1945 Washington Senators season

Last updated

1945  Washington Senators
Washington Senators Primary Logo (1938 to 1947).svg
League American League
Ballpark Griffith Stadium
CityWashington, D.C.
Owners Clark Griffith and George H. Richardson
Managers Ossie Bluege
Radio WOL (AM)/WWDC (FM)
(Arch McDonald, Russ Hodges)
  1944 Seasons 1946  

The 1945 Washington Senators won 87 games, lost 67, and finished in second place in the American League. They were managed by Ossie Bluege and played their home games at Griffith Stadium, where they drew 652,660 fans, fourth-most in the eight-team league. The 1945 Senators represented the 45th edition of the Major League Baseball franchise and were the last of the 20th-century Senators to place higher than fourth in the American League; the team moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul in 1961 to become the modern Minnesota Twins.

Contents

When the regular season ended on September 30, Washington trailed the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers (88–65) by 112 games. But because of World War II travel restrictions and the need to convert Griffith Stadium's playing field to host its autumn football tenants, the NFL Washington Redskins and Georgetown University, the Senators' 1945 schedule had actually ended seven days before, on Sunday, September 23. On that day, the "Griffs" stood one full game behind 86–64 Detroit. As the idle Senators waited, the Tigers had four games to play, two each against the fifth-place Cleveland Indians and third-place St. Louis Browns. After splitting against the Indians, Detroit was rained out for three days in St. Louis. When the Tigers defeated the Browns 6–3 in the first game of the doubleheader on September 30 (on a come-from-behind, grand slam home run by Hank Greenberg), the Senators were mathematically eliminated and Detroit clinched the pennant. The second game of the twin bill was rained out. [1]

Outstanding pitching drove the 1945 Senators' success. Washington led the American League in team earned run average (2.92). Its starting rotation featured four knuckleball artists—Roger Wolff, Dutch Leonard, Johnny Niggeling and Mickey Haefner—who combined for 60 victories. [2] Wolff and Leonard posted sterling 2.12 and 2.13 earned run averages, third and fourth in the league.

Regular season

Season standings

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Detroit Tigers 8865.57550263839
Washington Senators 8767.56546314136
St. Louis Browns 8170.536647273443
New York Yankees 8171.53348283343
Cleveland Indians 7372.5031144332939
Chicago White Sox 7178.4771544292749
Boston Red Sox 7183.46117½42352948
Philadelphia Athletics 5298.34734½39351363

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBOSCWSCLEDETNYYPHASLBWSH
Boston 9–1311–1112–10–16–1614–88–14–111–11–1
Chicago 13–911–8–110–129–1212–108–138–14
Cleveland 11–118–11–111–1112–912–6–111–108–14
Detroit 10–12–112–1011–1115–715–7–115–610–12
New York 16–612–99–127–1516–67–1514–8
Philadelphia 8–1410–126–12–17–15–16–1610–12–15–17
St. Louis 14–8–113–810–116–1515–712–10–111–11–1
Washington 11–11–114–814–812–108–1417–511–11–1

Notable transactions


Roster

1945 Washington Senators
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Rick Ferrell 9128676.266138
1B Joe Kuhel 142533152.285275
2B George Myatt 133490145.296139
SS Gil Torres 147562133.237048
3B Harlond Clift 11937579.211853
OF Buddy Lewis 6925886.333237
OF George Binks 145550153.278681
OF George Case 123504148.294131

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Fred Vaughn 8026863.235125
Mike Kreevich 4515844.278123
Al Evans 5115039.260219
Hillis Layne 6014744.299114
Mike Guerra 5613829.210115
José Zardón 5413138.290013
Jake Powell 319819.19403
Vince Ventura 185812.20702
Cecil Travis 155413.241010
Dick Kimble 204912.24501
Walt Chipple 18446.13605
Howie McFarland 6111.09102

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Roger Wolff 33250.020102.12108
Mickey Haefner 37238.116143.4783
Dutch Leonard 31216.01772.1396
Johnny Niggeling 26176.27123.1690

[8]

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Marino Pieretti 44233.114133.3266
Alex Carrasquel 35122.2752.7138
Sandy Ullrich 2881.1334.5426
Walt Masterson 425.0121.0814
Pete Appleton 621.1103.3812

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Wally Holborow 151102.3014
Dick Stone 30000.000
Armando Roche 20006.000
Bert Shepard 10001.692
Joe Cleary 1000189.001

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
A1 Chattanooga Lookouts Southern Association Bert Niehoff
A Williamsport Grays Eastern League Ray Kolp

[9]

Notes

  1. "1945: Hank's Heroic Rescue". This Great Game: The Online Book of Baseball. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  2. Neyer, Rob. "A Last Great Season: The Senators in '45". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  3. Bedingfield, Gary. "Bert Shepard". baseballinwartime.com. Baseball in Wartime . Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  4. "Boston Red Sox 15, Washington Senators 2". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet. August 4, 1945. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 193, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
  6. Retrosheet box score: 1945-09-07
  7. 1 2 3 "Transactions for 1945 Washington Senators." Retrosheet
  8. "Baseball Almanac" entry
  9. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References