# 1951 St. Louis Browns season

The 1951 St. Louis Browns season involved the Browns finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 52 wins, and 102 losses.

## Regular season
### Bill Veeck

Bill Veeck, the majority owner and manager of St. Louis Browns, signed Satchel Paige on July 17, 1951, and announced the 45-year-old would start the following night against the Washington Senators. In his first game back in the major leagues since 1949, Paige pitched six innings of shutout baseball before giving up three runs in the 7th inning. Paige ended the season with a 3–4 record and a 4.79 ERA.
Another of Veeck's promotions included the signing of Eddie Gaedel. Gaedel gained immortality in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday, August 19. Weighing just 65 pounds (29 kg), and 3 feet 7 inches (1.09 m) tall, he became the shortest player in the history of the major leagues. He stood 3 feet 4 inches (1.02 m) shorter than Jon Rauch, whose height of 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) made him the tallest person to play in a major league game. He had been secretly signed by the Browns and put in uniform (complete with elf slippers & the number "1⁄8 in (3.2 mm) on the back) as a publicity stunt.
Gaedel popped out of a papier-mache cake between games of a doubleheader to celebrate the American League's 50th anniversary, and as a Falstaff Brewery promotion. Falstaff, and the fans, had been promised a "festival of surprises" by Veeck. Before the second game got underway, the press agreed that the "midget-in-a-cake" appearance had not been up to Veeck's usual promotional standard. Falstaff personnel, who had been promised national publicity for their participation, were particularly dissatisfied. Keeping the surprise he had in store for the second game to himself, Veeck just meekly apologized.
Gaedel entered the game between the Browns and Detroit Tigers in the first inning as a pinch hitter for leadoff batter Frank Saucier. Immediately, umpire Ed Hurley called for Browns manager Zack Taylor. Veeck and Taylor had the foresight to have a copy of Gaedel's contract on hand, as well as a copy of the Browns' active roster, which had room for Gaedel's addition. Tigers pitcher Bob Cain walked him. Jim Delsing pinch ran for Gaedel, but did not score.

### Ned Garver

In 1951, Ned Garver fashioned an outstanding season. Pitching for the Browns, Garver compiled a 20–12 record, which was noteworthy considering the Browns lost 102 games. Garver also posted a 3.73 ERA. Garver's wins accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Browns' 52 total wins. Garver also led the American League in complete games with 24 in 1951, and when he pitched he often batted sixth in the order rather than the customary ninth, compiling a .305 batting average with one home run.
Garver is the only pitcher in American League history to win 20 or more games for a team which lost 100 or more games in the same season, and the only pitcher in Major League history to do since 1920 or with a winning record.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 56‍–‍22 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 5 | 53‍–‍24 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 50‍–‍25 | 37‍–‍42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 73 | .526 | 17 | 39‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 73 | 81 | .474 | 25 | 36‍–‍41 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 70 | 84 | .455 | 28 | 38‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍43 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 92 | .403 | 36 | 32‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Browns | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 24‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | — | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 14–8 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | — | 17–5 | 7–15 | 16–6 | 16–6 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 10–12 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| New York | 11–11 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 16–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7–15 | 13–9 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1951: Don Lenhardt was traded by the Browns to the Chicago White Sox for Kermit Wahl and Paul Lehner.
* July 14, 1951: Satchel Paige was signed as a free agent by the Browns.
* July 21, 1951: Bob Nieman was purchased by the Browns from the Oklahoma City Indians.
* July 31, 1951: Ray Coleman was selected off waivers from the Browns by the Chicago White Sox.
* August 19, 1951: Eddie Gaedel was signed as an amateur free agent by the Browns.

