The 1919 Major League Baseball season began on April 19, 1919. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 16th World Series, known for the infamous Black Sox Scandal, on October 1 and ended with Game 8 on October 9. The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago White Sox, five games to three.
1919 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | April 19 – October 9, 1919 |
Number of games | 140 |
Number of teams | 16 |
Pennant Winners | |
AL champions | Chicago White Sox |
AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
NL champions | Cincinnati Reds |
NL runners-up | New York Giants |
World Series | |
Champions | Cincinnati Reds |
Runners-up | Chicago White Sox |
The Black Sox Scandal, for which the 1919 season is best remembered for, saw the Chicago White Sox throw (purposely lose) the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, 5–3, in order to illegally gain money from gambling. This scandal resulted in the dissolution of the National Baseball Commission and the creation of the office of the Commissioner of Baseball. The new commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned eight players from baseball for life.[1]
The 1919 schedule consisted of 140 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 20 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This 140-game schedule format had been previously used in 1903. The 154-game schedule was re-instituted for the 1920 season.
The season began on April 19, when the Brooklyn Robins defeated the Boston Braves 5–2 at Braves Field in the first game of a doubleheader.[2] The regular season ended on September 29 with the New York Yankees defeating the Philadelphia Athletics 4–2 at Shibe Park.[3] The World Series would begin in Cincinnati on October 1, before concluding on October 9.
American League edit
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National League edit
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World Series | ||||
AL | Chicago White Sox | 3 | ||
NL | Cincinnati Reds | 5 |
Only one team announced a new manager in the offseason:
Date | Team | New manager | Replaced | Former job |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 30 | Cincinnati Reds | Pat Moran | Christy Mathewson | Won the 1915 World Series as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. |
One team replaced their manager during the season:
Date | Team | New Manager | Replaced | Previous Job |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 8 | Philadelphia Phillies | Gavvy Cravath | Jack Coombs | Played right field for the Philadelphia Phillies (became player manager) |
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Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Giants[4] | 87 | 22.5% | 708,857 | 176.2% | 10,273 |
Detroit Tigers[5] | 80 | 45.5% | 643,805 | 216.0% | 9,197 |
Chicago White Sox[6] | 88 | 54.4% | 627,186 | 221.5% | 8,960 |
New York Yankees[7] | 80 | 33.3% | 619,164 | 119.5% | 8,482 |
Cleveland Indians[8] | 84 | 15.1% | 538,135 | 82.1% | 7,799 |
Cincinnati Reds[9] | 96 | 41.2% | 532,501 | 226.7% | 7,607 |
Chicago Cubs[10] | 75 | -10.7% | 424,430 | 25.8% | 5,978 |
Boston Red Sox[11] | 66 | -12.0% | 417,291 | 67.2% | 6,323 |
Brooklyn Robins[12] | 69 | 21.1% | 360,721 | 330.3% | 5,153 |
St. Louis Browns[13] | 67 | 15.5% | 349,350 | 186.2% | 4,991 |
Pittsburgh Pirates[14] | 71 | 9.2% | 276,810 | 29.6% | 3,954 |
Philadelphia Phillies[15] | 47 | -14.5% | 240,424 | 96.6% | 3,386 |
Washington Senators[16] | 56 | -22.2% | 234,096 | 28.5% | 3,251 |
Philadelphia Athletics[17] | 36 | -30.8% | 225,209 | 26.6% | 3,217 |
Boston Braves[18] | 57 | 7.5% | 167,401 | 97.1% | 2,462 |
St. Louis Cardinals[19] | 54 | 5.9% | 167,059 | 51.0% | 2,421 |