| 1949 New York Yankees | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Series champions American League champions | ||||
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Yankee Stadium | |||
| City | New York City, New York | |||
| Owners | Dan Topping andDel Webb | |||
| General managers | George Weiss | |||
| Managers | Casey Stengel | |||
| Television | WABD (Dolly Stark) | |||
| Radio | WINS (AM) (Mel Allen,Curt Gowdy) | |||
| ||||
The 1949New York Yankees season was the team's 47th season. The team finished with a record of 97–57, winning their 16thpennant, finishing 1 game ahead of theBoston Red Sox. New York was managed byCasey Stengel in his first year. The Yankees played their home games atYankee Stadium. In theWorld Series, they defeated theBrooklyn Dodgers in 5 games.
The 1949 Yankees team was seen as "underdogs" who came from behind to catch and surprise the powerful Red Sox on the last two days of the season, a face off that fueled the beginning of the modernYankees–Red Sox rivalry.
The Red Sox needed just one win in two games and were to pitchMel Parnell in the first game. After trailing 4–0, the Yankees came back to beat Parnell 5–4, asJohnny Lindell hit an eighth-inning, game-winning,home run andJoe Page had a great relief appearance for New York.[3][4] And so it came down to the last game of the season. It wasEllis Kinder facingVic Raschi.
The Yankees led 1–0 after seven innings, having scored in the first. In the eighth inning, managerJoe McCarthy lifted Kinder for apinch hitter who did not come through. Then he brought in Mel Parnell in relief, and Parnell yielded a homer toTommy Henrich and a single toYogi Berra. Parnell was replaced byTex Hughson, who had been on the disabled list and said his arm still hurt. But he came on and, with the bases loaded,Jerry Coleman hit a soft liner thatAl Zarilla in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs scored. In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short.[5] The post-season proved to be a bit easier, as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one.
In 1949, Boston Red Sox ownerTom Yawkey and Yankees GMLarry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio forTed Williams, but MacPhail refused to includeYogi Berra.[6]Phil Rizzuto moved from eighth to first in the batting lineup and finished the season second in voting for theAmerican League MVP Award.
| 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 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | |||||
| 1949 New York Yankees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 | Yogi Berra | 116 | 415 | 155 | .277 | 20 | 91 |
| 1B | Tommy Henrich | 115 | 411 | 118 | .287 | 24 | 85 |
| 2B | Jerry Coleman | 128 | 447 | 123 | .275 | 2 | 42 |
| 3B | Bobby Brown | 104 | 343 | 97 | .283 | 6 | 61 |
| SS | Phil Rizzuto | 153 | 614 | 169 | .275 | 5 | 65 |
| OF | Cliff Mapes | 111 | 304 | 75 | .247 | 7 | 38 |
| OF | Gene Woodling | 112 | 296 | 80 | .270 | 5 | 44 |
| OF | Hank Bauer | 103 | 301 | 82 | .272 | 10 | 45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Johnson | 113 | 329 | 82 | .249 | 8 | 56 |
| Joe DiMaggio | 76 | 272 | 94 | .346 | 14 | 67 |
| Johnny Lindell | 78 | 211 | 51 | .242 | 6 | 27 |
| Dick Kryhoski | 54 | 177 | 52 | .294 | 1 | 27 |
| Snuffy Stirnweiss | 70 | 157 | 41 | .261 | 0 | 11 |
| Charlie Silvera | 58 | 130 | 41 | .315 | 0 | 13 |
| Charlie Keller | 60 | 116 | 29 | .250 | 3 | 16 |
| Jack Phillips | 45 | 91 | 28 | .308 | 1 | 10 |
| Gus Niarhos | 32 | 43 | 12 | .279 | 0 | 6 |
| Fenton Mole | 10 | 27 | 5 | .185 | 0 | 2 |
| Johnny Mize | 13 | 23 | 6 | .261 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Delsing | 9 | 20 | 7 | .350 | 1 | 3 |
| Joe Collins | 7 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 4 |
| Ralph Houk | 5 | 7 | 4 | .571 | 0 | 1 |
| Mickey Witek | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 |
| = Indicates league leader |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vic Raschi | 38 | 274.2 | 21 | 10 | 3.34 | 124 |
| Ed Lopat | 31 | 215.1 | 15 | 10 | 3.26 | 70 |
| Allie Reynolds | 35 | 213.2 | 17 | 6 | 4.00 | 105 |
| Tommy Byrne | 32 | 196.0 | 15 | 7 | 3.72 | 129 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Sanford | 29 | 95.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.87 | 51 |
| Bob Porterfield | 12 | 57.2 | 2 | 5 | 4.06 | 25 |
| Duane Pillette | 12 | 37.1 | 2 | 4 | 4.34 | 9 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Page | 60 | 13 | 8 | 27 | 2.59 | 99 |
| Cuddles Marshall | 21 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5.11 | 13 |
| Spec Shea | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.33 | 22 |
| Ralph Buxton | 14 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4.05 | 14 |
| Hugh Casey | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.22 | 5 |
| Frank Hiller | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5.87 | 3 |
| Wally Hood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NLBrooklyn Dodgers (1)
| Game | Score | Date | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York 1, Brooklyn 0 | October 5 | 66,224 |
| 2 | Brooklyn 1, New York 0 | October 6 | 70,053 |
| 3 | New York 4, Brooklyn 3 | October 7 | 32,788 |
| 4 | New York 6, Brooklyn 4 | October 8 | 33,934 |
| 5 | New York 10, Brooklyn 6 | October 9 | 33,711 |