1949 Num Num CLE Indians Picture Pack Partial Set (14) Bob Feller PR, Bill Veeck

1949 Cleveland Indians League American League Ballpark Cleveland Municipal Stadium City Cleveland, Ohio Owners Bill Veeck, Ellis Ryan General managers Bill Veeck Managers Lou Boudreau Television WEWS-TV (Bob Neal, Tris Speaker) Radio WJW (Jack Graney, Jimmy Dudley) ← 1948 Seasons 1950 → The 1949 season was the 49th season in the history of the Cleveland Indians. 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 Following their 1948 World Series championship, the 1949 Indians season proved to be a disappointment. Despite having the best overall pitching and fielding statistics in either the American or National Leagues, the Indians finished a distant third place behind the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. A team roster that boasted eight future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Bob Feller, Joe Gordon, Bob Lemon, Satchel Paige, Minnie Miñoso, and Early Wynn) could not deliver a second consecutive championship to Cleveland. 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 v t eAmerican 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: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] 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 to the Indians by the New York Yankees.[3] Opening Day Lineup Opening Day Starters # Name Position 34 Dale Mitchell LF 37 Larry Doby CF 5 Lou Boudreau SS 4 Joe Gordon 2B 3 Mickey Vernon 1B 6 Ken Keltner 3B 33 Bob Kennedy RF 10 Jim Hegan C 19 Bob Feller P [7] 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 = Indicates team leader = Indicates league 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 Jim Hegan 152 468 105 .224 8 55 1B Mickey Vernon 153 584 170 .291 18 83 2B Joe Gordon 148 533 136 .251 20 84 SS Lou Boudreau 134 475 135 .284 4 60 3B Ken Keltner 80 246 57 .232 8 30 OF Dale Mitchell 149 640 203 .317 3 56 OF Larry Doby 147 547 153 .280 24 85 OF Bob Kennedy 121 424 117 .276 9 57 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 Ray Boone 86 258 65 .252 4 26 Thurman Tucker 80 197 48 .244 0 14 Johnny Berardino 50 116 23 .198 0 13 Allie Clark 35 74 13 .176 1 9 Luke Easter 21 45 10 .222 0 2 Al Rosen 23 44 7 .159 0 5 Mike Tresh 38 37 8 .216 0 1 Hal Peck 33 29 9 .310 0 9 Minnie Miñoso 9 16 3 .188 1 1 Hank Edwards 5 15 4 .267 1 1 Bobby Ávila 31 14 3 .214 0 3 Milt Nielsen 3 9 1 .111 0 0 Herman Reich 1 2 1 .500 0 0 Fred Marsh 1 0 0 .--- 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 Bob Lemon 37 279.2 22 10 2.99 138 Bob Feller 36 211.0 15 14 3.75 108 Early Wynn 26 164.2 11 7 4.15 62 Gene Bearden 32 127.0 8 8 5.10 41 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 Steve Gromek 40 92.0 4 6 3.33 22 Sam Zoldak 27 53.0 1 2 4.25 11 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 Al Benton 40 9 6 10 2.12 41 Mike Garcia 41 14 5 2 2.36 94 Satchel Paige 31 4 7 5 3.04 54 Frank Papish 25 1 0 1 3.19 23 Awards and honors Dale Mitchell, American League leader, triples (23)[8] Team ERA of 3.36 lowest in MLB for 1949[9] Team fielding percentage of .983 highest in MLB for 1949[10] All Star Game Larry Doby, Outfielder, reserve Joe Gordon, Second baseman, reserve Jim Hegan, Catcher, reserve Bob Lemon, Pitcher, reserve Dale Mitchell, Outfielder, reserve Farm system See also: Minor League Baseball 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[11]