1944 St. Louis Browns season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Browns 1944 American League champions American League Sportsman's Park St. Louis, Missouri 89–65 (.578) 1st Donald Lee Barnes Bill DeWitt Luke Sewell WEW/WTMV(Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) The 1944 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing first in the American League with a record of 89 wins and 65 losses. This resulted in the franchise appearing in the postseason for the first time in team history, as well as appearing in their first ever World Series. In the World Series, they lost to the team they shared a stadium with, the Cardinals, four games to two. It was the only time the franchise made the playoffs while based in St. Louis. They didn't go back to the postseason until 1966, by which time they had relocated to Baltimore. Offseason February 17, 1944: Frankie Hayes was traded by the Browns to the Philadelphia Athletics for Sam Zoldak and Barney Lutz (minors).Sam Zoldak page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1944 season: Owen Friend was signed as an amateur free agent by the Browns.Owen Friend page at Baseball Reference Regular season The Browns were one of the unlikeliest pennant-winners in history, failing to contend in nine of the previous 10 seasons. However, 1944 marked the peak of wartime conditions in Major League Baseball. The shortage of available players degraded the talent level of both major leagues, benefiting the 1944 Browns who were relatively untouched by the military draft. Nine players were at least 34 years old and the all-4F infield included 23-year-old shortstop Vern Stephens, who led the league in RBI (109) and was second in home runs (20). St. Louis started the season with nine straight wins and continued to contend in a four-team race with Detroit, Boston, and New York. It came down to the final week, when the Browns defeated the Yankees five times, winning the pennant by a game over Detroit. It was the only championship the franchise won in St. Louis. Nine years later, after the 1953 season, the Browns were sold and became the Baltimore Orioles. Season chronology May 26, 1944: In a game against the Boston Red Sox, Nels Potter retired the first 23 batters and was on his way to pitching a perfect game when Jim Tabor got a hit in the 8th inning.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 49, David Alan Heller, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2003, 0-7385-3199-5 June 15, 1944: Frank Demaree was released by the Browns. July 20, 1944: Nels Potter took to the hill against Yankees' pitcher Hank Borowy. The Yankees third base coach Art Fletcher noticed that Potter was moistening his fingers. After Browns manager Luke Sewell consulted with Potter, Potter proceeded to make a deliberate motion with his fingers to his mouth. Umpire Cal Hubbard ejected Potter from the game. On July 22, American League President Will Harridge suspended Potter for 10 days for throwing an illegal pitch. Potter was the first pitcher to be suspended by Major League Baseball for that reason.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 65 Every team in the league hosted a game where net proceeds went toward the National War Relief and Service Inc. On July 26, the second game versus the Philadelphia Athletics was that game. Everyone had to pay their way into the stadium including team management, umpires and players.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 70 The crowd of 24,631 was the greatest for a Browns home game since the team's first night game in 1940. Oscar Zahner, chairman of the benefit game committee, announced that $25,000 was raised. On August 3, the Browns played the minor league Kansas City Blues. The Browns lost the game by a score of 9–8.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 78 The attendance was 5,965, which was Kansas City's best attendance all season. Despite losing, the Browns got 14 hits and Gene Moore went 4–5 with three runs batted in. August 8 marked the Browns 70th consecutive day in first place. This broke the club's previous record of 69 days in first place, which had been set in 1922. The Browns beat the New York Yankees on August 12. It marked the first four-game series victory over the Yankees since 1940.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 79 Browns pitcher Nels Potter and Washington player George Case got into an altercation on August 22. The result was a bench clearing brawl and Potter, Case, and Washington player Ed Butka were ejected.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 83 On September 4, the Browns found themselves out of first place. The Browns slipped to a half game behind the New York Yankees with 22 games left.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 89 The final series between the Browns and the Senators had its share of tension. In the first game of the series, Senators pitcher Roger Wolff hit Vern Stephens with a pitch. Browns manager Luke Sewell waved a bat in the direction of the pitcher.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 95 September 21 was the final game between the Browns and the Senators. Browns catcher Tom Turner engaged in a fist fight with Senators player Roberto Ortiz. The two players lined up in a boxing formation in the middle of the field.