1949 Replay AL Recap

Boston (107-47, 96-58, +11)

This was the season for the Boston Red Sox. By the end of Week Two they had established themselves as the front runners and by the end of Week Eight they had a 9.5 game lead. Both Cleveland and New York made runs at first place later in the season but the Red Sox never folded. Of course, Boston did have the occasional bad week but they ended up the season with a .695 winning percentage, and while Cleveland and New York could muster a few weeks of performance at that level they just couldn't maintain the .700 winning percentage necessary to catch the Red Sox.

Ted Williams

One of the joys in doing a replay is that you get to see the all the stars at work and Ted Williams was the star of the 1949 season. Even the crustiest of sportswriters would be hard pressed to find a reason to give the MVP to someone else. Williams led the league in Batting Average (.377), Hits (212), Runs (165), RBI's (178), Homeruns (56), Walks (260), Total Bases (416), On-Base Percentage (.511) as well as any compiled stat category. He was a force from the beginning of the season, an ever-present force that drove the Red Sox to the top and then never let them rest.

Williams didn’t do it all by himself. In their roles as place-setters Dom DiMaggio led off with a .425 OBP and finished third in runs (131) and Johnny Pesky batted second with a .392 OBP and finished seventh in runs (106). Behind Williams, Vern Stephens had a .392 OBP, was second in homeruns (46), was second in RBI’s (156), and was second in runs (133). Batting fifth in the lineup was Bobby Doerr (.317) who finished with a .388 OBP and finished fifth in RBI’s (103). Boston hitters led the league in walks (821), 100+ more than second-place Philadelphia (713).

On the mound Mel Parnell (25-8, 2.84) and Ellis Kinder (24-6, 2.17) led the league in wins, with Kinder taking the ERA title, Parnell coming in fourth. Chuck Stobbs (12-4, 3.64), Jack Kramer (12-6, 3.92), and Joe Dobson (14-6, 4.10) finished the rotation, all of them avoiding the curse of that one replay starter that just can’t do anything right. Relief pitching was supposed to be Boston’s weak point, but they finished second in relief ERA (3.52). Having a strong defense behind them bailed the Boston pitchers out of many potential disasters, but it was all part of the Boston mystique.

Boston led the league in hitting (.296), was second in ERA (3.45), and was first in fielding percentage (.987) and tied (with Philadelphia) for first in defensive double plays (173) – they dominated in almost every category and they dominated the 1949 AL. Can they win the World Series?

Cleveland (95-59, 89-65, +6)

Cleveland won the 1948 World Series and 1948 MVP player/manager Lou Boudreau fully expected the Indians to be in the hunt in 1949 as well, but it just didn’t quite work out as they hoped. Having said that, the Indians were a very good team, they never gave up, and after a few lineup changes got hot in the second half of the season and caught and passed New York to capture second place. They even made a run a first-place Boston, but like New York, they just couldn’t maintain a .700 winning pace and Boston refused to fold, even though Cleveland had a winning record (13-9) versus Boston.

Larry Doby (.305) hit 25 homeruns and drove in 103 and Joe Gordon (.282) hit 26 homeruns and drove in 100 runs to lead the offense while lead-off man Dale Mitchell (.310) had 202 hits (second) and scored 112 runs (fifth). Team MVP Mickey Vernon had a quiet first half of the season, but really led Cleveland’s second-half charge and finished at .294 with a league-leading 38 doubles, 10 triples, 18 homeruns, and 88 RBI’s. Bob Kennedy was established as the everyday right fielder around mid-season and responded by hitting .296 with 33 doubles and 11 homeruns. Unfortunately, Boudreau’s number nowhere came close to his 1949 MVP season plus third baseman Ken Keltner missed half the season because of nagging injuries, hampering the Cleveland attack.

Bob Lemon

Mid-season changes in pitching helped Cleveland’s second-half improvement. Steve Gromek (8-5, 4.31) and Gene Bearden (7-9, 4.58) were replaced by Mike Garcia (17-9, 2.27) in the starting rotation for one thing and the improved team offensive performance allowed Bob Lemon (22-11, 2.92) to go on a ten-game winning streak late in the season. Bob Feller (14-10, 3.47) filled out the rotation, and Al Benton (10-4, 2.42) was used as a spot-starter. Boston led the league in team ERA (3.45) for most of the season but with a month to go the Indians assumed the lead (3.17) in this category, with Cleveland’s relievers ERA of 2.75 leading the league in that category as well.

The Indians were a team that had several aging stars and it showed, but they were also a team that had a good farm system and they were willing to incorporate younger players (Al Rosen, Luke Easter, Bobby Avila, Ray Boone, Minnie Minoso) as a remedy. The Indians were able to make some key mid-season adjustments and had a great second half and deserved their second-place ranking.

New York (90-64, 97-57, -7)

New York was supposed to win the World Series, but they not only didn’t win the AL pennant they didn’t even finish in second place. The book “The Summer of ‘49” details how the Yankees overcame injuries to Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich, and Yogi Berra and how new manager Casey Stengel masterfully manipulated his lineups to account for the injuries and to maximize the team's strengths. They just didn’t do it for me – in 1949 they got off to a hot start and held on to first place until Boston caught them towards the end of the season, New York eventually clinching the pennant on the last day of the season. For me, the Yankees settled into second place and appeared to be comfortable there only to have Cleveland pass them in the final few weeks of the season.

Joe DiMaggio

DiMaggio missed the first 60 games of the season and then missed ten games late in the year, but in the 75 games he did play he hit .351 with 19 homeruns and 61 RBI’s. Henrich carried the Yankees early while DiMaggio was out, hitting .302 with 31 homeruns (third) and 92 RBI’s. Unfortunately, Henrich started breaking down physically once DiMaggio returned and he missed about half of the second portion of the season. Berra got off to a slow start but got hot and established himself as a force in the Yankees attack, finishing at .316 with 19 homeruns and 82 RBI’s. Unfortunately, Berra broke a finger about 2/3’s of the way through the season and missed a whole month.

Apparently, the sum of the 1949 Yankees was greater than their parts but they just didn’t do it for me. Occasionally the other Yankees batters would come through with big hits, but overall no one else really took the reins offensively and in the end, they didn’t even finish in second place. Even the big move the Yankees made – acquiring first baseman Johnny Mize – sputtered as Mize almost immediately got hurt and missed most of his time with the Yankees. It was a rough year.

The Yankees starting pitching – Eddie Lopat (19-9, 3.36), Vic Raschi (20-11), Tommy Byrne (16-7, 3.82), and Allie Reynolds (13-13, 3.96) – performed well, but things dropped off pretty quickly after that as New York ran through five other starters that only accounted for ten wins. The big off-season acquisition was Fred Sanford (2-5, 6.15) who was limited to only eleven starts due to poor performance. Reliever Joe Page (9-9, 3.54, 20 Saves) led the league in Appearances (60) and Saves, but he couldn’t go every day.

Maybe Stengel truly was a magician, but even then, I don’t think anybody thought New York was a better team than Boston. While they did manage to pull it out in 1949, for me they just went flat.

Detroit (77-77, 87-67, -10)

Detroit did finish at .500, winning ten fewer games in the replay then they did in 1949. With their strong starting pitching (ERA 3.94, third in AL) and having three batters finish in the top six in batting average they did have their strong points, but they also had several glaring holes that they just couldn’t overcome. Basically, while Boston enjoyed a strong defense up the middle and seemed to get every break because of it, Detroit's up the middle defense was just nowhere as strong and they suffered for it. Having a productive first baseman would have helped as well.

Hal Newhouser

George Kell (.342) won the 1949 batting title (.343) by thousandths of a percentage point over Ted Williams but finished third for me as Williams went on a binge and Bob Dillinger (.344) slipped into the second spot. Right behind in the fifth spot was Hoot Evers (.337) and in sixth was Vic Wertz (.325). Wertz also finished third in hits (200) plus he hit 22 homeruns and finished third with 114 RBI’s. The rest of the team performed as expected, but first base was a particular weak spot. Sam Vico hit below .200 for the first two months of the season and lost his job to Paul Campbell (with his mighty OPS of .704), but then Campbell got hurt and Vico (.217) came back, played better and got his average up over .200, but for a position that needs to bring production to the lineup, the Tigers were sorely lacking.

