1929 Baseball Season Recap
Connie Mack brought his Philadelphia A’s back to first place in the 1929 baseball season after a 15-year pennant drought. After finishing dead last seven years in a row, the ballclub rose to seventh in 1922, sixth in 1923, fifth in 1924, third in 1925 and ’26, and the runner-up position both in 1927 and ’28.
Mack built his team on young sluggers Al Simmons, who was second in hitting at .365 and first in RBI with 157, and Jimmie Foxx, who hit .354 and scored a team-high 123 runs. Simmons and Foxx were third and fourth in the American League in home runs with totals of 34 and 33, behind Babe Ruth at 46 and Lou Gehrig at 35.
From the minor leagues, Mack had purchased Foxx, second baseman Max Bishop, backup infielder Jimmy Dykes, and the heart of his pitching staff: 29-year-old Lefty Grove, who won the ERA title at 2.81, and righty George Earnshaw, who went 24-8 to lead the American League in wins. The A's staff of Grove, Earnshaw, 12-2 Eddie Rommel, hard-throwing Rube Walberg, and aged reliever Jack Quinn recorded the American League’s best team ERA at 3.44. They were the only staff under 4.00.
The American League race was over early, as Mack’s 104-46 White Elephants beat out second-place New York by 18 games. Ruth and Gehrig had their usual great years, but Bob Meusel slumped to .261 with only ten home runs. New York got little offensive contribution from Leo Durocher at short and Gene Robertson at third, and the team’s ERA was a fat 4.17. The Yankees’ season ended tragically, as beloved manager Miller Huggins died suddenly on September 25.
The Chicago Cubs, 98-54, finished first in the National League for the first time since 1918; Pittsburgh was 101/2 games back in second. The Cubs boasted the most fearsome righthanded-hitting attack in history, as left fielder Riggs Stephenson batted .362, center fielder Hack Wilson hit .345, and right fielder Kiki Cuyler hit .360. This trio combined for 71 homers, 337 runs, and 271 RBI.
The infield featured a double-play combination of shortstop Woody English (who scored 131 runs) and nomadic MVP Rogers Hornsby (who hit .380, clubbed 39 homers, drove in 149 runs, and scored 156). Pat Malone led the Cubs and the National League in wins with 22, Charlie Root added 19, and Guy Bush won 18.
Chuck Klein helped the
Phillies produce incredible
numbers in Baker Bowl.
Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker retired before
the 1929 season. Cobb holds the all-time career batting average record at .366.
When he retired, he was also the all-time major league career leader in games, at-bats, runs, hits, and stolen bases. Speaker quit with a .344 average, eighth-best in history, and still holds the career mark for doubles with 793.
The 1929 World Series opened with one of the gutsiest gambles in Series history, when Connie Mack sent seldom-used Howard Ehmke to face the Cubs’ righthanded wrecking crew in game one. The gamble paid off handsomely, as Ehmke’s slow stuff struck out a then-record 13 on the way to a 3-1 win. Righties George Earnshaw and Eddie Rommel also got wins as Philadelphia won the 1929 World Series four games to one.
A great moment came in game four, when the A’s overcame an 8-0 deficit with a wacky ten-run seventh that included two balls lost in the sun by Hack Wilson. This is still the biggest inning in World Series history.
Check out the next page for some of the headlines from the 1929 baseball season.
To learn more about baseball, see:
- 1928 Baseball Season
- 1930 Baseball Season
- Baseball History
- How Baseball Works
- How the Baseball Hall of Fame Works
- How Minor League Baseball Teams Work
- Babe Ruth
1929 Baseball Season Headlines
The Philadelphia A's took the 1929 World Series in five games against the Chicago Cubs, who were -- and are -- no stranger to Series hardships. Here are some of the other headlines from the 1929 baseball season.
Rogers Hornsby Scores 156
Not
even in the tumultuous 1880s did any great player change teams more
often than Rogers Hornsby. In 1929, he was playing with his fourth
different club in four years. If his play suffered from the constant
change, it was certainly never manifested in his year-end stats. His
first year with the Cubs was his best overall since 1925, as he posted
a .380 average and a league-leading 156 runs scored in 1929.
Howard Ehmke Has Last Hurrah
Howard
Ehmke’s stunning victory in the opening game of the 1929 World Series
was his last triumph in the majors. Six years earlier, then with the
Red Sox, he was prevented only by a controversial scorer’s decision
from becoming the first pitcher to throw two consecutive no-hit games.
