1945 Washington Senators | ||
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League | American League | |
Ballpark | Griffith Stadium | |
City | Washington, D.C. | |
Owners | Clark Griffith and George H. Richardson | |
Managers | Ossie Bluege | |
Radio | WOL (AM)/WWDC (FM) (Arch McDonald, Russ Hodges) | |
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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.
When the regular season ended on September 30, Washington trailed the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers (88–65) by 11⁄2 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.
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Tigers | 88 | 65 | .575 | — | 50–26 | 38–39 |
Washington Senators | 87 | 67 | .565 | 1½ | 46–31 | 41–36 |
St. Louis Browns | 81 | 70 | .536 | 6 | 47–27 | 34–43 |
New York Yankees | 81 | 71 | .533 | 6½ | 48–28 | 33–43 |
Cleveland Indians | 73 | 72 | .503 | 11 | 44–33 | 29–39 |
Chicago White Sox | 71 | 78 | .477 | 15 | 44–29 | 27–49 |
Boston Red Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 17½ | 42–35 | 29–48 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | 98 | .347 | 34½ | 39–35 | 13–63 |
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 | — |
1945 Washington Senators | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
| 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 | Rick Ferrell | 91 | 286 | 76 | .266 | 1 | 38 |
1B | Joe Kuhel | 142 | 533 | 152 | .285 | 2 | 75 |
2B | George Myatt | 133 | 490 | 145 | .296 | 1 | 39 |
SS | Gil Torres | 147 | 562 | 133 | .237 | 0 | 48 |
3B | Harlond Clift | 119 | 375 | 79 | .211 | 8 | 53 |
OF | Buddy Lewis | 69 | 258 | 86 | .333 | 2 | 37 |
OF | George Binks | 145 | 550 | 153 | .278 | 6 | 81 |
OF | George Case | 123 | 504 | 148 | .294 | 1 | 31 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fred Vaughn | 80 | 268 | 63 | .235 | 1 | 25 |
Mike Kreevich | 45 | 158 | 44 | .278 | 1 | 23 |
Al Evans | 51 | 150 | 39 | .260 | 2 | 19 |
Hillis Layne | 60 | 147 | 44 | .299 | 1 | 14 |
Mike Guerra | 56 | 138 | 29 | .210 | 1 | 15 |
José Zardón | 54 | 131 | 38 | .290 | 0 | 13 |
Jake Powell | 31 | 98 | 19 | .194 | 0 | 3 |
Vince Ventura | 18 | 58 | 12 | .207 | 0 | 2 |
Cecil Travis | 15 | 54 | 13 | .241 | 0 | 10 |
Dick Kimble | 20 | 49 | 12 | .245 | 0 | 1 |
Walt Chipple | 18 | 44 | 6 | .136 | 0 | 5 |
Howie McFarland | 6 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roger Wolff | 33 | 250.0 | 20 | 10 | 2.12 | 108 |
Mickey Haefner | 37 | 238.1 | 16 | 14 | 3.47 | 83 |
Dutch Leonard | 31 | 216.0 | 17 | 7 | 2.13 | 96 |
Johnny Niggeling | 26 | 176.2 | 7 | 12 | 3.16 | 90 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marino Pieretti | 44 | 233.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.32 | 66 |
Alex Carrasquel | 35 | 122.2 | 7 | 5 | 2.71 | 38 |
Sandy Ullrich | 28 | 81.1 | 3 | 3 | 4.54 | 26 |
Walt Masterson | 4 | 25.0 | 1 | 2 | 1.08 | 14 |
Pete Appleton | 6 | 21.1 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 12 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wally Holborow | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.30 | 14 |
Dick Stone | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Armando Roche | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 0 |
Bert Shepard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.69 | 2 |
Joe Cleary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 189.00 | 1 |
Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
A1 | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern Association | Bert Niehoff |
A | Williamsport Grays | Eastern League | Ray Kolp |
The 1930 Washington Senators won 94 games, lost 60, and finished in second place in the American League. They were managed by Walter Johnson and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1933 Washington Senators was a season in American baseball. They won 99 games, lost 53, and finished in first place in the American League. It was the third and final pennant of the franchise while based in Washington. The team was managed by Joe Cronin and played home games at Griffith Stadium. They lost the best-of-seven World Series in 5 games to the New York Giants.
