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1938 Chicago Cubs season
From Wikipedia - Reading time: 12 min
| 1938 Chicago Cubs | ||
|---|---|---|
| National League Champions | ||
| League | National League | |
| Ballpark | Wrigley Field | |
| City | Chicago | |
| Owners | Philip K. Wrigley | |
| General managers | Charles Weber | |
| Managers | Charlie Grimm, Gabby Hartnett | |
| Radio | WGN (Bob Elson) WBBM (Charlie Grimm, Pat Flanagan, Val Sherman) WCFL (Hal Totten) WIND (Russ Hodges, Jimmy Dudley) WJJD (John Harrington, Jack Drees) | |
| ||
The 1938 Chicago Cubs season was the 67th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 63rd in the National League and the 23rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished first in the National League with a record of 89–63. The team was swept four games to none by the New York Yankees in the World Series.
The team is known for the season of pitcher Dizzy Dean. While pitching for the NL in the 1937 All-Star Game, Dean suffered a big toe fracture. Coming back too soon from the injury, Dean changed his pitching motion to avoid landing too hard on his sore toe enough to affect his mechanics. As a result, he hurt his arm, losing his great fastball.[1] By 1938, Dean's arm was largely gone. Cubs scout Clarence "Pants" Rowland was tasked with the unenviable job of obeying owner Philip K. Wrigley's direct order to buy a washed-up Dean's contract at any cost. Rowland signed the ragged righty for $185,000, one of the most expensive loss-leader contracts in baseball history. Dean still helped the Cubs win the 1938 pennant.
On July 20, Wrigley named 37-year-old Gabby Hartnett as the team's player-manager, replacing Charlie Grimm.[2] When Hartnett took over, the Cubs were in third place, six games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates who were led by Pie Traynor.[3] By September 27, with one week left in the season, the Cubs had battled back to within a game and a half game of the Pirates in the National League standings as the two teams met for a crucial three-game series.[3] Dean pitched the opening game of the series and with his ailing arm, relied more on his experience and grit to defeat the Pirates by a score of 2 to 1. Dean would later call it the greatest outing of his career.[1] The Cubs cut the Pirates' lead to a half game and set the stage for one of baseball's most memorable moments.[4]
On September 28, the two teams met for the second game of the series, where Hartnett experienced the highlight of his career. With darkness descending on the lightless Wrigley Field and the score tied at 5 runs apiece, the umpires ruled that the ninth inning would be the last to be played. The entire game would have to be replayed the following day if the score remained tied. Hartnett came to bat with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. With a count of 0 balls and 2 strikes, Hartnett connected on a Mace Brown pitch, launching the ball into the darkness, before it eventually landed in the left-center field bleachers. The stadium erupted into pandemonium as players and fans stormed the field to escort Hartnett around the bases.[5] Hartnett's walk-off home run became immortalized as the Homer in the Gloamin'.[4] The Cubs were now in first place, culminating an impressive 19–3–1 record in September, and the pennant would be clinched three days later.[3]
It would be 50 years before lights were installed at Wrigley Field.[6]
Regular season
[edit]Season standings
[edit]| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 89 | 63 | .586 | — | 44–33 | 45–30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 64 | .573 | 2 | 44–33 | 42–31 |
| New York Giants | 83 | 67 | .553 | 5 | 43–30 | 40–37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 68 | .547 | 6 | 43–34 | 39–34 |
| Boston Bees | 77 | 75 | .507 | 12 | 45–30 | 32–45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | 80 | .470 | 17½ | 36–41 | 35–39 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 69 | 80 | .463 | 18½ | 31–41 | 38–39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 105 | .300 | 43 | 26–48 | 19–57 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 11–9 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 13–9–1 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 10–12 | — | 9–11–1 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 15–7 | 9–11 | 9–12–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 12–10 | 11–9–1 | — | 11–11 | 12–10 | 18–4 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 9–11 | 13–9 | 11–11 | — | 12–9 | 14–7 | 10–12 | 13–9–1 | |||||
