1948 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | Regular season:
|
Number of games | 154 |
Number of teams | 16 (8 per league) |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | AL: Lou Boudreau (CLE) NL: Stan Musial (SLC) |
AL champions | Cleveland Indians |
AL runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
NL champions | Boston Braves |
NL runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
World Series | |
Champions | Cleveland Indians |
Runners-up | Boston Braves |
The 1948 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1948. The regular season ended on October 4, with the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Indians won the American League title via a tie-breaker game victory over the Boston Red Sox, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96–58 records. This was the second regular season tie-breaker, and saw a change from the previous three-game format to that of a single-game, Game 163. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 45th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 6 on October 11. The Indians defeated the Braves, four games to two.
The 15th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 13, hosted by the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, with the American League winning, 5–2 for their third straight win.
The 1948 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 19, featuring six teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on October 3, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. Due to the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians finishing with the same record of 96–58, a tie-breaker game was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The Indians won the Game 163 tie-breaker on October 4. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 11.
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland Indians | 97 | 58 | .626 | — | 48–30 | 49–28 |
Boston Red Sox | 96 | 59 | .619 | 1 | 55–23 | 41–36 |
New York Yankees | 94 | 60 | .610 | 2½ | 50–27 | 44–33 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 84 | 70 | .545 | 12½ | 36–41 | 48–29 |
Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 18½ | 39–38 | 39–38 |
St. Louis Browns | 59 | 94 | .386 | 37 | 34–42 | 25–52 |
Washington Senators | 56 | 97 | .366 | 40 | 29–48 | 27–49 |
Chicago White Sox | 51 | 101 | .336 | 44½ | 27–48 | 24–53 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Braves | 91 | 62 | .595 | — | 45–31 | 46–31 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 85 | 69 | .552 | 6½ | 44–33 | 41–36 |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 7½ | 36–41 | 48–29 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 83 | 71 | .539 | 8½ | 47–31 | 36–40 |
New York Giants | 78 | 76 | .506 | 13½ | 37–40 | 41–36 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 88 | .429 | 25½ | 32–44 | 34–44 |
Cincinnati Reds | 64 | 89 | .418 | 27 | 32–45 | 32–44 |
Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 27½ | 35–42 | 29–48 |
World Series | |||||||||
AL | Cleveland Indians | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | ||
NL | Boston Braves | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 |
Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
---|---|---|
Brooklyn Dodgers | Burt Shotton | Leo Durocher |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Bill Burwell | Billy Meyer |
St. Louis Browns | Muddy Ruel | Zack Taylor |
Washington Senators | Ossie Bluege | Joe Kuhel |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
AVG | Ted Williams (BRS) | .369 |
OPS | Ted Williams (BRS) | 1.112 |
HR | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 39 |
RBI | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 155 |
R | Tommy Henrich (NYY) | 138 |
H | Bob Dillinger (SLB) | 207 |
SB | Bob Dillinger (SLB) | 28 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
W | Hal Newhouser (DET) | 21 |
L | Fred Sanford (SLB) | 21 |
ERA | Gene Bearden (CLE) | 2.43 |
K | Bob Feller (CLE) | 164 |
IP | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 293.2 |
SV | Russ Christopher (CLE) | 17 |
WHIP | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 1.226 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
AVG | Stan Musial (SLC) | .376 |
OPS | Stan Musial (SLC) | 1.152 |
HR | Ralph Kiner (PIT) Johnny Mize (NYG) | 40 |
RBI | Stan Musial (SLC) | 131 |
R | Stan Musial (SLC) | 135 |
H | Stan Musial (SLC) | 230 |
SB | Richie Ashburn (PHP) | 32 |
Stat | Player | Total |
---|---|---|
W | Johnny Sain (BSB) | 24 |
L | Dutch Leonard (PHP) | 17 |
ERA | Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 2.24 |
K | Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 149 |
IP | Johnny Sain (BSB) | 314.2 |
SV | Harry Gumbert (CIN) | 17 |
WHIP | Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 1.037 |
Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
---|---|---|
BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
Rookie of the Year | Alvin Dark (BSB) | — |
Most Valuable Player | Stan Musial (SLC) | Lou Boudreau (CLE) |
The Sporting News Awards | ||
---|---|---|
Award | National League | American League |
Player of the Year [1] | — | Lou Boudreau (CLE) |
Pitcher of the Year [2] | Johnny Sain (BSB) | Bob Lemon (CLE) |
Rookie of the Year [3] | Richie Ashburn (PHP) | — |
Manager of the Year [4] | Billy Meyer (PIT) | — |
Executive of the Year [5] | — | Bill Veeck (CLE) |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland Indians [6] | 97 | 21.3% | 2,620,627 | 72.2% | 33,172 |
New York Yankees [7] | 94 | −3.1% | 2,373,901 | 8.9% | 30,830 |
Detroit Tigers [8] | 78 | −8.2% | 1,743,035 | 24.7% | 22,637 |
Boston Red Sox [9] | 96 | 15.7% | 1,558,798 | 9.2% | 19,985 |
Pittsburgh Pirates [10] | 83 | 33.9% | 1,517,021 | 18.2% | 18,963 |
New York Giants [11] | 78 | −3.7% | 1,459,269 | −8.8% | 18,952 |
Boston Braves [12] | 91 | 5.8% | 1,455,439 | 13.9% | 19,151 |
Brooklyn Dodgers [13] | 84 | −10.6% | 1,398,967 | −22.6% | 17,935 |
Chicago Cubs [14] | 64 | −7.2% | 1,237,792 | −9.3% | 15,869 |
St. Louis Cardinals [15] | 85 | −4.5% | 1,111,440 | −10.9% | 14,434 |
Philadelphia Athletics [16] | 84 | 7.7% | 945,076 | 3.7% | 12,274 |
Cincinnati Reds [17] | 64 | −12.3% | 823,386 | −8.5% | 10,693 |
Washington Senators [18] | 56 | −12.5% | 795,254 | −6.5% | 10,196 |
Chicago White Sox [19] | 51 | −27.1% | 777,844 | −11.3% | 10,235 |
Philadelphia Phillies [20] | 66 | 6.5% | 767,429 | −15.4% | 10,098 |
St. Louis Browns [21] | 59 | 0.0% | 335,564 | 4.7% | 4,415 |
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