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 . Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the season.
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
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 season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and 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
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- 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 .
- 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 .
- 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.
- A rule change ended the practice of minor-league teams selling a star prospect to a friendly major-league club for a high price, having the player returned at a later date and then, when it put him back on the open market, forcing another big-league club to pay the already established price.
- The signing of any player under the age of 17 was banned.
- A price tag of $7,500 () on any first-year player was implemented.
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
Standings
American League
National League
Tie games
8 tie games (3 in AL, 5 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
American League
- Boston Red Sox, 1
- Detroit Tigers, 1
- Philadelphia Athletics, 1
- St. Louis Browns, 2
- Washington Senators, 1
National League
- Chicago Cubs, 4
- Cincinnati Reds, 1
- New York Giants, 1
- Philadelphia Phillies, 1
- Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
- St. Louis Cardinals, 2
Postseason
The postseason began on October 8 and ended on October 14 with the Philadelphia Athletics defeating the Chicago Cubs in the 1929 World Series in five games.
Bracket
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Managerial changes
Off-season
In-season
League leaders
American League
National League
Milestones
Batters
Cycles
Other batting accomplishments
Pitchers
No-hitters
- Carl Hubbell (NYG):
- Hubbell threw his first career no-hitter and the eighth no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 11–0 on May 8. Hubbell walked one and struck out four.
Miscellaneous
- Philadelphia Athletics:
- On October 12, Game 4 of the World Series featured a historic 10-run rally by the Athletics in the seventh inning to comeback from a 8âÂÂ0 deficit, nicknamed "The Mack Attack," after the team's manager, Connie Mack. He commented that it was "The greatest thrill [he] had in 29 years of managing." At the time, this was a record.
Awards and honors
Home field attendance
Venues
Across 78 homes games, the Boston Red Sox played their Monday, September 2 doubleheader against the Washington Senators, as well as all 15 of their Sunday games at the Boston Braves home field of Braves Field (the remaining 61 home games were played at Fenway Park). This was the 1st of three consecutive seasons playing all Sunday games at Braves Field and 1st of four consecutive season playing some games at Braves Field.
See also
References
External links