1949 Washington Senators season

1949 Washington Senators
1949 Washington Senators
League	American League
Ballpark	Griffith Stadium
City	Washington, D.C.
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)

Last updated August 30, 2024

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]

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

October 4, 1948: John Sullivan, Tom Ferrick and $25,000 were traded by the Senators to the St. Louis Browns for Sam Dente.^[2]
Prior to 1949 season: Jim Pearce was signed as a free agent by the Senators.^[3]

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

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

May 24, 1949: Milo Candini was traded by the Senators to the Oakland Oaks for Lloyd Hittle.^[5]

Roster

1949 Washington Senators

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

17 Hal Keller
28 Herman Reich

Manager

40 Joe Kuhel

Coaches

Player stats

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	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Al Evans	109	321	87	.271	2	42
1B	Eddie Robinson	143	527	155	.294	18	78
2B	Al Kozar	105	350	94	.269	4	31
SS	Sam Dente	153	590	161	.273	1	53
3B	Eddie Yost	124	435	110	.253	9	45
OF	Gil Coan	111	358	78	.218	3	25
OF	Bud Stewart	118	388	110	.284	8	43
OF	Clyde Vollmer	129	443	112	.253	14	59

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
Sherry Robertson	110	374	94	.251	11	42
Sam Mele	78	264	64	.242	3	25
Buddy Lewis	95	257	63	.245	3	28
Jake Early	53	138	34	.246	1	11
Roberto Ortiz	40	129	36	.279	1	11
Mark Christman	49	112	24	.214	3	18
John Simmons	62	93	20	.215	0	5
Ralph Weigel	34	60	14	.233	0	4
Hal Keller	3	3	1	.333	0	0
Herman Reich	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Jay Difani	2	1	1	1.000	0	0

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
Sid Hudson	40	209.0	8	17	4.22	54
Ray Scarborough	34	199.2	13	11	4.60	81
Paul Calvert	34	160.2	6	17	5.43	52
Mickey Harris	23	129.0	2	12	5.16	54
Walt Masterson	10	53.0	3	2	3.23	17
Dizzy Sutherland	1	1.0	0	1	45.00	0

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
Lloyd Hittle	36	109.0	5	7	4.21	32
Joe Haynes	37	96.1	2	9	6.26	19
Dick Weik	27	95.1	3	12	5.38	58
Mickey Haefner	19	91.2	5	5	4.42	23
Forrest Thompson	9	16.1	1	3	4.41	8
Jim Pearce	2	5.1	0	1	8.44	1

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
Dick Welteroth	52	2	5	2	7.36	37
Al Gettel	16	0	2	1	5.45	7
Julio González	13	0	0	0	4.72	5
Milo Candini	3	0	0	1	4.76	1
Buzz Dozier	2	0	0	0	11.37	1
Ed Klieman	2	0	0	0	18.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
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]

Related Research Articles

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The 1938 New York Yankees season was their 36th season. The team finished with a record of 99–53, winning their tenth pennant, finishing 9.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the 1938 World Series, they beat the Chicago Cubs in 4 games. This marked the first time any team had won three consecutive World Series.

The 1943 New York Yankees season was the team's 41st season. The team finished with a record of 98–56, winning their 14th pennant, finishing 13.5 games ahead of the Washington Senators. Managed by Joe McCarthy, the Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in 5 games.

The 1921 Washington Senators won 80 games, lost 73, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by George McBride and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

The 1919 Washington Senators won 56 games, lost 84, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

The 1916 Washington Senators won 76 games, lost 77, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

The 1915 Washington Senators won 85 games, lost 68, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

The 1909 Washington Senators, a professional baseball team, won 42 games, lost 110, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Cantillon and played home games at National Park. The Senators still hold the Major League record for the most games lost in one month of a season, with 29 losses in July.

The 1908 Washington Senators won 67 games, lost 85, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Cantillon and played home games at National Park.

The 1901 Washington Senators won 61 games, lost 72, and finished in sixth place in the American League in its first year as a major league team. They were managed by Jim Manning and played home games at the American League Park I.

The 1929 Washington Senators won 71 games, lost 81, and finished in fifth 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 1935 Washington Senators won 67 games, lost 86, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

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The 1939 Washington Senators won 65 games, lost 87, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

The 1943 Washington Senators won 84 games, lost 69, and finished in second 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 1950 Washington Senators won 67 games, lost 87, and finished in fifth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

The 1954 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the National League with a record of 74–80, 23 games behind the New York Giants.

The 1933 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 75–79, 25 games behind the Washington Senators.

References

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

External links

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[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

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v t e 1949 MLB season by team
American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1949 All-Star Game 1949 World Series