Detroit finished third in Team ERA (3.94), with Hal Newhouser (20-10, 2.93), Virgil Trucks (15-18, 3.55) and Ted Gray (14-10, 3.36) leading the rotation. Fred Hutchinson (6-10, 3.31) split his time in the bullpen and Art Houtteman (14-8, 3.08) joined the team at the end of May and pitched well also. The Tiger’s relievers finished with an ERA of 5.57 and accounted for 16 losses, furthering Detroit’s woes.

How much are a fielding-one second baseman and a fielding-one shortstop worth to a team in a number of wins? Could Detroit really not find a first baseman without a negative WAR? Detroit wasn’t a bad team, but they certainly were flawed. They did go 12-10 versus Cleveland and 10-12 versus New York, the two teams directly in front of them, but they dug themselves in a hole in mid-season and had to work to climb out of it, surpassing the .500 mark with a week to go only to fall back and then have to win on the final day of the season to end at 77-77.

Philadelphia (73-81, 81-73, -8)

Philadelphia finished in fifth place, just like they did in 1949, but finished eight wins worse than their actual 1949 record and had to win on the last day of the season to secure fifth place over the surprising Chicago White Sox. The A’s had the strong defense up the middle that Detroit didn’t have but just didn’t have the same pitching quality as the Tigers. Regardless, the A’s pitchers enjoyed the benefit as their defensive double plays (173) tied with Boston for the most.

Eddie Joost

Shortstop Eddie Joost (.291) was the juice for the Philadelphia offense. Joost was second in walks (154) and fourth on runs (119) plus he chipped in with 22 homeruns from the leadoff spot. Sam Chapman (.259) hit 25 homeruns and his 112 RBI’s was good enough for fourth in the league. Ferris Fain (.265) had 107 walks and Elmer Valo (.257) had 99 walks as Philadelphia finished second in team walks (713). Hank Majeski (.232) led the AL in doubles for most of the first half of the season, but then got injured and never really returned to full-time play.

Philadelphia starting pitchers Alex Kellner (16-10, 3.19), Dick Fowler (10-17, 3.91), Joe Coleman (17-10, 3.94), and Lou Brissie (11-15, 4.25) carried the weight for the A’s as they led the league in Complete Games (81). The A’s went through the season with only eight pitchers on the active roster, that eighth person being four different pitchers that made a total of 17 appearances. Philadelphia did finish fourth in the league ERA chase.

Philadelphia performed well against the team above them (they beat Boston six times, Cleveland nine, and New York eight), but went 8-14 versus Chicago and almost let the White Sox pass them in the standings. Connie Mack was the A’s manager in my recently completed 1930 replay and I am going to do 1901 as my next project and Mack is the A’s manager then too. He would retire after the 1950 season.

Chicago (72-82, 63-91, +9)

Chicago was definitely the surprise team of the replay as they improved their record by nine wins and came within a whisker of fifth place. To their credit, they knew they were a bad team but weren’t content to play with a pat hand. They moved poor performers out and brought in new bodies, plus they gave their prospects a more than ample opportunity to show their stuff. Utilizing a total of 44 different players on their roster during the season the White Sox ended up doing much better than expected.

Luke Appling

The offense was led by their shortstop, the 42-year-old Luke Appling (.337, 142 games) and second baseman Cass Michaels (.319) with his team-leading 12 homeruns and 96 RBI’s. The other key to the White Sox attack was Dave Philley (.314) who led the team with 93 runs, one more than Appling’s 92. Gus Zernial (.337) had a great start to the season, but injured his shoulder and missed the middle third of the season, and when he came back he was pretty much limited to pinch-hit appearances. To their credit, the White Sox did the most with their meager offense to gain that nine-win improvement.

