| 1942 MLB season | |
| League: | Major League Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | April 14 – October 5, 1942 |
| No Of Games: | 154 |
| No Of Teams: | 16 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Mvp: | AL Joe Gordon (NYY) |
| Mvp Link: | Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Conf1: | AL |
| Conf1 Champ: | New York Yankees |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Boston Red Sox |
| Conf2: | NL |
| Conf2 Champ: | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| Finals: | World Series |
| Finals Link: | 1942 World Series |
| Seasonslist: | List of MLB seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | MLB |
| Prevseason Link: | 1941 Major League Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1941 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1943 Major League Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1943 |
The 1942 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 14 to October 5, 1942. The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Cardinals then defeated the Yankees in the World Series, four games to one.
In the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a record of 104–50, but finished two games behind the Cardinals; the Dodgers tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs, who had a record of 104–49, for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason.[1]
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Cronin | Finished 2nd | ||
| Jimmy Dykes | |||
| Roger Peckinpaugh | |||
| Del Baker | |||
| Joe McCarthy | Won Pennant | ||
| Connie Mack | |||
| St. Louis Browns | Luke Sewell | Finished 3rd | |
| Washington Senators | Bucky Harris |
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Braves | Casey Stengel | ||
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Leo Durocher | Finished 2nd | |
| Chicago Cubs | Jimmie Wilson | ||
| Cincinnati Reds | Bill McKechnie | ||
| New York Giants | Bill Terry | Finished 3rd | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Hans Lobert | ||
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Frankie Frisch | ||
| St. Louis Cardinals | Billy Southworth | Won World Series |
| Team name | Wins | Home attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers[2] | 104 | 4.0% | 1,037,765 | -14.6% | 13,136 | |
| New York Yankees[3] | 103 | 2.0% | 922,011 | -4.4% | 11,974 | |
| New York Giants[4] | 85 | 14.9% | 779,621 | 2.2% | 9,869 | |
| Boston Red Sox[5] | 93 | 10.7% | 730,340 | 1.6% | 9,485 | |
| Chicago Cubs[6] | 68 | -2.9% | 590,972 | 8.4% | 7,577 | |
| Detroit Tigers[7] | 73 | -2.7% | 580,087 | -15.3% | 7,534 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals[8] | 106 | 9.3% | 553,552 | -12.6% | 7,097 | |
| Cleveland Indians[9] | 75 | 0.0% | 459,447 | -38.4% | 5,743 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[10] | 66 | -18.5% | 448,897 | -6.9% | 5,830 | |
| Cincinnati Reds[11] | 76 | -13.6% | 427,031 | -33.6% | 5,546 | |
| Chicago White Sox[12] | 66 | -14.3% | 425,734 | -37.1% | 6,082 | |
| Philadelphia Athletics[13] | 55 | -14.1% | 423,487 | -19.9% | 5,572 | |
| Washington Senators[14] | 62 | -11.4% | 403,493 | -2.9% | 5,240 | |
| Boston Braves[15] | 59 | -4.8% | 285,332 | 8.2% | 4,019 | |
| St. Louis Browns[16] | 82 | 17.1% | 255,617 | 45.0% | 3,320 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies[17] | 42 | -2.3% | 230,183 | -0.5% | 3,111 |
The Philadelphia Athletics set a record for the fewest runs batted in during a season, with only 354.[18]