Charlie Gehringer Best at Second
Owing
to his Sphinx-like demeanor, Charlie Gehringer had attracted no
particular notice anywhere except for Detroit before 1929. His
performance that year (131 runs scored, 215 hits, 45 doubles, and 19
triples -- all highs in the American League) made him the loop’s top
second baseman, a label he retained for the next decade. In a 14-year
span, Gehringer’s average dropped below .300 only once.
Miller Huggins Dies
Tormented
by his failure to motivate the complacent Yankees, exhausted almost
beyond endurance, Miller Huggins entered the hospital on September 20
after an ugly blemish under his left eye refused to disappear. Five
days later, he was dead of blood poisoning. Several of the pallbearers
at his funeral were players whom he managed.
Carl Hubbell Arrives in NY
In
1928, after six seasons in the minors, Carl Hubbell had advanced no
higher than the Texas League. He then drew the attention of Dick
Kinsella, a Giants scout who was an Illinois delegate to the Democratic
National Convention that summer at Houston. Within days, Hubbell was in
New York where he stayed until 1943. In 1929, he went 18-11 with a 3.69
ERA.
Mule Haas: Two 1929 World Series HRs
Mule
Haas is best known today for his two key homers (one apiece in games
four and five) in the 1929 World Series. However, he himself considered
his finest achievement to be the three spectacular running catches he
made to squelch potential Cleveland uprisings in the Indians’
18-inning, 18-17 loss to the A’s in 1932.
Max Bishop Ties Up Game Five
Max
Bishop of the A’s scored ahead of teammate Mule Haas following Haas’s
two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie the final game of the
1929 World Series at 2-2. Minutes later, Bing Miller doubled home Al
Simmons from second base to give the A’s their first championship since
1913.
1929 A’s Take World Title
Bing
Miller's hit won the decisive game five of the 1929 World Series. The
A’s had been trailing the Cubs 2-0 in the ninth, but Mule Haas cracked
a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to tie the score. Al Simmons
then doubled, Jimmie Foxx walked, and Miller doubled Simmons home, thus
winning the game and the Series. For the Cubs, this was just another in
a series of World Series hardships. In ten fall classic appearances,
the Cubbies have lost eight times. Their only wins came in 1907 and
1908; since then they’ve lost seven straight World Series. They haven’t
played in the tournament since 1945.
Find baseball season highlights from 1929 on the next page.
To learn more about baseball, see:
- 1928 Baseball Season
- 1930 Baseball Season
- Baseball History
- How Baseball Works
- How the Baseball Hall of Fame Works
- How Minor League Baseball Teams Work
- Babe Ruth
1929 Baseball Season Headlines
The Philadelphia A's took the 1929 World Series in five games against the Chicago Cubs, who were -- and are -- no stranger to Series hardships. Here are some of the other headlines from the 1929 baseball season.
Rogers Hornsby Scores 156
Not
even in the tumultuous 1880s did any great player change teams more
often than Rogers Hornsby. In 1929, he was playing with his fourth
different club in four years. If his play suffered from the constant
change, it was certainly never manifest in his year-end stats. His
first year with the Cubs was his best overall since 1925, as he posted
a .380 average and a league-leading 156 runs scored in 1929.
Howard Ehmke Has Last Hurrah
Howard
Ehmke’s stunning victory in the opening game of the 1929 World Series
was his last triumph in the majors. Six years earlier, then with the
Red Sox, he was prevented only by a controversial scorer’s decision
from becoming the first pitcher to throw two consecutive no-hit games.
Charlie Gehringer Best at Second
Owing
to his Sphinx-like demeanor, Charlie Gehringer had attracted no
particular notice anywhere except for Detroit before 1929. His
performance that year (131 runs scored, 215 hits, 45 doubles, and 19
triples -- all highs in the American League) made him the loop’s top
second baseman, a label he retained for the next decade. In a 14-year
span, Gehringer’s average dropped below .300 only once.
Miller Huggins Dies
Tormented
by his failure to motivate the complacent Yankees, exhausted almost
beyond endurance, Miller Huggins entered the hospital on September 20
after an ugly blemish under his left eye refused to disappear. Five
days later, he was dead of blood poisoning. Several of the pallbearers
at his funeral were players whom he managed.
