1948 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1948 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1948 in baseball. Sports season

1948 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 19 – October 4, 1948 (AL) April 19 – October 3, 1948 (NL) World Series: October 6–11, 1948
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Lou Boudreau (CLE) NL: Stan Musial (SLC)
AL champions	Cleveland Indians
AL runners-up	Boston Red Sox
NL champions	Boston Braves
NL runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series
Champions	Cleveland Indians
Runners-up	Boston Braves
MLB seasons
← 1947 1949 →

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons

American League

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons

National League

The 1948 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1948. The regular season ended on October 4, with the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Indians won the American League title via a tie-breaker game victory over the Boston Red Sox, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96–58 records. This was the second regular season tie-breaker, and saw a change from the previous three-game format to that of a single-game, Game 163. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 45th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 6 on October 11. The Indians defeated the Braves, four games to two.

The 15th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 13, hosted by the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, with the American League winning, 5–2 for their third straight win.

Schedule

The 1948 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 19, featuring six teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on October 3, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. Due to the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians finishing with the same record of 96–58, a tie-breaker game was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The Indians won the Game 163 tie-breaker on October 4. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 11.

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,500	Joe McCarthy
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	47,400	Ted Lyons
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	Cleveland Stadium	78,811	Lou Boudreau
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Briggs Stadium	58,000	Steve O'Neill
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	67,000	Bucky Harris
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,166	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,000	Zack Taylor
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	28,085	Joe Kuhel
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	37,106	Billy Southworth
	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	34,219	Leo Durocher, Ray Blades, Burt Shotton
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	38,396	Charlie Grimm
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	30,101	Johnny Neun, Bucky Walters
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	54,500	Mel Ott, Leo Durocher
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,166	Ben Chapman, Dusty Cooke, Eddie Sawyer
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	33,730	Billy Meyer
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,000	Eddie Dyer

Standings

American League

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	97	58	.626	—	48‍–‍30	49‍–‍28
Boston Red Sox	96	59	.619	1	55‍–‍23	41‍–‍36
New York Yankees	94	60	.610	2½	50‍–‍27	44‍–‍33
Philadelphia Athletics	84	70	.545	12½	36‍–‍41	48‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers	78	76	.506	18½	39‍–‍38	39‍–‍38
St. Louis Browns	59	94	.386	37	34‍–‍42	25‍–‍52
Washington Senators	56	97	.366	40	29‍–‍48	27‍–‍49
Chicago White Sox	51	101	.336	44½	27‍–‍48	24‍–‍53

National League

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Braves	91	62	.595	—	45‍–‍31	46‍–‍31
St. Louis Cardinals	85	69	.552	6½	44‍–‍33	41‍–‍36
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	.545	7½	36‍–‍41	48‍–‍29
Pittsburgh Pirates	83	71	.539	8½	47‍–‍31	36‍–‍40
New York Giants	78	76	.506	13½	37‍–‍40	41‍–‍36
Philadelphia Phillies	66	88	.429	25½	32‍–‍44	34‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds	64	89	.418	27	32‍–‍45	32‍–‍44
Chicago Cubs	64	90	.416	27½	35‍–‍42	29‍–‍48

The Cleveland Indians defeated the Boston Red Sox in a one-game regular season extension to earn the American League pennant.

Postseason

Bracket

World Series

AL	Cleveland Indians	0	4	2	2	5	4

NL	Boston Braves	1	1	0	1	11	3

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Brooklyn Dodgers	Burt Shotton	Leo Durocher
Pittsburgh Pirates	Bill Burwell	Billy Meyer
St. Louis Browns	Muddy Ruel	Zack Taylor
Washington Senators	Ossie Bluege	Joe Kuhel

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Brooklyn Dodgers	Leo Durocher	Ray Blades
Brooklyn Dodgers	Ray Blades	Burt Shotton
Cincinnati Reds	Johnny Neun	Bucky Walters
New York Giants	Mel Ott	Leo Durocher
Philadelphia Phillies	Ben Chapman	Dusty Cooke
Philadelphia Phillies	Dusty Cooke	Eddie Sawyer

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders
Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Ted Williams (BRS)	.369
HR	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)	39
RBI	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)	155
R	Tommy Henrich (NYY)	138
H	Bob Dillinger (SLB)	207
SB	Bob Dillinger (SLB)	28

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player	Total
W	Hal Newhouser (DET)	21
L	Fred Sanford (SLB)	21
ERA	Gene Bearden (CLE)	2.43
K	Bob Feller (CLE)	164
IP	Bob Lemon (CLE)	293.2
SV	Russ Christopher (CLE)	17

National League

Hitting leaders
Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Stan Musial (SLC)	.376
HR	Ralph Kiner (PIT) Johnny Mize (NYG)	40
RBI	Stan Musial (SLC)	131
R	Stan Musial (SLC)	135
H	Stan Musial (SLC)	230
SB	Richie Ashburn (PHP)	32

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player	Total
W	Johnny Sain (BSB)	24
L	Dutch Leonard (PHP)	17
ERA	Harry Brecheen (SLC)	2.24
K	Harry Brecheen (SLC)	149
IP	Johnny Sain (BSB)	314.2
SV	Harry Gumbert (CIN)	17

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Rookie of the Year	Alvin Dark (BSB)	—
Most Valuable Player	Stan Musial (SLC)	Lou Boudreau (CLE)

Other awards

The Sporting News Player of the Year Award: Lou Boudreau (CLE)
The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award: Johnny Sain (BSB, National); Bob Lemon (CLE, American)
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award: Richie Ashburn (PHP)
The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award: Billy Meyer (PIT)

Baseball Hall of Fame

Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Further information: 1948 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Cleveland Indians	97	21.3%	2,620,627	72.2%	33,172
New York Yankees	94	−3.1%	2,373,901	8.9%	30,830
Detroit Tigers	78	−8.2%	1,743,035	24.7%	22,637
Boston Red Sox	96	15.7%	1,558,798	9.2%	19,985
Pittsburgh Pirates	83	33.9%	1,517,021	18.2%	18,963
New York Giants	78	−3.7%	1,459,269	−8.8%	18,952
Boston Braves	91	5.8%	1,455,439	13.9%	19,151
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	−10.6%	1,398,967	−22.6%	17,935
Chicago Cubs	64	−7.2%	1,237,792	−9.3%	15,869
St. Louis Cardinals	85	−4.5%	1,111,440	−10.9%	14,434
Philadelphia Athletics	84	7.7%	945,076	3.7%	12,274
Cincinnati Reds	64	−12.3%	823,386	−8.5%	10,693
Washington Senators	56	−12.5%	795,254	−6.5%	10,196
Chicago White Sox	51	−27.1%	777,844	−11.3%	10,235
Philadelphia Phillies	66	6.5%	767,429	−15.4%	10,098
St. Louis Browns	59	0.0%	335,564	4.7%	4,415

Retired numbers

Babe Ruth had his No. 3 retired by the New York Yankees on June 13. This was the second number retired by the team.
Mel Ott had his No. 4 retired by the New York Giants on July 17. This was the second number retired by the team.

References

"Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
"Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.

External links

1948 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference

1948 MLB season by team

Major League Baseball

American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

Negro American League

Negro National League

Major League Baseball seasons

Pre-modern era

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