| 1948 Boston Red Sox | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Fenway Park | |||
| City | Boston, Massachusetts | |||
| Record | 96–59 (.619) | |||
| League place | 2nd | |||
| Owners | Tom Yawkey | |||
| President | Tom Yawkey | |||
| General managers | Joe Cronin | |||
| Managers | Joe McCarthy | |||
| Television | WBZ-TV/WNAC-TV (Jim Britt,Tom Hussey,Bump Hadley) | |||
| Radio | WHDH (Jim Britt,Tom Hussey) | |||
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |||
| ||||
The1948 Boston Red Sox season was the 48th season in the franchise'sMajor League Baseball history. After 154 regular-season games, theRed Sox andCleveland Indians finished atop theAmerican League with identical records of 96 wins and 58 losses. The teams then played atie-breaker game, which was won by Cleveland, 8–3.[1] Thus, the Red Sox finished their season with a record of 96 wins and 59 losses, onegame behind Cleveland.
This was the first Red Sox season to be broadcast on television, with broadcasts alternated betweenWBZ-TV andWNAC-TV, with the same broadcast team regardless of broadcasting station. The first Red Sox game to be broadcast on television was on July 2, 1948, a 4–2 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics.[2][3]
In December 1947, the Red Sox made a deal with theSt. Louis Browns. The Sox acquiredVern Stephens,Billy Hitchcock, and pitchersJack Kramer andEllis Kinder. The deal cost $375,000 and 11 Red Sox players.[4]
In 1948, Kramer led theAmerican League in winning percentage.[4] The manager of the team was formerNew York Yankees managerJoe McCarthy, who replaced the outgoingJoe Cronin. Cronin had led the Red Sox to an 83–71 record in1947, finishing in third place.[7]
Throughout 1948, the Sox,New York Yankees, and theCleveland Indians slugged it out for thepennant. 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.
At the end of the season, the Red Sox and the Indians were tied for first place. This led to the American League's first-ever one-game playoff. The game was played atFenway Park on Monday, October 4, 1948. The start time was 1:15 pm EST.
McCarthy picked formerSt. Louis Browns pitcherDenny Galehouse, who had an 8–7 pitching record, to be his starter. According to Mel Parnell, McCarthy chose Galehouse on the basis that he pitched well in relief against the Indians in Cleveland, whilst Billy Hitchcock reasoned that McCarthy chose Galehouse on the grounds that Galehouse's slider would keep Cleveland's right-handed hitters away from Fenway's left-field wall.[8]
The Indians won the game by the score of 8–3. Indians third basemanKen Keltner contributed to the victory with hissingle, double, and 3-run homer over theGreen Monster in the 4th inning. Later, McCarthy said he had no rested arms and that there was no else who could pitch.[4]Mel Parnell andEllis Kinder claimed that they were both ready to pitch.[4]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 97 | 58 | .626 | — | 48–30 | 49–28 |
| Boston Red Sox | 96 | 59 | .619 | 1 | 55–23 | 41–36 |
| New York Yankees | 94 | 60 | .610 | 2½ | 50–27 | 44–33 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 84 | 70 | .545 | 12½ | 36–41 | 48–29 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 18½ | 39–38 | 39–38 |
| St. Louis Browns | 59 | 94 | .386 | 37 | 34–42 | 25–52 |
| Washington Senators | 56 | 97 | .366 | 40 | 29–48 | 27–49 |
| Chicago White Sox | 51 | 101 | .336 | 44½ | 27–48 | 24–53 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 14–8 | 11–12 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 15–7 | |||||
| Chicago | 8–14 | — | 6–16 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 8–13–1 | 9–12–1 | |||||
| Cleveland | 12–11 | 16–6 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 14–8–1 | 16–6 | |||||
| Detroit | 7–15 | 14–8 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 16–6 | |||||
| New York | 8–14 | 16–6 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 | 17–5 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 16–6 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 10–12 | — | 18–4 | 14–8 | |||||
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 13–8–1 | 8–14–1 | 11–11 | 6–16 | 4–18 | — | 10–12 | |||||
| Washington | 7–15 | 12–9–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 5–17 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | |||||
| 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 |
| 1948 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager Coaches
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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 | Birdie Tebbetts | 128 | 446 | 125 | .280 | 5 | 68 |
| 1B | Billy Goodman | 127 | 445 | 138 | .310 | 1 | 66 |
| 2B | Bobby Doerr | 140 | 527 | 150 | .285 | 27 | 111 |
| SS | Vern Stephens | 155 | 635 | 171 | .285 | 29 | 137 |
| 3B | Johnny Pesky | 143 | 565 | 159 | .281 | 3 | 55 |
| OF | Ted Williams | 137 | 509 | 188 | .369 | 25 | 127 |
| OF | Stan Spence | 114 | 391 | 92 | .235 | 12 | 61 |
| OF | Dom DiMaggio | 155 | 648 | 185 | .285 | 9 | 87 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wally Moses | 78 | 189 | 49 | .259 | 2 | 29 |
| Sam Mele | 66 | 180 | 42 | .233 | 2 | 25 |
| Billy Hitchcock | 49 | 124 | 37 | .298 | 1 | 2 |
| Matt Batts | 46 | 118 | 37 | .314 | 1 | 24 |
| Jake Jones | 36 | 105 | 21 | .200 | 1 | 8 |
| Lou Stringer | 4 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 1 | 1 |
| Babe Martin | 4 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Wright | 3 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Neill Sheridan | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Ostrowski | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Dobson | 38 | 245.1 | 16 | 10 | 3.56 | 116 |
| Mel Parnell | 35 | 212.0 | 15 | 8 | 3.14 | 77 |
| Jack Kramer | 29 | 205.0 | 18 | 5 | 4.35 | 72 |
| Ellis Kinder | 28 | 178.0 | 10 | 7 | 3.74 | 53 |
| Mickey Harris | 20 | 113.2 | 7 | 10 | 5.30 | 42 |
| Windy McCall | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 1 | 20.25 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Galehouse | 27 | 137.1 | 8 | 8 | 4.00 | 38 |
| Dave Ferriss | 31 | 115.1 | 7 | 3 | 5.23 | 30 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Johnson | 35 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 4.53 | 45 |
| Tex Hughson | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5.12 | 6 |
| Harry Dorish | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.65 | 5 |
| Earl Caldwell | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13.00 | 5 |
| Mickey McDermott | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.17 | 17 |
| Chuck Stobbs | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 4 |
| Cot Deal | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Mike Palm | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 1 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham, Scranton, Oneonta, Milford
Source:[9]: 426
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