Baseball Headlines
Courtesy of Jack McKillop
1940
The eighth annual baseball All-Star Game pitting the stars of the American League against the stars of the National League is held in 34,000-seat Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri. The National League is the home team. The starting pitcher for the American League, managed by Joe McCarthy of the New York Yankees, is the Yankees' Red Ruffing. The starting pitcher for the National League, managed by Bill McKechnie of the Cincinnati Reds, is the Reds' Paul Derringer. Before Ruffing could retire a single man, the National League scores three runs in the 1st inning on Boston Braves right fielder Max West's home run with two on. The National League scores one more run in the bottom of the 8th inning and wins the game 4-0, the first shutout in All-Star history. For the American League, Ruffing, the losing pitcher, pitched three innings followed by Detroit Tigers' pitcher Bobo Newsom in the 4th inning and Bobby Feller of the Cleveland Indians in the 7th inning. Paul Derringer, the winning pitcher, was replaced by the Reds' Bucky Walters in the 3rd inning, following by the Brooklyn Dodgers' Whit Wyatt in the 5th inning, the Chicago Cubs' Larry French in the 7th inning and the New York Giants' Carl Hubbell in the 9th inning. The American League now has a 5-3 record in the All-Star games. (Back to 10th July 1940)
The first game of the 1940 World Series between the National League's Cincinnati Reds and the American League's Detroit Tigers is played in 20,000-seat Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds, managed by Bill McKechnie, won 100 and lost 53 games during the season and finished 12 games ahead of the second place Brooklyn Dodgers. The top hitter for the Reds was catcher Ernie Lomabrdi who hit .319; the top pitcher was Bucky Walters who was 22-10 with a 2.48 ERA. The Detroit Tigers, managed by Del Baker, were 90-64 for the year and finished one game ahead of the second place Cleveland Indians and two games ahead of the third place New York Yankees. The top hitters for the Tigers were center fielder Barney McCosky and left field Hank Greenberg, both of whom hit .340; Greenberg had 41 home runs. The top Detroit pitcher was Bobo Newsom who was 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA. The starting pitchers for today's game are Bobo Newsom for the Tigers and Paul Derringer for the Reds. The Reds' pitcher Paul Derringer is knocked out of the game in the 2nd inning when the Tigers score 5 runs; the Tigers score two more runs in the 6th inning and win the game 7-2. The Reds scored one run each in the 4th and 8th innings. The only home run is hit by Tigers' outfielder Bruce Campbell with one. The winning pitcher is Bobo Newsom who completed the game. The losing pitcher is Paul Derringer who pitched 1-1/3rd innings. He was followed by Whitey Moore who pitched 6-2/3rd innings and Elmer Riddle who pitched one inning. This is the American League's 10th successive World Series game victory. (Back to 2nd October 1940)
The second game of the 1940 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers is played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio with the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the series. The starting pitchers are the Tigers' Schoolboy Rowe, 16-3 with a 3.46 ERA on the season, and the Reds' Bucky Walters, 22-10 and a 2.48 ERA for the season. The Tigers jump off to a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning but the Reds tie it in the 2nd inning and score two more runs in the 3rd inning making it 4-2 Reds. The Reds get another run in the 4th inning. The Tigers score another run in the 6th inning but the final score is Reds 5-3. The only home run is hit by the Reds outfielder Johnny Ripple with one on. Bucky Walters, the winning Reds' pitcher, holds the Tigers to three hits. Schoolboy Rowe, the losing pitcher, is relieved after 3-1/3rd innings by rookie Johnny Gorsica. The series is now tied 1-1. (Back to 3rd October 1940)
The third game of the 1940 World Series pitting the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit
Tigers is played in the 52,416-seat Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. The series is
tied 1-1. The starting pitchers are the Reds' Jim "Milkman" Turner, 14-7 with a
2.89 ERA for the season, and the Tigers' Tommy Bridges, 12-9 with a 3.37 ERA for the
season. The Reds jump off to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning but the Tigers tie it up in the
4th inning. The Tigers then score four runs in the 7th inning on home runs by first
baseman Rudy York with one on and third baseman Pinky Higgins with one on making it 5-1
Detroit. The Reds score a run in the 8th, the Tigers get two runs in the bottom of the 8th
and the Reds get two more runs in the 9th making the final score Tigers 7-4. Tommy
Bridges, the winning pitcher, completes the game. Jim Turner, the losing pitcher, is
relieved after 6 innings by Whitey Moore who completes one inning and is relieved in the
8th inning by Joe Beggs. The Tigers now lead the series 2 games to 1. (Back
to 4th October 1940)
With the Detroit Tigers having a 2-1 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds, the fourth game of the 1940 World Series is played in Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. The starting pitchers are Paul Derringer of the Reds, the losing pitcher in Game 1, and Dizzy Trout, 3-7 and a 4.47 ERA on the season, for the Tigers. The Reds jump off to a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning and win 5-2 on 11 hits with Derringer coasting to an easy victory. The first four Cincinnati batters, third baseman Bill Werber, first baseman Frank McCormick, right fielder Ival "Goodie" Goodman and left fielder Mike McCormick, each have two hits. The Tigers score two runs, one in the 3rd inning and one in the 6th inning on five hits. Paul Derringer, the winning pitcher, completes the game. Dizzy Trout, the losing pitcher, was relieved after two innings by Clay Smith and Smith was relieved after pitching four innings by Archie McKain. The series is now tied 2-2. (Back to 5th October 1940)
Game 5 of the 1940 World Series is played at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. The starting pitchers are Junior Thompson, 16-9 with a 3.32 ERA on the season, for the Cincinnati Reds and Bobo Newsom, the winning pitcher in Game 1, for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers shutout the Reds 8-0 with Newsom, the winning pitcher, completing the game and allowing only three singles by the Reds batters while the Tigers had 13 hits and scored 3 runs in the 3rd inning, four in the 4th inning and one in the 8th inning. Three of the Tigers' runs came on a home run by left fielder Hank Greenberg with two on. Junior Thompson, the losing pitcher, pitched 3-1/3 innings, followed by Whitey Moore who pitched 2/3rd of an inning, Johnny "The Dutch Master" Vander Meer who pitched 3 innings and Johnny Hutchings who pitched one inning. The Tigers now lead the series 3-2. (Back to 6th October 1940)
With the Detroit Tigers leading the 1940 World Series 3-2, the sixth game is played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The starting pitchers of Game 2 again face each other in Game 6, i.e., Schoolboy Rowe of the Tigers and Bucky Walters of the Reds. Rowe pitches 1/3rd of an inning giving up four hits and two runs before being relieved by rookie Johnny Gorsica. The Reds score another run in the 6th inning and their fourth run in the 8th inning off Fred Hutchinson who relieved Johnny Gorsica after 6-2/3rd innings. Bucky Walters, the winning pitcher, held the Tigers to five hits and even hits a home run. Schoolboy Rowe is the losing pitcher and is now 0-2 for the series with a 17.18 ERA. The series is now tied 3-3. (Back to 7th October 1940)
The seventh and deciding game of the 1940 World Series is played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The starting pitchers in Game 2, Bobo Newsom of the Detroit Tigers and Paul Derringer of the Cincinnati Reds, again face each other. Both pitchers complete the tight game won by the Reds, 2-1. The Tigers scored their lone run in the 3rd inning. In the 7th inning, doubles by outfielders Mike McCormick and Johnny Ripple and a long fly by shortstop Billy Myers scores the Reds' two runs giving them the victory. This is the Reds first World Championship since 1919. (Back to 8th October 1940)