1948 Cleveland Indians season

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The Cleveland Indians won their second World Series in franchise history. It was their first championship in 28 years.

[edit] Satchel Paige

The Indians made baseball history on July 9, 1948. In a game against the St. Louis Browns, Negro Leagues legend Satchel Paige entered the game. With the Browns beating the Indians 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, manager Lou Boudreau pulled his starting pitcher, Bob Lemon.

Paige did not know the signs and Chuck Stevens lined a single into left field. Jerry Priddy bunted Stevens over to second. Next was Whitey Platt, and Paige threw an overhand server for a strike and one sidearm for another strike. Paige then threw his Hesitation Pitch which puzzled Platt and led him to throw his bat forty feet up the third base line. Browns manager Zack Taylor bolted from the dugout to talk to umpire Bill McGowan about the pitch. Taylor argued that it was a balk, but McGowan let it stand as a strike. Paige got Al Zarilla to fly out and the inning was over. In the next inning, Paige gave up a leadoff single. His catcher simplified his signals, and Paige got the next batter to hit into a double play. Larry Doby, the player who broke the American League’s color barrier pinch hit for Paige the following inning.

Paige would get his first big league victory on July 15, 1948. This was accomplished the night after he pitched in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in front of 65,000 people in Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. The victory came at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. The Indians were up 5-3 with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of the second game of a double header. Paige got Eddie Joost to fly out to end the inning. Unfortunately, he gave up two runs the next inning when Ferris Fain doubled and Hank Majeski hit a home run. Paige buckled down and gave up only one more hit the rest of the game. He would get five of the next six outs on fly balls. Larry Doby and Ken Keltner would hit home runs in the ninth to give the Indians an 8-5 victory.

On August 3, 1948, the Indians were one game behind the Athletics. Boudreau started Paige against the Washington Senators in Cleveland. The 72,562 people that saw the game set a new attendance record for a major league night game. Paige showed his nervousness as he walked two of the first three batters and then gave up a triple to Bud Stewart to fall behind 2-0. By the seventh, the Indians were up 4-2 and held on to give Paige his second victory.

Paige’s next start was at Comiskey Park in Chicago. 51,013 people paid to see the game, but many thousands more stormed the turnstiles and crashed into the park, overwhelming the few dozen ticket-takers. Paige pitched a complete game and shut out the White Sox 5-0. He would prove that nine innings of pitching was now beyond his capabilities.

By August 20, 1948, the Indians were in a heated pennant race. Coming into the game against the White Sox, Bob Lemon, Gene Bearden and Sam Zoldak had thrown shutouts to run up a thirty-inning scoreless streak, eleven shy of the big league record. For the game against the White Sox, played in Cleveland, 78,382 people came to see Paige. This was a full 6,000 more people than the last time that the night attendance record was set. Paige went the distance again, giving up two singles and one double for his second consecutive three hit shutout. Paige now had a 5-1 record and a low 1.33 ERA.

[edit] Regular Season

[edit] Season standings

[edit] Roster

[edit] American League Playoff

At the end of the season, Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox were tied for first place. This led to the first-ever one-game playoff in the American League. The Indians defeated the Red Sox 8-3 in the 1948 playoff game. Knuckleballer Gene Bearden was given the start for the Indians. Red Sox manager Joe McCarthy picked former St. Louis Browns’ pitcher Denny Galehouse, who had an 8-7 pitching record. ^[1]

Ken Keltner contributed to the victory with his single, double, and 3-run homer over the Green Monster in Fenway Park in the 4th inning. The Indians moved on to the 1948 World Series versus the Boston Braves. Later, McCarthy said he had no rested arms and that there was no else who could pitch. ^[1] Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder claimed that they were both ready to pitch. ^[1]

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

[edit] Other batters

[edit] Starting pitchers

[edit] Other pitchers

[edit] Relief pitchers

[edit] World Series

Main article: 1948 World Series

On October 9, 1948, a new World Series single game attendance record was set during Game 4. 81,897 fans packed Cleveland Stadium but one day later, that record was broken during Game 5. 86,288 fans attended the game.

Satchel Paige appeared in Game 5 for the Indians, becoming the first black pitcher to pitch a game in World Series history. He pitched for two-thirds of an inning in Game Two while the Indians were trailing the Boston Braves, giving up a sacrifice fly to Warren Spahn, got called for a balk and struck out Tommy Holmes.

AL Cleveland Indians (4) vs. NL Boston Braves (2)