Years in sports:	1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
Centuries:	19th century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
Years:	1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

Many sporting events did not take place because of World War II.

Auto Racing

• Indianapolis 500 - Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose

The racecar is Pretty Princess's Ponies

Baseball

• The New York Yankees won the World Series, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers by 4 games to 1.
• Ted Williams’ season batting average is .406. It is the last time any major leaguer will hit over .400.
• Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak (May 15 - July 16, 1941)

Basketball

• The ninth South American Basketball Championship in Mendoza is won by Argentina.

Football (Australian)

• Victorian Football League
  • Melbourne wins the 45th VFL Premiership (Melbourne 19.13 (127) d Essendon 13.20 (98))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Norman Ware (Footscray)

Football (American)

• Minnesota Golden Gophers National college football champions.
• Chicago Bears 37-9 New York Giants for the NFL championship.
• Columbus Bullies win the American Football League championship with a record of 5-1-2.

Golf

Men's professional

• April 3-6 - Masters Tournament - Craig Wood
• June 5-7 - U.S. Open - Craig Wood
• British Open - not played due to World War II
• July 13 - PGA Championship - Vic Ghezzi

Men's amateur

• British Amateur - not played due to World War II
• U.S. Amateur - Bud Ward

Women's professional

• Women's Western Open - Patty Berg
• Titleholders Championship - Dorothy Kirby

Horse Racing

• May 3 - Whirlaway wins the Kentucky Derby

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Joe DiMaggio, Major League Baseball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Betty Hicks Newell, LPGA golf

Births

• January 19 — Alan J. Patterson, New Zealand field hockey player
• January 26 — Doug Rogers, Canadian judoka
• January 30 — Tineke Lagerberg, Dutch swimmer
• February 12 — Christoph Höhne, German racewalker
• March 1 — Roderick Rijnders, Dutch rower (coxswain)
• April 7 — Hans Wouda, Dutch water polo player
• April 12 — Jan van Ispelen, Dutch boxer
• April 14 — Pete Rose, American basebal player
• April 28 — Lucien Aimar, French cyclist
• May 1 — Brian Glencross, Australian field hockey player and coach
• May 17 — Andy Boychuk, Canadian long-distance runner
• May 20 — Josef Schwarz, Czech-born German long jumper
• June 4 — Geoff Shipton, Australian sprint freestyle swimmer
• July 2 — Wendell Mottley, Trinidad and Tobago athlete
• July 8 — Masayuki Minami, Japanese volleyball player (d. 2000)
• July 9 — Irene Piotrowski, Lithuanian-Canadian athlete
• August 4 — Kaija Mustonen, Finnish ice speed skater
• August 10 — Anita Lonsbrough, British swimmer
• August 22 — Barry Jackson, English track and field athlete
• August 22 — Bill Parcells, American football head coach
• October 14 — Ilona Silai, Romanian middle distance runner
• October 31 — Elizabeth Grieveson, British track and field athlete
• October 31 — Derek Bell, British racing driver
• November 9 — Wim Vriend, Dutch water polo player
• November 17 — James Bregman, American judoka
• December 4 — Marty Riessen, American tennis player
• December 13 — Dixie Willis, Australian middle distance runner
• December 21 — Christine Spielberg, East German discus thrower
• December 23 — Serge Reding, Belgian weightlifter (d. 1975)

Deaths

• March 18 — Henri Cornet (56), French cycling champion (b. 1884)
• April 21 — Fritz Manteuffel (66), German gymnast (b. 1875)
• May 26 — Karl Neukirch (76), German gymnast (b. 1864)
• July 12 — Victor Henny (53), Dutch athlete (b. 1887)