1948 Boston Braves season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Boston Braves 1948 National League champions National League Braves Field Boston, Massachusetts 91–62 (.595) 1st Louis R. Perini John J. Quinn Billy Southworth WBZ-TV/WNAC-TV WHDH(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey) The 1948 Boston Braves season was the 78th consecutive season of the Major League Baseball franchise, its 73rd in the National League. It produced the team's second NL pennant of the 20th century, its first since 1914, and its tenth overall league title dating to 1876. Led by starting pitchers Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn (who combined for 39 victories), and the hitting of Bob Elliott, Jeff Heath, Tommy Holmes and rookie Alvin Dark, the 1948 Braves captured 91 games to finish 61 2 paces ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. They also attracted 1,455,439 fansBaseball-Almanac.com to Braves Field, the third-largest gate in the National League and a high-water mark for the team's stay in Boston. The 1948 pennant was the fourth National League championship in seven years for Braves' manager Billy Southworth, who had won three NL titles (1942–44, inclusive) and two World Series championships (1942 and 1944) with the Cardinals. Southworth would be posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2008. However, the Braves fell in six games to the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 World Series, and would experience a swift decline in both on-field success and popularity over the next four seasons. Attendance woes—the Braves would draw only 281,278 home fans in 1952—forced the team's relocation to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in March 1953. (It later moved to Atlanta in 1966.) After playing .500 baseball in April and May 1948, the Braves vaulted into first place on the strength of a 39–21 record during June and July. Hampered by second baseman Eddie Stanky's broken ankle and center fielder Jim Russell's season-ending illness, the club slumped slightly in August, going only 14–17 and falling out of the lead August 29. But then it righted itself to win 21 of its final 28 games, regain the top spot September 2, and clinch the NL flag on the 26th. Meanwhile, the city's American League team, the Red Sox, ended their season in a first-place tie with the Indians and lost a playoff game to Cleveland at Fenway Park on October 4; this ruined the prospect of what would have been the only all-Boston World Series, now an impossibility since the Braves left Boston after the 1952 season. (The Tribe were doubtlessly very unpopular in Beantown after defeating both of their teams in the post-season.) For both the Braves and Red Sox, the 1948 season was the first in which their games were broadcast on television, with telecasts alternating between WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV and the teams sharing the same announcers. The first-ever telecast of a major league game in New England occurred on Tuesday night, June 15, with the Braves defeating the visiting Chicago Cubs 6–3 behind Sain's complete game.Halper, Donna L., June 15, 1948: Televised Baseball Debuts in Boston. Society for American Baseball ResearchRetrosheet box score:1948-06-15 Offseason October 28, 1947: Hoyt Wilhelm was purchased by the Braves from the Mooresville Moores. (Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.)Hoyt Wilhelm at Baseball-Reference November 20, 1947: Hoyt Wilhelm was drafted from the Braves by the New York Giants in the 1947 minor league draft. March 6, 1948: Bama Rowell, Ray Sanders, and $40,000 were traded by the Braves to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Eddie Stanky.Eddie Stanky at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1948 season: Carl Sawatski was acquired from the Braves by the Chicago Cubs.Carl Sawatski at Baseball-Reference Regular season right|thumb|Postcard showing the team. Season standings Record vs. opponents BSN Roster 1948 Boston Braves Roster Pitchers 34 Johnny Antonelli 13 Red Barrett 17 Johnny Beazley 24 Vern Bickford 16 Glenn Elliott 37 Bobby Hogue 25 Al Lyons 11 Ray Martin 25,22 Nels Potter 38 Jim Prendergast 33 Johnny Sain 26 Clyde Shoun 21 Warren Spahn 39,96 Bill Voiselle 29 Ernie White 16 Ed Wright Catchers 11 Paul Burris 10 Phil Masi 15 Bill Salkeld Infielders  2 Al Dark  3 Bob Elliott  6 Frank McCormick  8 Connie Ryan  7 Sibby Sisti 12 Eddie Stanky 14 Bobby Sturgeon  9 Earl Torgeson Outfielders 19 Clint Conatser 4,36 Jeff Heath  1 Tommy Holmes  7 Danny