1945 Washington Senators season

March 2026 November 2013 Washington Senators 1945 Washington Senators Primary Logo (1938 to 1947).svg American League Griffith Stadium Washington, D.C. 87 67 y 2nd Clark Griffith and George H. Richardson Ossie Bluege WOL (AM)/WWDC (FM) (Arch McDonald, Russ Hodges) List of Minnesota Twins seasons The 1945 Washington Senators won 87 games, lost 67, and finished in second place in the American League. They were managed by Ossie Bluege and played their home games at Griffith Stadium, where they drew 652,660 fans, fourth-most in the eight-team league. The 1945 Senators represented the 45th edition of the Major League Baseball franchise and were the last of the 20th-century Senators to place higher than fourth in the American League; the team moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul in 1961 to become the modern Minnesota Twins. When the regular season ended on September 30, Washington trailed the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers (88–65) by 11 2 games. But because of World War II travel restrictions and the need to convert Griffith Stadium's playing field to host its autumn football tenants, the NFL Washington Redskins and Georgetown University, the Senators' 1945 schedule had actually ended seven days before, on Sunday, September 23. On that day, the "Griffs" stood one full game behind 86–64 Detroit. As the idle Senators waited, the Tigers had four games to play, two each against the fifth-place Cleveland Indians and third-place St. Louis Browns. After splitting against the Indians, Detroit was rained out for three days in St. Louis. When the Tigers defeated the Browns 6–3 in the first game of the doubleheader on September 30 (on a come-from-behind, grand slam home run by Hank Greenberg), the Senators were mathematically eliminated and Detroit clinched the pennant. The second game of the twin bill was rained out.http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1945-baseball-history.html 1945: Hank's Heroic Rescue This Great Game: The Online Book of Baseball 29 September 2018 July 11, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200711031158/http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1945-baseball-history.html dead Outstanding pitching drove the 1945 Senators' success. Washington led the American League in team earned run average (2.92). Its starting rotation featured four knuckleball artists—Roger Wolff, Dutch Leonard, Johnny Niggeling and Mickey Haefner—who combined for 60 victories.http://www.espn.com/page2/wash/s/2002/0314/1351582.html A Last Great Season: The Senators in '45 Neyer Rob ESPN.com 29 September 2018 Wolff and Leonard posted sterling 2.12 and 2.13 earned run averages, third and fourth in the league. Regular season August 4, 1945: Amputee and World War II veteran Bert Shepard pitches in an official American League game against the Boston Red Sox. Shepard, a United States Army Air Forces fighter pilot who lost his right leg 11 inches below the knee when his plane was shot down over Germany on May 21, 1944, was fitted with an artificial leg. In spring 1945, the Senators signed the former minor league hurler as a coach and batting practice pitcher and activated him in August. Called into a one-sided contest in the second game of a doubleheader at Griffith Stadium on August 4, Shepard gave up only one run in 5 1 3 innings while striking out two Red Sox batters.https://baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/shepard_bert.htm Bert Shepard Bedingfield Gary baseballinwartime.com Baseball in Wartime October 1, 2023 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1945/B08042WS11945.htm Boston Red Sox 15, Washington Senators 2 August 4, 1945 retrosheet.org Retrosheet October 1, 2023 Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 193, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 September 7, 1945: Washington first baseman Joe Kuhel homers off the Browns' Bob Muncrief to provide the winning margin in a 3–2 Senator victory at Griffith Stadium. It is the only four-bagger struck all season by the Senators in 78 home games in their spacious ballpark—and it was an inside-the-park job.Retrosheet box score: 1945-09-07 Opposing teams hit only six home runs themselves in 1945 at Washington's home field. Season standings Washington Senators Record vs. opponents WSH Notable transactions July 26, 1945: The Senators sell the contract of outfielder Jake Powell to the Philadelphia Phillies."Transactions for 1945 Washington Senators." Retrosheet August 8, 1945: The Senators purchase the contract of outfielder Mike Kreevich from the St. Louis Browns. August 30, 1945: The Senators sign veteran free-agent pitcher Pete Appleton. Roster 1945 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers -- Pete Appleton 18 Alex Carrasquel 14 Joe Cleary 10 Mickey Haefner 19 Wally Holborow 16 Dutch Leonard 35 Walt Masterson 12 Johnny Niggeling 15 Marino Pieretti 32 Armando Roche 34 Bert Shepard 21 Dick Stone 28 Sandy Ullrich 17 Roger Wolff Catchers 11 Al Evans  8 Rick Ferrell  9 Mike Guerra Infielders  3 Harlond Clift  4 Dick Kimble  5 Joe Kuhel 22 Hillis Layne 24 George Myatt 25 Gil Torres 23 Cecil Travis 20 Fred Vaughn Outfielders  7 George Binks  1 George Case  6 Walt Chipple 32 Mike Kreevich  2 Buddy Lewis  6 Howie McFarland  4 Jake Powell 35 Vince Ventura 27 José Zardón Manager 30 Ossie Bluege Coaches 33 Nick Altrock 29 Joe Fitzgerald 38 Joe Judge 31 Clyde Milan 34 Bert Shepard 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 C Rick Ferrell 91 286 76 .266 1 38 1B Joe Kuhel 142 533 152 .285 2 75 2B George Myatt 133 490 145 .296 1 39 SS Gil Torres Gil Torres (baseball player) 147 562 133 .237 0 48 3B Harlond Clift 119 375 79 .211 8 53 OF Buddy Lewis 69 258 86 .333 2 37 OF George Binks 145 550 153 .278 6 81 OF George Case baseball 123 504 148 .294 1 31 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 Fred Vaughn 80 268 63 .235 1 25 Mike Kreevich 45 158 44 .278 1 23 Al Evans 51 150 39 .260 2 19 Hillis Layne 60 147 44 .299 1 14 Mike Guerra 56 138 29 .210 1 15 José Zardón 54 131 38 .290 0 13 Jake Powell 31 98 19 .194 0 3 Vince Ventura 18 58 12 .207 0 2 Cecil Travis 15 54 13 .241 0 10 Dick Kimble 20 49 12 .245 0 1 Walt Chipple 18 44 6 .136 0 5 Howie McFarland 6 11 1 .091 0 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 Roger Wolff 33 250.0 20 10 2.12 108 Mickey Haefner 37 238.1 16 14 3.47 83 Dutch Leonard Dutch Leonard (right-handed pitcher) 31 216.0 17 7 2.13 96 Johnny Niggeling 26 176.2 7 12 3.16 90 "Baseball Almanac" entry 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 Marino Pieretti 44 233.1 14 13 3.32 66 Alex Carrasquel 35 122.2 7 5 2.71 38 Sandy Ullrich 28 81.1 3 3 4.54 26 Walt Masterson 4 25.0 1 2 1.08 14 Pete Appleton 6 21.1 1 0 3.38 12 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 Wally Holborow 15 1 1 0 2.30 14 Dick Stone Dick Stone (baseball) 3 0 0 0 0.00 0 Armando Roche 2 0 0 0 6.00 0 Bert Shepard 1 0 0 0 1.69 2 Joe Cleary 1 0 0 0 189.00 1 Farm system Minor League Baseball A1 Chattanooga Lookouts Southern Association Bert Niehoff A Williamsport Grays Eastern League Ray Kolp Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 Notes 2 References 1945 Washington Senators at Baseball-Reference 1945 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) seasons Washington Senators season Washington