1940 Cleveland Indians season
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 Mutiny."
1940 Cleveland Indians | |
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Owner(s) | Alva Bradley |
General manager(s) | Cy Slapnicka |
Manager(s) | Ossie Vitt |
Local radio | WCLE (Jack Graney, Pinky Hunter) |
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Regular season
- April 16, 1940: Indians pitcher Bob Feller threw what is, to date, the only Opening Day no-hitter. Feller walked five and struck out eight as the Indians beat the White Sox, 1–0, at Comiskey Park.[2]
Season standings
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Detroit Tigers | 90 | 64 | 0.584 | — | 50–29 | 40–35 |
Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | 0.578 | 1 | 51–30 | 38–35 |
New York Yankees | 88 | 66 | 0.571 | 2 | 52–24 | 36–42 |
Boston Red Sox | 82 | 72 | 0.532 | 8 | 45–34 | 37–38 |
Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | 0.532 | 8 | 41–36 | 41–36 |
St. Louis Browns | 67 | 87 | 0.435 | 23 | 37–39 | 30–48 |
Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | 0.416 | 26 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 54 | 100 | 0.351 | 36 | 29–42 | 25–58 |
Record vs. opponents
1940 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHI | STL | 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
- May 13, 1940: Willis Hudlin was released by the Indians.[3]
Roster
1940 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Coaches
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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
Lou Boudreau, Shortstop
Bob Feller, Pitcher
Rollie Hemsley, Catcher
Ken Keltner, Third baseman
Ray Mack, Second baseman
Al Milnar, Pitcher
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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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[4]
References
- "1940 Cleveland Indians - BR Bullpen". www.baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
- SI.com – Statitudes – Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers – Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM
- Willis Hudlin at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007