1949 Washington Senators season

The 1949 Washington Senators, the 49th edition of the Major League Baseball franchise, won 50 games, lost 104, and finished in eighth and last place in the American League. It was the worst showing by the Washington club in 40 years, since the 1909 Senators lost 113 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]

1949 Washington Senators
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Griffith Stadium (since 1911) Washington, D.C. (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Clark Griffith and the estate of George H. Richardson
Manager(s)	Joe Kuhel
Local television	WTTG (Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Howard Williams)
Local radio	WWDC (FM) (Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Howard Williams)
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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

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	54–23	43–34
Boston Red Sox	96	58	0.623	1	61–16	35–42
Cleveland Indians	89	65	0.578	8	49–28	40–37
Detroit Tigers	87	67	0.565	10	50–27	37–40
Philadelphia Athletics	81	73	0.526	16	52–25	29–48
Chicago White Sox	63	91	0.409	34	32–45	31–46
St. Louis Browns	53	101	0.344	44	36–41	17–60
Washington Senators	50	104	0.325	47	26–51	24–53

Record vs. opponents

1949 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	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 20 Paul Calvert 19 Milo Candini 28 Buzz Dozier 19,28 Al Gettel 16 Julio González 16 Mickey Haefner 14 Mickey Harris 26 Joe Haynes 37 Lloyd Hittle 15 Sid Hudson 14 Ed Klieman 35 Walt Masterson 19 Jim Pearce 10 Ray Scarborough 11 Dizzy Sutherland 12 Forrest Thompson 18 Dick Weik 21 Dick Welteroth		Catchers 9,11 Jake Early  8 Al Evans 11 Ralph Weigel Infielders 24 Mark Christman  4 Sam Dente 27 Jay Difani  1 Al Kozar  5 Sherry Robertson 25 Eddie Robinson  7 Eddie Yost		Outfielders  3 Gil Coan  2 Buddy Lewis 27 Sam Mele 35 Roberto Ortiz 23 John Simmons  6 Bud Stewart 22 Clyde Vollmer Other batters 17 Hal Keller 28 Herman Reich		Manager 40 Joe Kuhel Coaches 33 Nick Altrock 32 Rick Ferrell 36 Joe Fitzgerald 31 Clyde Milan 34 Sam West

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
SS	Sam Dente	153	590	161	.273	1	53

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
Roberto Ortiz	40	129	36	.279	1	11

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
Ray Scarborough	34	199.2	13	11	4.60	81
Paul Calvert	34	160.2	6	17	5.43	52

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	5	7	4.21	32
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
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

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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]

Notes

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

References

• 1949 Washington Senators at Baseball-Reference
• 1949 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com