1949 Boston Red Sox season

The 1949 Boston Red Sox season was the 49th 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 58 losses. The Red Sox set a major league record which still stands for the most base on balls by a team in a season, with 835.[1]

1949 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, Leo Egan)
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Regular season

During the season, Mel Parnell was the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in one season for the Red Sox in the 20th century.[2] George Kell beat Ted Williams for the American League batting title by 0.0002 percentage points.[3]

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.[3] Williams was in the on-deck circle when Johnny Pesky 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 Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade Joe DiMaggio for Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.[4]

Yankees and Red Sox toe-to-toe

Joe DiMaggio 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.[5][6] 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.[7]

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, and the Red Sox lost that tiebreaker to the Cleveland Indians.

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9757 0.630 — 54–23 43–34
Boston Red Sox 9658 0.623 1 61–16 35–42
Cleveland Indians 8965 0.578 8 49–28 40–37
Detroit Tigers 8767 0.565 10 50–27 37–40
Philadelphia Athletics 8173 0.526 16 52–25 29–48
Chicago White Sox 6391 0.409 34 32–45 31–46
St. Louis Browns 53101 0.344 44 36–41 17–60
Washington Senators 50104 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 —17–58–1415–7–19–1314–815–718–4
Chicago 5–17—7–158–147–156–1615–715–7
Cleveland 14–815–7—13–910–129–1315–713–9
Detroit 7–15–114–89–13—11–1114–814–818–4
New York 13–915–712–1011–11—14–817–5–115–7
Philadelphia 8–1416–613–98–148–14—12–1016–6
St. Louis 7–157–157–158–145–17–110–12—9–13
Washington 4–187–159–134–187–156–1613–9—

Opening Day lineup
 7Dom DiMaggio    CF
 6Johnny Pesky3B
 9Ted WilliamsLF
 5Vern StephensSS
 1Bobby Doerr2B
23Tommy O'BrienRF
 3Walt Dropo1B
 8Birdie TebbettsC
15Joe DobsonP

Notable transactions

Roster
1949 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 Tebbetts122403109.270548
1BBilly Goodman122443132.298056
2BBobby Doerr139541167.30918109
SSVern Stephens155610177.29039159
3BJohnny Pesky148604185.306269
OFAl Zarilla124474133.281971
OFTed Williams155566194.34343159
OFDom DiMaggio145605186.307860

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
Matt Batts6015738.242331
Billy Hitchcock5514730.20409
Tommy O'Brien4912528.224310
Sam Mele18469.19607
Lou Stringer354111.26816
Walt Dropo11416.14601
Merl Combs14245.20801
Stan Spence7203.15001
Tom Wright541.25001
Babe Martin220.00000

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
Mel Parnell39295.12572.77122
Ellis Kinder432522363.36138
Joe Dobson33212.214123.8587
Chuck Stobbs261521164.0370
Jack Kramer21111.2685.1624
Mickey McDermott1280544.0550
Mickey Harris737.2235.0214

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
Walt Masterson1855344.2519
Earl Johnson1949.1367.4820

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
Tex Hughson294235.3335
Frank Quinn80002.864
Windy McCall500011.578
Harry Dorish50002.355
Dave Ferriss40004.051
Jack Robinson30002.251
Denny Galehouse200013.500
Johnnie Wittig10009.000

Awards and honors
  • Ted Williams, OF, American League MVP
  • Ted Williams, American League leader, home runs (43) and runs batted in (159)[3]
  • Ted Williams, Major League record, Most consecutive games reached base safely (84).[3]

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Fred Walters and Mike Ryba
AA Birmingham Barons Southern Association Pinky Higgins
A Scranton Red Sox Eastern League Mike Ryba and Jack Burns
B Roanoke Red Sox Piedmont League Red Marion
C San Jose Red Sox California League Marv Owen
C Oneonta Red Sox Canadian–American League Eddie Popowski
D Valley Rebels Georgia–Alabama League Jesse Danna, Malvern "Mal" Morgan
and Woodrow "Woody" Bottoms
D Marion Red Sox Ohio–Indiana League Wally Millies
D Hornell Maple Leafs PONY League Marius Russo

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose, Marion[10]

Notes
  1. "Single Season Bases on Balls Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  2. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  3. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 44, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  4. ESPN.com – Page2 – The List: Baseball's biggest rumors
  5. "Yanks, Sox Settle Title In New York". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. September 29, 1949. p. 8. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  6. "October 1, 1949 Red Sox-Yankees box score". retrosheet.org. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  7. "October 2, 1949 Red Sox-Yankees box score". retrosheet.org. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  8. Wally Moses page at Baseball Reference
  9. Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference
  10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References
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