1939 Cleveland Indians season

1939 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
League Park (Since 1901) Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1936) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Alva Bradley
General manager(s)	Cy Slapnicka
Manager(s)	Ossie Vitt
Local radio	WCLE (Jack Graney, Pinky Hunter)
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The 1939 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished third in the American League with a record of 87–67, 201⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees.

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

v t 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 v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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	—

Roster[]

1939 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 15 Johnny Allen 16 Johnny Broaca 17 Joe Dobson 29 Tom Drake 10 Harry Eisenstat 19 Bob Feller 18 Mel Harder 12 Willis Hudlin 21 Johnny Humphries 20 Al Milnar 30 Mike Naymick 31 Floyd Stromme 30 Lefty Sullivan 14 Bill Zuber		Catchers  9 Rollie Hemsley  8 Frankie Pytlak  2 Luke Sewell Infielders  5 Lou Boudreau  1 Oscar Grimes  4 Odell Hale 25 Ken Keltner 11 Lyn Lary  6 Ray Mack 32 Jim Shilling  7 Hal Trosky  5 Skeeter Webb		Outfielders  3 Earl Averill 23 Bruce Campbell 2,11 Ben Chapman 24 Jeff Heath  6 Moose Solters 22 Roy Weatherly		Manager 26 Ossie Vitt Coaches 28 Johnny Bassler 27 Ski Melillo  2 Luke Sewell

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
C	Rollie Hemsley	107	395	104	.263	2	36
1B	Hal Trosky	122	448	150	.335	25	104
2B	Odell Hale	108	253	79	.312	4	48
SS	Skeeter Webb	81	269	71	.264	2	26
3B	Ken Keltner	154	587	191	.325	13	97
OF	Jeff Heath	121	431	126	.292	14	69
OF	Bruce Campbell	130	450	129	.287	8	72
OF	Ben Chapman	149	545	158	.290	6	82

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
Oscar Grimes	119	364	98	.269	4	56
Roy Weatherly	95	323	100	.310	1	32
Lou Boudreau	53	225	58	.258	0	19
Frankie Pytlak	63	183	49	.268	0	14
Ray Mack	36	112	17	.152	1	6
Moose Solters	41	102	28	.275	2	19
Jim Shilling	31	98	27	.276	0	12
Earl Averill	24	55	15	.273	1	7
Luke Sewell	16	20	3	.150	0	1
Lyn Lary	3	2	0	.000	0	0

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
Bob Feller	39	296.2	24	9	2.85	246
Al Milnar	37	209.0	14	12	3.79	76
Mel Harder	29	208.0	15	9	3.50	67
Johnny Allen	28	175.0	9	7	4.58	79
Willis Hudlin	27	143.0	9	10	4.91	28

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
Tom Drake	8	15.0	0	1	9.00	1
Floyd Stromme	5	13.0	0	1	4.85	4
Lefty Sullivan	7	12.2	0	1	4.26	4
Mike Naymick	2	4.2	0	1	1.93	3

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
Harry Eisenstat	26	6	7	2	3.30	38
Joe Dobson	35	2	3	1	5.88	27
Johnny Broaca	22	4	2	0	4.70	13
Bill Zuber	16	2	0	0	5.97	16
Johnny Humphries	15	2	4	2	8.26	12

Awards & Honors[]

All Star Game

Bob Feller, Pitcher

Rollie Hemsley, Catcher

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Steve O'Neill
A1	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Roger Peckinpaugh
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Eddie Phillips
B	Cedar Rapids Raiders	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Ollie Marquardt
B	Winston-Salem Twins	Piedmont League	and Alvin Crowder
B	Spartanburg Spartans	Sally League	Leon Pettit
C	Tyler Trojans	East Texas League
C		Middle Atlantic League	Earl Wolgamot
D	Troy Trojans	Alabama–Florida League
D	Greeneville Burley Cubs	Appalachian League
D	Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets	Bi-State League
D	Opelousas Indians	Evangeline League
D	Logan Indians	Mountain State League
D	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League	Jack Knight
D	Mansfield Indians	Ohio State League	Ray French and
D	Niagara Falls Rainbows	PONY League	Tim Murchison

^[1]

References[]

External links[]

• 1939 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference