1949 Cleveland Indians season

1949 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Veeck, Ellis Ryan
General manager(s)	Bill Veeck
Manager(s)	Lou Boudreau
Local television	WEWS-TV Bob Neal, Tris Speaker
Local radio	WJW Jack Graney, Jimmy Dudley
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The 1949 Cleveland Indians season was the 49th in franchise history. The club entered the season as the defending World Champions. On March 5, 1949, Indians minority owner Bob Hope donned a Cleveland Indians uniform and posed with manager Lou Boudreau and vice president Hank Greenberg as the World Series champions opened spring training camp in Tucson, Arizona.^[1]

Offseason

• November 15, 1948: 1948 minor league draft
  • Bob Chakales was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[2]
  • Grant Dunlap was drafted from the Indians by the New York Yankees.^[3]
• December 14, 1948: Ed Klieman, Joe Haynes, and Eddie Robinson were traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Mickey Vernon and Early Wynn.^[4]
• Prior to 1949 season: Brooks Lawrence was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.^[5]

Regular season

During the season, Indians fan Charlie Lupica spent 117 days on a flagpole, waiting for the Indians to regain first place. They never did, and he gave up his pursuit when the Indians were mathematically eliminated on September 25.^[6]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	--
Boston Red Sox	96	58	.623	1
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	8
Detroit Tigers	87	67	.565	10
Philadelphia Athletics	81	73	.526	16
Chicago White Sox	63	91	.409	34
St. Louis Browns	53	101	.344	44
Washington Senators	50	104	.325	47

Record vs. opponents

1949 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	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 to the Indians by the New York Yankees.^[3]

Roster

1949 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 30 Gene Bearden 22 Al Benton 19 Bob Feller 25 Mike Garcia 27 Steve Gromek 21 Bob Lemon 29 Satchel Paige 26 Frank Papish 24 Early Wynn 20 Sam Zoldak		Catchers 10 Jim Hegan 11 Mike Tresh Infielders  1 Bobby Ávila  2 Johnny Berardino  8 Ray Boone  5 Lou Boudreau  4 Joe Gordon  6 Ken Keltner  7 Al Rosen  3 Mickey Vernon		Outfielders 31 Allie Clark 37,14 Larry Doby  9 Luke Easter 32 Hank Edwards 33 Bob Kennedy 18 Minnie Miñoso 34 Dale Mitchell 17 Milt Nielsen 36 Hal Peck  9 Herman Reich 38 Thurman Tucker Other batters 15 Fred Marsh		Manager  5 Lou Boudreau Coaches 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 41 Bill McKechnie (Third base) 45 Steve O'Neill 42 Muddy Ruel 44 George Susce

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
1B	Vernon, MickeyMickey Vernon	153	584	170	.291	18	83
SS	Boudreau, LouLou Boudreau	134	475	135	.284	4	60

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

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

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
Bearden, GeneGene Bearden	32	127	8	8	5.10	41

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

Awards and honors

• Dale Mitchell, American League leader, triples (23)^[7]

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Diego Padres	Pacific Coast League	Bucky Harris
AA	Oklahoma City Indians	Texas League	Joe Vosmik
A	Dayton Indians	Central League	Ski Melillo
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Bill Norman
B	St. Petersburg Saints	Florida International League	Myril Hoag, Harry Sullivan, Johnny Beazley and Dick Porter
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
B	Spartanburg Peaches	Tri-State League	Kerby Farrell
C	Tucson Cowboys	Arizona–Texas League	Gene Lillard
C	Bakersfield Indians	California League	Harry Griswold
C	Pittsfield Indians	Canadian–American League	Gene Hasson
C	Burlington Indians	Central Association	Lloyd Brown
D	Cordele Indians	Georgia–Florida League	Hal Lee
D	Iola Indians	Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League	Winlow Johnson
D	Union City Greyhounds	KITTY League	Tony Rensa and Rudy York
D	Stroudsburg Poconos	North Atlantic League	Frank Radler
D	Zanesville Indians	Ohio–Indiana League	Pat McLaughlin
D	Batavia Clippers	PONY League	Ed Kobesky
D	Green Bay Blue Jays	Wisconsin State League	Phil Seghi

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Stroudsburg^[8]

Notes

1. http://www.cleveland.com/homegrown/index.ssf?/homegrown/more/hope/allroads.html
2. Bob Chakales at Baseball Reference
3. Grant Dunlap at Baseball Reference
4. Mickey Vernon at Baseball Reference
5. Brooks Lawrence at Baseball Reference
6. Google Books result: Veeck as in Wreck: the Autobiography of Bill Veeck by Bill Veeck, Ed Linn, p. 114
7. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 98, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1949 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Reference
• 1949 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac