1949 Cleveland Indians season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1949 season was the 49th season in the history of the Cleveland Indians. The club entered the season as the defending World Champions. On March 5, 1949, Indians minority owner Bob Hope donned a Cleveland Indians uniform and posed with manager Lou Boudreau and vice president Hank Greenberg as the World Series champions opened spring training camp in Tucson, Arizona.[1]
| 1949 Cleveland Indians | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Owners | Bill Veeck, Ellis Ryan |
| General managers | Bill Veeck |
| Managers | Lou Boudreau |
| Television | WEWS-TV (Bob Neal, Tris Speaker) |
| Radio | WJW (Jack Graney, Jimmy Dudley) |
Offseason
- November 15, 1948: 1948 minor league draft
- Bob Chakales was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies.[2]
- Grant Dunlap was drafted from the Indians by the New York Yankees.[3]
- December 14, 1948: Ed Klieman, Joe Haynes, and Eddie Robinson were traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Mickey Vernon and Early Wynn.[4]
- Prior to 1949 season: Brooks Lawrence was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.[5]
Regular season
Following their 1948 World Series championship, the 1949 Indians season proved to be a disappointment. Despite having the best overall pitching and fielding statistics in either the American or National Leagues, the Indians finished a distant third place behind the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. A team roster that boasted eight future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Bob Feller, Joe Gordon, Bob Lemon, Satchel Paige, Minnie Miñoso, and Early Wynn) could not deliver a second consecutive championship to Cleveland. During the season, Indians fan Charlie Lupica spent 117 days on a flagpole, waiting for the Indians to regain first place. They never did, and he gave up his pursuit when the Indians were mathematically eliminated on September 25.[6]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 54–23 | 43–34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 96 | 58 | .623 | 1 | 61–16 | 35–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 8 | 49–28 | 40–37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 87 | 67 | .565 | 10 | 50–27 | 37–40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 73 | .526 | 16 | 52–25 | 29–48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 63 | 91 | .409 | 34 | 32–45 | 31–46 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 101 | .344 | 44 | 36–41 | 17–60 |
| Washington Senators | 50 | 104 | .325 | 47 | 26–51 | 24–53 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 17–5 | 8–14 | 15–7–1 | 9–13 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 18–4 | |||||
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 15–7 | 15–7 | |||||
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 15–7 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 13–9 | |||||
| Detroit | 7–15–1 | 14–8 | 9–13 | — | 11–11 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 18–4 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 15–7 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 17–5–1 | 15–7 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 8–14 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 | |||||
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 5–17–1 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 | |||||
| Washington | 4–18 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 4–18 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 13–9 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap was returned to the Indians by the New York Yankees.[3]
Opening Day Lineup
| Opening Day Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Position |
| 34 | Dale Mitchell | LF |
| 37 | Larry Doby | CF |
| 5 | Lou Boudreau | SS |
| 4 | Joe Gordon | 2B |
| 3 | Mickey Vernon | 1B |
| 6 | Ken Keltner | 3B |
| 33 | Bob Kennedy | RF |
| 10 | Jim Hegan | C |
| 19 | Bob Feller | P |
Roster
| 1949 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league 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 | Jim Hegan | 152 | 468 | 105 | .224 | 8 | 55 |
| 1B | Mickey Vernon | 153 | 584 | 170 | .291 | 18 | 83 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 148 | 533 | 136 | .251 | 20 | 84 |
| SS | Lou Boudreau | 134 | 475 | 135 | .284 | 4 | 60 |
| 3B | Ken Keltner | 80 | 246 | 57 | .232 | 8 | 30 |
| OF | Dale Mitchell | 149 | 640 | 203 | .317 | 3 | 56 |
| OF | Larry Doby | 147 | 547 | 153 | .280 | 24 | 85 |
| OF | Bob Kennedy | 121 | 424 | 117 | .276 | 9 | 57 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Boone | 86 | 258 | 65 | .252 | 4 | 26 |
| Thurman Tucker | 80 | 197 | 48 | .244 | 0 | 14 |
| Johnny Berardino | 50 | 116 | 23 | .198 | 0 | 13 |
| Allie Clark | 35 | 74 | 13 | .176 | 1 | 9 |
| Luke Easter | 21 | 45 | 10 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Al Rosen | 23 | 44 | 7 | .159 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Tresh | 38 | 37 | 8 | .216 | 0 | 1 |
| Hal Peck | 33 | 29 | 9 | .310 | 0 | 9 |
| Minnie Miñoso | 9 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 1 | 1 |
| Hank Edwards | 5 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 1 | 1 |
| Bobby Ávila | 31 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 3 |
| Milt Nielsen | 3 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Herman Reich | 1 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Marsh | 1 | 0 | 0 | .--- | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Lemon | 37 | 279.2 | 22 | 10 | 2.99 | 138 |
| Bob Feller | 36 | 211.0 | 15 | 14 | 3.75 | 108 |
| Early Wynn | 26 | 164.2 | 11 | 7 | 4.15 | 62 |
| Gene Bearden | 32 | 127.0 | 8 | 8 | 5.10 | 41 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Gromek | 40 | 92.0 | 4 | 6 | 3.33 | 22 |
| Sam Zoldak | 27 | 53.0 | 1 | 2 | 4.25 | 11 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Benton | 40 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 2.12 | 41 |
| Mike Garcia | 41 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 2.36 | 94 |
| Satchel Paige | 31 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3.04 | 54 |
| Frank Papish | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.19 | 23 |
Awards and honors
- Dale Mitchell, American League leader, triples (23)[8]
- Team ERA of 3.36 lowest in MLB for 1949[9]
- Team fielding percentage of .983 highest in MLB for 1949[10]
Larry Doby, Outfielder, reserve
Joe Gordon, Second baseman, reserve
Jim Hegan, Catcher, reserve
Bob Lemon, Pitcher, reserve
Dale Mitchell, Outfielder, reserve
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Stroudsburg[11]