1921 Major League Baseball season

Sports season

1921 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 13 – October 2, 1921 World Series: October 5 – October 13, 1921
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Pennant Winners
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Cleveland Indians
NL champions	New York Giants
NL runners-up	Pittsburgh Pirates
World Series
Champions	New York Giants
Runners-up	New York Yankees
MLB seasons
← 1920 1922 →

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1915–1922 American League seasons

American League

Braves

Robins

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1920–1931 National League seasons

National League

The 1921 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1921. The regular season ended on October 2, with the New York Giants and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 18th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 8 on October 13. The Giants defeated the Yankees, five games to three.

1921 was the first of three straight seasons in which the Yankees would lead the majors in wins. Babe Ruth broke the single season home run record for the third consecutive season by hitting 59 home runs in 152 games. Ruth also broke Roger Connor's record for the most home runs all time when he hit his 139th home run on July 18 against Bert Cole.^[1] The record for career strikeouts, previously held by Cy Young was also broken in 1921 by Walter Johnson; Johnson led the league in strikeouts with 143 and ended the season with 2,835 strikeouts. Young struck out 2,803 during his career.^[2] The Cincinnati Reds set a Major League record for the fewest strikeouts in a season, with only 308.^[3] Future Hall of Famers Kiki Cuyler and Goose Goslin both debuted in September 1921.^[4]

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000	Hugh Duffy
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	28,000	Kid Gleason
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	Dunn Field	21,414	Tris Speaker
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	23,000	Ty Cobb
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	38,000	Miller Huggins
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	23,000	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	24,040	Lee Fohl
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	27,000	George McBride
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	40,000	Fred Mitchell
	Brooklyn Robins	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	30,000	Wilbert Robinson
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Cubs Park	15,000	Johnny Evers, Bill Killefer
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Redland Field	20,696	Pat Moran
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	38,000	John McGraw
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	National League Park	18,000	Bill Donovan, Kaiser Wilhelm
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	25,000	George Gibson
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	24,040	Branch Rickey

Schedule

The 1921 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 13 with all but the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 2. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 13.

Standings

American League

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	98	55	0.641	—	53–25	45–30
Cleveland Indians	94	60	0.610	4½	51–26	43–34
St. Louis Browns	81	73	0.526	17½	43–34	38–39
Washington Senators	80	73	0.523	18	46–30	34–43
Boston Red Sox	75	79	0.487	23½	41–36	34–43
Detroit Tigers	71	82	0.464	27	37–40	34–42
Chicago White Sox	62	92	0.403	36½	37–40	25–52
Philadelphia Athletics	53	100	0.346	45	28–47	25–53

National League

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	94	59	0.614	—	53–26	41–33
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	63	0.588	4	45–31	45–32
St. Louis Cardinals	87	66	0.569	7	48–29	39–37
Boston Braves	79	74	0.516	15	42–32	37–42
Brooklyn Robins	77	75	0.507	16½	41–37	36–38
Cincinnati Reds	70	83	0.458	24	40–36	30–47
Chicago Cubs	64	89	0.418	30	32–44	32–45
Philadelphia Phillies	51	103	0.331	43½	29–47	22–56

Postseason

Bracket

World Series

AL	New York Yankees	3

NL	New York Giants	5

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Boston Braves	George Stallings	Fred Mitchell
Boston Red Sox	Ed Barrow	Hugh Duffy
Chicago Cubs	Fred Mitchell	Johnny Evers
Detroit Tigers	Hughie Jennings	Ty Cobb
Philadelphia Phillies	Gavvy Cravath	Bill Donovan
St. Louis Browns	Jimmy Burke	Lee Fohl
Washington Senators	Clark Griffith	George McBride

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Chicago Cubs	Johnny Evers	Bill Killefer
Philadelphia Phillies	Bill Donovan	Kaiser Wilhelm

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders
Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Harry Heilmann (DET)	.394
HR	Babe Ruth (NYY)	59
RBI	Babe Ruth (NYY)	168
R	Babe Ruth (NYY)	177
H	Harry Heilmann (DET)	237
SB	George Sisler (SLB)	35

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player	Total
W	Carl Mays (NYY) Urban Shocker (SLB)	27
L	Eddie Rommel (PHA)	23
ERA	Red Faber (CWS)	2.48
K	Walter Johnson (WSH)	143
IP	Carl Mays (NYY)	336.2
SV	Carl Mays (NYY)	7

National League

Hitting leaders
Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Rogers Hornsby (SLC)	.397
HR	George Kelly (NYG)	23
RBI	Rogers Hornsby (SLC)	126
R	Rogers Hornsby (SLC)	131
H	Rogers Hornsby (SLC)	235
SB	Frankie Frisch (NYG)	49

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player	Total
W	Wilbur Cooper (PIT) Burleigh Grimes (BKN)	22
L	George Smith (PHP)	20
ERA	Bill Doak (SLC)	2.59
K	Burleigh Grimes (BKN)	136
IP	Wilbur Cooper (PIT)	327.0
SV	Lou North (SLC)	7

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
New York Yankees^[5]	95	18.8%	1,289,422	108.3%	16,746
New York Giants^[6]	86	-1.1%	929,609	31.1%	11,620
Cleveland Indians^[7]	98	16.7%	912,832	69.6%	11,703
Pittsburgh Pirates^[8]	79	11.3%	429,037	55.0%	5,500
Detroit Tigers^[9]	61	-23.8%	579,650	-10.0%	7,431
Brooklyn Robins^[10]	93	34.8%	808,722	124.2%	10,368
Chicago White Sox^[11]	96	9.1%	833,492	32.9%	10,825
Washington Senators^[12]	68	21.4%	359,260	53.5%	4,727
Chicago Cubs^[13]	75	0.0%	480,783	13.3%	6,244
St. Louis Cardinals^[14]	75	38.9%	326,836	95.6%	4,300
St. Louis Browns^[15]	76	13.4%	419,311	20.0%	5,376
Philadelphia Athletics^[16]	48	33.3%	287,888	27.8%	3,739
Boston Braves^[17]	62	8.8%	162,483	-2.9%	2,196
Cincinnati Reds^[18]	82	-14.6%	568,107	6.7%	7,378
Boston Red Sox^[19]	72	9.1%	402,445	-3.6%	5,295
Philadelphia Phillies^[20]	62	31.9%	330,998	37.7%	4,299

Events

August 5 – The Pittsburgh Pirates 8–5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field is the first Major League game to be broadcast on radio. Harold Arlin calls the game for Pittsburgh station KDKA.^[21]

References

^ "Babe Ruth Career Home Runs".
^ "Progressive Leaders & Records for Strikeouts".
^ "Single Season Team Strikeout Records". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
^ "1921 Major League Baseball New Debuts".
^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Cleveland Guardians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^ Mackin, Bob (2004). The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records. Canada: Greystone Books. p. 240. ISBN 9781553650386.

External links

1921 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference

1921 MLB season by team

Major League Baseball

American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

Negro National League

1921 World Series

Major League Baseball seasons

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