The 1942 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1942. The regular season ended on September 27, with the St. Louis Cardinals 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 39th World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 5 on October 5. In the third iteration of this World Series matchup, the Cardinals defeated the Yankees, 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.
The 10th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 6 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York, home of the New York Giants. The American League won, 3âÂÂ1.
In the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a record of 104âÂÂ50, but finished two games behind the Cardinals; the Dodgers tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs, who had a record of 104âÂÂ49, for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason.
The Philadelphia Athletics set a record for the fewest runs batted in during a season, with only 354.
The St. Louis Browns nearly moved to Los Angeles, California for the start of the 1942 season. During the 1941 Winter Meetings in Chicago, Illinois, a vote was scheduled for the morning of December 8, and was expected to be approved. However, due to the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan the previous day (and subsequent entry of the United States into World War II), when it came time to vote, all teams (including the Browns) unanimously voted against the move. The team would eventually leave for Baltimore, Maryland in where they remain today as the Baltimore Orioles, while Los Angeles would eventually get a major league team in when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn, New York.
The 1942 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, April 16, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27 and featured ten teams. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 5.
The 1942 season saw the following rule changes:
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
9 tie games (2 in AL, 7 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 September 30 and ended on October 5 with the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the New York Yankees in the 1942 World Series in five games.
<section begin=Bracket/> <section end=Bracket/>
<sup>1</sup> American League Triple Crown batting winner
Over 80 home games, the Cleveland Indians played 46 games at Cleveland Stadium and 34 games at League Park. All Thursday home games took place at League Park. This would be the 8th of 12 seasons since that saw the Indians play at both venues.
Following the reversion of the Boston Bees name to Boston Braves the previous season, National League Park's name was also reverted, to Braves Field.
The Cincinnati Reds re-entered Willard Hershberger's No. 5 into circulation, only two years after his number was retired. This was the first number to be de-retired by any team in MLB. His number would later be re-retired to honor Johnny Bench in .