1940 Cleveland Indians season
Major League Baseball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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) |
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
| 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
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 |
Roster
| 1940 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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
Lou Boudreau, Shortstop
Bob Feller, Pitcher
Rollie Hemsley, Catcher
Ken Keltner, Third baseman
Ray Mack, Second baseman
Al Milnar, Pitcher
Farm system
| 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]