1923 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1923 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1923 in baseball.
1923 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 17 – October 7, 1923
World Series:
  • October 10–15, 1923
Games154
Teams16 (8 per league)
Regular Season
Season MVPAL: Babe Ruth (NYY)
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upDetroit Tigers
NL championsNew York Giants
  NL runners-upCincinnati Reds
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upNew York Giants
Locations of teams for the 1923–1931 American League seasons
American League
Locations of teams for the 1920–1931 National League seasons
National League

The 1923 major league baseball season began on April 17, 1923. The regular season ended on October 7, with the New York Giants 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 20th World Series on October 10 and ended with Game 6 on October 15. In the third consecutive iteration of the Subway Series, the Yankees defeated the Giants, four games to two, capturing their first championship in franchise history. This was the third World Series between the two teams, and the first to see the Yankees win over the Giants. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Giants from the 1922 season.

This was the second of eight seasons that "League Awards", a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), were issued. Only an American League award was given in 1923.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1923 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 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

National League Opening Day took place on April 17 with all teams playing, while American League Opening Day took place the following day with all teams playing. The final day of the regular season was on October 7. The World Series took place between October 10 and October 15.

Rule changes

The 1923 season saw the following rule changes:

  • A rule was passed preventing the transfer of players from one club to another after June 15 except through the waiver process.[1]
  • The leagues decided that the major-league draft would begin on the first day of the World Series, in the city where the first World Series game was held.[1]
  • Waiver rules were amended to provide that a team asking for and then withdrawing a waiver request on a player must do so within 48 hours or forfeit their rights to the player.[1]
  • The barnstorming rule, which had resulted in the suspension of Babe Ruth at the beginning of the season, was amended to prohibit players from participating in exhibition games after October 31 (the American League had already established this rule the previous season).[1]
  • During World Series games, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the president or another official of the home team were given the authority to determine when ground conditions were suitable for play, although once a game began, the decision on whether to suspend or postpone games would rest with the umpires.[1]
  • Teams would be permitted to carry 40 players on their roster until June 15, instead of the prior May 15 deadline.[1]

Teams

League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager[2]
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 27,000 Frank Chance
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 28,000 Kid Gleason
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio Dunn Field 21,414 Tris Speaker
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Navin Field 30,000 Ty Cobb
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 58,000 Miller Huggins
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 23,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 24,040 Lee Fohl
Jimmy Austin
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 27,000 Donie Bush
National League Boston Braves Boston, Massachusetts Braves Field 40,000 Fred Mitchell
Brooklyn Robins New York, New York Ebbets Field 30,000 Wilbert Robinson
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Cubs Park 20,000 Bill Killefer
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Redland Field 20,696 Pat Moran
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 43,000 John McGraw
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Baker Bowl 18,000 Art Fletcher
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 25,000 Bill McKechnie
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 24,040 Branch Rickey

Standings

American League

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 98 54 .645 — 46‍–‍30 52‍–‍24
Detroit Tigers 83 71 .539 16 45‍–‍32 38‍–‍39
Cleveland Indians 82 71 .536 16½ 42‍–‍36 40‍–‍35
Washington Senators 75 78 .490 23½ 43‍–‍34 32‍–‍44
St. Louis Browns 74 78 .487 24 40‍–‍36 34‍–‍42
Philadelphia Athletics 69 83 .454 29 34‍–‍41 35‍–‍42
Chicago White Sox 69 85 .448 30 30‍–‍45 39‍–‍40
Boston Red Sox 61 91 .401 37 37‍–‍40 24‍–‍51

National League

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Giants 95 58 .621 — 47‍–‍30 48‍–‍28
Cincinnati Reds 91 63 .591 4½ 46‍–‍32 45‍–‍31
Pittsburgh Pirates 87 67 .565 8½ 47‍–‍30 40‍–‍37
Chicago Cubs 83 71 .539 12½ 46‍–‍31 37‍–‍40
St. Louis Cardinals 79 74 .516 16 42‍–‍35 37‍–‍39
Brooklyn Robins 76 78 .494 19½ 37‍–‍40 39‍–‍38
Boston Braves 54 100 .351 41½ 22‍–‍55 32‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies 50 104 .325 45½ 20‍–‍55 30‍–‍49

Tie games

7 tie games (5 in AL, 2 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, 2
  • Chicago White Sox, 2
  • Detroit Tigers, 1
  • Philadelphia Athletics, 1
  • St. Louis Browns, 2
  • Washington Senators, 2

National League

  • Boston Braves, 1
  • Brooklyn Robins, 1
  • Philadelphia Phillies, 1
  • St. Louis Cardinals, 1

Postseason

The postseason began on October 10 and ended on October 15 with the New York Yankees defeating the New York Giants in the 1923 World Series in six games.

