1948 Boston Red Sox season

1948 Boston Red Sox
Major league affiliations
American League (Since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (Since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (Since 1901)
1948 Information
Owner(s)	Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)	Joe Cronin
Manager(s)	Joe McCarthy
Local television	WBZ-TV/WNAC-TV (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Bump Hadley)
Local radio	WHDH (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
Previous season     Next season

The 1948 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

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.

Notable transactions

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

Regular season

In 1948, Kramer led the American League in winning percentage. 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.

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 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. Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder claimed that they were both ready to pitch.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Cleveland Indians	97	58	.626	--
Boston Red Sox	96	59	.619	1
New York Yankees	94	60	.610	2.5
Philadelphia Athletics	84	70	.545	12.5
Detroit Tigers	78	76	.506	18.5
St. Louis Browns	59	94	.386	37
Washington Senators	56	97	.366	40
Chicago White Sox	51	101	.336	44.5

Opening Day lineup

7	Dom DiMaggio	CF
6	Johnny Pesky	3B
9	Ted Williams	LF
2	Stan Spence	1B
5	Vern Stephens	SS
1	Bobby Doerr	2B
4	Sam Mele	RF
8	Birdie Tebbetts	C
15	Joe Dobson	P

Roster

1948 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 20 Earl Caldwell 28 Cot Deal 15 Joe Dobson 20 Harry Dorish 33 Dave Ferriss 25 Denny Galehouse 19 Mickey Harris 21 Tex Hughson 12 Earl Johnson 16 Ellis Kinder 18 Jack Kramer 35 Windy McCall 36 Mickey McDermott 20 Mike Palm 17 Mel Parnell 22 Chuck Stobbs		Catchers 14 Matt Batts 34 Babe Martin  8 Birdie Tebbetts Infielders  1 Bobby Doerr 10 Billy Goodman 11 Billy Hitchcock  3 Jake Jones  6 Johnny Pesky  5 Vern Stephens 26 Lou Stringer		Outfielders  7 Dom DiMaggio  4 Sam Mele 24 Wally Moses  2 Stan Spence  9 Ted Williams Other batters 27 Johnny Ostrowski 23 Neill Sheridan 23 Tom Wright		Manager -- Joe McCarthy Coaches 30 Del Baker 32 Earle Combs 31 Paul Schreiber 29 Larry Woodall

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
2B	Doerr, BobbyBobby Doerr	140	527	150	.285	27	111
SS	Stephens, VernVern Stephens	155	635	171	.285	29	137
OF	Williams, TedTed Williams	137	509	188	.369	25	127

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
Hitchcock, BillyBilly Hitchcock	49	124	37	.298	1	2

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
Dobson, JoeJoe Dobson	38	245.1	16	10	3.56	116
Parnell, MelMel Parnell	35	212	15	8	3.14	77
Kramer, JackJack Kramer	29	205	18	5	2.35	72
Kinder, EllisEllis Kinder	28	178	10	7	3.74	53

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
Galehouse, DennyDenny Galehouse	27	137.1	8	8	4.00	38

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
Dorish, HarryHarry Dorish	9	0	1	0	5.65	5
Caldwell, EarlEarl Caldwell	8	1	1	0	13.00	5
Deal, CotCot Deal	4	1	0	0	0.00	2

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	Barney 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 Dana
D	Wellsville Red Sox	PONY League	Tom Carey

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham, Scranton, Oneonta, Milford

References

• 1948 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1948 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com