1939 Cincinnati Reds season

1939 Cincinnati Reds
1939 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Cincinnati, Ohio (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s) Powel Crosley, Jr.
Manager(s) Bill McKechnie
Local radio WSAI
(Roger Baker, Dick Bray)
WCPO
(Harry Hartman)
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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.

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 GB Pct.
Cincinnati Reds 97 57 -- .630
St. Louis Cardinals 92 61 4.5 .601
Brooklyn Dodgers 84 69 12.5 .549
Chicago Cubs 84 70 13 .545
New York Giants 77 74 18.5 .510
Pittsburgh Pirates 68 85 28.5 .444
Boston Bees 63 88 32.5 .417
Philadelphia Phillies 45 106 50.5 .298

Notable transactions

Roster

1939 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers
  •  3 Jimmie Wilson

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

  •  3 Jimmie Wilson

Bat Boy

Player stats

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 Lombardi, ErnieErnie Lombardi 130 450 129 .287 20 85
3B Werber, BillyBilly Werber 147 599 173 .289 5 57
OF Berger, WallyWally 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
Simmons, AlAl Simmons 9 21 3 .143 0 1
West, DickDick West 8 19 4 .211 0 4
DiMaggio, VinceVince DiMaggio 8 14 1 .071 0 2
Wilson, JimmieJimmie Wilson 4 3 1 .333 0 0

Pitching

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
Walters, BuckyBucky Walters 39 319 27 11 2.29 137
Derringer, PaulPaul Derringer 38 301 25 7 2.93 128

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
Grissom, LeeLee Grissom 33 153.2 9 7 4.10 53
Thompson, JuniorJunior Thompson 42 152.1 13 5 2.54 87
Shoffner, MiltMilt 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
Johnson, HankHank Johnson 20 0 3 1 2.01 10
Davis, PeachesPeaches Davis 20 1 0 2 6.26 4
Livengood, WesWes Livengood 5 0 0 0 5.93 4
Weaver, JimJim Weaver 3 0 0 0 3.00 3
Barrett, RedRed Barrett 2 0 0 0 1.69 1
Jacobs, ArtArt Jacobs 1 0 0 1 9.00 1

1939 World Series

Main article: 1939 World Series

Game 1

October 4, 1939 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati (N) 000 100 000 140
New York (A) 000 010 001 260
W: Red Ruffing (1–0)  L: Paul Derringer (0–1)

Game 2

October 5, 1939 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati (N) 000 000 000 020
New York (A) 003 100 00x 490
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, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 202 030 000 751
Cincinnati (N) 120 000 000 3100
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, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
New York (A) 000 000 202 3 771
Cincinnati (N) 000 000 310 0 4114
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

[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.98, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  2. ↑ Milt Shoffner page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Al Simmons page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007

References