1939 Chicago American Giants

32-31 • .508 Win% • 2nd in NAL

The 1939 Chicago American Giants went 32-31 (.508) finishing 2nd in the NAL. The club scored 178 runs, allowed 204, and played home games at American Giants Park. Team leaders included Willie Simms (3 HR, 14 RBI) and Jesse Houston (5-5, 3.72 ERA).

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.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

32 Wins
31 Losses
.508 Win %
2nd Rank
178 R 204 RA
Diff -26

📁 Franchise Info

Chicago American Giants Inactive
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⚡ Quick Stats

178 Runs Scored
204 Runs Allowed
-26 Run Diff
12 Home Runs

📈 vs. 1939 NAL Average

Batting Avg .250 2% below the 1939 league average (.256)
OBP .315 2% below the 1939 league average (.322)
SLG .345 1% below the 1939 league average (.349)
Team ERA 3.97 4% worse than the 1939 league average (3.81)
Runs Scored 178 26% above the 1939 league average (141 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumSouth Side Park III
📅
Home Games (est.) 31 ≈

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1939

Batting Avg

1 Willie Simms 0.313 2 Alex Radcliff 0.286 3 John Bissant 0.283 4 Ed Young 0.279 5 Ernie Smith 0.271

Home Runs

1 Willie Simms 3 2 John Bissant 2 3 Subby Byas 2 4 Ed Young 2 5 Alex Radcliff 1

RBI

1 Ed Young 19 2 Alex Radcliff 16 3 Ernie Smith 15 4 Pepper Bassett 14 5 Willie Simms 14
1939 Chicago American Giants — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Alex Radcliff 38 154 24 44 9 4 1 16 11 0 1 0.286
Ernie Smith 39 140 15 38 3 2 0 15 7 0 7 0.271
Willie Simms 34 134 20 42 5 2 3 14 15 0 6 0.313
Subby Byas 39 125 18 31 5 1 2 11 22 1 3 0.248
Ed Young 34 122 20 34 9 1 2 19 16 0 10 0.279
Pepper Bassett 33 114 13 25 5 1 0 14 5 2 1 0.219
Billy Horne 32 112 16 26 1 1 0 13 11 2 4 0.232
Joe Sparks 33 94 12 20 3 4 1 13 8 1 2 0.213
Wilson Redus 23 62 10 12 2 0 0 7 4 1 1 0.194
John Bissant 17 60 8 17 2 1 2 8 3 1 0 0.283
Jesse Houston 25 45 7 12 2 1 0 4 3 1 0 0.267
Red Hale 14 37 2 6 0 2 0 2 4 2 2 0.162
Willie Cornelius 18 34 4 9 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 0.265
Donald Reeves 6 23 2 7 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 0.304
Lefty Bowe 10 16 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.188
Tommy Johnson 16 16 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.125
Luther Gilyard 4 15 2 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.267
Lester Lockett 4 13 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.077
Ted Trent 11 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Charley Robinson 3 10 1 2 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0.200
Joe Williams 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0.167
Percy Forrest 3 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0.400
Henry Williams 4 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Rogers Pierre 4 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.500
Fresnell 2 3 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1.000
Henry McCall 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Johnny Reed 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Langrum 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Zell Miles 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Eggie Hensley 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1939

ERA

1 Lefty Bowe 2.42 2 Tommy Johnson 3.44 3 Ted Trent 3.69 4 Jesse Houston 3.72 5 Willie Cornelius 4.53

Wins

1 Jesse Houston 5 2 Willie Cornelius 3 3 Tommy Johnson 3 4 Lefty Bowe 2 5 Ted Trent 2

Strikeouts

1 Willie Cornelius 47 2 Lefty Bowe 45 3 Jesse Houston 36 4 Ted Trent 24 5 Tommy Johnson 20
1939 Chicago American Giants — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Willie Cornelius 3 8 4.53 15 10 0 99.1 95 50 28 47
Jesse Houston 5 5 3.72 13 10 0 77.1 79 32 37 36
Tommy Johnson 3 3 3.44 16 6 1 55.0 62 21 22 20
Ted Trent 2 3 3.69 11 4 0 46.1 56 19 7 24
Lefty Bowe 2 2 2.42 10 5 0 44.2 36 12 22 45
Henry Williams 2 0 3.77 4 1 0 14.1 12 6 9 6
Percy Forrest 0 1 4.91 3 3 0 11.0 9 6 7 3
Rogers Pierre 0 0 1.35 3 0 0 6.2 5 1 3 3
Eggie Hensley 0 2 15.63 3 2 0 6.1 13 11 3 5
Willie Simms 0 0 13.50 1 0 0 1.1 4 2 0 0

👥 Roster (30)

Pepper Bassett John Bissant Lefty Bowe Subby Byas Willie Cornelius Percy Forrest Fresnell Luther Gilyard Red Hale Eggie Hensley Billy Horne Jesse Houston +18 more

30 players

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The 1939 Chicago American Giants in brief

In 1939 the Chicago American Giants posted a 32-31 mark (.508) and finished 2nd in the NAL. With 178 runs scored and 204 given up, the 1939 differential was -26. The team batting average of .250 was 2% below the 1939 league mark of .256. The staff ERA of 3.97 was 4% worse than the league average of 3.81. The 1939 Chicago American Giants outscored the average club by 26% (178 against 141).

Home games were played at American Giants Park. For power, Willie Simms led the way with 3 homers. Ed Young drove in a team-high 19 runs. The hits leader was Alex Radcliff with 44. The pitching staff's wins leader was Jesse Houston (5). The strikeout leader was Willie Cornelius with 47.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1939 Chicago American Giants

What was the 1939 Chicago American Giants record?
The 1939 Chicago American Giants finished 32-31 (.508 win pct).
Who led the 1939 Chicago American Giants in home runs?
Willie Simms led the 1939 Chicago American Giants with 3 home runs.
What was the 1939 Chicago American Giants team ERA?
The 1939 Chicago American Giants posted a team ERA of 3.97.
Did the 1939 Chicago American Giants win the World Series?
No. The 1939 Chicago American Giants did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1939 Chicago American Giants play?
The 1939 Chicago American Giants played home games at American Giants Park.
Who led the 1939 Chicago American Giants in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Willie Simms (3 HR, 14 RBI) and Jesse Houston (5-5, 3.72 ERA).
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