Carl Hubbell Arrives in NY
In
1928, after six seasons in the minors, Carl Hubbell had advanced no
higher than the Texas League. He then drew the attention of Dick
Kinsella, a Giants scout who was an Illinois delegate to the Democratic
National Convention that summer at Houston. Within days, Hubbell was in
New York where he stayed until 1943. In 1929, he went 18-11 with a 3.69
ERA.
Mule Haas: Two 1929 World Series HRs
Mule
Haas is best known today for his two key homers (one apiece in games
four and five) in the 1929 World Series. However, he himself considered
his finest achievement to be the three spectacular running catches he
made to squelch potential Cleveland uprisings in the Indians’
18-inning, 18-17 loss to the A’s in 1932.
Max Bishop Ties Up Game Five
Max
Bishop of the A’s scored ahead of teammate Mule Haas following Haas’s
two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie the final game of the
1929 World Series at 2-2. Minutes later, Bing Miller doubled home Al
Simmons from second base to give the A’s their first championship since
1913.
1929 A’s Take World Title
Bing
Miller's hit won the decisive game five of the 1929 World Series. The
A’s had been trailing the Cubs 2-0 in the ninth, but Mule Haas cracked
a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to tie the score. Al Simmons
then doubled, Jimmie Foxx walked, and Miller doubled Simmons home, thus
winning the game and the Series. For the Cubs, this was just another in
a series of World Series hardships. In ten fall classic appearances,
the Cubbies have lost eight times. Their only wins came in 1907 and
1908; since then they’ve lost seven straight World Series. They haven’t
played in the tournament since 1945.
Find baseball season highlights from 1929 on the next page.
To learn more about baseball, see:
- 1928 Baseball Season
- 1930 Baseball Season
- Baseball History
- How Baseball Works
- How the Baseball Hall of Fame Works
- How Minor League Baseball Teams Work
- Babe Ruth
1929 Baseball Season Highlights
The 1929 baseball season was a big one for the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia A's. The Cubs fought their way to the 1929 National League Flag, and the A's won the 1929 World Series. Find highlights from the 1929 baseball season below.- The Cubs breeze to the National League pennant by 101/2 games.
- The A's have an even easier time in the American League, romping home 18 games ahead of the Yankees.
- The A's win the 1929 World Series in five games.
- In game four, the A's score ten runs in the seventh and win 10-8.
- Mule Haas of the A's, with two big homers, is the Series' hitting star.
- Howard Ehmke fans a Series record 13 Cubs in game one.
- Cub Hack Wilson leads all hitters in the Series with a .471 batting average.
- Rogers Hornsby of the Cubs wins the National League MVP (the American League discontinues the award after the 1928 season).
- Lefty O'Doul of the Phils, the National League bat champ with a .398 mark, is the MVP runner-up. O'Doul's average is a National League record for outfielders.
- Chuck Klein of the Phils wins the National League homer crown (43) in his first full season.
- Babe Ruth tops the majors with 46 homers and a .697 SA.
- George Earnshaw of the A's leads the majors with 24 wins.
- Wilson's 159 RBI are the most in the majors.
- Lefty Grove's 2.81 ERA is the only one in the majors below 3.00.
- Grove's 170 Ks are the most in the majors.
- Yankees manager Miller Huggins dies near the end of the season.
- Joe McCarthy of the Cubs wins the first of what will be a record number of Major League Baseball pennants.
- Giant Mel Ott, age 20, becomes the youngest player ever to hit 40 homers in a season; he hits 42.
- Hornsby's .380 BA sets a Cubs team record -- the fourth such record he's set in the decade.
- Braves owner Emil Fuchs manages his own team for the full season -- the last owner to do so.
- The Braves finish with the worst record in the majors (56-98).
- Carl Hubbell of the Giants no-hits Pittsburgh on May 8.
The 1929 baseball season
was a good one for
Carl Hubbell of the Giants. - Ike Boone of the Mission Reds in the Pacific Coast League collects 553 total bases.
- O'Doul's 254 hits are a major league record for outfielders.
- Johnny Frederick of Brooklyn sets an all-time rookie record with 52 doubles.
- O'Doul reaches base an National League record 334 times.
Find even more highlights from the 1929 baseball season in our final section.
To learn more about baseball, see:
- 1928 Baseball Season
- 1930 Baseball Season
- Baseball History
- How Baseball Works
- How the Baseball Hall of Fame Works
- How Minor League Baseball Teams Work
- Babe Ruth