1948 Cleveland Indians season

Last updated

1948  Cleveland Indians
World Series Champions
American League Champions
League American League
Ballpark Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City Cleveland, Ohio
Owners Bill Veeck
General managers Bill Veeck
Managers Lou Boudreau
Television WEWS-TV
(Van Patrick)
Radio WJW
(Jack Graney, Jimmy Dudley)
←  1947 Seasons 1949  →

The 1948 Cleveland Indians season was the 48th in franchise history. When the regular season resulted in a first place tie, the Indians won a one-game playoff against the Boston Red Sox to advance to the World Series. Cleveland won the championship by defeating the Boston Braves 4 games to 2 for their first World Series win in 28 years. The Sporting News ranked the 1948 Indians the ninth-best team ever. [1]

Contents

It was reported years later that teammates Bob Feller and Bob Lemon devised a plan in August to help relay signs to Indian batters that involved a telescope mounted on a tripod (which Feller brought from the war) that was hidden on the scoreboard of Municipal Stadium. [2]

As of 2024, this is the Cleveland Indians' (now Cleveland Guardians) most recent World Series championship. With the Chicago Cubs' 2016 World Series championship, which ironically was over Cleveland, being their first since 1908, the Indians now own the longest active world championship drought in Major League Baseball and the second-longest of any of the big four American sports leagues. Only the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals franchise owns a longer active world championship drought of the big four American sports leagues, having not won a world championship since 1947.

This memorable season was the first to be broadcast on television in the Cleveland area on WEWS-TV.

Off-season

In the 1947–48 off-season, owner Bill Veeck signed recent St. Louis Browns manager Muddy Ruel as a coach to join player-manager Lou Boudreau and coach Bill McKechnie, the latter who was also a long-time manager. [3]

Player transactions:

Regular season

Boudreau became the first shortstop in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award. [9]

Season standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 97580.626—48–3049–28
Boston Red Sox 96590.619155–2341–36
New York Yankees 94600.6102½50–2744–33
Philadelphia Athletics 84700.54512½36–4148–29
Detroit Tigers 78760.50618½39–3839–38
St. Louis Browns 59940.3863734–4225–52
Washington Senators 56970.3664029–4827–49
Chicago White Sox 511010.33644½27–4824–53

Record vs. opponents

1948 American League record

Sources:
TeamBOSCWSCLEDETNYYPHASLBWSH
Boston —14–811–1215–714–812–1015–715–7
Chicago 8–14—6–168–146–166–168–13–19–12–1
Cleveland 12–1116–6—13–910–1216–614–8–116–6
Detroit 7–1514–89–13—9–1312–1011–1116–6
New York 8–1416–612–1013–9—12–1016–617–5
Philadelphia 10–1216–66–1610–1210–12—18–414–8
St. Louis 7–1513–8–18–14–111–116–164–18—10–12
Washington 7–1512–9–16–166–165–178–1412–10—

Notable transactions

Satchel Paige

The Indians made baseball history on July 9. In a game against the St. Louis Browns, with the Browns leading the Indians, 4–1, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Boudreau pulled his starting pitcher, Bob Lemon and brought Negro leagues legend Satchel Paige into the game.

The first batter Paige faced was Browns first baseman Chuck Stevens. Paige did not yet know the signs, and Stevens lined a single into left field. Jerry Priddy bunted Stevens over to second. Next was Whitey Platt, and Paige threw an overhand server[ clarification needed ] for a strike and one sidearm for another strike. Paige then threw his "Hesitation Pitch", which puzzled Platt and led him to throw his bat forty feet up the third base line. Browns manager Zack Taylor bolted from the dugout to talk to umpire Bill McGowan about the pitch. Taylor argued that it was a balk, but McGowan let it stand as a strike. Paige got Al Zarilla to fly out and the inning was over. In the next inning, Paige gave up a leadoff single to Dick Kokos. His catcher simplified his signals, and Paige got Roy Partee to hit into a double play. Larry Doby, the player who broke the American League's color barrier, pinch hit for Paige the following inning.

Paige got his first big league victory on July 15. This was accomplished the night after he pitched in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in front of 65,000 people in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. The victory came against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. The Indians were up 5–3 with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of the second game of a double header. Paige got Eddie Joost to fly out to end the inning. Unfortunately, he gave up two runs the next inning when Ferris Fain doubled and Hank Majeski hit a home run. Paige buckled down and gave up only one more hit the rest of the game, getting five of the next six outs on fly balls. Doby and Ken Keltner would hit home runs in the ninth to give the Indians an 8–5 victory.

On August 3, the Indians were one game behind the Athletics. Boudreau started Paige against the Washington Senators in Cleveland. The 72,562 people that saw the game set a new attendance record for a major league night game. Paige showed his nervousness as he walked two of the first three batters and then gave up a triple to Bud Stewart to fall behind 2–0. By the seventh, the Indians were up 4–2 and held on to give Paige his second victory.

Paige's next start was against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. 51,013 people paid to see the game, but many thousands more stormed the turnstiles and crashed into the park, overwhelming the few dozen ticket-takers. Paige pitched a complete game shutout, beating the White Sox 5–0.

By August 20, the Indians were in a heated pennant race. Coming into the game against the White Sox, Bob Lemon, Gene Bearden and Sam Zoldak had thrown consecutive shutouts to run up a thirty-inning scoreless streak, eleven shy of the big league record. For this game, played in Cleveland, 78,382 people came to see Paige. This was a full 6,000 more people than the last time that the night attendance record was set. Paige went the distance again, giving up two singles and one double for his second consecutive three-hit shutout. Paige now had a 5–1 record and a low 1.33 ERA.

American League Playoff

At the end of the season, Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox were tied for first place. This led to the first-ever one-game playoff in the American League. The Indians defeated the Red Sox 8–3 in the 1948 playoff game. Knuckleballer Gene Bearden was given the start for the Indians. [12] Red Sox manager Joe McCarthy picked pitcher Denny Galehouse, who had an 8–7 pitching record. [13]

Ken Keltner contributed to the victory with his single, double, and 3-run homer over the Green Monster in Fenway Park in the 4th inning. [12] The Indians moved on to the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves. Later, McCarthy said he had no rested arms and that there was no else who could pitch. [13] Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder claimed that they were both ready to pitch. [13]

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
#NamePosition
38 Thurman Tucker CF
14 Larry Doby RF
5 Lou Boudreau SS
4 Joe Gordon 2B
3 Eddie Robinson 1B
31 Allie Clark LF
6 Ken Keltner 3B
10 Jim Hegan C
19 Bob Feller P

[14]

Roster

1948 Cleveland Indians
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 Jim Hegan 144472117.2481461
1B Eddie Robinson 134493125.2541683
2B Joe Gordon 144550154.28032124
3B Ken Keltner 153558166.29731119
SS Lou Boudreau 152560199.35518106
OF Dale Mitchell 141608204.336456
OF Larry Doby 121439132.3011466
OF Thurman Tucker 8324263.260119

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Allie Clark 8127184.310938
Wally Judnich 7921856.257229
Hank Edwards 5516043.269318
Johnny Berardino 6614728.190210
Joe Tipton 479026.289113
Bob Kennedy 667322.30105
Hal Peck 456318.28608
Pat Seerey 10236.26116
Ray Boone 652.40001
Al Rosen 551.20000
Ray Murray 440.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Bob Lemon 43293.220142.82147
Bob Feller 44280.119153.56164
Gene Bearden 37229.22072.4380
Sam Zoldak 23105.2962.8117
Don Black 1852.0225.3716

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Bob Muncrief 2172.1543.9824
Bill Kennedy 611.11011.1212
Lyman Linde 310.0005.400
Al Gettel 57.20117.614
Mike Garcia 12.0000.001
Butch Wensloff 11.20110.802
Ernest Groth 11.0009.000
Les Webber 10.20040.501

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Russ Christopher 4532172.9014
Ed Klieman 443242.6018
Steve Gromek 389322.8450
Satchel Paige 216112.4843

1948 World Series

On October 9, 1948, a new World Series single game attendance record was set during Game 4. 81,897 fans packed Cleveland Stadium but one day later, that record was broken during Game 5. 86,288 fans attended the game.

Satchel Paige appeared in Game 5 for the Indians, becoming the first black pitcher to pitch a game in World Series history. He pitched for two-thirds of an inning in Game Two while the Indians were trailing the Boston Braves, giving up a sacrifice fly to Warren Spahn, got called for a balk and struck out Tommy Holmes.

