The 1938 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1938. The regular season ended on October 2, with the Chicago Cubs 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 35th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 4 on October 9. In the second iteration of this World Series matchup, the Yankees swept the Cubs in four games, capturing their seventh championship in franchise history, and their third in a four-World Series run, becoming the first team to win three consecutive World Series.
The sixth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 6 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Cincinnati Reds. The National League won, 4âÂÂ1.
The 1938 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.
American League Opening Day took place on April 18 with four teams playing, while National League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring all eight teams. This was the first season since that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the regular season was on October 2 and featured all sixteen teams, continuing the trend since the previous season. The World Series took place between October 5 and October 9.
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
16 tie games (8 in AL, 8 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on October 5 and ended on October 9 with the New York Yankees sweeping the Chicago Cubs in the 1938 World Series in four games.
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Over 76 home games, the Cleveland Indians played 58 games at League Park and 18 games at Cleveland Stadium. All Thursday games took place at League Park. This would be the 4th of 12 seasons since that saw the Indians play at both venues.
The Detroit Tigers' venue, Navin Field, named after former owner Frank Navin, was renamed to Briggs Stadium, named after new owner Walter Briggs Sr., prior to the season's start.
The Philadelphia Phillies would play their last game at the Baker Bowl on June 30 after 28 home games, having played 52 seasons there going back to , and moved into the Philadelphia Athletics' home at Shibe Park, where they would go on to play for 33 seasons through .