1939 Cincinnati Reds season
The 1939 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished first in the National League, winning the pennant by 4½ games over the St. Louis Cardinals with a record of 97–57. The team went on to the 1939 World Series, which it lost in four straight games to the New York Yankees.
| 1939 Cincinnati Reds | |
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| 1939 National League Champions | |
| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Powel Crosley, Jr. |
| General manager(s) | Warren Giles |
| Manager(s) | Bill McKechnie |
| Local radio | WSAI (Roger Baker, Dick Bray) WCPO (Harry Hartman) |
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Regular season
During the season, Paul Derringer and Bucky Walters became the last pitchers to win at least 25 games in one season for the Reds in the 20th century.[1]
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 97 | 57 | 0.630 | — | 55–25 | 42–32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 61 | 0.601 | 4½ | 51–27 | 41–34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 69 | 0.549 | 12½ | 51–27 | 33–42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | 0.545 | 13 | 44–34 | 40–36 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 74 | 0.510 | 18½ | 41–33 | 36–41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 85 | 0.444 | 28½ | 35–42 | 33–43 |
| Boston Bees | 63 | 88 | 0.417 | 32½ | 37–35 | 26–53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 106 | 0.298 | 50½ | 29–44 | 16–62 |
Record vs. opponents
1939 National League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–11 | 13–8 | 9–12 | 9–13 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–2 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 17–4–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 | |||||
| Chicago | 16–6 | 11–11–2 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 10–12 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 16–6 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 19–3 | 16–6 | 11–11–2 | |||||
| New York | 11–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 11–11 | — | 14–7 | 11–11 | 9–12 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–13 | 4–17–1 | 10–12 | 3–19 | 7–14 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 12–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 11–11–2 | 12–9 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- August 19, 1939: Milt Shoffner was selected off waivers by the Reds from the Boston Bees.[2]
- August 31, 1939: Al Simmons was purchased by the Reds from the Boston Bees.[3]
Roster
| 1939 Cincinnati Reds | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Player stats
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 | Ernie Lombardi | 130 | 450 | 129 | .287 | 20 | 85 |
| 1B | Frank McCormick | 156 | 630 | 209 | .332 | 18 | 128 |
| 2B | Lonny Frey | 125 | 484 | 141 | .291 | 11 | 55 |
| SS | Billy Myers | 151 | 509 | 143 | .281 | 9 | 56 |
| 3B | Billy Werber | 147 | 599 | 173 | .289 | 5 | 57 |
| OF | Ival Goodman | 124 | 470 | 152 | .323 | 7 | 84 |
| OF | Harry Craft | 134 | 502 | 129 | .257 | 13 | 67 |
| OF | Wally Berger | 97 | 329 | 85 | .258 | 14 | 44 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Gamble | 72 | 221 | 59 | .267 | 0 | 14 |
| Willard Hershberger | 63 | 174 | 60 | .345 | 0 | 32 |
| Nino Bongiovanni | 27 | 159 | 41 | .258 | 0 | 16 |
| Eddie Joost | 23 | 143 | 36 | .252 | 0 | 14 |
| Frenchy Bordagaray | 63 | 122 | 24 | .197 | 0 | 12 |
| Lew Riggs | 22 | 38 | 6 | .158 | 0 | 1 |
| Al Simmons | 9 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Dick West | 8 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 4 |
| Vince DiMaggio | 8 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 2 |
| Les Scarsella | 16 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Bud Hafey | 6 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
| Milt Galatzer | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmie Wilson | 4 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Nolen Richardson | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucky Walters | 39 | 319 | 27 | 11 | 2.29 | 137 |
| Paul Derringer | 38 | 301 | 25 | 7 | 2.93 | 128 |
| Whitey Moore | 42 | 187.2 | 13 | 12 | 3.45 | 81 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Grissom | 33 | 153.2 | 9 | 7 | 4.10 | 53 |
| Junior Thompson | 42 | 152.1 | 13 | 5 | 2.54 | 87 |
| Johnny Vander Meer | 30 | 129 | 5 | 9 | 4.67 | 102 |
| Johnny Niggeling | 10 | 40.1 | 2 | 1 | 5.80 | 20 |
| Milt Shoffner | 10 | 37.2 | 2 | 2 | 3.35 | 6 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hank Johnson | 20 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2.01 | 10 |
| Peaches Davis | 20 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6.26 | 4 |
| Wes Livengood | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.93 | 4 |
| Jim Weaver | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
| Pete Naktenis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 1 |
| Red Barrett | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.69 | 1 |
| Elmer Riddle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Art Jacobs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 1 |
1939 World Series
Game 1
October 4, 1939, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Red Ruffing (1–0) L: Paul Derringer (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
October 5, 1939, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Monte Pearson (1–0) L: Bucky Walters (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: : NYY – Babe Dahlgren (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
October 7, 1939, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| Cincinnati (N) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Bump Hadley (1–0) L: Junior Thompson (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Charlie Keller (1, 2), Joe DiMaggio (1), Bill Dickey (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4
October 8, 1939, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| Cincinnati (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| W: Johnny Murphy (1–0) L: Bucky Walters (0–2) | |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Charlie Keller (3), Bill Dickey (2) | |||||||||||||
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Ray Schalk and Wes Griffin |
| A1 | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Dutch Zwilling |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Rabbit Maranville |
| B | Durham Bulls | Piedmont League | Oscar Roettger |
| B | Columbia Reds | Sally League | Johnny Burnett |
| B | Waterloo Red Hawks | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Cap Crossley |
| C | El Dorado Lions | Cotton States League | Frank O'Rourke |
| C | Helena Seaporters | Cotton States League | Buster Blakeney |
| C | Erie Sailors | Middle Atlantic League | Jocko Munch |
| C | Ogden Reds | Pioneer League | Bill McCorry |
| C | Muskogee Reds | Western Association | Lester "Pat" Patterson |
| D | Bassett Furniture Makers | Bi-State League | Walter Novak |
Notes
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.98, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- Milt Shoffner page at Baseball Reference
- Al Simmons page at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007