| New York | 14–8 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 9–12 | — | 16–5 | 9–13–1 | 11–9–1 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 7–15 | 4–18 | 7–14 | 5–16 | — | 8–12–1 | 6–16 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 11–9 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 12–8–1 | — | 15–7 | |||||
| St. Louis | 9–13–1 | 12–9–1 | 9–13–1 | 9–13–1 | 9–11–1 | 16–6 | 7–15 | — | |||||
Roster
[edit]| 1938 Chicago Cubs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Schedule
[edit]| 1938 Chicago Cubs Game Log |
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Player stats
[edit]Batting
[edit]Starters by position
[edit]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 | Gabby Hartnett | 88 | 299 | 82 | .274 | 10 | 59 |
| 1B | Ripper Collins | 143 | 490 | 131 | .267 | 13 | 61 |
| 2B | Billy Herman | 152 | 624 | 173 | .277 | 1 | 56 |
| SS | Billy Jurges | 137 | 465 | 114 | .245 | 1 | 47 |
| 3B | Stan Hack | 152 | 609 | 195 | .320 | 4 | 67 |
| OF | Carl Reynolds | 125 | 497 | 150 | .302 | 3 | 67 |
| OF | Augie Galan | 110 | 395 | 113 | .286 | 6 | 69 |
| OF | Frank Demaree | 129 | 476 | 130 | .273 | 8 | 62 |
Other batters
[edit]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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Cavarretta | 92 | 268 | 64 | .239 | 1 | 28 |
| Ken O'Dea | 86 | 247 | 65 | .263 | 3 | 33 |
| Joe Marty | 76 | 235 | 57 | .243 | 7 | 35 |
| Tony Lazzeri | 54 | 120 | 32 | .267 | 5 | 23 |
| Bob Garbark | 23 | 54 | 14 | .259 | 0 | 5 |
| Coaker Triplett | 12 | 36 | 9 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Asbell | 17 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 3 |
| Steve Mesner | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Mattick | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |
Pitching
[edit]Starting pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Lee | 44 | 291.0 | 22 | 9 | 2.66 | 121 |
| Clay Bryant | 44 | 270.1 | 19 | 11 | 3.10 | 135 |
| Larry French | 43 | 201.1 | 10 | 19 | 3.80 | 83 |
| Tex Carleton | 33 | 167.2 | 10 | 9 | 5.42 | 80 |
| Dizzy Dean | 13 | 74.2 | 7 | 1 | 1.81 | 22 |
| Kirby Higbe | 2 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 4 |
Other pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Root | 44 | 160.2 | 8 | 7 | 2.86 | 70 |
| Vance Page | 13 | 68.0 | 5 | 4 | 3.84 | 18 |
| Al Epperly | 9 | 27.0 | 2 | 0 | 3.67 | 10 |
Relief pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Russell | 42 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3.34 | 29 |
| Bob Logan | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.78 | 10 |
| Newt Kimball | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
1938 World Series
[edit]Game 1
[edit]October 5, 1938, at Wrigley Field in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| Chicago (N) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Red Ruffing (1–0) L: Bill Lee (0–1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
[edit]October 6, 1938, at Wrigley Field in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| Chicago (N) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Lefty Gomez (1–0) L: Dizzy Dean (0–1) S: Johnny Murphy (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Frankie Crosetti (1), Joe DiMaggio (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
[edit]October 8, 1938, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | x | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Monte Pearson (1–0) L: Clay Bryant (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: : CHI – Joe Marty (1) NYY – Joe Gordon (1), Bill Dickey (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4
[edit]October 9, 1938, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | x | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| W: Red Ruffing (2–0) L: Bill Lee (0–2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: : CHI – Ken O'Dea (1) NYY – Tommy Henrich (1) | ||||||||||||
Farm system
[edit]LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Ponca City, Greeneville
References
[edit]- ^ a b "1938: A Rockier Road". thisgreatgame.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ "Gabby Hartnett Succeeds Grimm As Cub Manager". The Daily Times. July 21, 1938. p. 9. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ a b c "1938 Chicago Cubs Schedule". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ a b "Homer In The Gloamin'". mlb.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ Carmichael, John (October 1978). When Gabby Hartnett Hit His Homer In The Gloamin'. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)[permanent dead link] - ^ Vettel, Phil (August 8, 1988). "The Cubs Get Lights at Wrigley Field". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- 1938 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference
External links
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