1945 St. Louis Browns season

1945  St. Louis Browns
League	American League
Ballpark	Sportsman's Park
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	81–70 (.536)
League place	3rd
Owners	Richard Muckerman
General managers	Bill DeWitt
Managers	Luke Sewell
Radio	WIL (Harry Caray, Gabby Street) WTMV (France Laux, Johnny O'Hara)
←  1944 Seasons 1946  →

The 1945 St. Louis Browns season involved the Browns finishing 3rd in the American League with a record of 81 wins and 70 losses.

Regular season

Coming off their first pennant in 1944, St. Louis didn't regress very far but still finished six games off the pace.

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	88	65	0.575	—	50–26	38–39
Washington Senators	87	67	0.565	1½	46–31	41–36
St. Louis Browns	81	70	0.536	6	47–27	34–43
New York Yankees	81	71	0.533	6½	48–28	33–43
Cleveland Indians	73	72	0.503	11	44–33	29–39
Chicago White Sox	71	78	0.477	15	44–29	27–49
Boston Red Sox	71	83	0.461	17½	42–35	29–48
Philadelphia Athletics	52	98	0.347	34½	39–35	13–63

Record vs. opponents

1945 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	9–13	11–11	12–10–1	6–16	14–8	8–14–1	11–11–1
Chicago	13–9	—	11–8–1	10–12	9–12	12–10	8–13	8–14
Cleveland	11–11	8–11–1	—	11–11	12–9	12–6–1	11–10	8–14
Detroit	10–12–1	12–10	11–11	—	15–7	15–7–1	15–6	10–12
New York	16–6	12–9	9–12	7–15	—	16–6	7–15	14–8
Philadelphia	8–14	10–12	6–12–1	7–15–1	6–16	—	10–12–1	5–17
St. Louis	14–8–1	13–8	10–11	6–15	15–7	12–10–1	—	11–11–1
Washington	11–11–1	14–8	14–8	12–10	8–14	17–5	11–11–1	—

Notable transactions

• August 8, 1945: George Caster was selected off waivers from the Browns by the Detroit Tigers. ^[1]

Roster

1945 St. Louis Browns
Roster
Pitchers 36 Pete Appleton 16 George Caster 23 Cliff Fannin 25 Al Hollingsworth 22 Sig Jakucki 17,35 Earl Jones 19 Jack Kramer 27,31 Al LaMacchia 36 Ox Miller 29 Bob Muncrief 24 Nels Potter 23 Dee Sanders 21 Tex Shirley 20 Lefty West 26 Sam Zoldak		Catchers  9 Red Hayworth  8 Frank Mancuso  7 Joe Schultz Infielders  6 Mark Christman  2 Ellis Clary  4 Don Gutteridge  3 George McQuinn  1 Len Schulte  5 Vern Stephens		Outfielders 11 Milt Byrnes 10 Frank Demaree 1,14 Pete Gray 12 Mike Kreevich 28 Chet Laabs -- Babe Martin 15 Gene Moore		Manager 32 Luke Sewell Coaches 33 Fred Hofmann 34 Zack Taylor    Jack Tobin

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
C	Frank Mancuso	119	365	98	.268	1	38
1B	George McQuinn	139	483	134	.277	7	61
2B	Don Gutteridge	143	543	129	.238	2	49
SS	Vern Stephens	149	571	165	.289	24	89
3B	Mark Christman	78	289	80	.277	4	34
OF	Mike Kreevich	84	295	70	.237	2	21
OF	Milt Byrnes	133	442	110	.249	8	59
OF	Gene Moore	110	354	92	.260	5	50

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
Len Schulte	119	430	106	.247	0	36
Pete Gray	77	234	51	.218	0	13
Lou Finney	57	213	59	.277	2	22
Babe Martin	54	185	37	.200	2	16
Red Hayworth	56	160	31	.194	0	17
Chet Laabs	35	109	26	.239	1	8
Joe Schultz	41	44	13	.295	0	8
Ellis Clary	26	38	8	.211	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
Nels Potter	32	255.1	15	11	2.47	129
Jack Kramer	29	193.0	10	15	3.36	99
Sig Jakucki	30	192.1	12	10	3.51	55
Tex Shirley	32	183.2	8	12	3.63	77
Al Hollingsworth	26	173.1	12	9	2.70	64
Ox Miller	4	28.1	2	1	1.59	4

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	27	145.2	13	4	2.72	54
Lefty West	24	74.1	3	4	3.63	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
Sam Zoldak	26	3	2	0	3.36	19
Earl Jones	10	0	0	1	2.54	13
George Caster	10	1	2	1	6.89	9
Cliff Fannin	5	0	0	0	2.61	5
Al LaMacchia	5	2	0	0	2.00	2
Pete Appleton	2	0	0	0	15.43	1
Dee Sanders	2	0	0	0	40.50	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Toledo Mud Hens	American Association	Ollie Marquardt
A	Elmira Pioneers	Eastern League	Jimmy Adair
D	Newark Moundsmen	Ohio State League	Mickey O'Neil

^[2]

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Nels Potter

• #2 in AL in strikeouts (129)

Vern Stephens

• Led AL in home runs (24)
• #2 in AL in runs scored (90)
• #2 in AL in slugging percentage (.473)
• #3 in AL in RBI (89)

References

1. George Caster page at Baseball Reference
2. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

• 1945 St. Louis Browns team page at Baseball Reference
• 1945 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com