1933 International League season

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The 1933 International League season had one of the biggest changes in league history. Instead of a winner-take-all format, the IL introduced the Shaughnessy Plan, named after Frank Shaughnessy. This system allowed four teams to make a playoff round which would determine the victor. While it boosted attendance (over 60,000 turned out for the final series), it led to significant controversy as a sub-.500 team would go on to claim the IL title and the still-dominant Newark Bears fell in the first round.

Final standings

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Newark Bears	102	62	.649	--	Al Mamaux	New York Yankees
Rochester Red Wings	88	77	.533	14.5	Specs Toporcer	St. Louis Cardinals
Baltimore Orioles	84	80	.512	18	Frank McGowan
Buffalo Bisons	83	85	.494	21	Ray Schalk
Toronto Maple Leafs	82	85	.491	21.5	Dan Howley	Detroit Tigers
Montreal Royals	81	84	.491	21.5	Doc Gautreau/Oscar Roettger
Albany Senators	80	84	.488	22	Bill McCorry
Jersey City Skeeters	61	104	.370	41.5	Mike Kelly

Playoffs: Rochester def. Newark, 3 games to 1. Buffalo def. Baltimore, 3 games to 0. Buffalo def. Rochester, 4 games to 2.

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Moose Solters, Baltimore, .363
• Runs Scored Buzz Arlett, Baltimore, 135
• Hits Greg Mulleavy, Buffalo, 206
• Doubles Oscar Roettger, Montreal, 52
• Triples Len Koenecke, Buffalo & George Selkirk, Newark/Rochester, 15
• Home Runs Arlett, 39
• Runs Batted In Solters, 158
• Stolen Bases Fresco Thompson, Jersey City/Buffalo, 35

Pitching

• Wins Jim Weaver, Newark, 25
• Earned Run Average Fritz Ostermueller, Rochester, 2.44
• Complete Games Luke Hamlin, Toronto, 23
• Shutouts Charlie Devens, Newark, 4
• Strikeouts Weaver, 175

References

• The International League: Year-by-Year Statistics Marshall Wright. McFarland, 1998