Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

1940 Cincinnati Reds season

1940 Cincinnati Reds
World Series Champions
National League Champions
LeagueNational League
BallparkCrosley Field
CityCincinnati
OwnersPowel Crosley, Jr.
General managersWarren Giles
ManagersBill McKechnie
RadioWCPO
(Harry Hartman)
WSAI
(Roger Baker, Dick Bray)
← 1939 Seasons 1941 →

The 1940 Cincinnati Reds season was the 58th season for the franchise. Cincinnati entered the season as the reigning National League champions, having been swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series the previous year. They would defeat the Detroit Tigers four games to three to take the World Series title.

Offseason

Regular season

Cincinnati won 100 games for the first time in franchise history. The team finished first in the National League with a record of 100–53, winning the pennant by 12 games over the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the best record in MLB. They went on to face the Detroit Tigers in the 1940 World Series, beating them in seven games. This was their first championship since 1919.

In August, back up catcher Willard Hershberger, depressed over what he felt was culpability for losing both games of a doubleheader, took his life. Coach Jimmie Wilson was added to the roster as the back up catcher. The Reds players would vote to send Hershberger's share of the World Series winnings to his mother [3]

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 100 53 .654 55‍–‍21 45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers 88 65 .575 12 41‍–‍37 47‍–‍28
St. Louis Cardinals 84 69 .549 16 41‍–‍36 43‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates 78 76 .506 22½ 40‍–‍34 38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs 75 79 .487 25½ 40‍–‍37 35‍–‍42
New York Giants 72 80 .474 27½ 33‍–‍43 39‍–‍37
Boston Bees 65 87 .428 34½ 35‍–‍40 30‍–‍47
Philadelphia Phillies 50 103 .327 50 24‍–‍55 26‍–‍48

Detailed record

Team Home Away Total Win %
National League
Brooklyn 6–5 8–3–1 14–8–1 .636
Boston 7–4 5–5 12–9 .591
Chicago 9–2 7–4 16–6 .727
New York 8–3 7–4 15–7 .682
Philadelphia 8–2 7–5 15–7 .682
Pittsburgh 10–1 6–5 16–6 .727
St. Louis 7–4–1 5–6 12–10–1 .545
55–21 46–30 100–53 .654
Month Games Won Lost Win %
April 9 6 3 .667
May 26 19 7 .731
June 27 16 11 .593
July 28 20 8 .714
August 32 16 16 .500
September 31 23 8 .742
153 100 53 .654
Games Won Lost Win %
Home 76 55 21 .724
Away 77 45 32 .584

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston 9–13 8–14 9–12 7–15 15–6 9–13 8–14
Brooklyn 13–9 10–12 8–14–1 16–5 17–5 15–7–1 9–13–1
Chicago 14–8 12–10 6–16 12–10 12–10 11–11 8–14
Cincinnati 12–9 14–8–1 16–6 15–7 15–7 16–6 12–10–1
New York 15–7 5–16 10–12 7–15 12–10 12–10 11–10
Philadelphia 6–15 5–17 10–12 7–15 10–12 6–16 6–16
Pittsburgh 13–9 7–15–1 11–11 6–16 10–12 16–6 15–7–1
St. Louis 14–8 13–9–1 14–8 10–12–1 10–11 16–6 7–15–1


Notable transactions

Roster

1940 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

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 Ernie Lombardi 109 376 120 .319 14 74
1B Frank McCormick 155 618 191 .309 19 127
2B Lonny Frey 150 563 150 .266 8 54
SS Billy Myers 90 282 57 .202 5 30
3B Billy Werber 143 584 162 .277 12 48
OF Mike McCormick 110 417 125 .300 1 30
OF Ival Goodman 136 519 134 .258 12 63
OF Harry Craft 115 422 103 .244 6 48

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
Eddie Joost 88 278 60 .216 1 24
Morrie Arnovich 62 211 60 .284 0 21
Willard Hershberger 48 123 38 .309 0 26
Johnny Rizzo 31 110 31 .282 4 17
Jimmy Ripple 32 101 31 .307 4 20
Lew Riggs 41 72 21 .292 1 9
Bill Baker 27 69 15 .217 0 7
Lee Gamble 38 42 6 .143 0 0
Jimmy Wilson 16 37 9 .243 0 3
Dick West 7 28 11 .393 1 6
Mike Dejan 12 16 3 .188 0 2
Vince DiMaggio 2 4 1 .250 0 0
Wally Berger 2 2 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
Bucky Walters 36 305.0 22 10 2.48 115
Paul Derringer 37 296.2 20 12 3.06 115
Gene Thompson 33 225.1 16 9 3.32 103
Jim Turner 24 187.0 14 7 2.89 53

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
Whitey Moore 25 116.2 8 8 3.63 60
Johnny Hutchings 19 54.0 2 1 3.50 18
Johnny Vander Meer 10 48.0 3 1 3.75 41

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 Beggs 37 12 3 7 2.00 25
Milt Shoffner 20 1 0 0 5.63 17
Elmer Riddle 15 1 2 2 1.87 9
Red Barrett 3 1 0 0 6.75 0
Lefty Guise 2 0 0 0 1.17 1

1940 World Series

Game 1

October 2, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (A) 0 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 10 1
Cincinnati (N) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 8 3
W: Bobo Newsom (1–0)   L: Paul Derringer (0–1)
HR: DETBruce Campbell (1)
Attendance: 31,739  

Game 2

October 3, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (A) 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 3 1
Cincinnati (N) 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 9 0
W: Bucky Walters (1–0)   L: Schoolboy Rowe (0–1)
HR: CINJimmy Ripple (1)
Attendance: 30,640  

Game 3

October 4, 1940, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati (N) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 10 1
Detroit (A) 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 2 x 7 13 1
W: Tommy Bridges (1–0)  L: Jim Turner (0–1)
HR: : DETRudy York (1), Pinky Higgins (1)

Game 4

October 5, 1940, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati (N) 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 11 1
Detroit (A) 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 1
W: Paul Derringer (1–1)  L: Dizzy Trout (0–1)

Game 5

October 6, 1940, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati (N) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0
Detroit (A) 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 1 x 8 13 0
W: Bobo Newsom (2–0)  L: Junior Thompson (0–1)
HR: : DETHank Greenberg (1)

Game 6

October 7, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (A) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Cincinnati (N) 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 x 4 10 2
W: Bucky Walters (2–0)   L: Schoolboy Rowe (0–2)
HR: CINBucky Walters (1)

Game 7

October 8, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit (A) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
Cincinnati (N) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 x 2 7 1
W: Paul Derringer (2–1)   L: Bobo Newsom (2–1)

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AA Indianapolis Indians American Association Wes Griffin and Jewel Ens
A1 Birmingham Barons Southern Association Ira Smith
B Durham Bulls Piedmont League Oscar Roettger
B Columbia Reds Sally League Cap Crossley
C Tucson Cowboys Arizona–Texas League Lester "Pat" Patterson
C Ogden Reds Pioneer League Bill McCorry
D Troy Trojans Alabama State League Ellis Johnson and Harold Fehrenbacher
D Lenoir Reds Tar Heel League Ray Rice

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Durham[5]

References

  1. ^ Hank Sauer at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Al Simmons at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ "How the Reds Redeemed Themselves in 1940". August 16, 2019.
  4. ^ Jimmy Ripple at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007