1939 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1939 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished first in the National League, winning the pennant by 4½ games over the St. Louis Cardinals with a record of 97–57. The team went on to the 1939 World Series, which it lost in four straight games to the New York Yankees.

1939 Cincinnati Reds
1939 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Crosley Field (since 1934) Cincinnati (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	Powel Crosley, Jr.
General manager(s)	Warren Giles
Manager(s)	Bill McKechnie
Local radio	WSAI (Roger Baker, Dick Bray) WCPO (Harry Hartman)
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Regular season

During the season, Paul Derringer and Bucky Walters became the last pitchers to win at least 25 games in one season for the Reds in the 20th century.[1]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	97	57	0.630	—	55–25	42–32
St. Louis Cardinals	92	61	0.601	4½	51–27	41–34
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	69	0.549	12½	51–27	33–42
Chicago Cubs	84	70	0.545	13	44–34	40–36
New York Giants	77	74	0.510	18½	41–33	36–41
Pittsburgh Pirates	68	85	0.444	28½	35–42	33–43
Boston Bees	63	88	0.417	32½	37–35	26–53
Philadelphia Phillies	45	106	0.298	50½	29–44	16–62

Record vs. opponents

1939 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12–1	6–16	6–16	10–11	13–8	9–12	9–13
Brooklyn	12–10–1	—	11–11–2	10–12	12–10	17–4–1	13–9	9–13
Chicago	16–6	11–11–2	—	10–12	11–11	12–10	14–8	10–12
Cincinnati	16–6	12–10	12–10	—	11–11	19–3	16–6	11–11–2
New York	11–10	10–12	11–11	11–11	—	14–7	11–11	9–12
Philadelphia	8–13	4–17–1	10–12	3–19	7–14	—	8–14	5–17
Pittsburgh	12–9	9–13	8–14	6–16	11–11	14–8	—	8–14
St. Louis	13–9	13–9	12–10	11–11–2	12–9	17–5	14–8	—

Notable transactions

• August 19, 1939: Milt Shoffner was selected off waivers by the Reds from the Boston Bees.[2]
• August 31, 1939: Al Simmons was purchased by the Reds from the Boston Bees.[3]

Roster

1939 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers 37 Red Barrett 37 Peaches Davis 30 Paul Derringer 42 Lee Grissom 14 Art Jacobs 14 Hank Johnson 36 Wes Livengood 35 Whitey Moore 38 Pete Naktenis 36 Johnny Niggeling 14 Elmer Riddle 37 Milt Shoffner 39 Junior Thompson 33 Johnny Vander Meer 31 Bucky Walters 34 Jim Weaver		Catchers  5 Willard Hershberger  4 Ernie Lombardi  3 Jimmie Wilson Infielders 11 Lonny Frey 19 Milt Galatzer 17 Eddie Joost 10 Frank McCormick 12 Billy Myers 45 Nolen Richardson 15 Lew Riggs 18 Billy Werber		Outfielders 22 Wally Berger 27 Nino Bongiovanni 26 Frenchy Bordagaray 23 Harry Craft 28 Vince DiMaggio 25 Lee Gamble 24 Ival Goodman 36 Bud Hafey 38 Al Simmons 34,38 Dick West Other batters 16 Les Scarsella		Manager  1 Bill McKechnie Coaches  2 Hank Gowdy  3 Jimmie Wilson

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
C	Ernie Lombardi	130	450	129	.287	20	85
1B	Frank McCormick	156	630	209	.332	18	128
2B	Lonny Frey	125	484	141	.291	11	55
SS	Billy Myers	151	509	143	.281	9	56
3B	Billy Werber	147	599	173	.289	5	57
OF	Ival Goodman	124	470	152	.323	7	84
OF	Harry Craft	134	502	129	.257	13	67
OF	Wally Berger	97	329	85	.258	14	44

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
Lee Gamble	72	221	59	.267	0	14
Willard Hershberger	63	174	60	.345	0	32
Nino Bongiovanni	27	159	41	.258	0	16
Eddie Joost	23	143	36	.252	0	14
Frenchy Bordagaray	63	122	24	.197	0	12
Lew Riggs	22	38	6	.158	0	1
Al Simmons	9	21	3	.143	0	1
Dick West	8	19	4	.211	0	4
Vince DiMaggio	8	14	1	.071	0	2
Les Scarsella	16	14	2	.143	0	0
Bud Hafey	6	13	2	.154	0	1
Milt Galatzer	3	5	0	.000	0	0
Jimmie Wilson	4	3	1	.333	0	0
Nolen Richardson	1	3	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
Bucky Walters	39	319	27	11	2.29	137
Paul Derringer	38	301	25	7	2.93	128
Whitey Moore	42	187.2	13	12	3.45	81

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
Lee Grissom	33	153.2	9	7	4.10	53
Junior Thompson	42	152.1	13	5	2.54	87
Johnny Vander Meer	30	129	5	9	4.67	102
Johnny Niggeling	10	40.1	2	1	5.80	20
Milt Shoffner	10	37.2	2	2	3.35	6

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
Hank Johnson	20	0	3	1	2.01	10
Peaches Davis	20	1	0	2	6.26	4
Wes Livengood	5	0	0	0	5.93	4
Jim Weaver	3	0	0	0	3.00	3
Pete Naktenis	3	0	0	0	2.25	1
Red Barrett	2	0	0	0	1.69	1
Elmer Riddle	1	0	0	0	0.00	0
Art Jacobs	1	0	0	1	9.00	1

1939 World Series

Game 1

October 4, 1939, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (N)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
New York (A)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	6	0
W: Red Ruffing (1–0)  L: Paul Derringer (0–1)

Game 2

October 5, 1939, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
New York (A)	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	x	4	9	0
W: Monte Pearson (1–0)  L: Bucky Walters (0–1)
HR: : NYY – Babe Dahlgren (1)

Game 3

October 7, 1939, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	2	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	7	5	1
Cincinnati (N)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	10	0
W: Bump Hadley (1–0)   L: Junior Thompson (0–1)
HR: NYY – Charlie Keller (1, 2), Joe DiMaggio (1), Bill Dickey (1)

Game 4

October 8, 1939, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	3	7	7	1
Cincinnati (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	4	11	4
W: Johnny Murphy (1–0)   L: Bucky Walters (0–2)
HR: NYY – Charlie Keller (3), Bill Dickey (2)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Ray Schalk and Wes Griffin
A1	Birmingham Barons	Southern Association	Dutch Zwilling
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Rabbit Maranville
B	Durham Bulls	Piedmont League	Oscar Roettger
B	Columbia Reds	Sally League	Johnny Burnett
B	Waterloo Red Hawks	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Cap Crossley
C	El Dorado Lions	Cotton States League	Frank O'Rourke
C	Helena Seaporters	Cotton States League	Buster Blakeney
C	Erie Sailors	Middle Atlantic League	Jocko Munch
C	Ogden Reds	Pioneer League	Bill McCorry
C	Muskogee Reds	Western Association	Lester "Pat" Patterson
D	Bassett Furniture Makers	Bi-State League	Walter Novak

[4]

Notes

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.98, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
2. Milt Shoffner page at Baseball Reference
3. Al Simmons page at Baseball Reference
4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1939 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference