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.
Offseason November 15, 1948: Grant Dunlap was drafted by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 minor league draft.Grant Dunlap page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1949 season: Lou Skizas was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.Lou Skizas page at Baseball Reference
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. 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 pinch hitter Tom Wright who walked but was erased in a double play, ending the inning. 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. 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.ESPN.com – Page2 – The List: Baseball's biggest rumors 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
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap was returned by the Yankees to the Indians.
Roster 1949 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 116 415 155 .277 20 91 1B 115 411 118 .287 24 85 2B 128 447 123 .275 2 42 3B 104 343 97 .283 6 61 SS 153 614 169 .275 5 65 OF 111 304 75 .247 7 38 OF 112 296 80 .270 5 44 OF 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 113 329 82 .249 8 56 76 272 94 .346 14 67 78 211 51 .242 6 27 54 177 52 .294 1 27 70 157 41 .261 0 11 58 130 41 .315 0 13 60 116 29 .250 3 16 45 91 28 .308 1 10 32 43 12 .279 0 6 10 27 5 .185 0 2 13 23 6 .261 1 2 9 20 7 .350 1 3 7 10 1 .100 0 4 5 7 4 .571 0 1 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 38 274.2 21 10 3.34 124 31 215.1 15 10 3.26 70 35 213.2 17 6 4.00 105 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 29 95.1 7 3 3.87 51 12 57.2 2 5 4.06 25 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 60 13 8 27 2.59 99 21 3 0 3 5.11 13 20 1 1 1 5.33 22 14 0 1 2 4.05 14 4 1 0 0 8.22 5 4 0 2 1 5.87 3 2 0 0 0 0.00 2
1949 World Series
AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (1) GameScoreDateAttendance1New York 1, Brooklyn 0October 566,2242Brooklyn 1, New York 0October 670,0533New York 4, Brooklyn 3October 732,7884New York 6, Brooklyn 4October 833,9345New York 10, Brooklyn 6October 933,711
Awards and honors Joe Page, Babe Ruth Award All-Star Game
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
References
External links 1949 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1949 World Series 1949 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com