Champions
Major League Baseball World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees (4–1) All-Star Game, July 6 at Polo Grounds: American League, 3–1
Other champions Amateur World Series: Cuba Negro World Series: Kansas City Monarchs over Homestead Grays (4–0) Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: East, 5–2 Minor leagues Northern League: Winnipeg Maroons
Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame Rogers Hornsby Most Valuable Player Joe Gordon (AL) – New York Yankees (2B) Mort Cooper (NL) – St. Louis Cardinals (P) The Sporting News Player of the Year Award Ted Williams – Boston Red Sox (LF) The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award Joe Gordon (AL) – New York Yankees (2B) Mort Cooper (NL) – St. Louis Cardinals (P) The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award Billy Southworth – St. Louis Cardinals
Statistical leaders Any team shown in indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
American LeagueNational LeagueNegro American LeagueNegro National League Stat Player Total Player Total Player Total Player Total AVG Ted Williams1 (BOS) .356 Ernie Lombardi (BSN) .330 Ted Strong2 (KCM) .364 Lennie Pearson3 (NE/) .347 HR Ted Williams1 (BOS) 36 Mel Ott (NYG) 30 Ted Strong2 (KCM) 6 Lennie Pearson3 (NE/) 11 RBI Ted Williams1 (BOS) 137 Johnny Mize (NYG) 110 Ted Strong2 (KCM) 32 Lennie Pearson3 (NE/) 56 W Tex Hughson (BOS) 22 Mort Cooper (STL) 22 Diamond Pipkins (BBB) 7 Ray Brown (HOM)Bill Byrd (BEG) 10 ERA Ted Lyons (CWS) 2.10 Mort Cooper (STL) 1.78 Smoky Owens (CLB) 1.83 Roy Partlow (HOM) 1.69 K Tex Hughson (BOS)Bobo Newsom (WSH) 113 Johnny Vander Meer (CIN) 186 Satchel Paige (KCM) 56 Leon Day (NE/HOM) 86 1 American League Triple Crown batting winner
2 Negro American League Triple Crown batting winner
3 Negro American League Triple Crown batting winner
Major league baseball final standings American League final standings
National League final standings
Negro league baseball final standings All Negro leagues standings below are per MLB and Seamheads. Negro American League final standings
Negro National League final standings
Independent teams final standings The Negro American League All Star team & Cincinnati Clowns played against the two leagues. vs. All Teams Independent Clubs W L T Pct. GBNAL All Stars220—Cincinnati Clowns91613½
Events January
January 6 – Fireballer Bob Feller, named today by the Baseball Writers' Association of America to its all-MLB All-Star team, begins his United States Navy training as a boatswain's mate in Norfolk, Virginia. The 25-game winner enlisted four weeks ago, on December 9, two days after the Attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II. January 7 Today, the one-month anniversary of Pearl Harbor, sees the induction of three-time All-Star outfielder Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators into the armed services. Travis, 28, finished second in batting (.359) to Ted Williams' .406 and led the American League in hits (218) in . Facing the possibility of an industry shutdown, and with stars such as Feller, Travis and Hank Greenberg in military service, AL president Will Harridge asserts that his circuit hopes to carry on in 1942 to perform baseball's role as "an important recreational and morale portion of our national defense program." AL owners, he says, are prepared to meet in emergency session during this month and next, in response to any change in conditions caused by the war. January 14 – The Boston Red Sox release coach Moe Berg at his request, enabling Berg, a master linguist who speaks at least nine languages, to take on a diplomatic assignment from the United States Department of State in Latin America. Princeton alumnus Berg, 39, who played in all or part of 15 MLB seasons, primarily as a catcher, between and , will go on to reputedly serve as an espionage agent for the U.S. during World War II. January 15 – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt encourages Organized Baseball to continue despite the United States' entry into World War II and hails the sport as a "recreational asset." In a letter to Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Roosevelt writes: "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going." His "green light" letter ensures that the 1942 season will go forward as planned and negates rumors of an industry shutdown in the near term. January 20 – Rogers Hornsby, the greatest hitter in modern National League history (.359 with 298 home runs over 19 seasons) and contemporaneously thought of as the top right-handed batsman in major-league annals, is the lone 1942 selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The gruff former second baseman, 45, is named on 182 of 233 ballots cast. January 23 – In a letter to his team, Cincinnati Reds general manager Warren Giles, a World War I veteran, warns players against "shirking" their wartime service obligation. He writes: "We would rather finish last or not operate at all ... than have even one player who cannot justify his reasons for not being in the service." January 27 – For the second time in three days, the American League's second-division St. Louis Browns strengthen their roster by purchasing "surplus" talent from their National League tenant at Sportsman's Park, the pennant-contending St. Louis Cardinals. Today the Browns add second baseman Don Gutteridge, after obtaining southpaw Al "Boots" Hollingsworth on the 24th. Both men, who played for the Redbirds' Triple-A Sacramento affiliate in , will be members of the Browns' 1944 AL pennant-winner.
