The 1942 major league baseball season began on April 14, 1942. The regular season ended on September 27, with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 39th World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 5 on October 5. The Cardinals defeated the Yankees, four games to one. The tenth Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 6, hosted by the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York City, New York, with the American League winning, 3–1. In the National League, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a record of 104–50, but finished two games behind the Cardinals; the Dodgers tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs, who had a record of 104–49, for the most wins in an MLB regular season without reaching the postseason. The Philadelphia Athletics set a record for the fewest runs batted in during a season, with only 354.

Schedule

The 1942 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League. Opening Day, April 16, featured all sixteen teams, the first since the season. The final day of the regular season was on September 27 and featured ten teams. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 5.

Teams

An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

Standings

American League

National League

Postseason

Bracket

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Managerial changes

Off-season

League leaders

American League

1 American League Triple Crown batting winner

National League

Awards and honors

Home field attendance