1940 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1940 Cincinnati Reds season was the 58th season for the franchise. Cincinnati entered the season as the reigning National League champion, having been swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series the previous year. They would defeat the Detroit Tigers four games to three to take the World Series title.

Offseason

October 14, 1939: Hank Sauer was drafted by the Reds from the New York Yankees in the 1939 minor league draft.
October 19, 1939: Al Simmons was released by the Reds.

Regular season

Cincinnati won 100 games for the first time in franchise history. The team finished first in the National League with a record of 100–53, winning the pennant by 12 games over the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the best record in MLB. They went on to face the Detroit Tigers in the 1940 World Series, beating them in seven games. This was their first championship since 1919.
In August, back up catcher Willard Hershberger, depressed over what he felt was culpability for losing both games of a doubleheader, took his life. Coach Jimmie Wilson was added to the roster as the back up catcher. The Reds players would vote to send Hershberger's share of the World Series winnings to his mother

Notable transactions

August 23, 1940: Jimmy Ripple was selected off waivers by the Reds from the Brooklyn Dodgers.

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		109	376	120	.319	14	74
1B		155	618	191	.309	19	127
2B		150	563	150	.266	8	54
SS		90	282	57	.202	5	30
3B		143	584	162	.277	12	48
OF		110	417	125	.300	1	30
OF		136	519	134	.258	12	63
OF		115	422	103	.244	6	48

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
	88	278	60	.216	1	24
	62	211	60	.284	0	21
	48	123	38	.309	0	26
	31	110	31	.282	4	17
	32	101	31	.307	4	20
	41	72	21	.292	1	9
	27	69	15	.217	0	7
	38	42	6	.143	0	0
	16	37	9	.243	0	3
	7	28	11	.393	1	6
	12	16	3	.188	0	2
	2	4	1	.250	0	0
	2	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
	36	305.0	22	10	2.48	115
	37	296.2	20	12	3.06	115
	33	225.1	16	9	3.32	103
	24	187.0	14	7	2.89	53

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
	25	116.2	8	8	3.63	60
	19	54.0	2	1	3.50	18
	10	48.0	3	1	3.75	41

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
	37	12	3	7	2.00	25
	20	1	0	0	5.63	17
	15	1	2	2	1.87	9
	3	1	0	0	6.75	0
	2	0	0	0	1.17	1

1940 World Series

Game 1

October 2, 1940, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Durham