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p. 96 Ortiz broke his hand and this was bad for the Browns as the Senators were finishing the season against the Detroit Tigers. At the time of the Browns-Senators game, the Tigers were in first place. The conflicts strained the friendship of Washington manager Ossie Bluege and Luke Sewell. The two were teammates in Washington from 1933 to 1934. After the Browns farm team, the Toledo Mud Hens was eliminated from the American Association, the Browns called three players to bolster their team for their stretch run. The callups were Earl Jones (10–6 for the Mudhens), infielder Len Schulte (.296 batting average, 96 RBI's), and outfielder Babe Martin, the American Association Most Valuable Player.As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p.97 With six games left in the season, the Browns and Tigers had identical 84–64 records. The last six games of the season for the Browns were against the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. At the start of play on the very last day of the season (October 1), the Browns and Tigers were still tied with identical 88-65 records. The Tigers, playing Washington at home, had an earlier start time for their game, and fell to the Senators 4–1. Just moments after the Browns had pulled into a 2–2 tie in the fourth on a 2-run homer by Chet Laabs, word reached the St. Louis ball park that Detroit had lost. This meant a Browns victory could clinch the pennant. In the bottom of the fifth, Laabs hit another 2-run shot to put the Browns ahead. Vern Stephens hit a solo homer to lead off the eighth for the Browns, who hung on for the last 2 innings to beat the Yankees 5–2, and win the 1944 AL championship. Opening Day lineup Hal Epps CFDon Gutteridge 2BGeorge McQuinn 1BVern Stephens SSGene Moore RFMilt Byrnes LFMark Christman 3BFrank Mancuso CJack Kramer P Season standings St. Louis Browns Record vs. opponents STL Roster 1944 St. Louis Browns Roster Pitchers 16 George Caster 30 Denny Galehouse 25 Al Hollingsworth 27 Willis Hudlin 22 Sig Jakucki 19 Jack Kramer 29 Bob Muncrief 24 Nels Potter 21 Tex Shirley 17 Steve Sundra 20 Lefty West 26 Sam Zoldak Catchers  9 Red Hayworth  8 Frank Mancuso  7 Joe Schultz 17 Tom Turner Infielders  1 Floyd Baker  7 Mike Chartak  6 Mark Christman  2 Ellis Clary  4 Don Gutteridge  3 George McQuinn  5 Vern Stephens Outfielders 11 Milt Byrnes 10 Frank Demaree 18 Hal Epps 17 Tom Hafey 12 Mike Kreevich 28 Chet Laabs -- Babe Martin 15 Gene Moore 14 Al Zarilla Other batters  1 Len Schulte Manager 32 Luke Sewell Coaches 33 Fred Hofmann -- Jack Tobin 34 Zack Taylor Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league 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   ⌖ Position Player G Games played AB At bats H Hits AVG Average HR Home runs RBI Runs batted in C Red Hayworth 89 239 60 .223 1 25 1B George McQuinn 146 516 129 .250 11 72 2B Don Gutteridge 148 603 148 .245 3 36 3B Mark Christman 148 547 148 .271 6 83 SS Vern Stephens 145 559 164 .293 20 109 OF Milt Byrnes 128 407 120 .295 4 45 OF Mike Kreevich 105 402 121 .301 5 44 OF Gene Moore Gene Moore (outfielder) 110 390 93 .238 6 58 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G Games played AB At bats H Hits AVG Average HR Home runs RBI Runs batted in Al Zarilla 100 288 86 .299 6 45 Frank Mancuso 88 244 50 .205 1 24 Chet Laabs 66 201 47 .234 5 33 Floyd Baker 44 97 17 .175 0 5 Mike Chartak 35 72 17 .236 1 7 Hal Epps 22 62 11 .177 0 3 Frank Demaree 16 51 13 .255 0 6 Ellis Clary 25 49 13 .265 0 4 Tom Turner Tom Turner (catcher) 15 25 8 .320 0 4 Tom Hafey Tom Hafey (baseball) 8 14 5 .357 0 2 Joe Schultz 3 8 2 .250 0 0 Babe Martin 2 4 3 .750 0 0 Len Schulte 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G Games played IP W L ERA SO Jack Kramer Jack Kramer (baseball) 33 257.0 17 13 2.49 124 Nels Potter 32 232.0 19 7 2.83 91 Bob Muncrief 33 219.1 13 8 3.08 88 Sig Jakucki 35 198.0 13 9 3.55 67 Denny Galehouse 24 153.0 9 10 3.12 80 Steve Sundra 3 19.0 2 0 1.42 1 Al Hollingsworth Al Hollingsworth (baseball player) 26 92.2 5 7 4.47 22 Tex Shirley 23 80.1 5 4 4.15 35 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G Games played IP W L SV ERA SO George Caster 42 81.0 6 6 12* 2.44 46 Sam Zoldak 18 38.2 0 0 0 3.72 15 Lefty West 11 24.1 0 0 0 6.29 11 Willis Hudlin 1 2.0 0 1 0 4.50 1 Tied with Joe Berry and Gordon Maltzberger 1944 World Series 1944 World Series NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL St. Louis Browns (2) GameScoreDate1Browns 2, Cardinals 1October 42Cardinals 3, Browns 2 (11 innings)October 53Browns 6, Cardinals 2 October 64Cardinals 5, Browns 1 October 75Cardinals 2, Browns 0 October 86Cardinals 3, Browns 1 October 9 Awards and honors All-Star Game George McQuinn, starter Vern Stephens, starter Bob Muncrief, reserve League leaders Frank Mancuso, Most errors in a season by a catcher (17) Team leaders Home runs – Vern Stephens (20) RBI – Vern Stephens (109) Batting average – Mike Kreevich (.301) Hits – Vern Stephens (164) Stolen bases – Don Gutteridge (20) Wins – Nels Potter (19) Earned run average – Jack Kramer (2.49) Strikeouts – Jack Kramer (124) Farm system Minor League Baseball AA Toledo Mud Hens American Association Ollie Marquardt D Newark Moundsmen Ohio State League Clay Bryant LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: NewarkJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 References 2 External links 1944 St. Louis Browns team page at Baseball Reference 1944 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Browns seasons Saint Louis Browns season Category:American League champion seasons St Louis Browns