[Matches]

1940

Still stinging from their second half collapse a year earlier, the Brooklyn Dodgers came roaring out of the gate and at the all-star break had posted a gaudy 61-20 record. They finished with a major league record 112 wins.

The Chicago White Sox returned to the top of the American League after a rough ’39 season. They won the pennant after a tight three-team race with Detroit and Cleveland. Chicago finished in a regular season tie with Detroit and won in the playoff to take home their 5th AL title in six years. The White Sox’ experience in the postseason paid dividends, and they upset the Dodgers in seven games.

Bob Feller won his second straight Cy Young, winning 24 games and striking out 252 batters while posting a 2.24 ERA. Ted Williams won another MVP for Philadelphia as the team improved to have an 85-win season. They could be a contender if rookie SS Pee Wee Reese continues to develop.

1941

Brooklyn continued to play well in the National League, fighting off the Cubs and Pirates in the first half of the season. The Pirates won 94 games but still finished 8 games behind the Dodgers.

The Boston Red Sox had baseball’s best record at the all-star break, thanks to stellar first half performances by pitchers Bob Feller and Marius Russo. The defending champion White Sox had a solid season, winning 92 games, but it was no match for Boston, who set an American League record with a 109-45 record. Their pitching staff was phenomenal, as they led the league on all major categories, but suffered a blow late as ace Bob Feller (21-9, 2.27) injured his knee in the final week of the season, putting him out of the World Series. Boston posted a team ERA of 2.67, while the American League on average had an ERA of 3.80.

The World Series was one to remember for the Dodgers. Still stung from their poor showing the previous year, the Dodgers found themselves down 3-0 to Boston. But they exploded for four runs in the first inning of Game 4 and cruised to an 11-4 win. Charlie Gehringer hit a walk-off home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth in Game 5. Game 6 in Boston went 10 innings and went in Brooklyn’s favor. The Dodgers completed the comeback with a 3-2 win in Game 7.

Boston’s Big Three of pitchers finished 1-2-3 in the Cy Young Award voting, with Marius Russo (24-4, 2.22) beating out Feller and Johnny Vander Meer (22-6, 2.17). Boston’s Stan Hack and Hank Greenberg finished behind Philadelphia’s Ted Williams in MVP voting.

1942

Brooklyn lost Buddy Lewis to Pittsburgh in free agency, and the move created a little more parity at the top of the NL. The Cubs, led by rookie shortstop Johnny Pesky and a great first half by veteran pitcher Si Johnson, led at the break. The Red Sox were not as dominant in the American League, which saw four teams contending halfway through the season. Boston fought off both Cleveland and Detroit to win the American League by three games, while in the National League, the Dodgers fell out of the race and the Cubs edged Pittsburgh by a game to win their second pennant in four years.

In the World Series, Johnny Vander Meer won two games for Boston as they won their seventh World Championship. Vander Meer also won the AL Cy Young for his 21-11 season. Philadelphia’s Ted Williams won another MVP award, despite being hurt late in the season and only playing 109 games. He finished with a .352 batting average and 29 homers.

1943

Brooklyn returned to the top of the National League in 1943, holding an eight and a half game lead over the Cardinals at the break. Boston faced opposition from Washington, Cleveland and Detroit, and the race only got tighter as the summer wore on. Detroit was a game up on Cleveland going into September, with Boston and Washington fading out of the picture. The Indians’ 18-8 September put them over the top, and Cleveland won it’s first pennant since the too-short Babe Ruth era in the mid-20s. Brooklyn, meanwhile, finished with 99 wins and a comfortable 18 games ahead of Cincinnati and St. Louis, with the defending champion Cubs suffering a 69-85 season.

The Dodgers were heavily favored in the World Series, most of their players having been there before, and they did not disappoint, sweeping the Indians to win their third title in six years.

Ted Williams (.355-29-128) won yet another MVP award for the Athletics, who continued to struggle.

1944

Pennant races in both leagues were hot and heavy in 1944. The AL defending champs were two games out of first place at the break, with Stan Musial and the Washington Senators in first, and the Detroit Tigers, led by Frank McCormick, hovered five and a half games back. The Tigers faltered and it became 2-team race going into September, but Washington’s lead slipped away as they completely folded in September, going 6-17 for the month. Cleveland’s league-best pitching staff led the team to it’s second straight pennant.

