1948 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1948 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1948 in baseball.

The 1948 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1948. The regular season ended on October 4, with the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Indians won the American League title via a tie-breaker game victory over the Boston Red Sox, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96–58 records. This was the second regular season tie-breaker, and saw a change from the previous three-game format to that of a single-game, Game 163. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 45th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 6 on October 11. The Indians defeated the Braves, four games to two, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1920. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the 1947 season.

1948 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 19 – October 4, 1948 (AL) April 19 – October 3, 1948 (NL) World Series: October 6–11, 1948
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Lou Boudreau (CLE) NL: Stan Musial (SLC)
AL champions	Cleveland Indians
AL runners-up	Boston Red Sox
NL champions	Boston Braves
NL runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series
Champions	Cleveland Indians
Runners-up	Boston Braves

Red Sox

White Sox  

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Dodgers

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons
National League

The 15th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 13 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, hosted by the St. Louis Browns. The American League won, 5–2, for their third straight win.

The 1948 season is notable as being the final season of any Negro League holding major-league status, as per MLB's 2020 designation of Negro Leagues. It would be the final season of the Negro National League, while the Negro American League would continue as a minor-league until it ceased play after the 1962 season.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1948 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 19, featuring six teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on October 3, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. Due to the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians finishing with the same record of 96–58, a tie-breaker game was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The Indians won the Game 163 tie-breaker on October 4. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 11.

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Manager[1]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,500	Joe McCarthy
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	47,400	Ted Lyons
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	Cleveland Stadium	78,811	Lou Boudreau
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Briggs Stadium	58,000	Steve O'Neill
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	67,000	Bucky Harris
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,166	Connie Mack
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,000	Zack Taylor
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	28,085	Joe Kuhel
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	37,106	Billy Southworth
	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	34,219	Leo Durocher
					Ray Blades
					Burt Shotton
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	38,396	Charlie Grimm
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	30,101	Johnny Neun
					Bucky Walters
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	54,500	Mel Ott
					Leo Durocher
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	33,166	Ben Chapman
					Dusty Cooke
					Eddie Sawyer
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	33,730	Billy Meyer
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,000	Eddie Dyer

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	97	58	.626	—	48‍–‍30	49‍–‍28
Boston Red Sox	96	59	.619	1	55‍–‍23	41‍–‍36
New York Yankees	94	60	.610	2½	50‍–‍27	44‍–‍33
Philadelphia Athletics	84	70	.545	12½	36‍–‍41	48‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers	78	76	.506	18½	39‍–‍38	39‍–‍38
St. Louis Browns	59	94	.386	37	34‍–‍42	25‍–‍52
Washington Senators	56	97	.366	40	29‍–‍48	27‍–‍49
Chicago White Sox	51	101	.336	44½	27‍–‍48	24‍–‍53

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Braves	91	62	.595	—	45‍–‍31	46‍–‍31
St. Louis Cardinals	85	69	.552	6½	44‍–‍33	41‍–‍36
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	.545	7½	36‍–‍41	48‍–‍29
Pittsburgh Pirates	83	71	.539	8½	47‍–‍31	36‍–‍40
New York Giants	78	76	.506	13½	37‍–‍40	41‍–‍36
Philadelphia Phillies	66	88	.429	25½	32‍–‍44	34‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds	64	89	.418	27	32‍–‍45	32‍–‍44
Chicago Cubs	64	90	.416	27½	35‍–‍42	29‍–‍48

• The Cleveland Indians defeated the Boston Red Sox in a one-game regular season extension to earn the American League pennant.

Postseason

The postseason began on October 6 and ended on October 11 with the Cleveland Indians defeating the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series in six games.

