1939 St. Louis Browns season
The 1939 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 43 wins and 111 losses.
1939 St. Louis Browns | |
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Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
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Results | |
Record | 43–111 (.279) |
League place | 8th |
Other information | |
Owner(s) | Donald Lee Barnes |
General manager(s) | Bill DeWitt |
Manager(s) | Fred Haney |
Local radio | KMOX (France Laux, Cy Casper) KWK (Johnny O'Hara, Jim Bottomley) |
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Regular season
The Browns lost a franchise record 111 games—not surpassed until the 2018 Baltimore Orioles[1] (the team moved from St. Louis to Baltimore in 1954)—and finished 64.5 games out of first place.[2]:11 The Browns played particularly poorly at home, posting an 18–59 record. The 59 home losses stood as the most in a modern-era major league season until it was matched by the 2019 Detroit Tigers, who went 22–59 at home. Because of the shorter season, the Browns home winning percentage in 1939 (.234) is still the worst in history.[3]
Browns pitching struggled tremendously. The pitchers allowed 739 walks, which was over 100 walks more than the next worse team.[2]:12 The team had an earned run average of 6.01.[2]:12 The next time that a team would have an ERA over 6.00 was the 1996 Detroit Tigers, who had an ERA of 6.38.[2]:12
Season standings
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 106 | 45 | 0.702 | — | 52–25 | 54–20 |
Boston Red Sox | 89 | 62 | 0.589 | 17 | 42–32 | 47–30 |
Cleveland Indians | 87 | 67 | 0.565 | 20½ | 44–33 | 43–34 |
Chicago White Sox | 86 | 69 | 0.555 | 22 | 50–27 | 36–42 |
Detroit Tigers | 81 | 73 | 0.526 | 26½ | 42–35 | 39–38 |
Washington Senators | 65 | 88 | 0.425 | 42 | 37–40 | 28–48 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 55 | 97 | 0.362 | 51½ | 28–48 | 27–49 |
St. Louis Browns | 43 | 111 | 0.279 | 64½ | 18–59 | 25–52 |
Record vs. opponents
1939 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHI | STL | WSH | |||||
Boston | — | 8–14 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 11–8–1 | 18–4 | 16–6 | 15–7 | |||||
Chicago | 14–8 | — | 12–10 | 12–10 | 4–18 | 11–11 | 18–4 | 14–8–1 | |||||
Cleveland | 11–11 | 10–12 | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 18–4 | 16–6 | 14–8 | |||||
Detroit | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 14–8 | |||||
New York | 8–11–1 | 18–4 | 15–7 | 13–9 | — | 18–4 | 19–3 | 15–7 | |||||
Philadelphia | 4–18 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 11–11 | 4–18 | — | 13–9–1 | 8–12 | |||||
St. Louis | 6–16 | 4–18 | 6–16 | 8–14–1 | 3–19 | 9–13–1 | — | 7–15 | |||||
Washington | 7–15 | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 12–8 | 15–7 | — |
Notable transactions
- May 13, 1939: Red Kress, Beau Bell, Bobo Newsom, and Jim Walkup were traded by the St. Louis Browns to the Detroit Tigers for Vern Kennedy, Bob Harris, George Gill, Roxie Lawson, Chet Laabs, and Mark Christman.[4]
Roster
1939 St. Louis Browns | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
Batting
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 | Joe Glenn | 88 | 286 | 78 | .273 | 4 | 29 |
1B | George McQuinn | 154 | 617 | 195 | .316 | 20 | 94 |
2B | Johnny Berardino | 126 | 468 | 120 | .256 | 5 | 58 |
SS | Don Heffner | 110 | 375 | 100 | .267 | 1 | 35 |
3B | Harlond Clift | 151 | 526 | 142 | .270 | 15 | 84 |
OF | Joe Gallagher | 71 | 266 | 75 | .282 | 9 | 40 |
OF | Myril Hoag | 129 | 482 | 142 | .295 | 10 | 75 |
OF | Chet Laabs | 95 | 317 | 95 | .300 | 10 | 62 |
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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Billy Sullivan | 118 | 332 | 96 | .289 | 5 | 50 |
Mark Christman | 79 | 222 | 48 | .216 | 0 | 20 |
Sam Harshany | 42 | 145 | 35 | .241 | 0 | 15 |
Tommy Thompson | 30 | 86 | 26 | .302 | 1 | 7 |
Red Kress | 13 | 43 | 12 | .279 | 0 | 8 |
Beau Bell | 11 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 1 | 5 |
Pitching
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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Jack Kramer | 40 | 211.2 | 9 | 16 | 5.83 | 68 |
Vern Kennedy | 33 | 191.2 | 9 | 17 | 5.73 | 55 |
Bobo Newsom | 6 | 45.2 | 3 | 1 | 4.73 | 28 |
Emil Bildilli | 2 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 3.32 | 8 |
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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Bill Trotter | 41 | 156.2 | 6 | 13 | 5.34 | 61 |
Roxie Lawson | 36 | 150.2 | 3 | 7 | 5.32 | 43 |
Lefty Mills | 34 | 144.1 | 4 | 11 | 6.55 | 103 |
Bob Harris | 28 | 126 | 3 | 12 | 5.71 | 48 |
George Gill | 27 | 95 | 1 | 12 | 7.11 | 24 |
Johnny Marcum | 12 | 47.2 | 2 | 5 | 7.74 | 14 |
Fred Johnson | 5 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 6.43 | 2 |
Loy Hanning | 4 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3.60 | 8 |
Bill Cox | 4 | 9.1 | 0 | 2 | 9.64 | 8 |
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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John Whitehead | 26 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5.86 | 9 |
Harry Kimberlin | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.49 | 11 |
Ed Cole | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7.11 | 5 |
Jim Walkup | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AA | Toledo Mud Hens | American Association | Myles Thomas |
A1 | San Antonio Missions | Texas League | Zack Taylor |
B | Springfield Browns | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Walter Holke |
C | Youngstown Browns | Middle Atlantic League | Billy Urbanski |
C | Topeka Owls | Western Association | Bill Wilson |
D | Fayetteville Angels | Arkansas–Missouri League | Frank Oceak |
D | Lafayette White Sox | Evangeline League | Rod Whitney |
D | Mayfield Browns | KITTY League | Bennie Tate |
D | Paragould Broncos | Northeast Arkansas League | Elmer Kirchoff |
D | Beaver Falls Browns | Pennsylvania State Association | Ralph Goldsmith |
D | Lincoln Links | Western League | Pug Griffin |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield, Lafayette[5]
References
- Golen, Jimmy (September 26, 2018). "Red Sox send Orioles to record-112th loss, 19-3". Boston.com. AP. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
- As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, David Alan Heller, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-3199-5
- "Tigers tie MLB record with 59th home loss". MLB.com. September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- Red Kress page at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball". Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997