1948 Boston Red Sox season

1948 Boston Red Sox
Major league affiliations
Location
1948 Information
Owner(s) Tom Yawkey
General manager(s) Joe Cronin
Manager(s) Joe McCarthy
Local television WBZ-TV/WNAC-TV
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Bump Hadley)
Local radio WHDH
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
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The 1948 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing second in the American League with a record of 96 wins and 59 losses.

Contents

Offseason

In December 1947, the Red Sox made a deal with the St. Louis Browns. The Sox acquired Vern Stephens, Billy Hitchcock, and pitchers Jack Kramer and Ellis Kinder. The deal cost $375,000 and 11 Red Sox players.[1]

Notable transactions

Regular season

In 1948, Kramer led the American League in winning percentage.[1] The manager of the team was former New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy, replacing the outgoing Joe Cronin. Cronin had led the Red Sox to an 83-71 record in 1947, finishing in third place.[4]

Throughout 1948, the Sox, New York Yankees, and the Cleveland Indians slugged it out for the pennant. At the end of the regular season, Boston and Cleveland were tied for first place. Each team had a record of 96 wins and 58 losses, two games ahead of the Yankees.

American League Playoff

At the end of the season, the Red Sox and the Indians were tied for first place. This led to the first-ever one-game playoff in the American League, played at Fenway Park. The game was played on October 4, 1948. The start time was 1:15 pm EST.

McCarthy picked former St. Louis Browns pitcher Denny Galehouse, who had an 8-7 pitching record, to be his starter. The Indians won the game by the score of 8-3. Indians third baseman Ken Keltner contributed to the victory with his single, double, and 3-run homer over the Green Monster in the 4th inning. 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]

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 97 58 .626 --
Boston Red Sox 96 59 .619 1
New York Yankees 94 60 .610 2.5
Philadelphia Athletics 84 70 .545 12.5
Detroit Tigers 78 76 .506 18.5
St. Louis Browns 59 94 .386 37
Washington Senators 56 97 .366 40
Chicago White Sox 51 101 .336 44.5

Opening Day lineup

 7 Dom DiMaggio CF
 6 Johnny Pesky 3B
 9 Ted Williams LF
 2 Stan Spence 1B
 5 Vern Stephens SS
 1 Bobby Doerr 2B
 4 Sam Mele RF
 8 Birdie Tebbetts C
15 Joe Dobson P

Roster

1948 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
2B Doerr, BobbyBobby Doerr 140 527 150 .285 27 111
SS Stephens, VernVern Stephens 155 635 171 .285 29 137
OF Williams, TedTed Williams 137 509 188 .369 25 127

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Hitchcock, BillyBilly Hitchcock 49 124 37 .298 1 2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dobson, JoeJoe Dobson 38 245.1 16 10 3.56 116
Parnell, MelMel Parnell 35 212 15 8 3.14 77
Kramer, JackJack Kramer 29 205 18 5 2.35 72
Kinder, EllisEllis Kinder 28 178 10 7 3.74 53

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Galehouse, DennyDenny Galehouse 27 137.1 8 8 4.00 38

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Dorish, HarryHarry Dorish 9 0 1 0 5.65 5
Caldwell, EarlEarl Caldwell 8 1 1 0 13.00 5
Deal, CotCot Deal 4 1 0 0 0.00 2

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Nemo Leibold and Owen Scheetz
AA Birmingham Barons Southern Association Fred Walters
A Scranton Red Sox Eastern League Mike Ryba
B Lynn Red Sox New England League Eddie Popowski
B Roanoke Red Sox Piedmont League Pinky Higgins
C Auburn Cayugas Border League Barney Hearn
C San Jose Red Sox California League Marv Owen
C Oneonta Red Sox Canadian-American League Red Marion
D Milford Red Sox Eastern Shore League Clayton Sheedy
D Oroville Red Sox Far West League Nino Bongiovanni
D Valley Rebels Georgia-Alabama League Jesse Dana
D Wellsville Red Sox PONY League Tom Carey

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham, Scranton, Oneonta, Milford[5]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d The Boston Red Sox, Milton Cole and Jim Kaplan, p.30, World Publications Group, North Dighton, MA, ISBN 1-57215-412-8
  2. ^ Milt Bolling page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ The Boston Red Sox, Milton Cole and Jim Kaplan, p.29, World Publications Group, North Dighton, MA, ISBN 1-57215-412-8
  5. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007

References

American League
National League
Franchise
Ballparks
Huntington Avenue Grounds · Braves Field · Fenway Park
Spring training: Riverside Park · McKechnie Field · Bader Field · Payne Park · Scottsdale Stadium · Chain of Lakes Park · City of Palms Park · JetBlue Park (starting in 2012)
Culture
Lore
Rivalries
Retired numbers
1 · 4 · 6 · 8 · 9 · 14 · 27
Administration
Owners: Fenway Sports Group (John W. Henry and Tom Werner) | President and CEO: Larry Lucchino | General Manager: Ben Cherington | Manager: Bobby Valentine | Team Captain: Jason Varitek
World Series
Championships (7)
1903 · 1912 · 1915 · 1916 · 1918 · 2004 · 2007
American League
Championships (12)
1903 · 1904 · 1912 · 1915 · 1916 · 1918 · 1946 · 1967 · 1975 · 1986 · 2004 · 2007
Other assets