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Cleveland Indians	4
	NL	Boston Braves	2

Managerial changes

Off-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Brooklyn Dodgers	Burt Shotton	Leo Durocher
Pittsburgh Pirates	Bill Burwell	Billy Meyer
St. Louis Browns	Muddy Ruel	Zack Taylor
Washington Senators	Ossie Bluege	Joe Kuhel

In-season

Team	Former Manager	New Manager
Brooklyn Dodgers	Leo Durocher	Ray Blades
	Ray Blades	Burt Shotton
Cincinnati Reds	Johnny Neun	Bucky Walters
New York Giants	Mel Ott	Leo Durocher
Philadelphia Phillies	Ben Chapman	Dusty Cooke
	Dusty Cooke	Eddie Sawyer

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders^[2]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Ted Williams (BRS)	.369
OPS	Ted Williams (BRS)	1.112
HR	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)	39
RBI	Joe DiMaggio (NYY)	155
R	Tommy Henrich (NYY)	138
H	Bob Dillinger (SLB)	207
SB	Bob Dillinger (SLB)	28

Pitching leaders^[3]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Hal Newhouser (DET)	21
L	Fred Sanford (SLB)	21
ERA	Gene Bearden (CLE)	2.43
K	Bob Feller (CLE)	164
IP	Bob Lemon (CLE)	293.2
SV	Russ Christopher (CLE)	17
WHIP	Bob Lemon (CLE)	1.226

National League

Hitting leaders^[4]

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Stan Musial (SLC)	.376
OPS	Stan Musial (SLC)	1.152
HR	Ralph Kiner (PIT) Johnny Mize (NYG)	40
RBI	Stan Musial (SLC)	131
R	Stan Musial (SLC)	135
H	Stan Musial (SLC)	230
SB	Richie Ashburn (PHP)	32

Pitching leaders^[5]

Stat	Player	Total
W	Johnny Sain (BSB)	24
L	Dutch Leonard (PHP)	17
ERA	Harry Brecheen (SLC)	2.24
K	Harry Brecheen (SLC)	149
IP	Johnny Sain (BSB)	314.2
SV	Harry Gumbert (CIN)	17
WHIP	Harry Brecheen (SLC)	1.037

Awards and honors

Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Rookie of the Year	Alvin Dark (BSB)	—
Most Valuable Player	Stan Musial (SLC)	Lou Boudreau (CLE)

Other awards

The Sporting News Awards
Award	National League	American League
Player of the Year[6]	—	Lou Boudreau (CLE)
Pitcher of the Year[7]	Johnny Sain (BSB)	Bob Lemon (CLE)
Rookie of the Year[8]	Richie Ashburn (PHP)	—
Manager of the Year[9]	Billy Meyer (PIT)	—
Executive of the Year[10]	—	Bill Veeck (CLE)

Baseball Hall of Fame

Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

• Herb Pennock
• Pie Traynor

Further information: 1948 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Cleveland Indians[11]	97	21.3%	2,620,627	72.2%	33,172
New York Yankees[12]	94	−3.1%	2,373,901	8.9%	30,830
Detroit Tigers[13]	78	−8.2%	1,743,035	24.7%	22,637
Boston Red Sox[14]	96	15.7%	1,558,798	9.2%	19,985
Pittsburgh Pirates[15]	83	33.9%	1,517,021	18.2%	18,963
New York Giants[16]	78	−3.7%	1,459,269	−8.8%	18,952
Boston Braves[17]	91	5.8%	1,455,439	13.9%	19,151
Brooklyn Dodgers[18]	84	−10.6%	1,398,967	−22.6%	17,935
Chicago Cubs[19]	64	−7.2%	1,237,792	−9.3%	15,869
St. Louis Cardinals[20]	85	−4.5%	1,111,440	−10.9%	14,434
Philadelphia Athletics[21]	84	7.7%	945,076	3.7%	12,274
Cincinnati Reds[22]	64	−12.3%	823,386	−8.5%	10,693
Washington Senators[23]	56	−12.5%	795,254	−6.5%	10,196
Chicago White Sox[24]	51	−27.1%	777,844	−11.3%	10,235
Philadelphia Phillies[25]	66	6.5%	767,429	−15.4%	10,098
St. Louis Browns[26]	59	0.0%	335,564	4.7%	4,415

Retired numbers

• Babe Ruth had his No. 3 retired by the New York Yankees on June 13. This was the second number retired by the team.
• Mel Ott had his No. 4 retired by the New York Giants on July 17. This was the second number retired by the team.

See also

• 1948 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season