and the eighth in franchise history, on August 1 against the St. Louis Browns.[9]
Pitchers
No-hitters
- Bill Dietrich (CWS):
- Dietrich threw his first career no-hitter and 10th no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the St. Louis Browns 8â0 on June 1. Dietrich walked two and struck out five.[10]
Awards and honors
Regular season
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Joe Medwick (STL) | Charlie Gehringer (DET) |
Other awards
| The Sporting News Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[11] | Joe Medwick (STL) | Charlie Gehringer (DET) |
| Player of the Year[12] | â | Johnny Allen (CLE) |
| Manager of the Year[13] | Bill McKechnie (BSN) | â |
| Executive of the Year[14] | â | Ed Barrow (NYY) |
Baseball Hall of Fame
- Nap Lajoie
- Tris Speaker
- Cy Young
- Connie Mack (manager)
- John McGraw (manager)
- Morgan Bulkeley (executive)
- Ban Johnson (executive)
- George Wright (executive/pioneer contributor)
Home field attendance
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers[15] | 89 | 7.2% | 1,072,276 | 22.4% | 13,926 |
| New York Yankees[16] | 102 | 0.0% | 998,148 | 2.2% | 12,635 |
| New York Giants[17] | 95 | 3.3% | 926,887 | 10.6% | 12,358 |
| Chicago Cubs[18] | 93 | 6.9% | 895,020 | 28.0% | 11,475 |
| Chicago White Sox[19] | 86 | 6.2% | 589,245 | 33.7% | 7,653 |
| Cleveland Indians[20] | 83 | 3.8% | 564,849 | 12.9% | 7,242 |
| Boston Red Sox[21] | 80 | 8.1% | 559,659 | â10.7% | 7,563 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[22] | 62 | â7.5% | 482,481 | â1.5% | 6,348 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[23] | 86 | 2.4% | 459,679 | 23.4% | 5,893 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[24] | 81 | â6.9% | 430,811 | â3.9% | 5,385 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[25] | 54 | 1.9% | 430,738 | 51.0% | 5,452 |
| Cincinnati Reds[26] | 56 | â24.3% | 411,221 | â11.8% | 5,140 |
| Washington Senators[27] | 73 | â11.0% | 397,799 | 4.8% | 4,972 |
| Boston Bees[28] | 79 | 11.3% | 385,339 | 13.1% | 5,070 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[29] | 61 | 13.0% | 212,790 | â14.6% | 2,876 |
| St. Louis Browns[30] | 46 | â19.3% | 123,121 | 32.0% | 1,578 |
Venues
Over 78 home games, the Cleveland Indians played 63 games at League Park and 15 games at Cleveland Stadium.[31] Only Sunday and Monday home games saw games played at Cleveland Stadium. This would be the 3rd of 12 seasons since 1932 that saw the Indians play at both venues.