1940 Cleveland Indians
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkLeague Park
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
CityCleveland, Ohio
OwnersAlva Bradley
General managersCy Slapnicka
ManagersOssie Vitt
RadioWCLE
(Jack Graney, Pinky Hunter)
← 1939 Seasons 1941 →

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]

Regular season

Season standings

American League
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

1940 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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

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

[5]

Roster

1940 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 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

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

All Star Game

Lou Boudreau, Shortstop

Bob Feller, Pitcher

Rollie Hemsley, Catcher

Ken Keltner, Third baseman

Ray Mack, Second baseman

Al Milnar, Pitcher

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
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]

References

  1. ^ "History". The Plain Dealer. June 13, 1990. p. 3E.
  2. ^ Schneider, Russell (2001). The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 187. ISBN 9781582618401.
  3. ^ SI.com – Statitudes – Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers – Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM
  4. ^ Willis Hudlin at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ 1940 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links


1940 MLB season by team
Cleveland Guardians
Categories