1949 New York Yankees season

The 1949 New York Yankees season was the team's 47th season. The team finished with a record of 97–57, winning their 16th pennant, finishing 1 game ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Casey Stengel in his first year. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in 5 games.

1949 New York Yankees
World Series champions American League champions
League	American League
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City, New York
Owners	Dan Topping and Del Webb
General managers	George Weiss
Managers	Casey Stengel
Television	WABD (Dolly Stark)
Radio	WINS (AM) (Mel Allen, Curt Gowdy)
← 1948 Seasons 1950 →

Offseason

• November 15, 1948: Grant Dunlap was drafted by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 minor league draft.^[1]
• Prior to 1949 season: Lou Skizas was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.^[2]

Regular season

The 1949 Yankees team was seen as "underdogs" who came from behind to catch and surprise the powerful Red Sox on the last two days of the season, a face off that fueled the beginning of the modern Yankees – Red Sox rivalry.

The Red Sox needed just one win in two games and were to pitch Mel Parnell in the first game. After trailing 4–0, the Yankees came back to beat Parnell 5–4, as Johnny Lindell hit an eighth-inning, game-winning, home run and Joe Page had a great relief appearance for New York.^[3][4] And so it came down to the last game of the season. It was Ellis Kinder facing Vic Raschi.

The Yankees led 1–0 after seven innings, having scored in the first. In the eighth inning, manager Joe McCarthy lifted Kinder for a pinch hitter who did not come through. Then he brought in Mel Parnell in relief, and Parnell yielded a homer to Tommy Henrich and a single to Yogi Berra. Parnell was replaced by Tex Hughson, who had been on the disabled list and said his arm still hurt. But he came on and, with the bases loaded, Jerry Coleman hit a soft liner that Al Zarilla in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs scored. In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short.^[5] The post-season proved to be a bit easier, as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one.

In 1949, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.^[6] Phil Rizzuto moved from eighth to first in the batting lineup and finished the season second in voting for the American League MVP Award.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	—	54‍–‍23	43‍–‍34
Boston Red Sox	96	58	.623	1	61‍–‍16	35‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	8	49‍–‍28	40‍–‍37
Detroit Tigers	87	67	.565	10	50‍–‍27	37‍–‍40
Philadelphia Athletics	81	73	.526	16	52‍–‍25	29‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox	63	91	.409	34	32‍–‍45	31‍–‍46
St. Louis Browns	53	101	.344	44	36‍–‍41	17‍–‍60
Washington Senators	50	104	.325	47	26‍–‍51	24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1949 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	17–5	8–14	15–7–1	9–13	14–8	15–7	18–4
Chicago	5–17	—	7–15	8–14	7–15	6–16	15–7	15–7
Cleveland	14–8	15–7	—	13–9	10–12	9–13	15–7	13–9
Detroit	7–15–1	14–8	9–13	—	11–11	14–8	14–8	18–4
New York	13–9	15–7	12–10	11–11	—	14–8	17–5–1	15–7
Philadelphia	8–14	16–6	13–9	8–14	8–14	—	12–10	16–6
St. Louis	7–15	7–15	7–15	8–14	5–17–1	10–12	—	9–13
Washington	4–18	7–15	9–13	4–18	7–15	6–16	13–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap was returned by the Yankees to the Indians.^[1]

Roster

1949 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 12 Ralph Buxton 28 Tommy Byrne 26 Hugh Casey 39 Frank Hiller 39,52 Wally Hood 30 Eddie Lopat 19 Cuddles Marshall 11 Joe Page 35 Duane Pillette 18 Bob Porterfield 17 Vic Raschi 22 Allie Reynolds 21 Fred Sanford 20 Spec Shea		Catchers  8 Yogi Berra 32 Ralph Houk 38 Gus Niarhos 29 Charlie Silvera Infielders  6 Bobby Brown 42 Jerry Coleman 41 Joe Collins 24 Billy Johnson 23 Dick Kryhoski 36 Johnny Mize 18, 23 Fenton Mole 36 Jack Phillips 10 Phil Rizzuto  1 Snuffy Stirnweiss		Outfielders 25 Hank Bauer 52 Jim Delsing  5 Joe DiMaggio 15 Tommy Henrich  9 Charlie Keller 27 Johnny Lindell  7 Cliff Mapes 14 Gene Woodling Other batters 35 Mickey Witek		Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches  2 Frankie Crosetti 33 Bill Dickey 31 Jim Turner

