1941 St. Louis Browns season
Major League Baseball season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1941 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing 6th in the American League with a record of 70 wins and 84 losses.
| 1941 St. Louis Browns | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Sportsman's Park |
| City | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Record | 70–84 (.455) |
| League place | 6th |
| Owners | Donald Lee Barnes |
| General managers | Bill DeWitt |
| Managers | Fred Haney, Luke Sewell |
| Radio | KWK (Dizzy Dean) KXOK |
Offseason
- November 16, 1940: George Caster was selected off waivers by the Browns from the Philadelphia Athletics.[1]
Regular season
The 1941 season marked a change in management, as Luke Sewell was appointed the Browns new manager on June 5, 1941.[2] While the St. Louis Cardinals drew over 600,000 fans, the Browns barely drew 175,000.[3] The consensus was that St. Louis could not support two teams.
Potential move to Los Angeles
The Browns ownership had reached an agreement to move the franchise to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce had guaranteed attendance of 500,000, a figure that the Browns had not seen since their 1924 season.[3] The Browns would play in the stadium that was used by the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels. As part of the agreement to move to Los Angeles, the Browns would buy the stadium.[3] It was expected that all Major League Baseball owners would approve of the move at the upcoming Winter Meetings.[3] Before the scheduled meetings, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and California would stay closed to Major League Baseball for another decade.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 101 | 53 | .656 | — | 51–26 | 50–27 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 17 | 47–30 | 37–40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | 77 | .500 | 24 | 38–39 | 39–38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 42–35 | 33–44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 26 | 43–34 | 32–45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40–37 | 30–47 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 84 | .455 | 31 | 40–37 | 30–47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 64 | 90 | .416 | 37 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 16–6 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13–1 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 6–16 | — | 17–5 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 11–11–1 | 13–9 | |||||
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | |||||
| Detroit | 11–11 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 7–15 | |||||
| New York | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 18–4 | 16–6–1 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 11–11 | 11–11 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 11–11 | — | 11–11–1 | |||||
| Washington | 8–14 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 6–16–1 | 11–11 | 11–11–1 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- May 5, 1941: Rip Radcliff was purchased from the Browns by the Detroit Tigers for $25,000.[4]
Roster
| 1941 St. Louis Browns | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Rick Ferrell | 100 | 321 | 81 | .252 | 2 | 23 |
| 1B | George McQuinn | 130 | 495 | 147 | .297 | 18 | 80 |
| 2B | Don Heffner | 110 | 399 | 93 | .233 | 0 | 17 |
| SS | Johnny Berardino | 128 | 469 | 127 | .271 | 5 | 89 |
| 3B | Harlond Clift | 154 | 584 | 149 | .255 | 17 | 84 |
| OF | Wally Judnich | 146 | 546 | 155 | .284 | 14 | 83 |
| OF | Chet Laabs | 118 | 392 | 109 | .278 | 15 | 59 |
| OF | Roy Cullenbine | 149 | 501 | 159 | .317 | 9 | 98 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Grace | 115 | 362 | 112 | .309 | 6 | 60 |
| Johnny Lucadello | 107 | 351 | 98 | .279 | 2 | 31 |
| Bob Swift | 63 | 170 | 44 | .259 | 0 | 21 |
| Alan Strange | 45 | 112 | 26 | .232 | 0 | 11 |
| Bobby Estalella | 46 | 83 | 20 | .241 | 0 | 14 |
| Rip Radcliff | 19 | 71 | 20 | .282 | 2 | 14 |
| Frank Grube | 18 | 39 | 6 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
| George Archie | 9 | 29 | 11 | .379 | 0 | 5 |
| Glenn McQuillen | 7 | 21 | 7 | .333 | 0 | 3 |
| Chuck Stevens | 4 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 2 |
| Vern Stephens | 3 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Myril Hoag | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elden Auker | 34 | 216.0 | 14 | 15 | 5.50 | 60 |
| Denny Galehouse | 30 | 190.1 | 9 | 10 | 3.64 | 61 |
| Bob Harris | 34 | 186.2 | 12 | 14 | 5.21 | 57 |
| Johnny Niggeling | 24 | 168.1 | 7 | 9 | 3.80 | 68 |
| Vern Kennedy | 6 | 45.0 | 2 | 4 | 4.40 | 6 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Muncrief | 36 | 214.1 | 13 | 9 | 3.65 | 67 |
| George Caster | 32 | 104.1 | 3 | 7 | 5.00 | 36 |
| Johnny Allen | 20 | 67.0 | 2 | 5 | 6.58 | 27 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Kramer | 29 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5.16 | 20 |
| Bill Trotter | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5.98 | 17 |
| Fritz Ostermueller | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.50 | 20 |
| Maury Newlin | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6.51 | 10 |
| Archie McKain | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.10 | 2 |
| Emil Bildilli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 2 |
| Hooks Iott | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Toledo Mud Hens | American Association | Zack Taylor and Fred Haney |
| A1 | San Antonio Missions | Texas League | Marty McManus |
| B | Meridian Eagles | Southeastern League | Bennie Tate |
| B | Springfield Browns | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Art Scharein |
| C | St. Joseph Autos | Michigan State League | Elmer Kirchoff |
| C | Youngstown Browns | Middle Atlantic League | Joe Bilgere and Len Schulte |
| C | St. Joseph Ponies/Carthage Browns | Western Association | Walter Holke, Gus Albright and Dennis Burns |
| D | Lafayette White Sox | Evangeline League | Bobby Goff |
| D | Mayfield Browns | KITTY League | Bill Hornsby |
| D | Paragould Browns | Northeast Arkansas League | Sam Hancock and Gus Albright |
| D | Pueblo Rollers | Western League | Pug Griffin |
St. Joseph franchise transferred to Carthage and renamed, June 3, 1941[5]