1948 Boston Red Sox season

The 1948 Boston Red Sox season was the 48th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League (AL) with a record of 96 wins and 59 losses, including the loss of a one-game playoff to the Cleveland Indians after both teams had finished the regular schedule with identical 96–58 records. The first Red Sox season to be broadcast on television, broadcasts were then alternated between WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV but with the same broadcast team regardless of broadcasting station.

1948 Boston Red Sox
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)Joe Cronin
Manager(s)Joe McCarthy
Local televisionWBZ-TV/WNAC-TV
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Bump Hadley)
Local radioWHDH
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
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Offseason

In December 1947, the Red Sox made a deal with the St. Louis Browns. The Sox acquired Vern Stephens, Billy Hitchcock, and pitchers Jack Kramer and Ellis Kinder. The deal cost $375,000 and 11 Red Sox players.[1]

Notable transactions
  • Prior to 1948 season (exact date unknown)
    • Milt Bolling was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.[2]
    • Bob Smith[3] was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.

Regular season

In 1948, Kramer led the American League in winning percentage.[1] The manager of the team was former New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy, who replaced the outgoing Joe Cronin. Cronin had led the Red Sox to an 83–71 record in 1947, finishing in third place.[4]

Throughout 1948, the Sox, New York Yankees, and the Cleveland Indians slugged it out for the pennant. At the end of the regular season, Boston and Cleveland were tied for first place. Each team had a record of 96 wins and 58 losses, two games ahead of the Yankees.

American League Playoff

At the end of the season, the Red Sox and the Indians were tied for first place. This led to the American League's first-ever one-game playoff. The game was played at Fenway Park on Monday, October 4, 1948. The start time was 1:15 pm EST.

McCarthy picked former St. Louis Browns pitcher Denny Galehouse, who had an 8–7 pitching record, to be his starter. The Indians won the game by the score of 8–3. Indians third baseman Ken Keltner contributed to the victory with his single, double, and 3-run homer over the Green Monster in the 4th inning. Later, McCarthy said he had no rested arms and that there was no else who could pitch.[1] Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder claimed that they were both ready to pitch.[1]

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 9758 0.626 — 48–30 49–28
Boston Red Sox 9659 0.619 1 55–23 41–36
New York Yankees 9460 0.610 2½ 50–27 44–33
Philadelphia Athletics 8470 0.545 12½ 36–41 48–29
Detroit Tigers 7876 0.506 18½ 39–38 39–38
St. Louis Browns 5994 0.386 37 34–42 25–52
Washington Senators 5697 0.366 40 29–48 27–49
Chicago White Sox 51101 0.336 44½ 27–48 24–53

Record vs. opponents
1948 American League Records

Sources:
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHI STL WSH
Boston —14–811–1215–714–812–1015–715–7
Chicago 8–14—6–168–146–166–168–13–19–12–1
Cleveland 12–1116–6—13–910–1216–614–8–116–6
Detroit 7–1514–89–13—9–1312–1011–1116–6
New York 8–1416–612–1013–9—12–1016–617–5
Philadelphia 10–1216–66–1610–1210–12—18–414–8
St. Louis 7–1513–8–18–14–111–116–164–18—10–12
Washington 7–1512–9–16–166–165–178–1412–10—

Opening Day lineup
 7Dom DiMaggioCF
 6Johnny Pesky3B
 9Ted WilliamsLF
 2Stan Spence1B
 5Vern StephensSS
 1Bobby Doerr2B
 4Sam MeleRF
 8Birdie TebbettsC
15Joe DobsonP

Roster
1948 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

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
CBirdie Tebbetts128446125.280568
1BBilly Goodman127445138.310166
2BBobby Doerr140527150.28527111
SSVern Stephens155635171.28529137
3BJohnny Pesky143565159.281355
OFTed Williams137509188.36925127
OFStan Spence11439192.2351261
OFDom DiMaggio155648185.285987

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
Wally Moses7818949.259229
Sam Mele6618042.233225
Matt Batts4611837.314124
Billy Hitchcock4912437.29812
Jake Jones3610521.20018
Lou Stringer4111.09111
Babe Martin442.50000
Tom Wright321.50000
Neill Sheridan210.00000
Johnny Ostrowski110.00000

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
Joe Dobson38245.116103.56116
Mel Parnell352121583.1477
Jack Kramer292051852.3572
Ellis Kinder281781073.7453
Mickey Harris20113.27105.3042
Windy McCall11.10120.250

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
Denny Galehouse27137.1884.0038
Dave Ferriss31115.1735.2330

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
Earl Johnson3510454.5345
Tex Hughson153105.126
Harry Dorish90105.655
Earl Caldwell811013.005
Mickey McDermott70006.1717
Chuck Stobbs60006.434
Cot Deal41000.002
Mike Palm30006.001

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Nemo Leibold and Owen Scheetz
AA Birmingham Barons Southern Association Fred Walters
A Scranton Red Sox Eastern League Mike Ryba
B Lynn Red Sox New England League Eddie Popowski
B Roanoke Red Sox Piedmont League Pinky Higgins
C Auburn Cayugas Border League Phillip "Barnie" Hearn
C San Jose Red Sox California League Marv Owen
C Oneonta Red Sox Canadian–American League Red Marion
D Milford Red Sox Eastern Shore League Clayton Sheedy
D Oroville Red Sox Far West League Nino Bongiovanni
D Valley Rebels Georgia–Alabama League Jesse Danna
D Wellsville Red Sox PONY League Tom Carey

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham, Scranton, Oneonta, Milford[5]

Notes
  1. The Boston Red Sox, Milton Cole and Jim Kaplan, p.30, World Publications Group, North Dighton, Massachusetts, ISBN 1-57215-412-8
  2. Milt Bolling page at Baseball Reference
  3. Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference
  4. The Boston Red Sox, Milton Cole and Jim Kaplan, p.29, World Publications Group, North Dighton, Massachusetts, ISBN 1-57215-412-8
  5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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References
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