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	Yogi Berra	116	415	155	.277	20	91
1B	Tommy Henrich	115	411	118	.287	24	85
2B	Jerry Coleman	128	447	123	.275	2	42
3B	Bobby Brown	104	343	97	.283	6	61
SS	Phil Rizzuto	153	614	169	.275	5	65
OF	Cliff Mapes	111	304	75	.247	7	38
OF	Gene Woodling	112	296	80	.270	5	44
OF	Hank Bauer	103	301	82	.272	10	45

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
Billy Johnson	113	329	82	.249	8	56
Joe DiMaggio	76	272	94	.346	14	67
Johnny Lindell	78	211	51	.242	6	27
Dick Kryhoski	54	177	52	.294	1	27
Snuffy Stirnweiss	70	157	41	.261	0	11
Charlie Silvera	58	130	41	.315	0	13
Charlie Keller	60	116	29	.250	3	16
Jack Phillips	45	91	28	.308	1	10
Gus Niarhos	32	43	12	.279	0	6
Fenton Mole	10	27	5	.185	0	2
Johnny Mize	13	23	6	.261	1	2
Jim Delsing	9	20	7	.350	1	3
Joe Collins	7	10	1	.100	0	4
Ralph Houk	5	7	4	.571	0	1
Mickey Witek	1	1	1	1.000	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
Vic Raschi	38	274.2	21	10	3.34	124
Ed Lopat	31	215.1	15	10	3.26	70
Allie Reynolds	35	213.2	17	6	4.00	105
Tommy Byrne	32	196.0	15	7	3.72	129

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
Fred Sanford	29	95.1	7	3	3.87	51
Bob Porterfield	12	57.2	2	5	4.06	25
Duane Pillette	12	37.1	2	4	4.34	9

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
Joe Page	60	13	8	27	2.59	99
Cuddles Marshall	21	3	0	3	5.11	13
Spec Shea	20	1	1	1	5.33	22
Ralph Buxton	14	0	1	2	4.05	14
Hugh Casey	4	1	0	0	8.22	5
Frank Hiller	4	0	2	1	5.87	3
Wally Hood	2	0	0	0	0.00	2

1949 World Series

Main article: 1949 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (1)

Game	Score	Date	Attendance
1	New York 1, Brooklyn 0	October 5	66,224
2	Brooklyn 1, New York 0	October 6	70,053
3	New York 4, Brooklyn 3	October 7	32,788
4	New York 6, Brooklyn 4	October 8	33,934
5	New York 10, Brooklyn 6	October 9	33,711

Awards and honors

• Joe Page, Babe Ruth Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level Team League Manager AAA Kansas City Blues American Association Bill Skiff AAA Newark Bears International League Buddy Hassett AA Beaumont Exporters Texas League Chick Autry A Binghamton Triplets Eastern League George Selkirk A Augusta Tigers Sally League Alton Biggs and Jim Pruett B Quincy Gems Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League James Adlam B Manchester Yankees New England League Wally Berger B Norfolk Tars Piedmont League Earl Bolyard and Frank Novosel B Victoria Athletics Western International League Ted Norbert and Earl Bolyard C Ventura Yankees California League Bones Sanders C Amsterdam Rugmakers Canadian–American League Mayo Smith C Grand Forks Chiefs Northern League Eddie Kearse, Joe McDermott and Wally Berger C Twin Falls Cowboys Pioneer League Charlie Metro C Joplin Miners Western Association Johnny Sturm D Easton Yankees Eastern Shore League Jack Farmer D LaGrange Troupers Georgia–Alabama League Carl Cooper

Level Team League Manager D Independence Yankees Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League Harry Craft D Belleville Stags Mississippi–Ohio Valley League Les Mueller, Joe Yurkovich, Addie Nesbit and Bunny Mick D Newark Yankees Ohio–Indiana League Jim McLeod D McAlester Rockets Sooner State League Vern Hoscheit D Fond du Lac Panthers Wisconsin State League Fred Collins LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Binghamton, Joplin, Independence Manchester club folded, July 19, 1949[7]