1931 Season

27 teams competing in 2 leagues

The 1931 Major League Baseball season was played by 27 teams. The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, defeating the Philadelphia Athletics. Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth led with 46 home runs, Lou Gehrig led with 184 RBI, and Lloyd Waner led with 214 hits. This page carries the 1931 standings, league leaders, postseason results, and a link to every team's season.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
Win% (Winning Percentage):
Wins divided by games decided.
GB (Games Back):
How far a team trailed the division or league leader.

Data updated

🏆 Postseason

1931 Bracket
World Series SLN def. PHA (4-3)

📂 Quick Links

📊 Full Leaders 📋 Standings ⚾ Batting 🎯 Pitching

⏳ Browse Seasons

1921 1926 1930 1931 1932 1936 1941

⚾ Batting Leaders

1931 Home Run Leaders

Top 10 — click a bar to view the player.

Batting average and OPS list qualified hitters only: 3.1 plate appearances per team game — 477 plate appearances at 154 team games. Home runs, RBI, hits, runs and stolen bases are counting totals and list every player.

Batting Average qualified

1 Al Simmons .390 2 Babe Ruth .373 3 Ed Morgan .351 4 Chick Hafey .349 5 Bill Terry .349

OPS qualified

1 Babe Ruth 1.195 2 Lou Gehrig 1.108 3 Al Simmons 1.085 4 Chuck Klein .982 5 Earl Averill .979

Home Runs all players

1 Lou Gehrig 46 2 Babe Ruth 46 3 Earl Averill 32 4 Chuck Klein 31 5 Jimmie Foxx 30

RBI all players

1 Lou Gehrig 184 2 Babe Ruth 163 3 Earl Averill 143 4 Al Simmons 128 5 Joe Cronin 126

Hits all players

1 Lloyd Waner 214 2 Bill Terry 213 3 Lou Gehrig 211 4 Earl Averill 209 5 Kiki Cuyler 202

Runs all players

1 Lou Gehrig 163 2 Babe Ruth 149 3 Earl Averill 140 4 Chuck Klein 121 5 Bill Terry 121

Stolen Bases all players

1 Ben Chapman 61 2 Roy Johnson 33 3 Frankie Frisch 28 4 Jack Burns 19 5 Bill Cissell 18
View Complete Batting Stats →

🎯 Pitching Leaders

1931 Strikeout Leaders

Top 10 — click a bar to view the player.

ERA and WHIP list qualified pitchers only: 1 inning pitched per team game — 154 innings at 154 team games. Wins, strikeouts and saves are counting totals and list every pitcher.

ERA qualified

1 Lefty Grove 2.06 2 Bill Walker 2.26 3 Carl Hubbell 2.65 4 Lefty Gomez 2.67 5 Ed Brandt 2.92

WHIP qualified

1 Lefty Grove 1.08 2 Carl Hubbell 1.12 3 Bill Walker 1.15 4 Syl Johnson 1.16 5 George Earnshaw 1.17

Wins all pitchers

1 Lefty Grove 31 2 Wes Ferrell 22 3 George Earnshaw 21 4 Lefty Gomez 21 5 Rube Walberg 20

Strikeouts all pitchers

1 Lefty Grove 175 2 Bill Hallahan 159 3 Carl Hubbell 155 4 George Earnshaw 152 5 Lefty Gomez 150

Saves all pitchers

1 Jack Quinn 15 2 Wilcy Moore 10 3 Bump Hadley 8 4 Chad Kimsey 7 5 Jim Lindsey 7
View Complete Pitching Stats →

📋 Standings

NNL

St. Louis Stars ★ 44-11 Indianapolis ABCs 32-26 Cleveland Cubs 23-21 Detroit Stars 22-33 Louisville White Sox 17-34 Chicago Columbia Giants 6-19

IND

Hilldale Club ★ 38-14 Homestead Grays 34-21 Kansas City Monarchs 10-9 Baltimore Black Sox 22-38 Harlem Stars 6-12

American League

Philadelphia Athletics ★ 107-45 New York Yankees 94-59 Washington Senators 92-62 Cleveland Indians 78-76 St. Louis Browns 63-91 Boston Red Sox 62-90 Detroit Tigers 61-93 Chicago White Sox 56-97

National League

St. Louis Cardinals ★ 101-53 New York Giants 87-65 Chicago Cubs 84-70 Brooklyn Robins 79-73 Pittsburgh Pirates 75-79 Philadelphia Phillies 66-88 Boston Braves 64-90 Cincinnati Reds 58-96

The 1931 season in brief

The St. Louis Stars set the pace in 1931 with a 44-11 record. Nobody in 1931 fared worse than the Chicago Columbia Giants (6-19). By season's end, the IND group was not close, the Hilldale Club finishing 38-14 to the Homestead Grays's 34-21, the National League was not close, the St. Louis Cardinals finishing 101-53 to the New York Giants's 87-65, the Philadelphia Athletics won the American League going away, 107-45 against 94-59 for the New York Yankees, and the Indianapolis ABCs (32-26) finished a distant second to the St. Louis Stars (44-11) in the Negro National League. The 1931 standings include the Negro National League, Negro Leagues circuits that MLB now counts as major league, listed beside the American and National Leagues. In the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4 games to 3. Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth shared the home run lead at 46. Among qualified hitters, Al Simmons had the top batting average, .390, with Babe Ruth next at .373. That 1931 rate board needs 477 plate appearances (154 team games times the per-game rule). Lou Gehrig topped several batting tiles at once: home runs, RBI, and runs. Lefty Grove's 2.06 ERA led the qualified pitchers; Bill Walker followed at 2.26. Beyond the top five in each tile, the 1931 leaders page ranks the whole 1931 field.

1931 MLB Season: Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the World Series in 1931?
The St. Louis Cardinals won the 1931 World Series, beating the Philadelphia Athletics.
How many teams played in 1931?
27 teams played in the 1931 major league season.
Who led MLB in home runs in 1931?
Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth tied for the lead with 46 home runs in 1931.
Who led MLB in RBI in 1931?
Lou Gehrig led with 184 RBI in 1931.
Who led MLB in hits in 1931?
Lloyd Waner led with 214 hits in 1931.
All Seasons