1929 Major League Baseball season

Schedule

The 1929 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 took place on April 16 and saw eight teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on October 6. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 14.

Rule changes

The 1929 season saw the following rule changes:

• For all ballparks, foul poles must be constructed to be at least 25 feet above the outer barrier, to aid umpires in calling balls fair or foul. The poles were to be constructed either on top of the grandstand roof, or the outer fence of the ballpark. This was coupled with the home run rule, the interpretation of which follows the early- rule, which states that balls are to be called based on where the ball crosses the outfield fence. This rule now accounts for all balls which leave the ballpark, including those which completely leave the ballpark. The American League would implement this home run rule in .
• The American League implements the ground rule double rule, which states that balls that bounce over the fence entitle the batter to two bases. The rule would be implemented by the National League in .
• The Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees are the first teams to make uniform numbers on the back of the jersey permanent. In the past teams, such as the St Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians, had experimented with numbers before, but only on the sleeves and only for a few weeks.
• A rule change ended the practice of minor-league teams selling a star prospect to a friendly major-league club for a high price, having the player returned at a later date and then, when it put him back on the open market, forcing another big-league club to pay the already established price.
• The signing of any player under the age of 17 was banned.
• A price tag of $7,500 () on any first-year player was implemented.

Teams

An asterisk () denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at*

Standings

American League

National League

Tie games

8 tie games (3 in AL, 5 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, 1
• Detroit Tigers, 1
• Philadelphia Athletics, 1
• St. Louis Browns, 2
• Washington Senators, 1

National League

• Chicago Cubs, 4
• Cincinnati Reds, 1
• New York Giants, 1
• Philadelphia Phillies, 1
• Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
• St. Louis Cardinals, 2

Postseason

The postseason began on October 8 and ended on October 14 with the Philadelphia Athletics defeating the Chicago Cubs in the 1929 World Series in five games.

Bracket

| RD1-seed1=AL | RD1-team1=Philadelphia Athletics | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=NL | RD1-team2=Chicago Cubs | RD1-score2=1

Managerial changes

Off-season

In-season

League leaders

American League

National League

Milestones

Batters

• Babe Ruth (NYY):
  • Became the first player in Major League history to hit 500 home runs on August 11 against the Cleveland Indians.

Miscellaneous

• Chicago Cubs / Philadelphia Athletics:

  • For the first time since 1912, that both pennant winners won by more than 10 games.

• Philadelphia Athletics:

  • On October 12, Game 4 of the World Series featured a historic 10-run rally by the Athletics in the seventh inning to comeback from a 8–0 deficit, nicknamed "The Mack Attack," after the team's manager, Connie Mack. He commented that it was "The greatest thrill [he] had in 29 years of managing." At the time, this was a record.

Awards and honors

• League Award: Rogers Hornsby (CHC)
• The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award: Al Simmons (PHA)

Home field attendance

Venues

Across 78 homes games, the Boston Red Sox played their Monday, September 2 doubleheader against the Washington Senators, as well as all 15 of their Sunday games at the Boston Braves home field of Braves Field (the remaining 61 home games were played at Fenway Park). This was the 1st of three consecutive seasons playing all Sunday games at Braves Field and 1st of four consecutive season playing some games at Braves Field.

References

References

1. sabr. "How Rules Changes in 1920 Affected Home Runs – Society for American Baseball Research".
2. O'Gara, Connor. "Future Hall of Famer Al López Hits the Last 'Bounce' Home Run in Big League History".
3. (December 17, 1930). "Changes are Made in the Baseball Playing Rules by Joint Rules Committee". Santa Cruz Evening News.
4. "1928 Winter Meetings: The Draft Mess and Glimpses into the Future – Society for American Baseball Research".
5. "1929 Major League Managers".
6. "1929 American League Batting Leaders".
7. "1929 American League Pitching Leaders".
8. "1929 National League Batting Leaders".
9. "1929 National League Pitching Leaders".
10. Koppet, Leonard. (1998). "Koppet's Concise History of Major League Baseball". Temple University Press.
11. "The 1929 Mack Attack {{!}} Society for American Baseball Research".
12. Baumgartner, Stan. (October 13, 1929). "Connie Calls Game "Greatest Thrill, Hugs Fans of Field". Philadelphia Inquirer.
13. "Most Valuable Player Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
14. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
15. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
16. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
17. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
18. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
19. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
20. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
21. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
22. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
23. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
24. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
25. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
26. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
27. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
28. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
29. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
30. "Seamheads.com Ballparks Database — 1929 Season".
31. "Seamheads.com Ballparks Database".