1951 Boston Braves season

1951  Boston Braves
League	National League
Ballpark	Braves Field
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	76–78 (.494)
League place	4th
Owners	Louis R. Perini
General managers	John J. Quinn
Managers	Billy Southworth, Tommy Holmes
Television	WNAC WBZ-TV
Radio	WNAC (Jim Britt, Bump Hadley, Les Smith)
←  1950 1952  →

The 1951 Boston Braves season was the 81st season of the franchise and its penultimate in Boston.

Offseason

• Prior to 1951 season: Georges Maranda was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves. ^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	98	59	.624	—	50‍–‍28	48‍–‍31
Brooklyn Dodgers	97	60	.618	1	49‍–‍29	48‍–‍31
St. Louis Cardinals	81	73	.526	15½	44‍–‍34	37‍–‍39
Boston Braves	76	78	.494	20½	42‍–‍35	34‍–‍43
Philadelphia Phillies	73	81	.474	23½	38‍–‍39	35‍–‍42
Cincinnati Reds	68	86	.442	28½	35‍–‍42	33‍–‍44
Pittsburgh Pirates	64	90	.416	32½	32‍–‍45	32‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs	62	92	.403	34½	32‍–‍45	30‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1951 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12–1	10–12	10–12	8–14	12–10	13–9	13–9
Brooklyn	12–10–1	—	14–8	14–8	14–11	15–7	10–12	18–4
Chicago	12–10	8–14	—	10–12	7–15	7–15	9–13	9–13–1
Cincinnati	12–10	8–14	12–10	—	5–17	11–11	12–10–1	8–14
New York	14–8	11–14	15–7	17–5	—	16–6	14–8	11–11
Philadelphia	10–12	7–15	15–7	11–11	6–16	—	15–7	9–13
Pittsburgh	9–13	12–10	13–9	10–12–1	8–14	7–15	—	5–17
St. Louis	9–13	4–18	13–9–1	14–8	11–11	13–9	17–5	—

Roster

1951 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers 24 Vern Bickford 33 Lew Burdette 14,44 Bob Chipman 16,26 Dave Cole 11 Blix Donnelly 20 Dick Donovan 22 George Estock 37 Bobby Hogue 17 Chet Nichols Jr. 11 Phil Paine 33 Johnny Sain 11 Sid Schacht 21 Warren Spahn 36 Max Surkont 19 Jim Wilson		Catchers 39 Walker Cooper 1,8 Ray Mueller  7 Ebba St. Claire Infielders  3 Bob Elliott 12 Roy Hartsfield 10 Buddy Kerr 23 Johnny Logan  2 Gene Mauch 13 Sibby Sisti  9 Earl Torgeson		Outfielders  6 Bob Addis  4 Sid Gordon  1 Tommy Holmes  5 Sam Jethroe 18 Luis Márquez 27 Willard Marshall 15 Luis Olmo Other batters  8 Bob Thorpe		Manager  1 Tommy Holmes 30 Billy Southworth Coaches 29 Jimmy Brown 28 Johnny Cooney 35 Bob Keely 31 Bucky Walters

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	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Walker Cooper	109	342	107	.313	18	59
1B	Earl Torgeson	155	581	153	.263	24	92
2B	Roy Hartsfield	120	450	122	.271	6	31
SS	Buddy Kerr	69	172	32	.186	1	18
3B	Bob Elliott	136	480	137	.285	15	70
OF	Sid Gordon	150	550	158	.287	29	109
OF	Willard Marshall	136	469	132	.281	11	62
OF	Sam Jethroe	148	572	160	.280	18	65

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
Sibby Sisti	114	362	101	.279	2	38
Ebba St. Claire	72	220	62	.282	1	25
Bob Addis	85	199	55	.276	1	24
Johnny Logan	62	169	37	.219	0	16
Luis Márquez	68	122	24	.197	0	11
Ray Mueller	28	70	11	.157	1	9
Luis Olmo	21	56	11	.196	0	4
Tommy Holmes	27	29	5	.172	0	5
Gene Mauch	19	20	2	.100	0	1
Bob Thorpe	2	2	1	.500	0	1

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

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
Warren Spahn	39	310.2	22	14	2.98	164*
Max Surkont	37	237.0	12	16	3.99	110
Vern Bickford	25	164.2	11	9	3.12	76
Johnny Sain	26	160.1	5	13	4.21	63
Jim Wilson	20	110.0	7	7	5.40	33

• Tied with Don Newcombe (Brooklyn) for league lead

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
Chet Nichols Jr.	33	156.0	11	8	2.88	71
Dave Cole	23	67.2	2	4	4.26	33
Dick Donovan	8	13.2	0	0	5.27	4

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
George Estock	37	0	1	3	4.33	11
Bob Chipman	33	4	3	4	4.85	17
Phil Paine	21	2	0	0	3.06	17
Blix Donnelly	6	0	1	0	7.36	3
Sid Schacht	5	0	2	0	1.93	1
Bobby Hogue	3	0	0	0	5.40	0
Lew Burdette	3	0	0	0	6.23	1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Warren Spahn, Pitcher, Reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Milwaukee Brewers	American Association	Charlie Grimm
AA	Atlanta Crackers	Southern Association	Dixie Walker and Whit Wyatt
A	Hartford Chiefs	Eastern League	Tommy Holmes and Travis Jackson
A	Denver Bears	Western League	Andy Cohen
B	Evansville Braves	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Bob Coleman
B	Hagerstown Braves	Interstate League	Dutch Dorman
C	Ventura Braves	California League	Gene Lillard
C	Eau Claire Bears	Northern League	Bill Adair
C	Quebec Braves	Provincial League	George McQuinn
D	Bluefield Blue-Grays	Appalachian League	Travis Jackson and Xavier Rescigno

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Milwaukee

References

1. Georges Maranda page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1951 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference