1949 Boston Red Sox season
Encyclopedia
The 1949
Boston Red Sox
season involved the Red Sox finishing second in the American League
with a record of 96 wins and 58 losses.
was the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in one season for the Red Sox in the 20th century. George Kell
beat Ted Williams
for the American League batting
title by 0.0002 percentage points.
Ted Williams set a major league record for the most consecutive games reaching base safely with 84. The streak began on July 1, and ended on September 28. The streak was ended by Washington Senators
pitcher Ray Scarborough
. Williams was in the on-deck circle when Johnny Pesky
made the final out, depriving him of one more chance to extend the streak.
and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail
verbally agreed to trade Joe DiMaggio
for Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra
.
came back from heel surgery to demolish the Red Sox in a three-game series at Fenway Park
. He hit four home runs, three of them game winners. It sent the Sox reeling, and they fell 12.5 games back by July 4. But Boston rallied late in the season and went into Yankee Stadium for the final two games of the schedule with a one-game lead. The Red Sox needed just one win in two games and were to pitch Mel Parnell
in the first game. After trailing 4-0, the Yankees came back to beat Parnell 5-4, as Johnny Lindell
hit an eighth-inning, game-winning, home run
and Joe Page
had a great relief appearance for New York. And so it came down to the last game of the season. It was Ellis Kinder
facing Vic Raschi
.
The Yankees led 1-0 after seven innings, having scored in the first. In the eighth inning, manager Joe McCarthy lifted Kinder for a pinch hitter
who did not come through. Then he brought in Mel Parnell in relief, and Parnell yielded a homer to Tommy Henrich
and a single to Yogi Berra
. Parnell was replaced by Tex Hughson
, who had been on the disabled list and said his arm still hurt. But he came on and, with the bases loaded, Jerry Coleman
hit a soft liner that Al Zarilla
in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs.
In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short. "Why", said critics, "with a power-laden lineup, pinch hit for Kinder? See what happened in the ninth?" McCarthy had walked on thin ice. Hughson also claimed his manager ruined his career by making him pitch with a sore arm.
It was the second year in a row McCarthy's late-season managing was called into question. In 1948
, McCarthy had chosen journeyman pitcher Denny Galehouse
to start the tie breaker
that decided who went to the 1948 World Series
, which the Red Sox lost to the Cleveland Indians
.
1949 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers *All-Star Game, July 12 at Ebbets Field: American League, 11-7-Caribbean leagues:*Cuba - Almendares Scorpions*Panama - Spur Cola*Puerto Rico - Mayaguez Indians...
Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
season involved the Red Sox finishing second in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
with a record of 96 wins and 58 losses.
Regular season
During the season, Mel ParnellMel Parnell
Melvin Lloyd Parnell is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox , compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games...
was the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in one season for the Red Sox in the 20th century. George Kell
George Kell
George Clyde Kell was an American baseball third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Athletics , Detroit Tigers , Boston Red Sox , Chicago White Sox , and Baltimore Orioles in the American League, who went on to become a baseball broadcaster for 40 years.-Playing career:In college, Kell...
beat Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
for the American League batting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
title by 0.0002 percentage points.
Ted Williams set a major league record for the most consecutive games reaching base safely with 84. The streak began on July 1, and ended on September 28. The streak was ended by Washington Senators
1949 Washington Senators season
The Washington Senators won 50 games, lost 104, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Kuhel and played home games at Griffith Stadium.- Offseason :...
pitcher Ray Scarborough
Ray Scarborough
Rae Wilson Scarborough was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Washington Senators , Chicago White Sox , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers . Scarborough batted and threw right-handed...
. Williams was in the on-deck circle when Johnny Pesky
Johnny Pesky
John Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War...
made the final out, depriving him of one more chance to extend the streak.
The trade that wasn't
In 1949, Boston Red Sox owner Tom YawkeyTom Yawkey
Thomas Austin Yawkey, born Thomas Austin , was an American industrialist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red Sox in 1933, and was the sole owner of the team for 44 seasons, longer than anyone else in baseball history.-Early...
and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail
Larry MacPhail
Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail, Sr. was an American lawyer, and an executive and innovator in Major League Baseball.-Biography:...
verbally agreed to trade Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
for Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
.
Yankees and Red Sox toe-to-toe
Joe DiMaggioJoe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
came back from heel surgery to demolish the Red Sox in a three-game series at Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
. He hit four home runs, three of them game winners. It sent the Sox reeling, and they fell 12.5 games back by July 4. But Boston rallied late in the season and went into Yankee Stadium for the final two games of the schedule with a one-game lead. The Red Sox needed just one win in two games and were to pitch Mel Parnell
Mel Parnell
Melvin Lloyd Parnell is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox , compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games...
in the first game. After trailing 4-0, the Yankees came back to beat Parnell 5-4, as Johnny Lindell
Johnny Lindell
John Harlan Lindell was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder and pitcher in the Major League Baseball from to and from to . Lindell played for the New York Yankees, St...
hit an eighth-inning, game-winning, home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
and Joe Page
Joe Page
Joseph Francis Page , nicknamed Fireman and The Gay Reliever, was a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Page, who was left-handed, played with the New York Yankees from to and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in .-Professional career:Page was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free...
had a great relief appearance for New York. And so it came down to the last game of the season. It was Ellis Kinder
Ellis Kinder
Ellis Raymond Kinder , also nicknamed "Old Folks", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns , Boston Red Sox , St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox...
facing Vic Raschi
Vic Raschi
Victor John Angelo "Vic" Raschi was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was responsible for allowing Hank Aaron's first career home run....
