1948 Boston Braves season

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

WNAC-TV
RadioWHDH
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)

The 1948

Boston Braves season was the 78th consecutive season of the Major League Baseball franchise, its 73rd in the National League. It produced the team's second NL pennant of the 20th century, its first since 1914
, and its tenth overall league title dating to 1876.

Led by

Baseball Hall of Fame
as a manager in 2008.

However, the Braves fell in six games to the

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in March 1953. (It later moved to Atlanta in 1966
.)

After playing .500 baseball in April and May 1948, the Braves vaulted into first place on the strength of a 39–21 record during June and July. Hampered by second baseman Eddie Stanky's broken ankle and center fielder Jim Russell's season-ending illness, the club slumped slightly in August, going only 14–17 and falling out of the lead August 29. But then it righted itself to win 21 of its final 28 games, regain the top spot September 2, and clinch the NL flag on the 26th. Meanwhile, the city's American League team, the Red Sox, ended their season in a first-place tie with the Indians and lost a playoff game to Cleveland at Fenway Park on October 4; this ruined the prospect of what would have been the only all-Boston World Series, now an impossibility since the Braves left Boston after the 1952 season. (The Tribe were doubtlessly very unpopular in Beantown after defeating both of their teams in the post-season.)

For both the Braves and Red Sox, the 1948 season was the first in which their games were broadcast on television, with telecasts alternating between WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV and the teams sharing the same announcers. The first-ever telecast of a major league game in New England occurred on Tuesday night, June 15, with the Braves defeating the visiting Chicago Cubs 6–3 behind Sain's complete game.[2][3]

Offseason

Regular season

Postcard showing the team.

Season standings

National League
W
L
 Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Braves 91 62 0.595 — 45–31 46–31
St. Louis Cardinals 85 69 0.552 6½ 44–33 41–36
Brooklyn Dodgers 84 70 0.545 7½ 36–41 48–29
Pittsburgh Pirates 83 71 0.539 8½ 47–31 36–40
New York Giants 78 76 0.506 13½ 37–40 41–36
Philadelphia Phillies 66 88 0.429 25½ 32–44 34–44
Cincinnati Reds 64 89 0.418 27 32–45 32–44
Chicago Cubs 64 90 0.416 27½ 35–42 29–48

Record vs. opponents

1948 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 14–8 16–6–1 13–8 11–11 14–8 12–10 11–11
Brooklyn 8–14 — 11–11 18–4 11–11–1 15–7 9–13 12–10
Chicago 6–16–1 11–11 — 10–12 11–11 7–15 8–14 11–11
Cincinnati 8–13 4–18 12–10 — 10–12 11–11 9–13 10–12
New York 11–11 11–11–1 11–11 12–10 — 14–8 12–10 7–15
Philadelphia 8–14 7–15 15–7 11–11 8–14 — 12–10–1 5–17
Pittsburgh 10–12 13–9 14–8 13–9 10–12 10–12–1 — 13–9–1
St. Louis 11–11 10–12 11–11 12–10 15–7 17–5 9–13–1 —


Roster

1948 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 Phil Masi 113 376 95 .253 5 44
1B Earl Torgeson 134 438 111 .253 10 67
2B Eddie Stanky 67 247 79 .320 2 29
SS
Al Dark
 137 543 175 .322 3 48
3B Bob Elliott 151 540 153 .283 23 100
OF Tommy Holmes 139 585 190 .325 6 61
OF Jeff Heath 115 364 116 .319 20 76
OF Jim Russell 89 322 85 .264 9 54

