1938 Chicago Cubs season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago Cubs 1938 National League champions National League Wrigley Field Chicago 89 63 y 1st Philip K. Wrigley Charles Weber Charlie Grimm, Gabby Hartnett 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.http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1938-baseball-history.html 1938: A Rockier Road thisgreatgame.com 4 January 2012 May 8, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200508194333/http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1938-baseball-history.html dead 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.Gabby Hartnett Succeeds Grimm As Cub Manager The Daily Times 9 July 21, 1938 February 12, 2011 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B6siAAAAIBAJ&pg=1671,5851154&dq=gabby+hartnett&hl=en When Hartnett took over, the Cubs were in third place, six games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates who were led by Pie Traynor.https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1938-schedule-scores.shtml 1938 Chicago Cubs Schedule Baseball Reference February 12, 2011 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. 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. The Cubs cut the Pirates' lead to a half game and set the stage for one of baseball's most memorable moments.http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070720&content_id=2099223&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=ch Homer In The Gloamin' mlb.com February 12, 2011 November 4, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131104211523/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070720&content_id=2099223&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=ch dead 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.Carmichael John October 1978 When Gabby Hartnett Hit His Homer In The Gloamin' Baseball Digest 37 10 Hartnett's walk-off home run became immortalized as the Homer in the Gloamin'. The Cubs were now in first place, culminating a 19–3–1 record in September, and the pennant would be clinched three days later. It would be 50 years before lights were installed at Wrigley Field.The Cubs Get Lights at Wrigley Field Phil Vettel http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-chicagodays-wrigleylights-story,0,866410.story Chicago Tribune August 8, 1988 September 19, 2011 Regular season Season standings Chicago Cubs Record vs. opponents CHC Roster 1938 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers 18 Clay Bryant 16 Tex Carleton 22 Dizzy Dean 56 Al Epperly 14 Larry French 29 Kirby Higbe 26,32 Newt Kimball 11 Bill Lee 41 Bob Logan 41 Vance Page 17 Charlie Root 28 Jack Russell Catchers 39 Bob Garbark  2 Gabby Hartnett 12 Ken O'Dea Infielders  3 Ripper Collins  6 Stan Hack  4 Billy Herman  5 Billy Jurges 15 Tony Lazzeri 29 Bobby Mattick 21 Steve Mesner Outfielders 30 Jim Asbell 23 Phil Cavarretta  9 Frank Demaree  7 Augie Galan  8 Joe Marty 43 Carl Reynolds 32 Coaker Triplett Manager  1 Charlie Grimm  2 Gabby Hartnett Coaches 19 Red Corriden  2 Gabby Hartnett 20 Roy Johnson 15 Tony Lazzeri Schedule 1938 Chicago Cubs April yes 1 April 19 @Reds 8 7 Grimm 1–0 McKechnie 0–1 Logan 1 34,148 1–0 Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 C Gabby Hartnett 88 299 82 .274 10 59 1B Ripper Collins baseball 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 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 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 Bill Lee Bill Lee (right-handed pitcher) 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 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 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 Jack Russell (baseball) 42 6 1 3 3.34 29 Bob Logan Bob Logan (baseball) 14 0 2 2 2.78 10 Newt Kimball 1 0 0 0 9.00 1 1938 World Series 1938 World Series Game 1 October 5, 1938 Wrigley Field (Chicago) 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 Red Ruffing (1–0) Bill Lee (0–1) Game 2 October 6, 1938 Wrigley Field (Chicago) 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 Lefty Gomez (1–0) Dizzy Dean (0–1) Johnny Murphy (1) Frankie Crosetti (1), Joe DiMaggio (1) Game 3 October 8, 1938 Yankee Stadium (New York City) 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 Monte Pearson (1–0) Clay Bryant (0–1) Joe Marty (1) Joe Gordon (1), Bill Dickey (1) Game 4 October 9, 1938 Yankee Stadium (New York City) 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 Red Ruffing (2–0) Bill Lee (0–2) Ken O'Dea (1) Tommy Henrich (1) Farm system Minor League Baseball AA Los Angeles Angels Pacific Coast League Truck Hannah A1 Birmingham Barons Southern Association Fresco Thompson B Moline Plowboys Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Mike Gazella B Portsmouth Cubs Piedmont League Dick Luckey C Helena Seaporters Cotton States League Riggs Stephenson C Hot Springs Bathers Cotton States League Spike Hunter C Ponca City Angels Western Association Goldie Holt D Greeneville Burley Cubs Appalachian League Sam Alexander D Bisbee Bees Arizona–Texas League Charlie Mogli D Eau Claire Bears Northern League Ed Garrity LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Ponca City, GreenevilleThe Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Johnson Lloyd 2nd Durham, North Carolina Wolff Miles References External links 1938 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference 1938: A Rockier Road A Pennant Made of Cheesecloth, Baseball Digest, October 1954 When Gabby Hartnett Hit His Homer in the Gloamin, Baseball Digest, October 1978 Category:Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season Category:National League champion seasons Chicago Cubs Category:1938 in Chicago