1951 St. Louis Browns season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Browns 1951 American League Sportsman's Park St. Louis, Missouri 52–102 (.338) 8th Bill DeWitt, Bill Veeck Bill DeWitt, Bill Veeck Zack Taylor KSD KWK(Buddy Blattner, Howard Williams) The 1951 St. Louis Browns season involved the Browns finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 52 wins, and 102 losses. Regular season Bill Veeck Bill Veeck, the majority owner and manager of St. Louis Browns, signed Satchel Paige on July 17, 1951, and announced the 45-year-old would start the following night against the Washington Senators.Paige signs with Browns New York Times Database July 18, 1951 112187358 In his first game back in the major leagues since 1949, Paige pitched six innings of shutout baseball before giving up three runs in the 7th inning. Paige ended the season with a 3–4 record and a 4.79 ERA. Another of Veeck's promotions included the signing of Eddie Gaedel. Gaedel gained immortality in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday, August 19. Weighing just 65 lb kg, and 3 ft 7 in m tall, he became the shortest player in the history of the major leagues. He stood 3 ft 4 in m shorter than Jon Rauch, whose height of 6 ft 11 in m on made him the tallest person to play in a major league game. He had been secretly signed by the Browns and put in uniform (complete with elf slippers & the number "1/8 in on the back) as a publicity stunt. Gaedel popped out of a papier-mache cake between games of a doubleheader to celebrate the American League's 50th anniversary, and as a Falstaff Brewery promotion. Falstaff, and the fans, had been promised a "festival of surprises" by Veeck. Before the second game got underway, the press agreed that the "midget-in-a-cake" appearance had not been up to Veeck's usual promotional standard. Falstaff personnel, who had been promised national publicity for their participation, were particularly dissatisfied. Keeping the surprise he had in store for the second game to himself, Veeck just meekly apologized. Gaedel entered the game between the Browns and Detroit Tigers in the first inning as a pinch hitter for leadoff batter Frank Saucier. Immediately, umpire Ed Hurley called for Browns manager Zack Taylor. Veeck and Taylor had the foresight to have a copy of Gaedel's contract on hand, as well as a copy of the Browns' active roster, which had room for Gaedel's addition.Numbelievable! 92 Michael X. Ferraro John Veneziano Triumph Books Chicago 2007 978-1-57243-990-0 Tigers pitcher Bob Cain walked him.Numbelievable! 93 Michael X. Ferraro John Veneziano Triumph Books Chicago 2007 978-1-57243-990-0 Jim Delsing pinch ran for Gaedel, but did not score. Ned Garver In 1951, Ned Garver fashioned an outstanding season. Pitching for the Browns, Garver compiled a 20–12 record,Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 105, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, 978-1-4165-8928-0 which was noteworthy considering the Browns lost 102 games. Garver also posted a 3.73 ERA. Garver's wins accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Browns' 52 total wins. Garver also led the American League in complete games with 24 in 1951, and when he pitched he often batted sixth in the order rather than the customary ninth, compiling a .305 batting average with one home run. Garver is the only pitcher in American League history to win 20 or more games for a team which lost 100 or more games in the same season, and the only pitcher in Major League history to do since 1920 or with a winning record. Season standings St. Louis Browns Record vs. opponents STL Notable transactions June 4, 1951: Don Lenhardt was traded by the Browns to the Chicago White Sox for Kermit Wahl and Paul Lehner.Kermit Wahl at Baseball-Reference July 14, 1951: Satchel Paige was signed as a free agent by the Browns.Satchel Paige at Baseball-Reference July 21, 1951: Bob Nieman was purchased by the Browns from the Oklahoma City Indians.Bob Nieman at Baseball-Reference July 31, 1951: Ray Coleman was selected off waivers from the Browns by the Chicago White Sox.Ray Coleman at