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
Mike McCormick 115 343 104 .303 1 39
Clint Conatser 90 224 60 .277 3 23
Sibby Sisti 83 221 54 .244 0 21
Bill Salkeld 78 198 48 .242 8 28
Frank McCormick 75 180 45 .250 4 34
Connie Ryan 51 122 26 .213 0 10
Bobby Sturgeon 34 78 17 .218 0 4
Danny Litwhiler 13 33 9 .273 0 6
Marv Rickert 3 13 3 .231 0 2
Ray Sanders 5 4 1 .250 0 2
Paul Burris 2 4 2 .500 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
Johnny Sain 42 314.2 24 15 2.60 137
Warren Spahn 36 257.0 15 12 3.71 114
Bill Voiselle 37 215.2 13 13 3.63 89
Vern Bickford 33 146.0 11 5 3.27 60
Glenn Elliott 1 3.0 1 0 3.00 2

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
Red Barrett 32 128.1 7 8 3.65 40
Nels Potter 18 85.0 5 2 2.33 47
Jim Prendergast 10 16.2 1 1 10.26 3
Johnny Beazley 3 16.0 0 1 4.50 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
Clyde Shoun 36 5 1 4 4.01 25
Bobby Hogue 40 8 2 2 3.23 43
Ernie White 15 0 2 2 1.96 8
Al Lyons 7 1 0 0 7.82 5
Johnny Antonelli 4 0 0 0 2.25 0
Ed Wright 3 0 0 0 1.93 2
Ray Martin 2 0 0 0 0.00 0

1948 World Series

Main article: 1948 World Series

Game 1

October 6, 1948, at

Boston, Massachusetts

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 2 2
WP: Johnny Sain (1–0)   LP: Bob Feller (0–1)

Game 2

October 7, 1948, at

Boston, Massachusetts

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 4 8 1
Boston 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3
WP: Bob Lemon (1–0)   LP: Warren Spahn (0–1)

Game 3

October 8 at

Cleveland, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Cleveland 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 2 5 0
WP: Gene Bearden (1–0)   LP: Vern Bickford (0–1)

Game 4

October 9, 1948, at

Cleveland, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 0
Cleveland 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 2 5 0
WP: Steve Gromek (1–0)   LP: Johnny Sain (1–1)
Home runs:
BOS: Marv Rickert (1)
CLE: Larry Doby (1)

Game 5

October 10, 1948, at

Cleveland, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 3 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 0 11 12 0
Cleveland 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 2
WP: Warren Spahn (1–1)   LP: Bob Feller (0–2)
Home runs:
BOS: Bob Elliott 2 (2), Bill Salkeld (1)
CLE: Dale Mitchell (1), Jim Hegan (1)

Game 6

October 11, 1948, at

Boston, Massachusetts

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 10 0
Boston 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 9 0
WP: Bob Lemon (2–0)   LP: Bill Voiselle (0–1)
Home runs:
CLE: Joe Gordon (1)
BOS: None

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA
Milwaukee Brewers
American Association
 Nick Cullop
A
 Hartford Chiefs
Eastern League
 Earl Browne
B
 Evansville Braves Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Bob Coleman
B
 Pawtucket Slaters New England League Hughie Wise
B
 Jackson Senators Southeastern League Willis Hudlin
C
 Kingston Ponies Border League Ben Lady
C
 Eau Claire Bears Northern League
Andy Cohen
C
Leavenworth Braves
 Western Association Dutch Dorman
D
Bluefield Blue-Grays
 Appalachian League George Lacy
D
Marysville Braves
 Far West League Ed Wheeler, James Keller
and Spencer Harris
D
Mount Vernon Braves
 Illinois State League
Creepy Crespi
D
 Owensboro Oilers
KITTY League
 Rex Carr
D
 High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms North Carolina State League Jim Gruzdis
D
 Richmond Braves Ohio–Indiana League Ollie Byers

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville

Notes

  1. ^ a b Baseball-Almanac.com
  2. ^ Halper, Donna L., June 15, 1948: Televised Baseball Debuts in Boston. Society for American Baseball Research
  3. ^ Retrosheet box score:1948-06-15
  4. ^ a b Hoyt Wilhelm at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Eddie Stanky at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Carl Sawatski at Baseball-Reference

References

  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.
    ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3
    .
  • 1948 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1948_Boston_Braves_season&oldid=1216022937"