1949 Washington Senators season

Last updated

1949  Washington Senators
Washington Senators Primary Logo (1948 to 1952).svg
League American League
Ballpark Griffith Stadium
City Washington, D.C.
Record50–104 (.325)
League place8th
Owners Clark Griffith and the estate of George H. Richardson
Managers Joe Kuhel
Television WTTG
(Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Howard Williams)
Radio WWDC (FM)
(Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Howard Williams)
  1948 Seasons 1950  

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. [1]

Contents

The Senators actually won 25 of their first 45 games and stood in third place after Sunday, June 5, 1949. But they would win only 25 games more all season, playing at an abysmal .229 rate over their last 109 contests. In today's 162-game schedule, that would have resulted in a 37–125 mark, surpassing the 1962 Mets' record for futility. At year's end, manager Kuhel would be replaced by Bucky Harris, the Senators' 1924 "boy wonder" manager, now 53, returning for a third term as skipper of the Senators.

Offseason

Regular season

On September 28, Senators pitcher Ray Scarborough ended Ted Williams' streak of most consecutive games reaching base safely at 84 games. [4] Scarborough gave up just four hits in a 4–1 complete game win over the Boston Red Sox. Johnny Pesky made the final out with Williams on deck.

Season standings

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9757.63054234334
Boston Red Sox 9658.623161163542
Cleveland Indians 8965.578849284037
Detroit Tigers 8767.5651050273740
Philadelphia Athletics 8173.5261652252948
Chicago White Sox 6391.4093432453146
St. Louis Browns 53101.3444436411760
Washington Senators 50104.3254726512453

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBOSCWSCLEDETNYYPHASLBWSH
Boston 17–58–1415–7–19–1314–815–718–4
Chicago 5–177–158–147–156–1615–715–7
Cleveland 14–815–713–910–129–1315–713–9
Detroit 7–15–114–89–1311–1114–814–818–4
New York 13–915–712–1011–1114–817–5–115–7
Philadelphia 8–1416–613–98–148–1412–1016–6
St. Louis 7–157–157–158–145–17–110–129–13
Washington 4–187–159–134–187–156–1613–9

Notable transactions

Roster

1949 Washington Senators
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 Al Evans 10932187.271242
1B Eddie Robinson 143527155.2941878
2B Al Kozar 10535094.269431
SS Sam Dente 153590161.273153
3B Eddie Yost 124435110.253945
OF Gil Coan 11135878.218325
OF Bud Stewart 118388110.284843
OF Clyde Vollmer 129443112.2531459

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Sherry Robertson 11037494.2511142
Sam Mele 7826464.242325
Buddy Lewis 9525763.245328
Jake Early 5313834.246111
Roberto Ortiz 4012936.279111
Mark Christman 4911224.214318
John Simmons 629320.21505
Ralph Weigel 346014.23304
Hal Keller 331.33300
Herman Reich 220.00000
Jay Difani 2111.00000

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Sid Hudson 40209.0817*4.2254
Ray Scarborough 34199.213114.6081
Paul Calvert 34160.2617*5.4352
Mickey Harris 23129.02125.1654
Walt Masterson 1053.0323.2317
Dizzy Sutherland 11.00145.000
  • Tied with Ned Garver (St. Louis)

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Lloyd Hittle 36109.0574.2132
Joe Haynes 3796.1296.2619
Dick Weik 2795.13125.3858
Mickey Haefner 1991.2554.4223
Forrest Thompson 916.1134.418
Jim Pearce 25.1018.441

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Dick Welteroth 522527.3637
Al Gettel 160215.457
Julio González 130004.725
Milo Candini 30014.761
Buzz Dozier 200011.371
Ed Klieman 200018.001

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern Association George Myatt and Fred Walters
B Havana Cubanos Florida International League Oscar Rodríguez
B Hagerstown Owls Interstate League Woody Wheaton
B Charlotte Hornets Tri-State League Clyde McDowell
C New Castle Nats Middle Atlantic League Bill Mongiello
D Orlando Senators Florida State League Red Dulaney, Walter Zurowski and George Myatt
D Fulton Railroaders KITTY League Ivan Kuester
D Concord Nationals North Carolina State League James Calleran
D Emporia Nationals Virginia League Morrie Aderholt

[6]

References

  1. Baseball Reference: 1949 miscellaneous team information
  2. John Sullivan at Baseball-Reference
  3. Jim Pearce at Baseball-Reference
  4. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 44, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN   978-1-55365-507-7
  5. Milo Candini at Baseball-Reference
  6. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007