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, one game behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1949 World Series. 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
Ted Williams named AL MVP
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Fenway Park (since 1912) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1901)
Results
Record	96–58 (.623)
League place	2nd (1 GB)
Other 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, Leo Egan)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
< Previous season     Next season >

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	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	—

Opening Day lineup

7	Dom DiMaggio	CF
6	Johnny Pesky	3B
9	Ted Williams	LF
5	Vern Stephens	SS
1	Bobby Doerr	2B
23	Tommy O'Brien	RF
3	Walt Dropo	1B
8	Birdie Tebbetts	C
15	Joe Dobson	P

Notable transactions

• November 15, 1948: Wally Moses was released by the Red Sox.[8]
• November 24, 1948: Ray Jablonski was drafted from the Red Sox by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1948 minor league draft.[9]

Roster

1949 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers 15 Joe Dobson 28 Harry Dorish 33 Dave Ferriss 25 Denny Galehouse 19 Mickey Harris 21 Tex Hughson 12 Earl Johnson 16 Ellis Kinder 18 Jack Kramer 20 Walt Masterson 35 Windy McCall 19 Mickey McDermott 17 Mel Parnell 26 Frank Quinn 28 Jack Robinson 22 Chuck Stobbs 35 Johnnie Wittig		Catchers 14 Matt Batts 34 Babe Martin  8 Birdie Tebbetts Infielders 24 Merl Combs  1 Bobby Doerr  3 Walt Dropo 10 Billy Goodman 11 Billy Hitchcock  6 Johnny Pesky  5 Vern Stephens 27 Lou Stringer		Outfielders  7 Dom DiMaggio  4 Sam Mele 23 Tommy O'Brien  2 Stan Spence  9 Ted Williams  2 Al Zarilla Other batters 28 Tom Wright		Manager -- Joe McCarthy Coaches 32 Earle Combs (First base) 30 Kiki Cuyler (Third base) 31 Paul Schreiber (Hitting) 29 Johnny Schulte (Bullpen)

Player stats

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	Birdie Tebbetts	122	403	109	.270	5	48
1B	Billy Goodman	122	443	132	.298	0	56
2B	Bobby Doerr	139	541	167	.309	18	109
SS	Vern Stephens	155	610	177	.290	39	159
3B	Johnny Pesky	148	604	185	.306	2	69
OF	Al Zarilla	124	474	133	.281	9	71
OF	Ted Williams	155	566	194	.343	43	159
OF	Dom DiMaggio	145	605	186	.307	8	60

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 Batts	60	157	38	.242	3	31
Billy Hitchcock	55	147	30	.204	0	9
Tommy O'Brien	49	125	28	.224	3	10
Sam Mele	18	46	9	.196	0	7
Lou Stringer	35	41	11	.268	1	6
Walt Dropo	11	41	6	.146	0	1
Merl Combs	14	24	5	.208	0	1
Stan Spence	7	20	3	.150	0	1
Tom Wright	5	4	1	.250	0	1
Babe Martin	2	2	0	.000	0	0

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 Parnell	39	295.1	25	7	2.77	122
Ellis Kinder	43	252	23	6	3.36	138
Joe Dobson	33	212.2	14	12	3.85	87
Chuck Stobbs	26	152	11	6	4.03	70
Jack Kramer	21	111.2	6	8	5.16	24
Mickey McDermott	12	80	5	4	4.05	50
Mickey Harris	7	37.2	2	3	5.02	14

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 Masterson	18	55	3	4	4.25	19
Earl Johnson	19	49.1	3	6	7.48	20

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 Hughson	29	4	2	3	5.33	35
Frank Quinn	8	0	0	0	2.86	4
Windy McCall	5	0	0	0	11.57	8
Harry Dorish	5	0	0	0	2.35	5
Dave Ferriss	4	0	0	0	4.05	1
Jack Robinson	3	0	0	0	2.25	1
Denny Galehouse	2	0	0	0	13.50	0
Johnnie Wittig	1	0	0	0	9.00	0

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

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

• 1949 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1949 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com