Litwhiler 31 Mike McCormick  4 Marv Rickert  5 Jim Russell Other batters 5,20 Ray Sanders Manager 30 Billy Southworth Coaches 28 Johnny Cooney 27 Fred Fitzsimmons 36 Si Johnson 35 Bob Keely Player stats = Indicates team leader 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 Phil Masi 113 376 95 .253 5 44 1B Earl Torgeson 134 438 111 .253 10 67 2B Eddie Stanky 67 247 79 .320 2 29 SS Al Dark 137 543 175 .322 3 48 3B Bob Elliott Bob Elliott (baseball) 151 540 153 .283 23 100 OF Tommy Holmes 139 585 190 .325 6 61 OF Jeff Heath 115 364 116 .319 20 76 OF Jim Russell Jim Russell (baseball) 89 322 85 .264 9 54 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 Mike McCormick Mike McCormick (outfielder) 115 343 104 .303 1 39 Clint Conatser 90 224 60 .277 3 23 Sibby Sisti 83 221 54 .244 0 21 Bill Salkeld 78 198 48 .242 8 28 Frank McCormick 75 180 45 .250 4 34 Connie Ryan 51 122 26 .213 0 10 Bobby Sturgeon 34 78 17 .218 0 4 Danny Litwhiler 13 33 9 .273 0 6 Marv Rickert 3 13 3 .231 0 2 Ray Sanders baseball 5 4 1 .250 0 2 Paul Burris Paul Burris (baseball) 2 4 2 .500 0 0 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 Johnny Sain 42 314.2 24 15 2.60 137 Warren Spahn 36 257.0 15 12 3.71 114 Bill Voiselle 37 215.2 13 13 3.63 89 Vern Bickford 33 146.0 11 5 3.27 60 Glenn Elliott Glenn Elliott (baseball) 1 3.0 1 0 3.00 2 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 Red Barrett 32 128.1 7 8 3.65 40 Nels Potter 18 85.0 5 2 2.33 47 Jim Prendergast 10 16.2 1 1 10.26 3 Johnny Beazley 3 16.0 0 1 4.50 4 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 Clyde Shoun 36 5 1 4 4.01 25 Bobby Hogue 40 8 2 2 3.23 43 Ernie White 15 0 2 2 1.96 8 Al Lyons 7 1 0 0 7.82 5 Johnny Antonelli 4 0 0 0 2.25 0 Ed Wright Ed Wright (baseball) 3 0 0 0 1.93 2 Ray Martin Ray Martin (baseball) 2 0 0 0 0.00 0 1948 World Series 1948 World Series Game 1 October 6, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts Cleveland CLE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Boston BOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 2 2 Johnny Sain (1–0) Bob Feller (0–1) Game 2 October 7, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts Cleveland CLE 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 4 8 1 Boston BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3 Bob Lemon (1–0) Warren Spahn (0–1) Game 3 October 8 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio Boston BOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 Cleveland CLE 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 2 5 0 Gene Bearden (1–0) Vern Bickford (0–1) Game 4 October 9, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio Boston BOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 0 Cleveland CLE 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 2 5 0 Steve Gromek (1–0) Johnny Sain (1–1) Marv Rickert (1) Larry Doby (1) Game 5 October 10, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio Boston BOS 3 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 0 11 12 0 Cleveland CLE 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 2 Warren Spahn (1–1) Bob Feller (0–2) Bob Elliott 2 (2), Bill Salkeld (1) Dale Mitchell (1), Jim Hegan (1) yes Game 6 October 11, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts Cleveland CLE 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 10 0 Boston BOS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 9 0 Bob Lemon (2–0) Bill Voiselle (0–1) Joe Gordon (1) None yes Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Milwaukee Brewers American Association Nick Cullop A Hartford Chiefs Eastern League Earl Browne B Evansville Braves Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Bob Coleman B Pawtucket Slaters New England League Hughie Wise B Jackson Senators Southeastern League Willis Hudlin C Kingston Ponies Border League Ben Lady C Eau Claire Bears Northern League Andy Cohen C Leavenworth Braves Western Association Dutch Dorman D Bluefield Blue-Grays Appalachian League George Lacy D Marysville Braves Far West League Ed Wheeler, James Keller and Spencer Harris D Mount Vernon Braves Illinois State League Creepy Crespi D Owensboro Oilers KITTY League Rex Carr D High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms North Carolina State League Jim Gruzdis D Richmond Braves Ohio–Indiana League Ollie ByersLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1948 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference Category:Boston Braves seasons Boston Braves Boston Braves Category:1940s in Boston Category:National League champion seasons