1949 Boston Red Sox season
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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, one game behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the
1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th championship in team history. This victory would start a record ...
. The Red Sox set a major-league record which still stands for the most
base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...
by a team in a season, with 835.
Center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
Dom DiMaggio had a 34-game hitting streak, which still stands as the club record for the major-league Red Sox.


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. George Kell beat Ted Williams for the American League batting title by 0.0002 percentage points.''Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records'', p. 44, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, 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. 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 Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail Sr. (February 3, 1890 – October 1, 1975) was an American lawyer and an executive in Major League Baseball. He served as a high-ranking executive, including club president and general manager, with the Cincinn ...
verbally agreed to trade Joe DiMaggio for Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.


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 after that, going 60-21 (.741) in their next 81 games, and they consequently 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 John Harlan Lindell (August 30, 1916 – August 27, 1985) was an American professional baseball player who was an outfielder and pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1950 and from 1953 to 1954 for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinal ...
hit an eighth-inning, game-winning, home run and Joe Page had a great relief appearance for New York. 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, Red Sox manager
Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most vis ...
lifted Kinder for
pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...
Tom Wright, who walked but was then erased on a double play. With Kinder out of the game, McCarthy then brought in Mel Parnell in relief, even though Parnell had pitched 4 innings the previous day (in which he had given up 8 hits, two walks and four runs). Parnell immediately yielded a homer to Tommy Henrich and a single to Yogi Berra, and after those two batters was quickly replaced by
Tex Hughson Cecil Carlton Hughson, (February 9, 1916 – August 6, 1993) was a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played his entire career in the American League with the Boston Red Sox (1941–44, 1946–49). He batted and threw right-handed. A nat ...
, 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 Allen Lee "Zeke" Zarilla (May 1, 1919 – August 28, 1996) was an American professional baseball player, scout and coach. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from to , most notably as a member of the only St. Louis Browns team to ...
in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs. In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short. McCarthy was criticized for pinch-hitting for Kinder, particularly when there were no fully-rested, effective arms in the bullpen to replace Kinder on the mound. Hughson also claimed his manager ruined his career by making him pitch with a sore arm—Hughson, an eight-year Red Sox veteran, never again appeared in the major leagues after this game. It was the second year in a row McCarthy's late-season managing was called into question. In
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
, McCarthy had chosen journeyman pitcher
Denny Galehouse Dennis Ward Galehouse (December 7, 1911 – December 12, 1998) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Browns between 1934 and 1949. Galehouse batted and threw right-handed. ...
to start the
tie breaker In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests. General operation In matches In some situations, the tiebreaker may consi ...
that decided who went to the
1948 World Series The 1948 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1948 season. The 45th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Boston Br ...
, and the Red Sox lost that tiebreaker to the Cleveland Indians.


Season standings


Record vs. opponents


Opening Day lineup


Notable transactions

* November 15, 1948:
Wally Moses Wallace Moses (October 8, 1910 – October 10, 1990) was an Americans, American professional baseball right fielder, who played Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics (1935–41; 1949–51), Chicago White Sox (1942–46) and Boston R ...
was released by the Red Sox. * November 24, 1948: Ray Jablonski was drafted from the Red Sox by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1948 minor league draft.


Roster


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''


Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''


Pitching


Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''


Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''


Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''


Awards and honors

* Ted Williams, OF, American League MVP * Ted Williams, American League leader, home runs (43) and runs batted in (159) * Ted Williams, Major League record, Most consecutive games reached base safely (84).


Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose, MarionJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007


References


External links


1949 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference1949 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com
{{Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox seasons Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox 1940s in Boston