1938 Philadelphia Athletics

53-99 • .349 Win% • 8th in AL

The 1938 Philadelphia Athletics went 53-99 (.349) finishing 8th in the AL. The club scored 726 runs, allowed 956, and played home games at Shibe Park. Team leaders included Bob Johnson (30 HR, 113 RBI) and George Caster (16-20, 4.35 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

53 Wins
99 Losses
.349 Win %
8th Rank
726 R 956 RA
Diff -230

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

726 Runs Scored
956 Runs Allowed
-230 Run Diff
516K Attendance

📈 vs. 1938 AL Average

Batting Avg .269 4% below the 1938 league average (.280)
OBP .347 3% below the 1938 league average (.357)
SLG .396 5% below the 1938 league average (.414)
Team ERA 5.48 14% worse than the 1938 league average (4.79)
Runs Scored 726 12% below the 1938 league average (823 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumShibe Park
📅
Home Games 76
👥
Total Attendance 516,418
📊
Avg per Game 6,794

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1938

Batting Avg

1 Earle Brucker 0.374 2 Bob Johnson 0.313 3 Wally Moses 0.307 4 Frankie Hayes 0.291 5 Dick Siebert 0.284

Home Runs

1 Bob Johnson 30 2 Sam Chapman 17 3 Frankie Hayes 11 4 Billy Werber 11 5 Lou Finney 10

RBI

1 Bob Johnson 113 2 Billy Werber 69 3 Sam Chapman 63 4 Frankie Hayes 55 5 Wally Moses 49
1938 Philadelphia Athletics — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Wally Moses 142 589 86 181 29 8 8 49 58 31 15 0.307
Bob Johnson 152 563 114 176 27 9 30 113 87 73 9 0.313
Billy Werber 134 499 92 129 22 7 11 69 93 37 19 0.259
Lou Finney 122 454 61 125 21 12 10 48 39 25 5 0.275
Sam Chapman 114 406 60 105 17 7 17 63 55 94 3 0.259
Wayne Ambler 120 393 42 92 21 2 0 38 48 31 2 0.234
Dario Lodigiani 93 325 36 91 15 1 6 44 34 25 3 0.280
Frankie Hayes 99 316 56 92 19 3 11 55 54 51 2 0.291
Stan Sperry 60 253 28 69 6 3 0 27 15 9 1 0.273
Dick Siebert 48 194 24 55 8 3 0 28 10 9 2 0.284
Earle Brucker 53 171 26 64 21 1 3 35 19 16 1 0.374
Ace Parker 56 113 12 26 5 0 0 12 10 16 1 0.230
Lynn Nelson 67 112 12 31 0 0 0 15 7 12 0 0.277
George Caster 42 101 9 20 5 0 0 10 8 28 0 0.198
Hal Wagner 33 88 10 20 2 1 0 8 8 9 0 0.227
Nick Etten 22 81 6 21 6 2 0 11 9 7 1 0.259
Mule Haas 40 78 7 16 2 0 0 12 12 10 0 0.205
Gene Hasson 19 69 10 19 6 2 1 12 12 7 0 0.275
Bud Thomas 42 69 4 9 1 0 0 5 5 30 0 0.130
Buck Ross 29 63 4 12 0 0 1 5 2 17 0 0.190
Skeeter Newsome 17 48 7 13 4 0 0 7 1 4 1 0.271
Irv Bartling 14 46 5 8 1 1 0 5 3 7 0 0.174
Eddie Smith 43 42 4 12 2 0 0 5 3 8 0 0.286
Nels Potter 38 39 1 10 1 0 0 6 1 3 0 0.256
Babe Barna 9 30 4 4 0 0 0 2 3 5 0 0.133
Al Williams 30 25 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 9 0 0.040
Chubby Dean 16 20 3 6 2 0 0 1 1 4 0 0.300
Dave Smith 21 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 0.000
Paul Easterling 4 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.286
Rusty Peters 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Jim Reninger 4 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0.000
Randy Gumpert 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0.250
Charlie Berry 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Harry Kelley 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ralph Buxton 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1938

ERA

1 George Caster 4.35 2 Bud Thomas 4.92 3 Dave Smith 5.08 4 Buck Ross 5.32 5 Lynn Nelson 5.65

Wins

1 George Caster 16 2 Lynn Nelson 10 3 Buck Ross 9 4 Bud Thomas 9 5 Eddie Smith 3

Strikeouts

1 George Caster 112 2 Eddie Smith 78 3 Lynn Nelson 75 4 Buck Ross 54 5 Bud Thomas 48
1938 Philadelphia Athletics — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
George Caster 16 20 4.35 42 40 1 281.1 310 136 117 112
Bud Thomas 9 14 4.92 42 29 0 212.1 259 116 62 48
Lynn Nelson 10 11 5.65 32 23 2 191.0 215 120 79 75
Buck Ross 9 16 5.32 29 28 0 184.1 218 109 80 54
Eddie Smith 3 10 5.92 43 7 4 130.2 151 86 76 78
Nels Potter 2 12 6.47 35 9 5 111.1 139 80 49 43
Al Williams 0 7 6.94 30 8 0 93.1 128 72 54 25
Dave Smith 2 1 5.08 21 0 0 44.1 50 25 28 13
Chubby Dean 2 1 3.52 6 1 0 23.0 22 9 15 3
Jim Reninger 0 2 7.15 4 4 0 22.2 28 18 14 9
Randy Gumpert 0 2 10.95 4 2 0 12.1 24 15 10 1
Ralph Buxton 0 1 4.82 5 0 0 9.1 12 5 5 9
Harry Kelley 0 2 16.88 4 3 0 8.0 17 15 10 3

👥 Roster (35)

Wayne Ambler Babe Barna Irv Bartling Charlie Berry Earle Brucker Ralph Buxton George Caster Sam Chapman Chubby Dean Paul Easterling Nick Etten Lou Finney +23 more

35 players

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The 1938 Philadelphia Athletics in brief

A 53-99 record (.349) put the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics 8th in the AL. Runs came in at 726 scored against 956 allowed (-230). The team batting average of .269 was 4% below the 1938 league mark of .280. Pitchers allowed 5.48 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 4.79. League clubs averaged 823 runs that year, so the Philadelphia Athletics scored 12% fewer.

Home games were played at Shibe Park, where 516,418 fans came through the gates. The home run leader was Bob Johnson, who hit 30. Wally Moses collected the most hits, 181. On the mound, George Caster won 16 games to lead the staff. In all, the roster shows 35 players. The 1937 season and the 1939 season are one click away.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics

What was the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics record?
The 1938 Philadelphia Athletics finished 53-99 (.349 win pct).
Who led the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics in home runs?
Bob Johnson led the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics with 30 home runs.
What was the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics team ERA?
The 1938 Philadelphia Athletics posted a team ERA of 5.48.
Did the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics win the World Series?
No. The 1938 Philadelphia Athletics did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics play?
The 1938 Philadelphia Athletics played home games at Shibe Park.
Who led the 1938 Philadelphia Athletics in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Bob Johnson (30 HR, 113 RBI) and George Caster (16-20, 4.35 ERA).
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