The 1948 Boston Red Sox season was the 48th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. After 154 regular-season games, the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians finished atop the American League with identical records of 96 wins and 58 losses. The teams then played a tie-breaker game, which was won by Cleveland, 8–3. Thus, the Red Sox finished their season with a record of 96 wins and 59 losses, one game behind Cleveland.

This was the first Red Sox season to be broadcast on television, with broadcasts alternated between WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV, with the same broadcast team regardless of broadcasting station. The first Red Sox game to be broadcast on television was on July 2, 1948, a 4–2 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics.

Offseason In December 1947, the Red Sox made a deal with the St. Louis Browns. The Sox acquired Vern Stephens, Billy Hitchcock, and pitchers Jack Kramer and Ellis Kinder. The deal cost $375,000 and 11 Red Sox players.

Notable transactions Prior to 1948 season (exact date unknown) Milt Bolling was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.Milt Bolling page at Baseball Reference Bob SmithBob Smith page at Baseball Reference was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox.

Regular season In 1948, Kramer led the American League in winning percentage. The manager of the team was former New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy, who replaced the outgoing Joe Cronin. Cronin had led the Red Sox to an 83–71 record in 1947, finishing in third place.

Throughout 1948, the Sox, New York Yankees, and the Cleveland Indians slugged it out for the pennant. At the end of the regular season, Boston and Cleveland were tied for first place. Each team had a record of 96 wins and 58 losses, two games ahead of the Yankees.

American League Playoff At the end of the season, the Red Sox and the Indians were tied for first place. This led to the American League's first-ever one-game playoff. The game was played at Fenway Park on Monday, October 4, 1948. The start time was 1:15 pm EST.

McCarthy picked former St. Louis Browns pitcher Denny Galehouse, who had an 8–7 pitching record, to be his starter. According to Mel Parnell, McCarthy chose Galehouse on the basis that he pitched well in relief against the Indians in Cleveland, whilst Billy Hitchcock reasoned that McCarthy chose Galehouse on the grounds that Galehouse's slider would keep Cleveland's right-handed hitters away from Fenway's left-field wall.

The Indians won the game by the score of 8–3. Indians third baseman Ken Keltner contributed to the victory with his single, double, and 3-run homer over the Green Monster in the 4th inning. Later, McCarthy said he had no rested arms and that there was no else who could pitch. Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder claimed that they were both ready to pitch.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup  7 Dom DiMaggio CF 6 Johnny Pesky 3B 9 Ted Williams LF 2 Stan Spence 1B 5 Vern Stephens SS 1 Bobby Doerr 2B 4 Sam Mele RF 8 Birdie Tebbetts C15 Joe Dobson P

Roster 1948 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Third base) (First base) (Hitting) (Bullpen)

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 C 128 446 125 .280 5 68 1B 127 445 138 .310 1 66 2B 140 527 150 .285 27 111 SS 155 635 171 .285 29 137 3B 143 565 159 .281 3 55 OF 137 509 188 .369 25 127 OF 114 391 92 .235 12 61 OF 155 648 185 .285 9 87

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 78 189 49 .259 2 29 66 180 42 .233 2 25 49 124 37 .298 1 2 46 118 37 .314 1 24 36 105 21 .200 1 8 4 11 1 .091 1 1 4 4 2 .500 0 0 3 2 1 .500 0 0 2 1 0 .000 0 0 1 1 0 .000 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 38 245.1 16 10 3.56 116 35 212.0 15 8 3.14 77 29 205.0 18 5 4.35 72 28 178.0 10 7 3.74 53 20 113.2 7 10 5.30 42 1 1.1 0 1 20.25 0

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 27 137.1 8 8 4.00 38 31 115.1 7 3 5.23 30

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 35 10 4 5 4.53 45 15 3 1 0 5.12 6 9 0 1 0 5.65 5 8 1 1 0 13.00 5 7 0 0 0 6.17 17 6 0 0 0 6.43 4 4 1 0 0 0.00 2 3 0 0 0 6.00 1

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Birmingham, Scranton, Oneonta, Milford

Source:

References

External links 1948 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference 1948 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com