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The 1940 World Series matched the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning in a closely contested seven-game series for their second championship, their first since the scandal-tainted victory in 1919. Bill Klem worked the last of his record 18 World Series as an umpire.
There were other storylines associated with the series. Henry Quillen Buffkin Newsom, the father of Detroit's star pitcher Bobo Newsom, died in a Cincinnati hotel room the day after watching him win Game 1. Newsom came back to hurl a shutout in Game 5. But called upon on one day's rest, Newsom pitched well in Game 7, but lost some effectiveness in the seventh inning, when the Reds scored two runs to take the lead and eventually the game and the Series.
The Reds' star pitchers Paul Derringer and Bucky Walters won two games apiece, with Derringer winning the decisive seventh game. Walters hurled two complete games, allowing a total of just eight hits and three runs. He also smacked a home run in Game 6 during a 4–0 shutout which sent the Series to a Game 7.
The Reds' win in Game 2 snapped a 10-game losing streak for the National League in the Series, tying the 10-game streak by the NL from 1927 to 1929.
Willard Hershberger, who had been the backup catcher for Ernie Lombardi in the 1939 Series, committed suicide during the season. One of the Reds' coaches, 40-year-old Jimmie Wilson, took over as Lombardi's backup. During the Series, Wilson batted .353 and was credited with the only stolen base.
Reds' manager Bill McKechnie became the first manager to win a World Series with two different teams; in 1925 he had won the Series as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.