World Series 65: 1924 Giants vs. 1938 Cubs

SERIES 65

(153) 1924 GIANTS VS. (184) 1938 CUBS

The Giants had five Hall of Famers in their lineup. Frankie Frisch hit .328/.387/.468, .855 OPS, led the NL with 121 runs and had 22 SB. George Kelly led the NL with 136 RBI and hit .324/.371/.531, .902 OPS, 21 HR. Ross Youngs hit .356/.441/.521, .962 OPS, 10 HR, 12 triples, 112 runs. Frisch (3^rd), Youngs (5^th) and Kelly (6^th) all finished in the top 6 in MVP voting. Hack Wilson hit .295/.369/.486, .855 OPS, 10 HR. Travis Jackson hit .302, .754 OPS. They also had two Hall of Famers on the bench: Bill Terry (.239 AVG, .710 OPS in 77 games) and Billy Southworth (elected as a manager: .256 AVG, .667 OPS in 94 games). Virgil Barnes (16-10, 3.06) and Hugh McQuillan (14-8, 2.69) led the rotation. The Giants lost to the Senators in 7 games in the World Series.

Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett took over as player-manager when Charlie Grimm was fired in July. Hartnett hit .274/.380/.445, .825 OPS, 10 HR, 59 RBI in 88 games and hit his famous Homer in the Gloamin’ in late September to help lead the Cubs to the pennant. Fellow Hall of Famer Billy Herman hit .277 AVG, .701 OPS, 86 runs. Stan Hack hit .320/.411/.432, .843 OPS, 109 runs and led the NL with 16 SB. Bill Lee (22-9, 2.66, 9 SHO) was 2^nd in the MVP voting, while Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean was acquired from the Cubs in a trade in April (7-1, 1.81 in 10 starts after the deal while being limited by an arm injury caused by changing his mechanics after breaking his toe in the 1937 All-Star Game). The Cubs were swept by the Yankees in 4 games in the World Series.

Game 1: Virgil Barnes vs. Bill Lee, in New York. The Giants jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Travis Jackson’s RBI single in the 2^nd and Frankie Frisch added a 2 run homer in the 5^th. The Giants had a 2 out, 2 run rally in the 6^th with Barnes and Frisch delivering RBI singles. The Giants added another run in the 7^th on an RBI fielder’s choice. Barnes then took a shutout into the 9^th before Frank Demaree and Ripper Collins led off with back-to-back home runs. The Giants won the opener, 6-2. Barnes earned the win (2 R in 9 IP, 5 H, 2 K, 2 BB). Lee took the loss (5 R in 5.2 IP, 12 H, 6 K, 1 BB). Frisch had 3 hits (1 HR, 3 RBI) while Ross Youngs, George Kelly, Irish Meusel (2 runs) and Hack Wilson (1 2B, 1 run) all having 2 hits for the Giants. Augie Galan had 2 hits for the Cubs.