In the National League, the Reds held a one game lead over the Cardinals, with the Philadelphia Blue Jays three and a half out. Pittsburgh, Chicago, and even the Dodgers, who were four games under .500, all considered themselves in contention. The Blue Jays scuffled in the second half, finishing 9 games under .500. St. Louis’ strong finish put them in the World Series for only the third time in franchise history.

The Indians took the World Series in 5 games. Third baseman Ken Keltner, who signed a 5-year deal with the team the previous fall, hit .450 with a homer and 7 RBIs in the series.

In what appeared to be becoming a ritual in the American League, Ted Williams and Stan Musial finished 1-2 in MVP voting. Boston’s Pete Reiser had a breakthrough year at age 25, hitting .354 and stealing 38 bases. Cleveland’s Jack Kramer won the Cy Young Award. St.Louis’ Charle Keller earned the MVP in the NL for his 39 homer season. He added 126 RBI to lead the majors in both categories.

1945

8-time All-Star Mel Ott signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason. The Pirates signed the veteran away from Brooklyn as their right fielder for the last seven years, Enos Slaughter, signed with the last-place New York Giants. Ott had spent 11 seasons in Brooklyn and was at the tail end of a long career that began back in 1926 with the Reds. The Dodgers, for their part, improved by signing shortstop Lou Boudreau from Detroit.

The American League experts were divided. Some thought Cleveland would repeat. Others thought the Senators would finally put a full season together, and still others felt that Boston’s crack pitching staff of Bob Feller, Ken Raffensberger, Harry Brecheen and Preacher Roe would win out. It was the third group that looked like geniuses early, as they held a 6.5 game lead over Cleveland, which was the only other team above .500 going into August. Raffensberger was particularly dominant the first 4 months, going 17-3 with a 2.61 ERA. Their success continued and Boston finished with 101 wins to take the pennant.

In the National League, the Cardinals and Pirates battled for first, with the Cubs and Dodgers within striking distance. St. Louis’ Johnny Mize had his best season since his second year in the majors, hitting .353 with 30 homers and 100 RBI, as that Cardinals maintained their lead and won their second straight pennant.

The Red Sox were favored in the World Series, since good pitching beats good hitting. But this year, “vice versa” was the case as the Cardinals stunned Boston by winning in six games. Tiny Bonham was the star of the series, pitching two complete game wins and posting an ERA of 1.50.

Mize took home the NL MVP, the first of his career. Ted Williams and Stan Musial finished 1-2 again in the American League. Ted Williams had played seven seasons, won seven MVP awards, but still was without a pennant. The Spendid Splinter opted for free agency at the end of the year, as did NL MVP Johnny Mize. Williams signed a $419,000 a year deal with the struggling NewYork Giants franchise, becoming the highest paid player in baseball. Johnny Mize signed the game’s second-richest contract, opting for the Phillies, who hadn’t finished better than fifth place since 1931.

1946

The Giants made some noise in the offseason, signing Ted Williams to create a potent core of the lineup with Williams, Enos Slaughter, and Ernie Lombardi. They also signed Claude Passeau to be their new number one starter, and hoped for a boost from rookie draft pick Ellis Kinder. But for all the offseason noise the Giants made about a renaissance, in the regular season they were quiet. The Cardinals were in first at the break, and the Giants were 18 and a half games back, in last place. To add injury to insult, Ted Williams tore his groin muscle in mid-June and was lost for the year. A phenomenal season for Johnny Mize in his new home in Philadelphia made the Phillies pennant contenders. Mize hit .355 with an NL record 62 home runs and 145 RBI, winning the Triple Crown and the NL MVP. In the end, it was not enough as it was the Pirates who finished strong, taking the pennant by one game over Philadelphia.

Boston and Chicago were tied for first in the American League, with the St. Louis Browns a half game out. Hank Greenberg led the AL in homers for Boston and led them to another pennant, as the Browns; first half turned out to be a fluke and Chicago couldn’t keep pace.

The World Series was a matchup of two of baseball’s most successful franchises. It was Boston’s 13th appearance (no team had been there more often), and Pittsburgh had won World Series eight rings (no team had won more often). Boston again found itself on the losing end, as the Pirates won it in five very close games. No game was won by more than two runs, and the final three were all one-run ballgames. Joe DiMaggio had a .474 batting average for Pittsburgh to silence some of his critics who said he’d been underachieving for most of his career.

