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1929 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 1929 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1929 in baseball.
1929 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 16 – October 6, 1929
World Series:
  • October 8–14, 1929
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular Season
Season MVPNL: Rogers Hornsby (CHC)
AL championsPhiladelphia Athletics
  AL runners-upNew York Yankees
NL championsChicago Cubs
  NL runners-upPittsburgh Pirates
World Series
ChampionsPhiladelphia Athletics
  Runners-upChicago Cubs
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1923–1931 American League seasons
American League
Locations of teams for the 1920–1931 National League seasons
National League

The 1929 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1929. The regular season ended on October 6, with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 26th World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 5 on October 14. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Athletics defeated the Cubs, four games to one, capturing their fourth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1913.

Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run this season on August 11 at Cleveland. Game 4 of the World Series featured a historic 10-run rally by the Athletics, nicknamed "The Mack Attack," after the team's manager, Connie Mack.[1]

This was the last of eight seasons that "League Awards", a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), were issued. Only a National League award was given in 1929.

Schedule

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See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1929 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 16 and saw eight teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on October 6. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 14.

Rule changes

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The 1929 season saw the following rule changes:

  • For all ballparks, foul poles must be constructed to be at least 25 feet above the outer barrier, to aid umpires in calling balls fair or foul. The poles were to be constructed either on top of the grandstand roof, or the outer fence of the ballpark. This was coupled with the home run rule, the interpretation of which follows the early-1920 rule, which states that balls are to be called based on where the ball crosses the outfield fence. This rule now accounts for all balls which leave the ballpark, including those which completely leave the ballpark. The American League would implement this home run rule in 1931.[2]
  • The American League implements the ground rule double rule, which states that balls that bounce over the fence entitle the batter to two bases. The rule would be implemented by the National League in 1931.[3][4]
  • The Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees are the first teams to make uniform numbers on the back of the jersey permanent. In the past teams, such as the St Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians, had experimented with numbers before, but only on the sleeves and only for a few weeks.

Teams

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League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 35,000 Bill Carrigan
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 52,000 Lena Blackburne
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio Dunn Field 21,414 Roger Peckinpaugh
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Navin Field 30,000 Bucky Harris
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 62,000 Miller Huggins,
Art Fletcher
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 30,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Dan Howley
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 27,000 Walter Johnson
National League Boston Braves Boston, Massachusetts Braves Field 46,500 Emil Fuchs
Brooklyn Robins New York, New York Ebbets Field 28,000 Wilbert Robinson
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 40,000 Joe McCarthy
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Redland Field 26,060 Jack Hendricks
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 55,000 John McGraw
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Baker Bowl 20,000 Burt Shotton
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 41,000 Donie Bush,
Jewel Ens
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Billy Southworth,
Gabby Street,
Bill McKechnie

Standings

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American League

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Philadelphia Athletics 104 46 .693 — 57‍–‍16 47‍–‍30
New York Yankees 88 66 .571 18 49‍–‍28 39‍–‍38
Cleveland Indians 81 71 .533 24 44‍–‍32 37‍–‍39
St. Louis Browns 79 73 .520 26 41‍–‍36 38‍–‍37
Washington Senators 71 81 .467 34 37‍–‍40 34‍–‍41
Detroit Tigers 70 84 .455 36 38‍–‍39 32‍–‍45
Chicago White Sox 59 93 .388 46 35‍–‍41 24‍–‍52
Boston Red Sox 58 96 .377 48 32‍–‍45 26‍–‍51

National League

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 98 54 .645 — 52‍–‍25 46‍–‍29
Pittsburgh Pirates 88 65 .575 10½ 45‍–‍31 43‍–‍34
New York Giants 84 67 .556 13½ 39‍–‍37 45‍–‍30
St. Louis Cardinals 78 74 .513 20 43‍–‍32 35‍–‍42
Philadelphia Phillies 71 82 .464 27½ 39‍–‍37 32‍–‍45
Brooklyn Robins 70 83 .458 28½ 42‍–‍35 28‍–‍48
Cincinnati Reds 66 88 .429 33 38‍–‍39 28‍–‍49
Boston Braves 56 98 .364 43 34‍–‍43 22‍–‍55

Postseason

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Bracket

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World Series
       
AL Philadelphia Athletics 3 9 1 10 3*
NL Chicago Cubs 1 3 3 8 2

Managerial changes

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Off-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Braves Rogers Hornsby Emil Fuchs
Detroit Tigers George Moriarty Bucky Harris
St. Louis Cardinals Bill McKechnie Billy Southworth
Washington Senators Bucky Harris Walter Johnson

