The 1948 Cleveland Indians season was the 48th in franchise history. When the regular season resulted in a first place tie, the Indians won a one-game playoff against the Boston Red Sox to advance to the World Series. Cleveland won the championship by defeating the Boston Braves 4 games to 2 for their first World Series win in 28 years. In 2011, The Sporting News ranked the 1948 Indians the ninth-best team in MLB history.

It was reported years later that teammates Bob Feller and Bob Lemon devised a plan in August to help relay signs to Indian batters that involved a telescope mounted on a tripod (which Feller brought from the war) that was hidden on the scoreboard of Municipal Stadium.

As of , this is the Cleveland Indians' (now Cleveland Guardians) most recent World Series championship. With the Chicago Cubs' 2016 World Series championship, which coincidentally was over Cleveland, being their first since 1908, the Indians now own the longest active world championship drought in Major League Baseball and the second-longest of any of the big four American sports leagues. Only the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals franchise owns a longer active world championship drought of the big four American sports leagues, having not won a world championship since 1947.

This memorable season was the first to be broadcast on television in the Cleveland area on WEWS-TV.

Off-season In the 1947–48 off-season, owner Bill Veeck signed recent St. Louis Browns manager Muddy Ruel as a coach to join player-manager Lou Boudreau and coach Bill McKechnie, the latter who was also a long-time manager.Baseball Digest, 1948, "Indians Collect a Brain Trust" by Lyall Smith of the Detroit Free Press.

Player transactions: November 17, 1947: Pete Milne was drafted from the Indians by the New York Giants in the 1947 minor league draft.Pete Milne at Baseball-Reference December 9, 1947: Catfish Metkovich and $50,000 were traded by the Indians to the St. Louis Browns for Johnny Berardino.Catfish Metkovich at Baseball-Reference January 27, 1948: Ralph Weigel was traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Thurman Tucker.Thurman Tucker at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1948 season (exact date unknown) Lee Wheat was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.Lee Wheat at Baseball-Reference Bill Upton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.Bill Upton at Baseball-Reference

Regular season Boudreau became the first shortstop in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 20, 1948: Catfish Metkovich was returned to the Indians by the St. Louis Browns. The Indians sent $15,000 to the St. Louis Browns as compensation.(Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.) May 6, 1948: Catfish Metkovich, Les Webber and cash were traded by the Indians to the Oakland Oaks for Will Hafey (minors). June 15, 1948: Bill Kennedy and $100,000 were traded by the Indians to the St. Louis Browns for Sam Zoldak.Sam Zoldak at Baseball-Reference July 7, 1948: Satchel Paige was signed as a free agent by the Indians.

Satchel Paige The Indians made baseball history on July 9. In a game against the St. Louis Browns, with the Browns leading the Indians, 4–1, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Boudreau pulled his starting pitcher, Bob Lemon and brought Negro leagues legend Satchel Paige into the game.

The first batter Paige faced was Browns first baseman Chuck Stevens. Paige did not yet know the signs, and Stevens lined a single into left field. Jerry Priddy bunted Stevens over to second. Next was Whitey Platt, and Paige threw an overhand server for a strike and one sidearm for another strike. Paige then threw his "Hesitation Pitch", which puzzled Platt and led him to throw his bat forty feet up the third base line. Browns manager Zack Taylor bolted from the dugout to talk to umpire Bill McGowan about the pitch. Taylor argued that it was a balk, but McGowan let it stand as a strike. Paige got Al Zarilla to fly out and the inning was over. In the next inning, Paige gave up a leadoff single to Dick Kokos. His catcher simplified his signals, and Paige got Roy Partee to hit into a double play. Larry Doby, the player who broke the American League's color barrier, pinch hit for Paige the following inning.

Paige got his first big league victory on July 15. This was accomplished the night after he pitched in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in front of 65,000 people in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. The victory came against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. The Indians were up 5–3 with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of the second game of a double header. Paige got Eddie Joost to fly out to end the inning. Unfortunately, he gave up two runs the next inning when Ferris Fain doubled and Hank Majeski hit a home run. Paige buckled down and gave up only one more hit the rest of the game, getting five of the next six outs on fly balls. Doby and Ken Keltner would hit home runs in the ninth to give the Indians an 8–5 victory.

On August 3, the Indians were one game behind the Athletics. Boudreau started Paige against the Washington Senators in Cleveland. The 72,562 people that saw the game set a new attendance record for a major league night game. Paige showed his nervousness as he walked two of the first three batters and then gave up a triple to Bud Stewart to fall behind 2–0. By the seventh, the Indians were up 4–2 and held on to give Paige his second victory.