### Roster
## 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 | Sherm Lollar | 98 | 310 | 78 | .252 | 8 | 44 |
| 1B | Hank Arft | 112 | 345 | 90 | .261 | 7 | 42 |
| 2B | Bobby Young | 147 | 611 | 159 | .260 | 1 | 31 |
| SS | Bill Jennings | 64 | 195 | 35 | .179 | 0 | 13 |
| 3B | Fred Marsh | 130 | 445 | 108 | .243 | 4 | 43 |
| OF | Ken Wood | 109 | 333 | 79 | .237 | 15 | 44 |
| OF | Jim Delsing | 131 | 449 | 112 | .249 | 8 | 45 |
| OF | Ray Coleman | 91 | 341 | 96 | .282 | 5 | 55 |

#### 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 |
| Matt Batts | 79 | 248 | 75 | .302 | 5 | 31 |
| Cliff Mapes | 56 | 201 | 55 | .274 | 7 | 30 |
| Johnny Bero | 61 | 160 | 34 | .213 | 5 | 17 |
| Tom Upton | 52 | 131 | 26 | .198 | 0 | 12 |
| Jack Maguire | 41 | 127 | 31 | .244 | 1 | 14 |
| Johnny Berardino | 39 | 119 | 27 | .227 | 0 | 13 |
| Dale Long | 34 | 105 | 25 | .238 | 2 | 11 |
| Don Lenhardt | 31 | 103 | 27 | .262 | 5 | 18 |
| Earl Rapp | 26 | 98 | 32 | .327 | 2 | 14 |
| Ben Taylor | 33 | 93 | 24 | .258 | 3 | 6 |
| Roy Sievers | 31 | 89 | 20 | .225 | 1 | 11 |
| Paul Lehner | 21 | 67 | 9 | .134 | 1 | 2 |
| Les Moss | 16 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 1 | 7 |
| Bob Nieman | 12 | 43 | 16 | .372 | 2 | 8 |
| Joe Lutz | 14 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Kermit Wahl | 8 | 27 | 9 | .333 | 0 | 3 |
| Bud Thomas | 14 | 20 | 7 | .350 | 1 | 1 |
| Jim Dyck | 4 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Saucier | 18 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Goliat | 5 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Clyde Kluttz | 4 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy DeMars | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Gaedel | 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 |
| Ned Garver | 33 | 246.0 | 20 | 12 | 3.73 | 84 |
| Duane Pillette | 35 | 191.0 | 6 | 14 | 4.99 | 65 |
| Tommy Byrne | 19 | 122.2 | 4 | 10 | 3.82 | 57 |
| Jim McDonald | 16 | 84.0 | 4 | 7 | 4.07 | 28 |
| Stubby Overmire | 8 | 53.1 | 1 | 6 | 3.54 | 13 |
| Fred Sanford | 9 | 27.1 | 2 | 4 | 10.21 | 7 |
| Bob Turley | 1 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 7.36 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Al Widmar | 26 | 107.2 | 4 | 9 | 6.52 | 28 |
| Jim Suchecki | 29 | 89.2 | 0 | 6 | 5.42 | 47 |
| Lou Sleater | 20 | 81.0 | 1 | 9 | 5.11 | 33 |
| Dick Starr | 15 | 62.0 | 2 | 5 | 7.40 | 26 |
| Bill Kennedy | 19 | 56.0 | 1 | 5 | 5.79 | 29 |
| Duke Markell | 5 | 21.1 | 1 | 1 | 6.33 | 10 |
| Don Johnson | 6 | 15.0 | 0 | 1 | 12.60 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Satchel Paige | 23 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4.79 | 48 |
| Bob Mahoney | 30 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4.44 | 30 |
| Bobby Hogue | 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.16 | 11 |
| Cliff Fannin | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.46 | 11 |
| Irv Medlinger | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.38 | 5 |
| Sid Schacht | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21.00 | 4 |
| Bobby Herrera | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toronto Maple Leafs | International League | Joe Becker |
| AA | San Antonio Missions | Texas League | Jo-Jo White |
| A | Dayton Indians | Central League | Jim Crandall |
| B | Wichita Falls Spudders | Big State League | Bruce Ogrodowski and Cecil McClung |
| B | Anderson Rebels | Tri-State League | Len Schulte and Hillis Layne |
| C | Pine Bluff Judges | Cotton States League | Bob Richards |
| C | Aberdeen Pheasants | Northern League | Joe King, Jim Post and Bruce Ogrodowski |
| D | Redding Browns | Far West League | Ray Perry |
| D | Pittsburg Browns | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Bill Enos |
| D | Ada Herefords | Sooner State League | Stan Gallo |
| D | Appleton Papermakers | Wisconsin State League | Joe Skurski and Paul Erickson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dayton