The Giants finished with the baseball’s worst record, and so had the fortune of picking from of a loaded draft class which included Duke Snider, Al Rosen and Ted Kluzewski as well as the game’s first black players, Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby. However, they passed on all of them and selected pitcher Harry Perkowski. Fans were crestfallen. Snider was the first to go, 4th overall to the Athletics. The Reds took Rosen and the Browns made Jackie Robinson the game’s first African-American player with the 8th pick, figuring that they had never won a pennant with all white guys.

1947

The Giants, determined to get back to the top of the National League, made another offseason splash, signing former Boston Braves ace Hal Newhouser to a multi-year contract. The 25-year old Newhouser was coming of a 24 win season in which he won the NL Cy Young award. But experts figured they still didn’t have the horses, especially with Ted Williams’ status unsure as he returned from his groin injury a week after the season started.

The Giants did hover around .500 in the first half, but it was not good enough to really be in contention. The Pirates continued their success from the previous season, with Joe DiMaggio among the leaders in home runs and Max Butcher winning a career-high 26 games and posting a 3.01 ERA. Pittsburgh won the pennant by 12 games over the Dodgers with a 94-60 record. Mel Ott hit 32 home runs, overtaking Lou Gehrig as the all-time home run king.

The Red Sox continued to play well in the Amerian League, and had a six game lead at the break over Chicago, with the Senators right behind the White Sox. Washington’s Stan Musial flirted with .400 as late as August but the Senators were unable to keep pace with the Red Sox, who finished with 96 wins, taking their third straight pennant.

This time around, Boston was able to take care of business, and they dispatched the Pirates in a four-game sweep. Harry Brecheen won his two starts and had a 1.50 ERA, w hile Hank Greenberg and Jim Russell each hit two home runs in the series.

Butcher won the NL Cy Young, while Bob Feller (19-10, 2.31) won the award in the American League. Stan Musial’s .384 batting average and 27 homers earned him his second straight MVP award. Johnny Mize followed his historical ’46 season with another MVP performance, hitting .309 with 45 homers and 136 RBI.

1948

The Red Sox fell horribly out of contention in 1948, falling to last place by the All-Star break, as the Chicago White Sox rose to the top of the American League. The Red Sox pitching, once the envy of all of baseball, fell apart. The White Sox were led by pitchers Ellis Kinder and Dizzy Trout, while the Indians had a nice rotation that included former Boston pitcher Ken Raffensberger, Curt Simmons, and free agent acquisition Early Wynn.

The National League had a measure of parity at the All-Star break. Even the last place Reds were just nine games back of first place, which was held once again by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs and Braves were each within two games of first. Thinks still weren’t settled into mid-August, with seven of the eight teams within a paltry 4 games of first place, with Pittsburgh still clinging to the top spot. As the season wound down the Pirates remained steady and clinched the pennant on October 1 with two games remaining. It was a scant 83 wins that won it for the Pirates, led by Joe DiMaggio’s .315-28-113 performance and a September in which he hit .373.

The White Sox took the World Series, four games to two, as after getting shut out in Game 1, the Chicago offense woke up, including a 13-2 win in Game 6. It was Chicago’s sixth World Series victory in franchise history. Ralph Kiner won the AL MVP for the White Sox, hitting .327 with 42 home runs and 125 RBI in a breakout season for the 25-year old outfielder. Raffensberger (19-10, 2.55) of Cleveland won the AL Cy Young award.

The Giants’ Hal Newhouser (18-12, 3.23) took home the NL Cy Young and Ted Williams got healthy and hit .338 with 35 homers and 126 RBI to win his eighth MVP award.

1949

The Boston Red Sox returned to the pennant race after a year in the basement. They were in first place by games at the all-star break, over second place Washington. Harry Brecheen had 14 wins at the all-star break for Boston, and the Senators’ Stan Musial was again leading the league in batting. The Red Sox held on to their lead despite going 2-8 in their last 10 games. They won the pennant by one game over Washington. It was their sixth American League title in the decade.

The National League saw another very crowded race. St. Louis held a one game lead over Chicago, with Pittsburgh, Brooklyn and Philadelphia all within five games. Pittsburgh took over first place in mid August but the Cardinals came back. They dueled all through September and in the end, the Cardinals won out, winning the pennant by one game.

The Red Sox cemented their status as the team of the decade, winning their fourth World Series title in the 1940s by taking the Cardinals in five games. Ron Northey hit four homers in the five game series and Harry Brecheen improved his postseason record to 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA.