1940 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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The 1940 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

In its summer 2018 release, Retrosheet released complete play-by-play for two new seasons: 1939 and 1940. This article looks at the latter of these.

The Best of 1940

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Bob Feller	25.0	16.6	4.9	6.7	1	Bob Feller	25.0	16.6	4.9	6.7
2	Hank Greenberg	26.6	17.4	3.7	5.4	2	Hank Greenberg	26.6	17.4	3.7	5.4
3	Dolph Camilli	20.1	12.0	3.3	4.6	3	Lou Boudreau	23.8	18.6	3.1	4.9
4	Lou Boudreau	23.8	18.6	3.1	4.9	4	Arky Vaughan	25.3	20.7	2.8	4.7
5	Frank McCormick	23.1	15.1	3.1	4.7	5	Frank McCormick	23.1	15.1	3.1	4.7
6	Jimmie Foxx	19.1	12.5	3.0	4.2	6	Dolph Camilli	20.1	12.0	3.3	4.6
7	Joe DiMaggio	22.0	15.1	2.9	4.4	7	Joe DiMaggio	22.0	15.1	2.9	4.4
8	Arky Vaughan	25.3	20.7	2.8	4.7	8	Lonny Frey	22.1	16.9	2.7	4.3
9	Claude Passeau	17.8	13.3	2.8	4.2	9	Jimmie Foxx	19.1	12.5	3.0	4.2
10	Rudy York	21.1	14.0	2.8	4.2	10	Claude Passeau	17.8	13.3	2.8	4.2

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.

		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Bob Feller	23.9	17.7	3.7	5.5	1	Bob Feller	23.9	17.7	3.7	5.5
2	Hank Greenberg	25.8	18.2	2.9	4.6	2	Hank Greenberg	25.8	18.2	2.9	4.6
3	Claude Passeau	17.8	13.3	2.8	4.2	3	Arky Vaughan	25.1	20.9	2.6	4.5
4	Johnny Mize	20.5	13.7	2.6	4.0	4	Joe Gordon	22.7	17.8	2.6	4.2
5	Arky Vaughan	25.1	20.9	2.6	4.5	5	Claude Passeau	17.8	13.3	2.8	4.2
6	Joe Gordon	22.7	17.8	2.6	4.2	6	Lou Boudreau	23.0	19.4	2.3	4.1
7	Lou Boudreau	23.0	19.4	2.3	4.1	7	Johnny Mize	20.5	13.7	2.6	4.0
8	Rudy York	20.6	14.5	2.3	3.7	8	Ted Williams	23.1	17.1	2.2	3.8
9	Joe DiMaggio	21.3	15.8	2.2	3.7	9	Joe DiMaggio	21.3	15.8	2.2	3.7
10	Ted Williams	23.1	17.1	2.2	3.8	10	Rudy York	20.6	14.5	2.3	3.7

Bob Feller

The best player in major-league baseball in 1940, as measured by all four measures shown above, was Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller. The 1940 season was probably the best of Bob Feller's career. He opened the season by throwing the only Opening Day no-hitter in major-league history and concluded the season leading the American League in wins (a career-high 27), ERA (2.61, Feller's only time leading his league in ERA), games (43), starts (37), complete games (31), shutouts (4), innings pitched (320.1), hits per nine innings (6.9), WHIP (1.133), and strikeouts (261). It was even the only season between 1938 and 1946 in which Feller pitched at least 10 games and did not lead the American League in walks (Feller walked 118). Put all of that together, and Bob Feller's 1940 season ranks among the top 40 seasons as measured by pWins, pWOPA, and pWORL among the seasons for which I have calculated player won-lost records.

The next table shows the career record of Bob Feller as measured by Player won-lost records. Numbers in italics include extrapolated data for games which Retrosheet is missing.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
Basic Player Won-Lost Records
1936	CLE	17	14	4.8	3.1	0.9	1.3
1937	CLE	18	26	10.0	9.9	0.3	1.2
1938	CLE	19	39	19.7	16.6	2.0	3.5
1939	CLE	20	39	20.4	15.2	3.1	4.8
1940	CLE	21	43	25.0	16.6	4.9	6.7
1941	CLE	22	44	23.9	17.4	3.9	5.7
1945	CLE	26	9	4.7	4.5	0.2	0.7
1946	CLE	27	48	27.3	20.0	4.3	6.6
1947	CLE	28	42	20.6	17.1	2.3	3.9
1948	CLE	29	44	18.9	18.3	0.7	2.4
1949	CLE	30	36	12.5	14.2	-0.5	0.6
1950	CLE	31	35	16.2	14.0	1.5	2.9
1951	CLE	32	33	17.3	13.2	2.4	3.7
1952	CLE	33	30	10.5	12.9	-0.9	0.2
1953	CLE	34	25	10.4	9.6	0.7	1.5
1954	CLE	35	19	10.1	7.5	1.6	2.4
1955	CLE	36	25	3.5	4.6	-0.5	-0.1
1956	CLE	37	19	1.5	3.2	-0.8	-0.5
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			570	257.4	217.8	26.2	47.3
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			2	0.6	1.4	-0.4	-0.3
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			572	258.0	219.2	25.8	47.0

Hank Greenberg

Despite the eye-popping numbers put up by Bob Feller, he did not win the American League MVP award in 1940. On the one hand, Player won-lost records suggest that this was unquestionably a mistake. On the other hand, the player who did win the MVP award finished second in three of the four tables above and third in the fourth table (eWOPA). Hank Greenberg led the American League in doubles (50), home runs (41), total bases (384), slugging percentage (.670), OPS (1.103), and RBI (150), while batting .340 with a .433 on-base percentage and 129 runs scored. Maybe not quite as good a season as Feller had, but very impressive nevertheless.

The next table shows the career record of Hank Greenberg as measured by Player won-lost records. Numbers in italics include extrapolated data for games which Retrosheet is missing.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
Basic Player Won-Lost Records
1930	DET	19	1	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0
1933	DET	22	117	11.5	11.8	-0.6	0.3
1934	DET	23	153	17.9	13.6	0.9	2.3
1935	DET	24	152	21.0	14.9	2.1	3.6
1936	DET	25	12	1.6	0.8	0.3	0.4
1937	DET	26	154	21.2	13.9	2.5	3.9
1938	DET	27	155	23.7	14.5	3.3	4.8
1939	DET	28	138	17.8	12.4	1.6	2.9
1940	DET	29	148	26.6	17.4	3.7	5.4
1941	DET	30	19	2.7	2.4	0.0	0.3
1945	DET	34	78	12.5	8.9	1.5	2.3
1946	DET	35	142	20.9	13.6	2.6	4.0
1947	PIT	36	125	13.6	12.1	0.1	1.1
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,394	191.0	136.3	17.9	31.3
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			23	3.9	3.2	0.2	0.5
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			1,417	194.9	139.5	18.1	31.8

Arky Vaughan

The MVP race in the National League was much more wide open than the AL race. The actual winner of the award was Frank McCormick, who finished in the top two in the NL in both pWOPA and pWORL. A reasonable choice, all things considered, although he probably wouldn't have gotten my vote.

Only one NL player appears in all four of the tables above, Hall-of-Fame shortstop Arky Vaughan (who finished 15th in actual Hall-of-Fame voting).

The 1940 season was not Arky Vaughan's best - that was probably 1935 when he led the NL in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage (.385/.491/.607) - but it was an excellent season. Vaughan batted .300/.393/.453 and led the NL in games played (156), plate appearances (689), runs scored (113), and triples (15).

The next table shows the career record of Arky Vaughan as measured by Player won-lost records. Numbers in italics include extrapolated data for games which Retrosheet is missing.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
Basic Player Won-Lost Records
1932	PIT	20	129	18.8	16.9	1.2	2.7
1933	PIT	21	152	24.5	19.1	3.1	4.8
1934	PIT	22	149	23.5	21.6	1.2	3.2
1935	PIT	23	137	24.0	15.6	4.4	6.0
1936	PIT	24	156	25.0	20.3	2.9	4.8
1937	PIT	25	126	19.9	14.9	2.7	4.1
1938	PIT	26	148	23.7	18.3	2.8	4.5
1939	PIT	27	152	21.7	20.6	1.0	2.8
1940	PIT	28	156	25.3	20.7	2.8	4.7
1941	PIT	29	106	13.5	12.8	0.5	1.6
1942	BRO	30	128	17.7	13.5	1.9	3.1
1943	BRO	31	149	22.0	18.6	1.8	3.4
1947	BRO	35	64	5.8	3.8	0.9	1.3
1948	BRO	36	65	4.7	4.4	0.0	0.4
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,817	270.1	221.1	27.2	47.6
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			3	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			1,820	270.2	221.2	27.2	47.6

1940 Postseason

The 1940 World Series was the only World Series between 1936 and 1943 which did not feature the New York Yankees (who finished in third place, two games out of first). Instead, the American League was represented by the last team before the Yankees to win the AL pennant (in 1935), the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers' opponent was back for the second consecutive year. After being swept in the 1939 World Series, the Cincinnnati Reds won the 1940 World Series in seven games.