Paige's next start was against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. 51,013 people paid to see the game, but many thousands more stormed the turnstiles and crashed into the park, overwhelming the few dozen ticket-takers. Paige pitched a complete game shutout, beating the White Sox 5–0.

By August 20, the Indians were in a heated pennant race. Coming into the game against the White Sox, Bob Lemon, Gene Bearden and Sam Zoldak had thrown consecutive shutouts to run up a thirty-inning scoreless streak, eleven shy of the big league record. For this game, played in Cleveland, 78,382 people came to see Paige. This was a full 6,000 more people than the last time that the night attendance record was set. Paige went the distance again, giving up two singles and one double for his second consecutive three-hit shutout. Paige now had a 5–1 record and a low 1.33 ERA.

American League Tiebreaker

At the end of the season, Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox were tied for first place. This led to the first tiebreaker game in American League history. The Indians defeated the Red Sox 8–3. Knuckleballer Gene Bearden was given the start for the Indians. Red Sox manager Joe McCarthy picked pitcher Denny Galehouse, who had an 8–7 pitching record.

Ken Keltner contributed to the victory with his single, double, and 3-run home run over the Green Monster in Fenway Park in the 4th inning. The Indians moved on to the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves. 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.

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position38 Thurman Tucker CF14 Larry Doby RF5 Lou Boudreau SS4 Joe Gordon 2B3 Eddie Robinson 1B31 Allie Clark LF6 Ken Keltner 3B10 Jim Hegan C19 Bob Feller P 1948 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1948 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Pitching & first base) (Third base)

(Bullpen)

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 144 472 117 .248 14 61 1B 134 493 125 .254 16 83 2B 144 550 154 .280 32 124 3B 153 558 166 .297 31 119 SS 152 560 199 .355 18 106 OF 141 608 204 .336 4 56 OF 121 439 132 .301 14 66 OF 83 242 63 .260 1 19

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 RBIAllie Clark8127184.310938Wally Judnich7921856.257229Hank Edwards5516043.269318 66 147 28 .190 2 10Joe Tipton479026.289113Bob Kennedy667322.30105Hal Peck456318.28608Pat Seerey10236.26116Ray Boone652.40001Al Rosen551.20000Ray Murray440.00000

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 43 293.2 20 14 2.82 147 44 280.1 19 15 3.56 164 37 229.2 20 7 2.43 80Sam Zoldak23105.2962.8117Don Black1852.0225.3716

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 Bob Muncrief 21 72.1 5 4 3.98 24 6 11.1 1 0 11.12 12 Lyman Linde 3 10.0 0 0 5.40 0 Al Gettel 5 7.2 0 1 17.61 4Mike Garcia12.0000.001Butch Wensloff11.20110.802Ernest Groth11.0009.000Les Webber10.20040.501

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 45 3 2 17 2.90 14 Ed Klieman 44 3 2 4 2.60 18Steve Gromek389322.8450Satchel Paige216112.4843

1948 World Series

On October 9, 1948, a new World Series single game attendance record was set during Game 4. 81,897 fans packed Cleveland Stadium but one day later, that record was broken during Game 5. 86,288 fans attended the game.

Satchel Paige appeared in Game 5 for the Indians, becoming the first black pitcher to pitch a game in World Series history. He pitched for two-thirds of an inning in Game Two while the Indians were trailing the Boston Braves, giving up a sacrifice fly to Warren Spahn, got called for a balk and struck out Tommy Holmes.

AL Cleveland Indians (4) vs. NL Boston Braves (2) GameScoreDateAttendance1Boston 1, Cleveland 0October 640,1352Cleveland 4, Boston 1October 739,6333Cleveland 2, Boston 0October 870,3064Cleveland 2, Boston 1October 981,8975Boston 11, Cleveland 5October 1086,2886Cleveland 4, Boston 3October 1140,103

Game 1 October 6, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 2 October 7, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 3 October 8 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 4 October 9, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 5 October 10, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 6 October 11, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Awards and honors Lou Boudreau, American League MVP Lou Boudreau, Associated Press Athlete of the YearAssociated Press Athlete of the Year (male) Team ERA of 3.22, lowest in MLB for 1948 Team fielding percentage of .982, highest in MLB for 1948 Team batting average of .282, highest in MLB for 1948 All-Star Game Lou Boudreau, Shortstop, starter Joe Gordon, Second baseman, starter Ken Keltner, Third baseman, starter Bob Feller, reserve Bob Lemon, reserve

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 1948 Cleveland Indians team at Baseball-Reference 1948 Cleveland Indians team at baseball-almanac.com 1948 World Series at Baseball-Reference