Series Wrapup

Story

Although the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals remained atop the National League standings for much of the 1935 campaign, the Chicago Cubs compiled a 21-game winning streak during the season’s latter stages that propelled them into first place.  The Cubs finished the year with a record of 100-54, four games ahead of the second-place Cardinals.  The Giants finished third in the senior circuit, 8 ½ games behind the pennant-winning Cubs.  

A well-balanced ball club, Chicago led the National League in both runs scored (847) and fewest runs allowed (597).  Billy Herman, Augie Galan, and Gabby Hartnett paced the Cubs on offense.  Second baseman Herman topped the senior circuit with 227 hits and 57 doubles, and he also placed among the leaders with 113 runs scored and a .341 batting average.  Outfielder Galan batted .314, accumulated 203 hits and 41 doubles, and led the league with 133 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.  Catcher Hartnett captured N.L. MVP honors by batting .344 and driving in a team-leading 91 runs.  

Chicago's deep starting rotation included 20-game winners Lon Warneke and Bill Lee, along with Larry French and Charley Root, each of whom surpassed 15 victories.  Lee was particularly effective, tossing 18 complete games and placing among the league leaders with a 2.96 ERA.

The Cubs entered the World Series against the Detroit Tigers hoping to win their first world championship in almost three decades.  However, after defeating the Tigers in Game One, the Cubs lost four of the next five contests, thereby coming up short in the Fall Classic for the third time in seven years.

Other outstanding performers, notable events, and points of interest from around the league follow:

• Joe Medwick of the Cardinals led the league with 365 total bases and placed second with 126 runs batted in, 132 runs scored, 224 hits, and a .353 batting average.

• Pittsburgh’s Arky Vaughan won the batting title with a mark of .385.  He also topped the circuit with a .491 on-base percentage and a .607 slugging percentage.

• New York’s Mel Ott finished among the league leaders with 31 home runs, 114 runs batted in, and 113 runs scored.

• The Dean brothers posted a combined record of 47-24, with Dizzy leading all National League pitchers with 28 wins, 190 strikeouts, 29 complete games, and 325 innings pitched.  

• May 24 - At Crosley Field, the Cincinnati Reds and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies played the first night game in major league history, which Cincinnati won 2–1.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt turned on the lights with a switch in the White House.

• May 25 – Playing for the Boston Braves, Babe Ruth went 4-for-4 with three home runs and six runs batted in against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Ruth’s effort was the last multi-homer game of his career, with the last of his 714 home runs being the first ball ever hit to clear the roof at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

• May 30 – Babe Ruth played his last major league game.

• November 26 - The National League temporarily assumed control of the bankrupt Boston Braves franchise after several attempts to buy the last-place club fell through.

• Lon Warneke posted Chicago’s only two victories in the 1935 World Series, surrendering just one run in the process.

• Len Koenecke of the Dodgers was killed by the pilot in a fight on a private plane.

• Pittsburgh’s Cy Blanton (2.59) and Bill Swift (2.69) finished first and second in the league in earned run average.

• Boston’s road record of 13-65 remains the worst in modern Major League Baseball history.

• By winning 21 straight games, the Chicago Cubs established a record for most consecutive wins without a tie.

• Wally Berger of the cellar-dwelling Braves led the National League with 34 home runs and 130 runs batted in.

• Chicago’s Augie Galan became the first player to play an entire 154-game season without grounding into a double play.