1948 Philadelphia Athletics season

March 2026 November 2013 Philadelphia Athletics 1948 Philadelphia Athletics Jersey Logo (1928 to 1949).svg American League Shibe Park Philadelphia 84 70 y 4th Connie Mack Connie Mack WPTZ/WCAU(Claude Haring) WIBG(By Saam, Chuck Thompson) The 1948 Philadelphia Athletics season, the 48th in the history of the American League franchise, resulted in Connie Mack's club finishing in the AL's first division for the first time in 15 years"(Oakland) Athletics (1901–2024) franchise history", Retrosheet with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses (.545), good enough for fourth place. The 1948 Athletics drew 945,076 fans to Shibe Park, which will be the largest "gate" in their 54-year history in Philadelphia. Their home attendance ranked fifth-best in the AL and eleventh-best among the 16 Major League Baseball teams (and 177,647 higher than their National League tenants, the Phillies)."1948 Major League Attendance by team", Baseball Reference On the field, the 1948 season represented a dramatic turnaround from the club's dismal 1946 campaign, when it finished last at 49–105, a full 55 games out of first place. In both on- and off-field terms, it will prove to be the high-water mark for the Athletics' final 22 seasons in Philadelphia. Posting stellar records in May (21–7) and July (18–13) of 1948, the Athletics ranked among the American League's contenders for most of the season, spending May 26 to June 5 in, or virtually tied for, first place. They returned to the AL's top spot on August 1, and held first for the month's first eight days. However, a five-game losing streak from August 20–25, then an eight-game skid between August 29 and September 6,"1948 Philadelphia Athletics game log", Retrosheet effectively doomed their chances of gaining a tenth pennant for "Mister Mack", the club's 85-year-old manager, co-founder, and principal owner. Led by pitchers Carl Scheib, Dick Fowler, Lou Brissie and Joe Coleman, and position players Hank Majeski, Eddie Joost, Ferris Fain, Elmer Valo and Barney McCosky, the Athletics finished fourth in the circuit in runs per game (4.73), and fifth in both total runs allowed (735) and staff earned run average (4.43)."1948 American League team statistics", Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Philadelphia Athletics Record vs. opponents PHA Notable transactions April 3, 1948: The Athletics sell the contract of relief pitcher Russ Christopher to the Cleveland Indians."Transactions for 1948 Philadelphia Athletics." Retrosheet May 15, 1948: The Athletics purchase the contract of relief pitcher Nels Potter from the St. Louis Browns for $17,500. June 4, 1948: The Athletics trade outfielder George Binks and $20,000 to the St. Louis Browns for outfielder Ray Coleman.Ray Coleman at Baseball-Reference June 14, 1948: The Athletics release pitchers Bill Dietrich and Nels Potter. Roster 1948 Philadelphia Athletics Roster Pitchers 19 Lou Brissie 20 Joe Coleman 18 Bill Dietrich 25 Dick Fowler 17 Bubba Harris 18 Wally Holborow 22 Alex Kellner 21 Phil Marchildon 23 Bill McCahan 22 Nels Potter 16 Bob Savage 24 Carl Scheib Catchers 28 Earle Brucker Jr. 14 Herman Franks  9 Mike Guerra  8 Buddy Rosar Infielders 30 Billy DeMars  5 Ferris Fain 41 Nellie Fox  1 Eddie Joost  3 Hank Majeski 12 Pete Suder  2 Skeeter Webb 56 Bob Wellman  6 Rudy York Outfielders 11 George Binks  4 Sam Chapman 11 Ray Coleman  7 Barney McCosky 10 Elmer Valo 15 Don White Manager -- Connie Mack Coaches    Lena Blackburne 26 Earle Brucker 29 Dave Keefe 27 Earle Mack 32 Al Simmons 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 Buddy Rosar 90 302 77 .255 4 41 1B Ferris Fain 145 520 146 .281 7 88 2B Pete Suder 148 519 125 .241 7 60 SS Eddie Joost 135 509 127 .250 16 55 3B Hank Majeski 148 590 183 .310 12 120 OF Elmer Valo 113 383 117 .305 3 46 OF Barney McCosky 135 515 168 .326 0 46 OF Sam Chapman 123 445 115 .258 13 70 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 Don White Don White (baseball) 86 253 62 .245 1 28 Ray Coleman Ray Coleman (baseball) 68 210 51 .243 0 21 Mike Guerra 53 142 30 .211 1 23 Herman Franks 40 98 22 .224 1 14 Skeeter Webb 23 54 8 .148 0 3 Rudy York 31 51 8 .157 0 6 George Binks 17 41 4 .098 0 2 Billy DeMars 18 29 5 .172 0 1 Nellie Fox 3 13 2 .154 0 0 Bob Wellman 4 10 2 .200 0 0 Earle Brucker Earle Brucker, Jr. 2 6 1 .167 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 Phil Marchildon 33 226.1 9 15 4.53 66 Joe Coleman Joe Coleman (1950s pitcher) 33 215.2 14 13 4.09 86 Dick Fowler Dick Fowler (baseball) 29 204.2 15 8 3.78 50 Carl Scheib 32 198.2 14 8 3.94 44 Bill McCahan 17 86.2 4 7 5.71 20 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 Lou Brissie 39 194.0 14 10 4.13 127 Wally Holborow 5 17.1 1 2 5.71 3 Bill Dietrich 4 15.1 1 2 5.87 5 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 Bubba Harris Bubba Harris (baseball) 45 5 2 5 4.13 32 Bob Savage 33 5 1 5 6.21 26 Alex Kellner 13 0 0 0 7.83 14 Nels Potter 8 2 2 1 4.00 13 Farm system Minor League Baseball A Savannah Indians Sally League Eric McNair A Lincoln Athletics Western League Jimmie DeShong C Martinsville Athletics Carolina League Eddie Morgan C Moline/Kewanee A's Central Association Joe Glenn D Welch Miners Appalachian League Woody Wheaton D Federalsburg A's Eastern Shore League Ducky Detweiler D Moultrie Athletics Georgia–Florida League Joe Antolick D Lexington Indians North Carolina State League Homer Lee Cox D Portsmouth A's Ohio–Indiana League George Staller D Red Springs Red Robins Tobacco State League Red Norris LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Martinsville, Red Springs Moline franchise moved to Kewanee, June 18, 1948 References 2 External links 1948 Philadelphia Athletics team at Baseball-Reference 1948 Philadelphia Athletics team page at baseball-almanac.com Category:Philadelphia Athletics seasons Philadelphia Athletics season Oak Category:Long stubs with short prose Category:1940s in Philadelphia