The top performances of the 1940 World Series, as measured by Player won-lost records, are presented in the next table.

	1940 World Series: Top Player Performances
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Bucky Walters	CIN	1.3	0.8	0.4
Paul Derringer	CIN	1.7	1.3	0.4
Jimmy Ripple	CIN	1.2	0.6	0.3
Tommy Bridges	DET	0.8	0.3	0.3
Billy Myers	CIN	1.0	0.8	0.2
Myron McCormick	CIN	1.0	0.7	0.2
Barney McCosky	DET	1.1	0.8	0.2
Billy Werber	CIN	1.0	0.8	0.2
Bobo Newsom	DET	1.2	1.2	0.2

The top World Series performers were Reds' starting pitchers Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer, who won two games apiece, and outfielder Jimmy Ripple, who led all Reds' hitters with 6 RBI in the series.

Best of 1940 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over Positional Average in various aspects of the game. The numbers in this section have all been normalized to extrapolate player games for which I am missing play-by-play data. As above, this adjustment is based on individual player games for which I have play-by-play data.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1940 in eWOPA by factor were as follows.

	Batting
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Johnny Mize	17.3	10.6	3.1
Hank Greenberg	16.9	10.2	3.1

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Baserunning
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe Gordon	1.8	1.0	0.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Pitching
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Bob Feller	17.1	12.5	4.6
Claude Passeau	14.4	10.6	3.8

	Fielding, P
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Larry French	0.9	0.5	0.4

	Fielding, C
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Ray Berres	1.4	1.1	0.2
Frankie Pytlak	0.7	0.4	0.2

	Fielding, 1B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Frank McCormick	2.8	2.1	0.7

	Fielding, 2B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Lonny Frey	6.9	5.4	1.5

	Fielding, 3B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Red Rolfe	4.9	3.9	1.0

	Fielding, SS
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Lou Boudreau	7.4	5.6	1.9

	Fielding, LF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Myron McCormick	2.6	1.7	0.9

	Fielding, CF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Terry Moore	5.9	4.9	1.0

	Fielding, RF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Mel Ott	4.9	4.1	0.8

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1940 Major-League leaders in eWOPA by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position, and include no contextual adjustments (expected or actual).

	Catcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Jimmie Foxx	6.1	3.8	1.2
Ernie Lombardi	10.6	8.7	1.2

	First Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Johnny Mize	20.7	14.3	2.4

	Second Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe Gordon	21.8	17.6	2.2

	Third Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Harlond Clift	18.4	15.4	1.4

	Shortstop
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Arky Vaughan	24.0	20.4	2.3

	Left Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Hank Greenberg	24.1	17.6	2.3

	Center Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe DiMaggio	19.7	15.1	1.8

	Right Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mel Ott	15.6	12.1	1.2

	Starting Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Bob Feller	17.3	12.4	2.4

	Relief Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Joe Beggs	3.8	2.7	0.6

For relief pitchers, context-neutral records may not be the best measure of how good they are, as context can matter a great deal, depending on how a pitcher is used. Here are the top relief pitchers of 1940 in context, in terms of pWins and pWOPA.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Top Relief Pitchers of 1940, based on pWORL
Hugh Casey	9.3	7.6	0.548	1.0	1.9
Joe Beggs	5.2	3.5	0.597	0.9	1.5
Clint Brown	4.6	3.5	0.566	0.6	1.2
Al Benton	5.9	5.4	0.523	0.3	1.1
Pete Appleton	3.4	2.3	0.596	0.6	1.0

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.

	Pitcher Offense
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Vern Kennedy	1.8	1.8	0.5

	Pinch Hitter
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Chet Laabs	1.3	0.7	0.3

	Pinch Runner
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Alex Monchak	0.1	0.0	0.0

Notable Debuts

One player debuted in 1940 who would go on to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Pee Wee Reese. In addition, one other Hall-of-Famer, Hal Newhouser, played his first full season (he played exactly one game in his debut season, 1939).