The 1934 Washington Senators played 154 games, won 68, lost 86, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Cronin and played home games at Griffith Stadium. In the eighth inning of their game against the Boston Red Sox on June 9, the Washington Senators hit 5 consecutive doubles – the most ever hit consecutively during the same inning.
The 1936 Washington Senators won 82 games, lost 71, and finished in third place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1941 Washington Senators won 70 games, lost 84, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1942 Washington Senators won 62 games, lost 89, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1944 Washington Senators won 64 games, lost 90, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Ossie Bluege and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1948 Washington Senators won 56 games, lost 97, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Kuhel and played home games at Griffith Stadium. It was the first Senators season to be broadcast on television with Bob Wolff on the booth for gameday broadcasts on WTTG-TV.
The 1949 Washington Senators, the 49th season of the Major League Baseball franchise, won 50 games, lost 104, and finished in eighth place in the American League. It was the worst showing by the Washington club in 40 years, since the 1909 Senators lost 110 games. The team was managed by Joe Kuhel; it played its home games at Griffith Stadium, where it drew 770,745 fans, seventh in the circuit.
The 1955 Washington Senators season was the franchise's 55th in Major League Baseball. The Senators won 53 games, lost 101, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Chuck Dressen and played home games at Griffith Stadium, where they draw 425,238 fans, eighth and last in the American League and 16th and last in MLB.
The 1956 Washington Senators won 59 games, lost 95, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Chuck Dressen and played home games at Griffith Stadium, where they attracted 431,647 spectators, eighth and last in AL attendance.
The 1957 Washington Senators won 55 games and lost 99 in their 57th year in the American League, and finished in eighth place, attracting 457,079 spectators to Griffith Stadium, last in the major leagues. Chuck Dressen began the year as their manager, but after the Senators dropped 16 of their first 20 games, Dressen was replaced by Cookie Lavagetto on May 7. Lavagetto, a longtime aide to Dressen, went 51–83 for the rest of the year, but would remain at the club's helm into June 1961, its first season as the Minnesota Twins.
The 1958 Washington Senators won 61 games, lost 93, and finished in eighth place in the American League, 31 games behind the New York Yankees. They were managed by Cookie Lavagetto and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1959 Washington Senators won 63 games, lost 91, and finished in eighth place in the American League, 31 games behind the AL Champion Chicago White Sox in their penultimate season in The Nation's Capital. They were managed by Cookie Lavagetto and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
The 1910 Boston Red Sox season was the tenth season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 81 wins and 72 losses, 22+1⁄2 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics, who went on to win the 1910 World Series. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The 1911 Boston Red Sox season was the 11th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 78 wins and 75 losses, 24 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics, who went on to win the 1911 World Series. This was the final season that the Red Sox played their home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds, before moving to Fenway Park.
The 1945 Boston Red Sox season was the 45th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 71 wins and 83 losses, 17+1⁄2 games behind the Detroit Tigers, who went on to win the 1945 World Series.
The 1961 Washington Senators season was the team's inaugural season, having been established as a replacement for the previous franchise of the same name, which relocated to the Twin Cities of Minnesota following the 1960 season, becoming the Minnesota Twins. The Senators finished in a tie for ninth place in the ten-team American League with a record of 61–100, 47+1⁄2 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. It was also the team's only season at Griffith Stadium before moving its games to D.C. Stadium for the following season. The expansion team drew 597,287 fans, tenth and last in the circuit. The old Senators had drawn 743,404 fans in 1960.
The 1924 Brooklyn Robins put up a good fight with the rival New York Giants before falling just short of the pennant. Staff ace Dazzy Vance led the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts and complete games to be named the National League Most Valuable Player.
The 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates finished first in the National League with a record of 95–58. They defeated the Washington Senators four games to three to win their second World Series championship.