The 1949 Washington Senators, the 49th season of the Major League Baseball franchise, won 50 games, lost 104, and finished in eighth place in the American League. It was the worst showing by the Washington club in 40 years, since the 1909 Senators lost 110 games. The team was managed by Joe Kuhel; it played its home games at Griffith Stadium, where it drew 770,745 fans, seventh in the circuit.Baseball Reference: 1949 miscellaneous team information

The Senators actually won 25 of their first 45 games and stood in third place after Sunday, June 5, 1949. But they would win only 25 games more all season, playing at an abysmal .229 rate over their last 109 contests. In today's 162-game schedule, that would have resulted in a 37–125 mark, surpassing the 1962 Mets' record for futility. At year's end, manager Kuhel would be replaced by Bucky Harris, the Senators' 1924 "boy wonder" manager, now 53, returning for a third term as skipper of the Senators.

Offseason October 4, 1948: John Sullivan, Tom Ferrick and $25,000 were traded by the Senators to the St. Louis Browns for Sam Dente.John Sullivan at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1949 season: Jim Pearce was signed as a free agent by the Senators.Jim Pearce at Baseball-Reference

Regular season On September 28, Senators pitcher Ray Scarborough ended Ted Williams' streak of most consecutive games reaching base safely at 84 games.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 44, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, Scarborough gave up just four hits in a 4–1 complete game win over the Boston Red Sox. Johnny Pesky made the final out with Williams on deck.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 24, 1949: Milo Candini was traded by the Senators to the Oakland Oaks for Lloyd Hittle.Milo Candini at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1949 Washington Senators 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 109 321 87 .271 2 42 1B Eddie Robinson 143 527 155 .294 18 78 2B Al Kozar 105 350 94 .269 4 31 SS 153 590 161 .273 1 53 3B Eddie Yost 124 435 110 .253 9 45 OF Gil Coan 111 358 78 .218 3 25 OF Bud Stewart 118 388 110 .284 8 43 OF Clyde Vollmer 129 443 112 .253 14 59

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 Sherry Robertson 110 374 94 .251 11 42 Sam Mele 78 264 64 .242 3 25 Buddy Lewis 95 257 63 .245 3 28 Jake Early 53 138 34 .246 1 11 40 129 36 .279 1 11 Mark Christman 49 112 24 .214 3 18 John Simmons 62 93 20 .215 0 5 Ralph Weigel 34 60 14 .233 0 4 Hal Keller 3 3 1 .333 0 0 Herman Reich 2 2 0 .000 0 0 Jay Difani 2 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 Sid Hudson 40 209.0 8 17* 4.22 54 34 199.2 13 11 4.60 81 34 160.2 6 17* 5.43 52 Mickey Harris 23 129.0 2 12 5.16 54 Walt Masterson 10 53.0 3 2 3.23 17 Dizzy Sutherland 1 1.0 0 1 45.00 0 Tied with Ned Garver (St. Louis)

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 36 109.0 5 7 4.21 32 Joe Haynes 37 96.1 2 9 6.26 19 Dick Weik 27 95.1 3 12 5.38 58 Mickey Haefner 19 91.2 5 5 4.42 23 Forrest Thompson 9 16.1 1 3 4.41 8 2 5.1 0 1 8.44 1

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 Dick Welteroth 52 2 5 2 7.36 37 Al Gettel 16 0 2 1 5.45 7 13 0 0 0 4.72 5 3 0 0 1 4.76 1 2 0 0 0 11.37 1 Ed Klieman 2 0 0 0 18.00 1

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 Washington Senators at Baseball-Reference 1949 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com