This article concludes with the career records of these two players, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Pee Wee Reese Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1940	BRO	21	84	12.1	10.4	0.537	1.1	2.0	11.8	10.7	0.525	0.8	1.8
1941	BRO	22	152	20.5	18.6	0.524	1.1	2.8	19.6	19.5	0.501	0.2	1.9
1942	BRO	23	151	22.5	17.9	0.557	2.6	4.2	21.4	19.0	0.529	1.4	3.0
1946	BRO	27	152	23.1	16.5	0.584	3.6	5.2	21.4	18.2	0.540	1.8	3.4
1947	BRO	28	142	20.6	14.7	0.583	2.9	4.3	19.1	16.2	0.541	1.4	2.8
1948	BRO	29	151	21.1	17.5	0.546	2.0	3.5	20.7	17.9	0.535	1.6	3.1
1949	BRO	30	155	23.6	16.6	0.587	3.7	5.4	22.4	17.8	0.557	2.5	4.1
1950	BRO	31	141	20.0	14.9	0.574	2.8	4.2	18.4	16.5	0.527	1.2	2.6
1951	BRO	32	154	23.0	18.2	0.558	2.9	4.5	22.0	19.1	0.536	2.0	3.6
1952	BRO	33	149	19.3	14.8	0.566	2.4	3.8	18.3	15.7	0.538	1.4	2.8
1953	BRO	34	140	19.9	13.7	0.593	3.5	4.9	18.2	15.3	0.543	1.8	3.2
1954	BRO	35	141	21.7	15.8	0.578	3.4	4.9	20.7	16.9	0.551	2.4	3.9
1955	BRO	36	145	18.8	16.6	0.532	1.5	3.0	18.1	17.3	0.511	0.8	2.2
1956	BRO	37	147	19.9	17.5	0.532	1.7	3.2	19.1	18.2	0.511	0.9	2.4
1957	BRO	38	103	10.2	10.8	0.487	-0.2	0.6	9.7	11.3	0.461	-0.8	0.1
1958	LAN	39	59	5.3	4.7	0.531	0.4	0.8	5.2	4.8	0.521	0.3	0.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,166	301.5	239.1	0.558	35.3	57.2	286.0	254.6	0.529	19.8	41.7
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			44	5.0	5.5	0.476		0.2	5.3	5.3	0.500		0.5
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,210	306.5	244.6	0.558		57.5	291.3	259.8	0.529		42.2

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Hal Newhouser Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1939	DET	18	1	0.5	0.6	0.463	-0.0	0.0	0.5	0.6	0.461	-0.0	0.0
1940	DET	19	28	8.1	9.6	0.457	-0.6	0.2	8.2	9.5	0.465	-0.4	0.4
1941	DET	20	33	10.4	12.1	0.461	-0.6	0.4	10.5	11.9	0.469	-0.4	0.6
1942	DET	21	39	11.2	11.6	0.490	0.0	1.0	11.5	11.3	0.503	0.3	1.3
1943	DET	22	37	12.0	12.9	0.483	-0.1	1.0	12.5	12.4	0.503	0.4	1.5
1944	DET	23	47	21.4	13.9	0.607	4.4	5.9	20.0	15.3	0.565	2.9	4.4
1945	DET	24	40	22.1	14.5	0.604	4.4	6.1	21.1	15.4	0.578	3.4	5.1
1946	DET	25	37	22.4	14.4	0.609	4.6	6.4	21.0	15.9	0.568	3.1	4.9
1947	DET	26	40	19.1	16.9	0.530	1.7	3.1	19.3	16.7	0.535	1.8	3.3
1948	DET	27	39	19.8	14.9	0.570	2.9	4.4	19.3	15.4	0.555	2.4	3.9
1949	DET	28	38	17.9	14.9	0.546	2.0	3.3	17.9	14.9	0.546	2.0	3.3
1950	DET	29	35	14.7	14.8	0.497	0.4	1.7	14.3	15.2	0.484	-0.0	1.3
1951	DET	30	17	6.3	5.9	0.518	0.4	0.9	6.6	5.6	0.542	0.7	1.2
1952	DET	31	26	8.7	9.0	0.494	0.2	1.0	9.0	8.7	0.507	0.4	1.2
1953	DET	32	7	1.2	2.1	0.373	-0.4	-0.2	1.3	2.0	0.392	-0.3	-0.1
1954	CLE	33	26	3.3	2.6	0.557	0.4	0.8	3.3	2.7	0.552	0.4	0.7
1955	CLE	34	2	0.1	0.1	0.509	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.366	-0.0	-0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			492	199.3	170.8	0.538	19.7	36.1	196.3	173.8	0.530	16.7	33.1
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			4	1.6	1.6	0.494		0.2	1.6	1.5	0.516		0.2
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			496	200.8	172.4	0.538		36.3	197.9	175.3	0.530		33.4

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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