.
The Yankees led 1-0 after seven innings, having scored in the first. In the eighth inning, manager Joe McCarthy lifted Kinder for a pinch hitter
Pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...
who did not come through. Then he brought in Mel Parnell in relief, and Parnell yielded a homer to Tommy Henrich
Tommy Henrich
Thomas David "Tommy" Henrich , nicknamed "The Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire baseball career for the New York Yankees . He led the American League in triples twice and in runs scored once, also hitting 20 or more home runs four times...
and a single to Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
. Parnell was replaced by Tex Hughson
Tex Hughson
Cecil Carlton Hughson, , was a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played his entire career in the American League with the Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed....
, who had been on the disabled list and said his arm still hurt. But he came on and, with the bases loaded, Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman
Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman is a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the New York Yankees. Currently, he is an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres...
hit a soft liner that Al Zarilla
Al Zarilla
Allen Lee Zarilla was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Browns , Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox . Zarilla batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs.
In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short. "Why", said critics, "with a power-laden lineup, pinch hit for Kinder? See what happened in the ninth?" McCarthy had walked on thin ice. Hughson also claimed his manager ruined his career by making him pitch with a sore arm.
It was the second year in a row McCarthy's late-season managing was called into question. In 1948
1948 Boston Red Sox season
The Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing second in the American League with a record of 96 wins and 59 losses.- Offseason :...
, McCarthy had chosen journeyman pitcher Denny Galehouse
Denny Galehouse
Dennis Ward Galehouse born in Marshallville, Ohio was a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians , Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns...
to start the tie breaker
1948 American League tie-breaker game
The 1948 American League tie-breaker game was a one-game playoff for Major League Baseball's American League conference. The game took place on October 4, 1948, between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. It was necessary after both teams finished the season with records of...
that decided who went to the 1948 World Series
1948 World Series
The 1948 World Series matched the Cleveland Indians against the Boston Braves. The Braves had won the National League pennant for the first time since the "Miracle Braves" team of . The Indians spoiled a chance for the only all-Boston World Series by winning a one-game playoff against the Boston...
, which the Red Sox lost to the Cleveland Indians
1948 Cleveland Indians season
The Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team won a one-game playoff against the Boston Red Sox and would then go onto win their second World Series in franchise history, its first in 28 years.-Off-season:...
.
Opening Day lineup
| 7 | Dom DiMaggio Dom DiMaggio Dominic Paul DiMaggio , nicknamed "The Little Professor", was a Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox... |
CF |
| 6 | Johnny Pesky Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War... |
3B |
| 9 | Ted Williams Ted Williams Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox... |
LF |
| 5 | Vern Stephens Vern Stephens Vernon Decatur Stephens was an American shortstop in professional baseball who played 15 seasons in the American League for four different teams. A native of McAlister, New Mexico, Stephens batted and threw right-handed... |
SS |
| 1 | Bobby Doerr Bobby Doerr Robert Pershing Doerr is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and coach. He played his entire 14-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox . He led American League second basemen in double plays five times, tying a league record, in putouts and fielding percentage four times each, and... |
2B |
| 23 | Tommy O'Brien Tommy O'Brien Thomas Edward O'Brien was a outfielder/third baseman in Major League Baseball, playing mainly as a right fielder for three different teams between the and seasons. Listed at 5' 11", 195 lb. O'Brien batted and threw right-handed... |
RF |
| 3 | Walt Dropo Walt Dropo Walter Dropo , nicknamed "Moose", was an American college basketball standout and a professional baseball first baseman... |
1B |
| 8 | Birdie Tebbetts Birdie Tebbetts George Robert "Birdie" Tebbetts was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians from to... |
C |
| 15 | Joe Dobson Joe Dobson Joseph Gordon Dobson , nicknamed "Burrhead," was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played with the Cleveland Indians , Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .... |
P |
Notable transactions
- November 15, 1948: Wally MosesWally MosesWallace Moses was a right fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1935 through 1951, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics , Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox . Moses batted and threw left-handed...
was released by the Red Sox. - November 24, 1948: Ray JablonskiRay JablonskiRaymond Leo Jablonski was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball with an 8-year career from 1953 to 1960. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he played for the St...
was drafted from the Red Sox by the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
in the 1948 minor league draft.
Roster
| 1949 Boston Red Sox | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers |
Catchers Infielders |
Outfielders Other batters |
Manager Coaches |
||||||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3B | 148 | 604 | 185 | .306 | 2 | 69 | |
| OF | 155 | 566 | 194 | .343 | 43 | 159 | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 295.1 | 25 | 7 | 2.77 | 122 | |
| 33 | 212.2 | 14 | 12 | 3.85 | 87 | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.35 | 5 | |
Awards and honors
- Ted WilliamsTed WilliamsTheodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
, OF, American League MVP - Ted Williams, American League leader, home runs (43) and runs batted in (159)
- Ted Williams, Major League record, Most consecutive games reached base safely (84).