1939 Chicago White Sox

85-69 • .552 Win% • 4th in AL

The 1939 Chicago White Sox went 85-69 (.552) finishing 4th in the AL. The club scored 755 runs, allowed 737, and played home games at Comiskey Park. Team leaders included Joe Kuhel (15 HR, 56 RBI) and Thornton Lee (15-11, 4.21 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

85 Wins
69 Losses
.552 Win %
4th Rank
755 R 737 RA
Diff +18

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

755 Runs Scored
737 Runs Allowed
+18 Run Diff
746K Attendance

📈 vs. 1939 AL Average

Batting Avg .274 1% below the 1939 league average (.278)
OBP .348 1% below the 1939 league average (.351)
SLG .374 8% below the 1939 league average (.407)
Team ERA 4.31 7% better than the 1939 league average (4.62)
Runs Scored 755 6% below the 1939 league average (800 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumComiskey Park
📅
Home Games 77
👥
Total Attendance 746,500
📊
Avg per Game 9,694

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1939

Batting Avg

1 Eric McNair 0.324 2 Mike Kreevich 0.323 3 Luke Appling 0.314 4 Joe Kuhel 0.300 5 Ted Lyons 0.295

Home Runs

1 Joe Kuhel 15 2 Gee Walker 13 3 Larry Rosenthal 10 4 Ollie Bejma 8 5 Eric McNair 7

RBI

1 Gee Walker 111 2 Eric McNair 82 3 Mike Kreevich 77 4 Luke Appling 56 5 Joe Kuhel 56
1939 Chicago White Sox — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Gee Walker 149 598 95 174 30 11 13 111 28 43 17 0.291
Joe Kuhel 139 546 107 164 24 9 15 56 64 51 18 0.300
Mike Kreevich 145 541 85 175 30 8 5 77 59 40 23 0.323
Luke Appling 148 516 82 162 16 6 0 56 105 37 16 0.314
Eric McNair 129 479 62 155 18 5 7 82 38 41 17 0.324
Rip Radcliff 113 397 49 105 25 2 2 53 26 21 6 0.264
Mike Tresh 119 352 49 91 5 2 0 38 64 30 3 0.259
Larry Rosenthal 107 324 50 86 21 5 10 51 53 46 6 0.265
Ollie Bejma 90 307 52 77 9 3 8 44 36 27 1 0.251
Jackie Hayes 72 269 34 67 12 3 0 23 27 10 0 0.249
Marv Owen 58 194 22 46 9 0 0 15 16 15 4 0.237
Hank Steinbacher 71 111 16 19 2 1 1 15 21 8 0 0.171
Thornton Lee 33 91 8 15 3 0 0 4 4 18 0 0.165
Johnny Rigney 35 80 4 16 4 0 0 7 2 18 0 0.200
Ken Silvestri 22 75 6 13 3 0 2 5 6 13 0 0.173
Ted Lyons 21 61 5 18 3 0 0 8 5 7 0 0.295
Johnny Marcum 38 57 7 16 0 0 0 12 5 1 0 0.281
Norm Schlueter 34 56 5 13 2 1 0 8 1 11 2 0.232
Jack Knott 25 53 3 8 0 0 0 1 0 18 0 0.151
Eddie Smith 29 52 5 6 1 0 0 3 9 15 0 0.115
Bill Dietrich 25 37 5 8 3 0 1 2 4 12 0 0.216
Tony Rensa 14 25 3 5 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0.200
Clint Brown 61 19 0 4 0 0 0 3 4 3 0 0.211
John Whitehead 7 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0.000
Bob Kennedy 3 8 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.250
Vic Frazier 10 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.286
Vallie Eaves 2 6 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.333
Art Herring 7 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.000
Johnny Gerlach 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Harry Boyles 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Jess Dobernic 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Jimmy Dykes 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Tommy Thompson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1939

ERA

1 Ted Lyons 2.76 2 Eddie Smith 3.67 3 Johnny Rigney 3.70 4 Clint Brown 3.88 5 Jack Knott 4.15

Wins

1 Thornton Lee 15 2 Johnny Rigney 15 3 Ted Lyons 14 4 Clint Brown 11 5 Jack Knott 11

Strikeouts

1 Johnny Rigney 119 2 Thornton Lee 81 3 Eddie Smith 67 4 Ted Lyons 65 5 Jack Knott 56
1939 Chicago White Sox — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Thornton Lee 15 11 4.21 33 29 3 235.0 260 110 70 81
Johnny Rigney 15 8 3.70 35 29 0 218.2 208 90 84 119
Eddie Smith 9 11 3.67 29 22 0 176.2 161 72 90 67
Ted Lyons 14 6 2.76 21 21 0 172.2 162 53 26 65
Jack Knott 11 6 4.15 25 23 0 149.2 157 69 41 56
Bill Dietrich 7 8 5.22 25 19 0 127.2 134 74 56 43
Clint Brown 11 10 3.88 61 0 18 118.1 127 51 27 41
Johnny Marcum 3 3 6.00 19 6 0 90.0 125 60 19 32
John Whitehead 0 3 8.16 7 4 0 32.0 60 29 5 9
Vic Frazier 0 1 10.27 10 1 0 23.2 45 27 11 7
Art Herring 0 0 5.65 7 0 0 14.1 13 9 5 8
Vallie Eaves 0 1 4.63 2 1 0 11.2 11 6 8 5
Harry Boyles 0 0 10.80 2 0 0 3.1 4 4 6 1
Jess Dobernic 0 1 13.50 4 0 0 3.1 3 5 6 1

👥 Roster (33)

Luke Appling Ollie Bejma Harry Boyles Clint Brown Bill Dietrich Jess Dobernic Jimmy Dykes Vallie Eaves Vic Frazier Johnny Gerlach Jackie Hayes Art Herring +21 more

33 players

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The 1939 Chicago White Sox in brief

The 1939 Chicago White Sox won 85 games and lost 69, ending up 4th in the AL. The Chicago White Sox scored 755 runs and allowed 737, a run differential of +18. Against a league average of .278, the 1939 Chicago White Sox batted .274. The staff ERA of 4.31 was 7% better than the league average of 4.62. League clubs averaged 800 runs that year, so the Chicago White Sox scored 6% fewer.

Comiskey Park was home in 1939, drawing a total attendance of 746,500. The home run leader was Joe Kuhel, who hit 15. The RBI leader was Gee Walker, with 111. The hits leader was Mike Kreevich with 175. The pitching staff's wins leader was Johnny Rigney (15). Clint Brown saved 18 games.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1939 Chicago White Sox

What was the 1939 Chicago White Sox record?
The 1939 Chicago White Sox finished 85-69 (.552 win pct).
Who led the 1939 Chicago White Sox in home runs?
Joe Kuhel led the 1939 Chicago White Sox with 15 home runs.
What was the 1939 Chicago White Sox team ERA?
The 1939 Chicago White Sox posted a team ERA of 4.31.
Did the 1939 Chicago White Sox win the World Series?
No. The 1939 Chicago White Sox did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1939 Chicago White Sox play?
The 1939 Chicago White Sox played home games at Comiskey Park.
Who led the 1939 Chicago White Sox in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Joe Kuhel (15 HR, 56 RBI) and Thornton Lee (15-11, 4.21 ERA).
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