Chicago’s pitching rotation was anchored by Bill Wight (18-10, 2.63) and Randy Gumpert (16-11, 4.08). Five other pitchers made double-digit starts and four other pitchers beyond that made starts and the White Sox finished sixth with a team ERA of 4.46. Seventeen different relievers took the mound for the White Sox, with Max Surkont (9-2, 2.64, 4 Saves), despite his poor pitching grade, being the only one worth mentioning.

Chicago beat Cleveland eight times, New York nine times, Detroit nine times, and finished 14-8 versus Philadelphia. Again, they were not a good team, but they did the most with what they had.

St. Louis (51-103, 53-101, -2)

It was Washington that got off to a bad start, but then Washington got hot for a few weeks and left St. Louis alone in the cellar for most of the season, with the Browns only able to secure a tie for seventh place on the last day of the season. They just weren’t a good team. They moved some players in and out to help bolster their lineup, but Vern Stephens and Al Zarilla both had good years in Boston and their best pitcher in 1948, Fred Sanford, was floundering in New York. Most of the St. Louis deals had a financial component to them, but they needed the money to stay in business.

Ned Garver

Bob Dillinger (.344) finished second in hitting, led the league in steals (20), but despite an OBP of .397 could only score 79 runs in his 133 games. AL Rookie-of-the-Year Roy Sievers (.300) had a nice if unspectacular year, hitting 13 homeruns and driving in 76 runs. First baseman Jack Graham (.268) was the leading run producer with 30 homeruns and a team-leading 92 RBI’s. Catchers Les Moss and Sherm Lollar combined for 20 homeruns and 89 RBI’s, but the Browns just had too many regulars and semi-regulars hitting in the low .200’s (or worse) to mount any sort of consistent challenge, although they did win eight against New York and ten against Detroit. The Browns finished seventh in team hitting (.248), three points better than Washington.

Ned Garver (10-17, 4.06) and Karl Drews (9-14, 4.51) anchored the pitching staff, with five other pitchers making double-digit starts. The starting numbers were as bleak as the final team ERA (5.44) which was the league-worst by almost half-a-run. The relief ERA (5.50) wasn’t much better although Tom Ferrick (4-5, 3.44, 6 Saves) did what he could. When half of your innings come from pitchers with ERA’s over 5.00, it was going to be a long year.

The Browns had been a poor franchise from the beginning with only a few seasons of success, and they would end up moving to Baltimore in a few years. In this replay, they ended up right where they should, losing two more games than their real-life counterparts.

Washington (51-103, 50-104, +1)

Washington had an interesting season. They got off to a horrible start but then went on an extended hot streak that saw them reach as high as third place for a few days, only to have the bottom completely fall out after that. They managed to stay ahead of St. Louis until the final few days and in the end just couldn’t stay ahead and the two teams ended up tied for seventh place. Part of the success in the hot streak was not playing the other teams in the AL East – they ended up splitting their season series' evenly against Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis.

Eddie Robinson

First baseman Eddie Robinson (.302) was acquired from Cleveland before the season started and ended up being the likely Washington MVP. Robinson came in second in runs (74), first in RBI’s (93), second in doubles (25), and hit 14 homeruns. Shortstop Sam Dente (.305) put together an unexpectedly good season, leading the team in hits (180), doubles (32), and came in second in RBI’s (73). Eddie Yost (.202) earned his “Walking Man” moniker with 84 walks (OBP: 329) and led the teams in runs scored (75). The Senators finished last in team hitting (.245) as they and St. Louis toggled back and forth as to which teams were worse in the individual categories.

Sid Hudson (10-12, 4.68) and Ray Scarborough (7-15, 5.27) were Washington’s two leading starters, which should give you a good idea as to the strength of the Senators pitching. 14 different pitchers made starts, with seven making double-digit starts. They did move several pitchers to and from the minors and made a few trades along the way, but nothing seemed to work. Their Team ERA of 5.02 was better than what St. Louis had (5.44) though, so thank goodness for small victories.

Washington has had some poor teams in their history but unlike St. Louis they have had many successful seasons along the way as well. This year they hit rock bottom and like St. Louis they would find themselves in a new home in the not too distant future.