1938 Philadelphia Phillies season

1938 Philadelphia Phillies
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1883)
Location
Baker Bowl (Since 1887), Shibe Park (since 1938)
Philadelphia (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Gerald Nugent
Manager(s)	Jimmy Wilson
Local radio	WCAU (Bill Dyer)
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The 1938 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in eighth place – last in an eight-team National League – with a record of 45–105, 43 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs and 24.5 games behind the seventh-place Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the first of five straight seasons in which the Phillies finished in last place. The Phillies wore blue and yellow on their uniforms in honor of the Tercentenary of New Sweden.^[1]

The Phillies moved from their old home park, Baker Bowl, to Shibe Park midway through the season. Phils president Gerald Nugent was eager to cut expenses and he cited the move as an opportunity for the Phillies to cut expenses by sharing stadium upkeep with the Philadelphia Athletics.^[2]

Offseason

• December 8, 1937: Earl Grace was traded by the Phillies to the St. Louis Browns for Cap Clark.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	89	63	0.586	—	44–33	45–30
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	64	0.573	2	44–33	42–31
New York Giants	83	67	0.553	5	43–30	40–37
Cincinnati Reds	82	68	0.547	6	43–34	39–34
Boston Bees	77	75	0.507	12	45–30	32–45
St. Louis Cardinals	71	80	0.470	17½	36–41	35–39
Brooklyn Dodgers	69	80	0.463	18½	31–41	38–39
Philadelphia Phillies	45	105	0.300	43	26–48	19–57

Record vs. opponents

1938 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12	12–10	11–9	8–14	14–8	9–13	13–9–1
Brooklyn	10–12	—	9–11–1	9–13	8–14	15–7	9–11	9–12–1
Chicago	12–10	11–9–1	—	11–11	12–10	18–4	12–10	13–9–1
Cincinnati	9–11	13–9	11–11	—	12–9	14–7	10–12	13–9–1
New York	14–8	14–8	10–12	9–12	—	16–5	9–13–1	11–9–1
Philadelphia	8–14	7–15	4–18	7–14	5–16	—	8–12–1	6–16
Pittsburgh	13–9	11–9	10–12	12–10	13–9–1	12–8–1	—	15–7
St. Louis	9–13–1	12–9–1	9–13–1	9–13–1	9–11–1	16–6	7–15	—

Roster

1938 Philadelphia Phillies
Roster
Pitchers -- Elmer Burkart 24 Max Butcher 19 Bill Hallahan 21 Ed Heusser 17 Al Hollingsworth 22 Syl Johnson 24 Hal Kelleher 21 Wayne LaMaster -- Tom Lanning 15 Hugh Mulcahy 13 Claude Passeau 16 Tommy Reis 20 Pete Sivess 18 Al Smith 17 Bucky Walters		Catchers 11 Bill Atwood 10 Cap Clark 28,4 Spud Davis 12 Jimmy Wilson Infielders  8 Earl Browne 23 Gene Corbett -- Eddie Feinberg  8 Buck Jordan  9 Heinie Mueller  6 George Scharein -- Justin Stein 14 Phil Weintraub  5 Pinky Whitney  7 Del Young		Outfielders  3 Morrie Arnovich 16 Gibby Brack  1 Chuck Klein  2 Hersh Martin -- Alex Pitko 19 Art Rebel 16 Tuck Stainback  4 Ray Stoviak Other batters -- Howie Gorman		Manager 12 Jimmy Wilson Coaches 22 Syl Johnson 25 Hans Lobert

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
2B	Mueller, HeinieHeinie Mueller	136	444	111	.250	4	34
SS	Young, DelDel Young	108	340	78	.229	0	31

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Clark, CapCap Clark	52	74	19	.257	0	4
Wilson, JimmieJimmie Wilson	3	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Butcher, MaxMax Butcher	12	98.1	4	8	2.93	29

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Sivess, PetePete Sivess	39	116	3	6	5.51	32
Burkart, ElmerElmer Burkart	2	10	0	1	4.50	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
B	Montgomery Bombers	Southeastern League	Bud Connolly
D	Centreville Colts	Eastern Shore League	Patsy O'Rourke
D	Jonesboro Giants	Northeast Arkansas League	Pete Cooper, Gus Albright and Fred Millican

^[4]

Notes

1. Levin, Morris; Hecken, Phil (August 2, 2013). "Where the Phillies Wore Blue and Yellow for Swedish Heritage". uni-watch.com. Paul Lukas. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
2. "Phils Set to Close Deal for Use of Shibe Park". New York Times. June 26, 1938.
3. Earl Grace page at Baseball Reference
4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1938 Philadelphia Phillies season at Baseball Reference