In-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
New York Yankees Miller Huggins Art Fletcher
Pittsburgh Pirates Donie Bush Jewel Ens
St. Louis Cardinals Billy Southworth Gabby Street
Gabby Street Bill McKechnie

League leaders

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American League

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Hitting leaders
Stat Player Total
AVG Lew Fonseca (CLE) .369
OPS Babe Ruth (NYY) 1.128
HR Babe Ruth (NYY) 46
RBI Al Simmons (PHA) 157
R Charlie Gehringer (DET) 131
H Dale Alexander (DET)
Charlie Gehringer (DET) 		215
SB Charlie Gehringer (DET) 27
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W George Earnshaw (PHA) 24
L Red Ruffing (BRS) 22
ERA Lefty Grove (PHA) 2.81
K Lefty Grove (PHA) 170
IP Sam Gray (SLB) 305.0
SV Firpo Marberry (WSH)
Wilcy Moore (NYY) 		9
WHIP Firpo Marberry (WSH) 1.206

National League

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Hitting leaders
Stat Player Total
AVG Lefty O'Doul (PHP) .398
OPS Rogers Hornsby (CHC) 1.139
HR Chuck Klein (PHP) 43
RBI Hack Wilson (CHC) 159
R Rogers Hornsby (CHC) 156
H Lefty O'Doul (PHP) 254
SB Kiki Cuyler (CHC) 43
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W Pat Malone (CHC) 22
L Watson Clark (BKN) 19
ERA Bill Walker (NYG) 3.09
K Pat Malone (CHC) 166
IP Watson Clark (BKN) 279.0
SV Guy Bush (CHC)
Johnny Morrison (BKN) 		8
WHIP Red Lucas (CIN) 1.204

Awards and honors

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Home field attendance

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Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
Chicago Cubs[6] 98 7.7% 1,485,166 29.9% 19,041
New York Yankees[7] 88 −12.9% 960,148 −10.4% 12,469
Detroit Tigers[8] 70 2.9% 869,318 83.3% 11,290
New York Giants[9] 84 −9.7% 868,806 −5.2% 11,283
Philadelphia Athletics[10] 104 6.1% 839,176 21.7% 11,340
Brooklyn Robins[11] 70 −9.1% 731,886 10.1% 9,505
Cleveland Indians[12] 81 30.6% 536,210 42.6% 7,055
Pittsburgh Pirates[13] 88 3.5% 491,377 −0.7% 6,465
Chicago White Sox[14] 59 −18.1% 426,795 −13.6% 5,616
St. Louis Cardinals[15] 78 −17.9% 399,887 −47.5% 5,193
Boston Red Sox[16] 58 1.8% 394,620 −0.6% 5,059
Boston Braves[17] 56 12.0% 372,351 64.0% 4,836
Washington Senators[18] 71 −5.3% 355,506 −6.1% 4,558
Cincinnati Reds[19] 66 −15.4% 295,040 −39.8% 3,783
Philadelphia Phillies[20] 71 65.1% 281,200 54.4% 3,700
St. Louis Browns[21] 79 −3.7% 280,697 −17.3% 3,645

Key events

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  • Babe Ruth: On August 11, Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 500 home runs.
  • Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs: First season since 1912 that both pennant winners won by more than 10 games.[22]
  • Philadelphia Athletics: On October 12, during Game 4 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics scored ten runs in the seventh inning to come back from an 8–0 deficit. This was soon dubbed "The Mack Attack," after long-time manager Connie Mack. He commented that it was "The greatest thrill [he] had in 29 years of managing."[23] At the time, this was a record.

Deaths

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  • Miller Huggins, the Yankees manager, died of blood poisoning on September 25.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "The 1929 Mack Attack | Society for American Baseball Research". sabr.org. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  2. ^ sabr. "How Rules Changes in 1920 Affected Home Runs – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  3. ^ O'Gara, Connor. "Future Hall of Famer Al López Hits the Last 'Bounce' Home Run in Big League History". Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "Changes are Made in the Baseball Playing Rules by Joint Rules Committee". Santa Cruz Evening News. Santa Cruz, California. December 17, 1930. p. 8. Retrieved April 16, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  6. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ^ Koppet, Leonard (1998). Koppet's Concise History of Major League Baseball. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 178. ISBN 1-56639-638-7.
  23. ^ Baumgartner, Stan (October 13, 1929). "Connie Calls Game "Greatest Thrill, Hugs Fans of Field". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  24. ^ "1929 Baseball Season". HowStuffWorks. August 24, 2007. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
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