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With war in Europe dominating headlines during the spring and summer of 1940 as the German Army swept all opposition before it and much of the continent was put under Hitler's boot, Americans might have been forgiven for the attention they paid to the more pleasant happenings on major league ball fields across the nation. The fans were treated to another outstanding season as both leagues featured down-to-the-wire pennant races, tremendous individual performances with some milestones thrown in for good measure.
Things were especially good in St. Louis where the Cardinals got off to a fast start and looked like the best team in baseball as they clubbed their opposition at a historic level in the early going. The 1939 Cardinals had been the first National League team to top 200 home runs by hitting 205; the 1940 edition would be even better, belting 212 circuit clouts, led by the first pair of 50-homer team mates in baseball history in 1B Alfred Logsdon (52) and catcher Alex Schaefer (51). With RF Dave Hensley (28), SS Jesse Bunn (21) and LF William Duggan (20) chiming in, the Cards were also the first team in history to have five players with over 20 home runs apiece.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their pitching was not as solid as their hitting and they eventually faded to a 4th-place finish with an 83-71 record. It would be the Boston Braves and New York Giants (with their own HR-hitting dynamo in Charlie Brink and his NL-record 62 HRs) who would go down to the wire and past it - finishing the 154-game schedule with identical 88-66 records, necessitating a one-game playoff. And that playoff would be one for the ages, as it went 15 innings before a winner could be determined. The Braves jumped out to a big lead early, but the Giants battled back and tied the game at 7-7 in the ninth with a two-out, pinch-hit homer by Earnest Cady to force extra innings. The Braves would again grab a lead in the 13th, and again the Giants would tie it up, this time on a double by Brink. But in the 15th, Boston took advantage of a big error by LF Alvah Gibbs that led to the game and pennant-winning run, lifting Boston into the Fall Classic.
The AL, which had its own playoff in 1939, this time missed it - barely - when the St. Louis Browns managed to outlast the defending champion Cleveland Indians to finish 92-62, one game ahead of Cleveland. The Browns got a huge season out of 2B Eugene Mallory, who hit .375 with 115 runs scored and 96 driven in, but it was the left arm of Babe Scholz that garnered the most attention and it was well deserved as the crafty southpaw racked up a 29-8 record with a 2.41 ERA to claim the Pitcher of the Year award.
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While the shadow of war lengthened and erupted into open conflict when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, baseball enjoyed one of its greatest, and ultimately in light of the war that would soon engulf the entire world, be fondly remembered as a time of relative innocence. As tensions mounted in the halls of power, baseball fans enjoyed the tension of one of the greatest pennant races in history which was then followed by one of the most exciting World Series in history as well.
The American League had long been in the grip of the Philadelphia Athletics and while the dynasty appeared to be vulnerable, the veteran A's were not going to give up their throne without a serious fight. The Athletics' challengers for AL supremacy were the familiar faces of the Cleveland Indians who had been bridesmaids for far too long in their opinion. Cleveland and Philadelphia would battle throughout the summer and into the fall with the teams deadlocked after the regular schedule of 154 games was completed.
Cleveland was powered by legendary second baseman Lon Winnie who put together another outstanding season as he hit .333 with 36 home runs, drove in 136 runs and scored 127 times. While Winnie was his usual superlative self, other Indians were having very good seasons of their own with 3B Leo Cramden (.363), RF Fred Laney (.311) and 1B Dan Hetherington (.300) all topping the .300 mark and veteran pitchers Willie Marks (22-10, 3.06), Hollis Howlett (20-14, 3.24) and Jay Ives (20-15, 3.93) all enjoying great seasons. The A's countered with the core of the team that won five straight pennants and four straight World Series led by pitchers Felix McClellan (29-11, 2.41) and Willie Edson (24-15, 3.14), OF Biff Jordon (.325-35-121) and 2B Willie Baldwin (.326-15-98).
The one game playoff was appropriately tight as Cleveland won 2-1 in a pitcher's duel befitting the superlative staffs of both teams. For the first time since 1933, someone other than the Athletics would represent the American League in the World Series.
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