Bracket

World Series
   
AL New York Yankees 4
NL New York Giants 2

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Red Sox Hugh Duffy Frank Chance
Philadelphia Phillies Kaiser Wilhelm Art Fletcher
Washington Senators Clyde Milan Donie Bush

In-season

Team Former Manager New Manager
St. Louis Browns Lee Fohl Jimmy Austin

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders[3]
Stat Player Total
AVG Harry Heilmann (DET) .403
OPS Babe Ruth (NYY) 1.309
HR Babe Ruth (NYY) 41
RBI Babe Ruth (NYY)
Tris Speaker (CLE) 		130
R Babe Ruth (NYY) 151
H Charlie Jamieson (CLE) 222
SB Eddie Collins (CWS) 48
Pitching leaders[4]
Stat Player Total
W George Uhle (CLE) 26
L Herman Pillette (DET)
Eddie Rommel (PHA) 		19
ERA Stan Coveleski (CLE) 2.76
K Walter Johnson (WSH) 130
IP George Uhle (CLE) 357.2
SV Allen Russell (WSH) 9
WHIP Waite Hoyt (NYY) 1.228

National League

Hitting leaders[5]
Stat Player Total
AVG Rogers Hornsby (STL) .384
OPS Rogers Hornsby (STL) 1.086
HR Cy Williams (PHI) 41
RBI Irish Meusel (NYG) 125
R Ross Youngs (NYG) 121
H Frankie Frisch (NYG) 223
SB Max Carey (PIT) 51
Pitching leaders[6]
Stat Player Total
W Dolf Luque (CIN) 27
L Wilbur Cooper (PIT) 19
ERA Dolf Luque (CIN) 1.93
K Dazzy Vance (BRO) 197
IP Burleigh Grimes (BRO) 327.0
SV Claude Jonnard (NYG) 7
WHIP Grover Alexander (CHC) 1.108

Awards and honors

Home field attendance

Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
New York Yankees[7] 98 4.3% 1,007,066 −1.9% 13,251
Detroit Tigers[8] 83 5.1% 911,377 5.8% 11,836
New York Giants[9] 95 2.2% 820,780 −13.2% 10,659
Chicago Cubs[10] 83 3.8% 703,705 29.8% 9,139
Pittsburgh Pirates[11] 87 2.4% 611,082 16.7% 7,936
Cincinnati Reds[12] 91 5.8% 575,063 16.5% 7,373
Chicago White Sox[13] 69 −10.4% 573,778 −4.8% 7,650
Brooklyn Robins[14] 76 0.0% 564,666 13.2% 7,239
Cleveland Indians[15] 82 5.1% 558,856 5.8% 7,165
Philadelphia Athletics[16] 69 6.2% 534,122 25.6% 7,122
St. Louis Browns[17] 74 −20.4% 430,296 −39.6% 5,517
Washington Senators[18] 75 8.7% 357,406 −22.1% 4,524
St. Louis Cardinals[19] 79 −7.1% 338,551 −37.0% 4,340
Boston Red Sox[20] 61 0.0% 229,688 −11.4% 2,945
Philadelphia Phillies[21] 50 −12.3% 228,168 −1.9% 3,042
Boston Braves[22] 54 1.9% 227,802 35.6% 2,958

Venues

The New York Yankees leave the Polo Grounds, where they shared with the New York Giants for the previous 10 seasons, and open Yankee Stadium, where they would play for 84 seasons through 1973 and 1976 through 2008. The Yankees, whose home had been Manhattan for their entire existence, moved into the Bronx where they remain to this day.

Referring to the Philadelphia Phillies' home at National League Park, on July 11, The Philadelphia Inquirer coined the term Baker Bowl[23]. "Baker Bowl" became a common name for the stadium until its closure in 1938, although the Phillies would still refer to the venue as its official "National League Park" name in newspaper advertisements.

On August 21, Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators since 1920, announced that National Park would be named after himself, Griffith Stadium.[24][25]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Jones, Chris. "1922 Winter Meetings: To Meet or Not to Meet – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  2. ^ "1923 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  3. ^ "1923 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  4. ^ "1923 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  5. ^ "1923 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  6. ^ "1923 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  7. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. ^ "Red Uprising Beats Phillies In Ten Innings". Philadelphia Inquirer. July 11, 1923. p. 20.
  24. ^ Leavengood, Ted (2011). Clark Griffith: The Old Fox of Washington Baseball. McFarland. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-7864-6386-2.
  25. ^ Sharp, Andrew C. (November 12, 2021). "A hospital's mini-tribute to Griffith Stadium". Washington baseball history. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
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