AL Cleveland Indians (4) vs. NL Boston Braves (2)

GameScoreDateAttendance
1Boston 1, Cleveland 0October 640,135
2Cleveland 4, Boston 1October 739,633
3Cleveland 2, Boston 0October 870,306
4Cleveland 2, Boston 1October 981,897
5Boston 11, Cleveland 5October 1086,288
6Cleveland 4, Boston 3October 1140,103

Game 1

October 6, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Team123456789 R H E
Cleveland000000000040
Boston00000001X122
WP: Johnny Sain (1–0)   LP: Bob Feller (0–1)

Game 2

October 7, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Team123456789 R H E
Cleveland000210001481
Boston100000000183
WP: Bob Lemon (1–0)   LP: Warren Spahn (0–1)

Game 3

October 8 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Team123456789 R H E
Boston000000000051
Cleveland00110000X250
WP: Gene Bearden (1–0)   LP: Vern Bickford (0–1)

Game 4

October 9, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Team123456789 R H E
Boston000000100170
Cleveland10100000X250
WP: Steve Gromek (1–0)   LP: Johnny Sain (1–1)
Home runs:
BOS: Marv Rickert (1)
CLE: Larry Doby (1)

Game 5

October 10, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Team123456789 R H E
Boston30100160011120
Cleveland100400000562
WP: Warren Spahn (1–1)   LP: Bob Feller (0–2)
Home runs:
BOS: Bob Elliott 2 (2), Bill Salkeld (1)
CLE: Dale Mitchell (1), Jim Hegan (1)

Game 6

October 11, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Team123456789 R H E
Cleveland0010020104100
Boston000100020390
WP: Bob Lemon (2–0)   LP: Bill Voiselle (0–1)
Home runs:
CLE: Joe Gordon (1)
BOS: None

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Baltimore Orioles International League Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas
AA Oklahoma City Indians Texas League Pat Ankenman
A Dayton Indians Central League Joe Vosmik
A Wilkes-Barre Barons Eastern League Bill Norman
B Harrisburg Senators Interstate League Les Bell
B Meridian Peps Southeastern League Ben Geraghty and Jack Maupin
B Spartanburg Peaches Tri-State League Kerby Farrell
C Tucson Cowboys Arizona–Texas League Lloyd Brown
C Bakersfield Indians California League Harry Griswold
C Pittsfield Electrics Canadian–American League Gene Hasson
C Burlington Indians Central Association Paul O'Dea, Ski Melillo and Bruno Haas
D Cordele Indians Georgia–Florida League Hal Lee
D Mattoon Indians Illinois State League Chuck Hawley
D Union City Greyhounds KITTY League Tony Rensa
D Bloomingdale Troopers North Atlantic League Jim Jefferies and Stephen Kuk
D Batavia Clippers PONY League George Susce
D Ardmore Indians Sooner State League Don Smith and James Cooke
D Green Bay Blue Jays Wisconsin State League Roxie Lawson, Walt Laskowski and Joe Dotlich

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dayton, Union City [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Cleveland Indians' 1948 World Series champions ranked 9th-best team ever by Sporting News". The Plain Dealer . Cleveland.com. July 2, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  2. ↑ "How MLB Handled Sign Stealing Before Punishing Astros | Sports Illustrated".
  3. ↑ Baseball Digest, 1948, "Indians Collect a Brain Trust" by Lyall Smith of the Detroit Free Press .
  4. ↑ Pete Milne at Baseball-Reference
  5. 1 2 3 Catfish Metkovich at Baseball-Reference
  6. ↑ Thurman Tucker at Baseball-Reference
  7. ↑ Lee Wheat at Baseball-Reference
  8. ↑ Bill Upton at Baseball-Reference
  9. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
  10. ↑ Sam Zoldak at Baseball-Reference
  11. ↑ "Satchel Paige Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
  12. 1 2 "Bearden, Boudreau, Keltner Share Honors as Indians Win". The Milwaukee Journal. October 5, 1948. p. 8. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 Cole, Milton; Kaplan, Jim (2009). The Boston Red Sox: An Illustrated History. North Dighton, Massachusetts: World Publications Group. p. 30. ISBN   978-1-57215-412-4.
  14. ↑ 1948 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  15. ↑ "1948 Awards Voting | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  16. ↑ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)
  17. ↑ "1948 Major League Baseball Standard Pitching | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  18. ↑ "1948 Major League Baseball Standard Fielding | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  19. ↑ "1948 Major League Baseball Standard Batting | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  20. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

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References

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