1949 Philadelphia Athletics season

1949  Philadelphia Athletics
League	American League
Ballpark	Shibe Park
City	Philadelphia
Owners	Connie Mack
Managers	Connie Mack
Television	WPTZ/WCAU/WFIL
Radio	WIBG (By Saam, George Walsh, Claude Haring)
←  1948 1950  →

The 1949 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing fifth in the American League with a record of 81 wins and 73 losses.

Offseason

• November 10, 1948: Tod Davis was drafted by the Athletics from the Chicago White Sox in the 1948 rule 5 draft. ^[1]
• December 16, 1948: Bob Savage was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the St. Louis Browns. ^[2]
• Prior to 1949 season: Skeeter Kell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics. ^[3]

Regular season

The 1949 Philadelphia Athletics team set a major league team record of executing 217 double plays, a record which still presently stands. ^{[4] [5]}

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	—	54‍–‍23	43‍–‍34
Boston Red Sox	96	58	.623	1	61‍–‍16	35‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	8	49‍–‍28	40‍–‍37
Detroit Tigers	87	67	.565	10	50‍–‍27	37‍–‍40
Philadelphia Athletics	81	73	.526	16	52‍–‍25	29‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox	63	91	.409	34	32‍–‍45	31‍–‍46
St. Louis Browns	53	101	.344	44	36‍–‍41	17‍–‍60
Washington Senators	50	104	.325	47	26‍–‍51	24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1949 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	17–5	8–14	15–7–1	9–13	14–8	15–7	18–4
Chicago	5–17	—	7–15	8–14	7–15	6–16	15–7	15–7
Cleveland	14–8	15–7	—	13–9	10–12	9–13	15–7	13–9
Detroit	7–15–1	14–8	9–13	—	11–11	14–8	14–8	18–4
New York	13–9	15–7	12–10	11–11	—	14–8	17–5–1	15–7
Philadelphia	8–14	16–6	13–9	8–14	8–14	—	12–10	16–6
St. Louis	7–15	7–15	7–15	8–14	5–17–1	10–12	—	9–13
Washington	4–18	7–15	9–13	4–18	7–15	6–16	13–9	—

Notable transactions

• September 28, 1949: Bill McCahan and $25,000 were traded by the Athletics to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Kermit Wahl. ^[6]

Roster

1949 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 19 Lou Brissie 20 Joe Coleman 25 Dick Fowler 17,11 Bubba Harris 36 Clem Hausmann 22 Alex Kellner 21 Phil Marchildon 23 Bill McCahan 24 Carl Scheib 30 Bobby Shantz 28,34 Jim Wilson		Catchers 9,14 Joe Astroth  9 Mike Guerra  8 Buddy Rosar Infielders 11,39 Hank Biasatti 16,31 Tod Davis  5 Ferris Fain 41,18 Nellie Fox  1 Eddie Joost  3 Hank Majeski 12 Pete Suder		Outfielders  4 Sam Chapman 11 Bobby Estalella 34 Augie Galan  2 Wally Moses 10 Elmer Valo 13,15 Don White  6 Taffy Wright		Manager -- Connie Mack Coaches 26 Earle Brucker 35 Jimmy Dykes 29 Dave Keefe 27 Earle Mack 31 Les McCrabb 32 Al Simmons

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

Pos	Player	GP	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Mike Guerra	98	298	79	.265	3	31
1B	Ferris Fain	150	525	138	.263	3	78
2B	Pete Suder	118	445	119	.267	10	75
SS	Eddie Joost	144	525	138	.263	23	81
3B	Hank Majeski	114	448	124	.277	9	67
OF	Elmer Valo	150	547	155	.283	5	85
OF	Wally Moses	110	308	85	.276	1	25
OF	Sam Chapman	154	589	164	.278	24	108

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
Nellie Fox	88	247	63	.255	0	21
Don White	57	169	36	.213	0	10
Taffy Wright	59	149	35	.235	2	25
Joe Astroth	55	148	36	.243	0	12
Buddy Rosar	32	95	19	.200	0	6
Tod Davis	31	75	20	.267	1	6
Augie Galan	12	26	8	.308	0	0
Hank Biasatti	21	24	2	.083	0	2
Bobby Estalella	8	20	5	.250	0	3

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
Alex Kellner	38	245.0	20	12	3.75	94
Joe Coleman	33	240.1	13	14	3.86	109
Lou Brissie	34	229.1	16	11	4.28	118
Dick Fowler	31	213.1	15	11	3.75	43

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
Carl Scheib	38	182.2	9	12	5.12	43
Bobby Shantz	33	127.0	6	8	3.40	58
Bill McCahan	7	20.2	1	1	2.61	3
Phil Marchildon	7	16.0	0	3	11.81	2

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
Bubba Harris	37	1	1	3	5.44	18
Jim Wilson	2	0	0	0	14.40	2
Clem Hausmann	1	0	0	0	9.00	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Savannah Indians	Sally League	Frank Skaff
A	Lincoln Athletics	Western League	Jimmie DeShong
B	Martinsville Athletics	Carolina League	George Staller
C	Kewanee A's	Central Association	Harold Hoffman
C	Youngstown Athletics	Middle Atlantic League	Eddie Morgan
D	Welch Miners	Appalachian League	Bill Hoffner and Emil Kreshka
D	Tarboro Athletics	Coastal Plain League	Joe Antolick
D	Moultrie Athletics	Georgia–Florida League	Bill Peterman
D	Lexington Indians	North Carolina State League	Archie Templeton and Walt Van Grofski
D	Portsmouth A's	Ohio–Indiana League	Homer Lee Cox
D	Red Springs Red Robins	Tobacco State League	Red Norris

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kewanee, Red Springs

References

1. Tod Davis at Baseball-Reference
2. Bob Savage at Baseball-Reference
3. Skeeter Kell at Baseball-Reference
4. Old A's Were Masters of the Double Play, by Norman L. Macht, Baseball Digest, December 1989, Vol. 48, No. 12, ISSN 0005-609X
5. "A Record with Legs: Most Double Plays Turned in a Season". philadelphiaathletics.org. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
6. Kermit Wahl at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1949 Philadelphia Athletics team at Baseball-Reference
• 1949 Philadelphia Athletics team page at baseball-almanac.com