Baseball-Reference August 19, 1951: Eddie Gaedel was signed as an amateur free agent by the Browns.Eddie Gaedel at Baseball-Reference Roster 1951 St. Louis Browns Roster Pitchers 47 Tommy Byrne 23 Cliff Fannin 31 Ned Garver 25 Bobby Herrera 18 Bobby Hogue 22 Don Johnson 46 Bill Kennedy 25,48 Bob Mahoney 28 Duke Markell 24,51 Jim McDonald 26 Irv Medlinger 40 Stubby Overmire 22,49 Satchel Paige 21 Duane Pillette 28,50 Fred Sanford 42 Sid Schacht 39 Lou Sleater 28 Dick Starr 42 Jim Suchecki 26 Bob Turley 20 Al Widmar Catchers 10 Matt Batts 11 Clyde Kluttz  9 Sherm Lollar 10 Les Moss Infielders  3 Hank Arft  7 Johnny Berardino  8 Johnny Bero  1 Billy DeMars 11 Mike Goliat  6 Bill Jennings 24 Dale Long 18 Joe Lutz  2 Fred Marsh  8 Ben Taylor  4 Bud Thomas  4 Tom Upton 23 Kermit Wahl  5 Bobby Young Outfielders 17 Ray Coleman 27 Jim Delsing  1 Paul Lehner 14 Don Lenhardt 11 Jack Maguire 46 Cliff Mapes 19 Bob Nieman 17 Earl Rapp 16 Frank Saucier 15 Roy Sievers 12 Ken Wood Other batters 1/8 Eddie Gaedel Manager 38 Zack Taylor Coaches -- Fred Hofmann 44 Ed Redys 33 Jack Tobin 34 Ralph Winegarner 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 Sherm Lollar 98 310 78 .252 8 44 1B Hank Arft 112 345 90 .261 7 42 2B Bobby Young 147 611 159 .260 1 31 SS Bill Jennings 64 195 35 .179 0 13 3B Fred Marsh 130 445 108 .243 4 43 OF Ken Wood 109 333 79 .237 15 44 OF Jim Delsing 131 449 112 .249 8 45 OF Ray Coleman Ray Coleman (baseball) 91 341 96 .282 5 55 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 79 248 75 .302 5 31 Cliff Mapes 56 201 55 .274 7 30 Johnny Bero 61 160 34 .213 5 17 Tom Upton 52 131 26 .198 0 12 Jack Maguire 41 127 31 .244 1 14 Johnny Berardino 39 119 27 .227 0 13 Dale Long 34 105 25 .238 2 11 Don Lenhardt 31 103 27 .262 5 18 Earl Rapp 26 98 32 .327 2 14 Ben Taylor 33 93 24 .258 3 6 Roy Sievers 31 89 20 .225 1 11 Paul Lehner 21 67 9 .134 1 2 Les Moss 16 47 8 .170 1 7 Bob Nieman 12 43 16 .372 2 8 Joe Lutz 14 36 6 .167 0 2 Kermit Wahl 8 27 9 .333 0 3 Bud Thomas 14 20 7 .350 1 1 Jim Dyck 4 15 1 .067 0 0 Frank Saucier 18 14 1 .071 0 1 Mike Goliat 5 11 2 .182 0 1 Clyde Kluttz 4 4 2 .500 0 1 Billy DeMars 1 4 1 .250 0 0 Eddie Gaedel 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 Pitching = Indicates league leader 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 Ned Garver 33 246.0 20 12 3.73 84 Duane Pillette 35 191.0 6 14* 4.99 65 Tommy Byrne Tommy Byrne (baseball) 19 122.2 4 10 3.82 57 Jim McDonald 16 84.0 4 7 4.07 28 Stubby Overmire 8 53.1 1 6 3.54 13 Fred Sanford 9 27.1 2 4 10.21 7 Bob Turley 1 7.1 0 1 7.36 5 Tied with five other pitchers 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 Al Widmar 26 107.2 4 9 6.52 28 Jim Suchecki 29 89.2 0 6 5.42 47 Lou Sleater 20 81.0 1 9 5.11 33 Dick Starr 15 62.0 2 5 7.40 26 Bill Kennedy Bill Kennedy (1948–1957 pitcher) 19 56.0 1 5 5.79 29 Duke Markell 5 21.1 1 1 6.33 10 Don Johnson 6 15.0 0 1 12.60 8 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 Satchel Paige 23 3 4 5 4.79 48 Bob Mahoney 30 2 5 0 4.44 30 Bobby Hogue 18 1 1 1 5.16 11 Cliff Fannin 7 0 2 0 6.46 11 Irv Medlinger 6 0 0 0 8.38 5 Sid Schacht 6 0 0 1 21.00 4 Bobby Herrera 3 0 0 0 27.00 1 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Toronto Maple Leafs International League Joe Becker AA San Antonio Missions Texas League Jo-Jo White A Dayton Indians Central League Jim Crandall B Wichita Falls Spudders Big State League Bruce Ogrodowski and Cecil McClung B Anderson Rebels Tri-State League Len Schulte and Hillis Layne C Pine Bluff Judges Cotton States League Bob Richards C Aberdeen Pheasants Northern League Joe King, Jim Post and Bruce Ogrodowski D Redding Browns Far West League Ray Perry D Pittsburg Browns Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League Bill Enos D Ada Herefords Sooner State League Stan Gallo D Appleton Papermakers Wisconsin State League Joe Skurski and Paul Erickson LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dayton References 2 External links 1951 St. Louis Browns team at Baseball-Reference 1951 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Browns seasons Saint Louis Browns season St Louis Browns