February February 3 – Fulfilling President Franklin Roosevelt's expressed request for more night baseball to entertain war workers during the 1942 season, MLB owners expand the maximum number of evening dates clubs may play from seven to 14, and 21 for the Washington Senators. However, venues such as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Briggs Stadium and Wrigley Field continue to lack arc lights to host such contests, and coastal cities are further limited by "dim-out" restrictions enacted for security reasons. February 7 – Hard-hitting catcher Ernie Lombardi, a future member of the Hall of Fame, is traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Boston Braves in exchange for cash and/or "players to be named named later." The National League Most Valuable Player and batting champion—and a five-time All-Star—Lombardi, 33, is reportedly at an impasse in contract talks with Cincinnati after an off-year in . February 9 – Philadelphia's National League franchise shortens its official nickname from Phillies (in use since 1886) to Phils to differentiate itself from the popular cigar brand. The change lasts for this season only before the original moniker is restored. February 10 – Gordon Houston, 25, an outfielder/shortstop who had played with minor-league Texarkana in , becomes the first Organized Baseball player to die on active duty in World War II. USAAF second lieutenant Houston, returning from an anti-submarine mission along the Pacific Coast, perishes when the Republic P-43 Lancer fighter plane he's piloting crashes at McChord Field near Tacoma, Washington. February 26 – The successful, three-year return to pennant contention of the 1941 NL champion Brooklyn Dodgers is reflected in its balance sheets when its chief creditor, the Brooklyn Trust Company, which manages 75% of Dodgers' stock on behalf of the estates of Charles Ebbets and Edward J. McKeever, tells a county probate court that the team has cleared all debts—over $500,000—accrued over recent years. Brooklyn led all 16 MLB teams in home attendance in 1941, drawing 1.21 million fans to Ebbets Field."1941 Major League Attendance & Team Age." Baseball Reference. The bank will sell the shares held in trust beginning in 1944.
March March 12 – Joe DiMaggio's ten-day holdout ends when the New York Yankees' 27-year-old superstar and reigning American League MVP agrees to a 1942 salary estimated at $42,500, a $5,000 raise from 1941's contract. March 18 – Former UCLA baseball letterman Jackie Robinson and Negro leagues pitcher/outfielder Nate Moreland are invited to work out with the Chicago White Sox, who hold spring training in Pasadena, California. Sox manager Jimmie Dykes praises Robinson's baserunning to Pittsburgh Courier sportswriter Herman Hill, saying, "He stole everything but my infielders' gloves." Dykes goes on record to the Courier, adding, "Personally, I would welcome Negro players on the White Sox and I believe every one of the other 15 managers would do so likewise. As for the players, they'd all get along too." However, Dykes is unable to even consider offering contracts to either, stating that it is a matter for club owners, league officials and the Commissioner of Baseball to allow it. March 23 – The combatants in the 1941 World Series make a deal when the victorious New York Yankees sell the contract of free-spirited outfielder Frenchy Bordagaray to the NL-champion Brooklyn Dodgers. Bordagaray, 32, returns to the team where he came to prominence as one of the "Daffiness Boys" of the mid-1930s. March 30 – The Detroit Tigers rid themselves of Bobo Newsom, pitching star of their 1940 American League champions, selling the right-hander's contract to the Washington Senators for the handsome price of $40,000. Newsom, 34, won 20 or more games for three straight seasons (–), but slumped to a 12–20 (4.60) mark in and was embroiled in a contract squabble with Detroit's front office.
April
April 14 – A full slate of games opens the 1942 major-league season. In the annual "Presidential Opener," the reigning world-champion New York Yankees defeat the host Washington Senators, 7–0, behind Red Ruffing's three-hitter; U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace throws out the first pitch. At the Polo Grounds, the Brooklyn Dodgers, defending National League champs, spoil Mel Ott's debut as player–manager of the New York Giants, scoring seven runs off Carl Hubbell in the first five innings, then holding on to win, 7–5. Lou Boudreau debuts as shortstop–manager of the Cleveland Indians, going two-for-three with a double and scoring a run in Cleveland's 5–2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium. Boudreau, 24 and starting his fourth full big-league season, is the second-youngest manager in MLB history. April 16 – At Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox unleash a barrage of 21 hits (including home runs from Dominic DiMaggio and Ted Williams) and crush the Philadelphia Athletics, 19–4. Connie Mack leaves reliever Les McCrabb in the game to allow 14 earned runs over four innings of work."Boston Red Sox 19, Philadelphia Athletics 4." Retrosheet box score (April 16, 1942). The Bosox' 19 runs scored in today's game set the standard in MLB in 1942."Top Team Performances of 1942." Retrosheet. April 29 – The Detroit Tigers sell the contract of right-hander Schoolboy Rowe, 32, mound ace of their 1934, 1935 and 1940 pennant-winners, to the Brooklyn Dodgers.
May May 1 – Umpire Larry Goetz ejects four members of the Pittsburgh Pirates—two players, a coach and manager Frankie Frisch—in the Bucs' 7–6 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. May 3 – The National League's contentious early season continues, when umpires boot five Dodgers in today's doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman's Park; the Cardinals sweep first-place Brooklyn, 14–10 and 4–2, to pull within 2½ games of the lead. May 6 – Colorful, well-traveled Bobo Newsom, now with the Washington Senators, tosses the first one-hitter of the 1942 MLB season, blanking his previous team, the Detroit Tigers, 7–0, at Griffith Stadium. Newsom walks four and the only safety he allows is Doc Cramer's third-inning triple."Washington Senators 7, Detroit Tigers 0." Retrosheet box score (May 6, 1942). Eight one-hitters will be thrown this season, but there will be no no-hitters."Top Individual Performances of 1942." Retrosheet. May 13