# 1949 Cleveland Indians season

The 1949 season was the 49th season in the history of the Cleveland Indians. The club entered the season as the defending World Champions. On March 5, 1949, Indians minority owner Bob Hope donned a Cleveland Indians uniform and posed with manager Lou Boudreau and vice president Hank Greenberg as the World Series champions opened spring training camp in Tucson, Arizona.

## Offseason

* November 15, 1948: 1948 minor league draft
** Bob Chakales was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies.
** Grant Dunlap was drafted from the Indians by the New York Yankees.
* December 14, 1948: Ed Klieman, Joe Haynes, and Eddie Robinson were traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Mickey Vernon and Early Wynn.
* Prior to 1949 season: Brooks Lawrence was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.

## Regular season

Following their 1948 World Series championship, the 1949 Indians season proved to be a disappointment. Despite having the best overall pitching and fielding statistics in either the American or National Leagues, the Indians finished a distant third place behind the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. A team roster that boasted eight future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Bob Feller, Joe Gordon, Bob Lemon, Satchel Paige, Minnie Miñoso, and Early Wynn) could not deliver a second consecutive championship to Cleveland. During the season, Indians fan Charlie Lupica spent 117 days on a flagpole, waiting for the Indians to regain first place. They never did, and he gave up his pursuit when the Indians were mathematically eliminated on September 25.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 54‍–‍23 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Boston Red Sox | 96 | 58 | .623 | 1 | 61‍–‍16 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 8 | 49‍–‍28 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 87 | 67 | .565 | 10 | 50‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 73 | .526 | 16 | 52‍–‍25 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 63 | 91 | .409 | 34 | 32‍–‍45 | 31‍–‍46 |
| St. Louis Browns | 53 | 101 | .344 | 44 | 36‍–‍41 | 17‍–‍60 |
| Washington Senators | 50 | 104 | .325 | 47 | 26‍–‍51 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1949 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 17–5 | 8–14 | 15–7–1 | 9–13 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 18–4 |
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 8–14 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Cleveland | 14–8 | 15–7 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 13–9 |
| Detroit | 7–15–1 | 14–8 | 9–13 | — | 11–11 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 18–4 |
| New York | 13–9 | 15–7 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 17–5–1 | 15–7 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 8–14 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 5–17–1 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 |
| Washington | 4–18 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 4–18 | 7–15 | 6–16 | 13–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap was returned to the Indians by the New York Yankees.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 34 | Dale Mitchell | LF |
| 37 | Larry Doby | CF |
| 5 | Lou Boudreau | SS |
| 4 | Joe Gordon | 2B |
| 3 | Mickey Vernon | 1B |
| 6 | Ken Keltner | 3B |
| 33 | Bob Kennedy | RF |
| 10 | Jim Hegan | C |
| 19 | Bob Feller | P |

### 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 | Jim Hegan | 152 | 468 | 105 | .224 | 8 | 55 |
| 1B | Mickey Vernon | 153 | 584 | 170 | .291 | 18 | 83 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 148 | 533 | 136 | .251 | 20 | 84 |
| SS | Lou Boudreau | 134 | 475 | 135 | .284 | 4 | 60 |
| 3B | Ken Keltner | 80 | 246 | 57 | .232 | 8 | 30 |
| OF | Dale Mitchell | 149 | 640 | 203 | .317 | 3 | 56 |
| OF | Larry Doby | 147 | 547 | 153 | .280 | 24 | 85 |
| OF | Bob Kennedy | 121 | 424 | 117 | .276 | 9 | 57 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Boone | 86 | 258 | 65 | .252 | 4 | 26 |
| Thurman Tucker | 80 | 197 | 48 | .244 | 0 | 14 |
| Johnny Berardino | 50 | 116 | 23 | .198 | 0 | 13 |
| Allie Clark | 35 | 74 | 13 | .176 | 1 | 9 |
| Luke Easter | 21 | 45 | 10 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Al Rosen | 23 | 44 | 7 | .159 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Tresh | 38 | 37 | 8 | .216 | 0 | 1 |
| Hal Peck | 33 | 29 | 9 | .310 | 0 | 9 |
| Minnie Miñoso | 9 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 1 | 1 |
| Hank Edwards | 5 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 1 | 1 |
| Bobby Ávila | 31 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 3 |
| Milt Nielsen | 3 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Herman Reich | 1 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Marsh | 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 |
| Bob Lemon | 37 | 279.2 | 22 | 10 | 2.99 | 138 |
| Bob Feller | 36 | 211.0 | 15 | 14 | 3.75 | 108 |
| Early Wynn | 26 | 164.2 | 11 | 7 | 4.15 | 62 |
| Gene Bearden | 32 | 127.0 | 8 | 8 | 5.10 | 41 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Gromek | 40 | 92.0 | 4 | 6 | 3.33 | 22 |
| Sam Zoldak | 27 | 53.0 | 1 | 2 | 4.25 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Al Benton | 40 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 2.12 | 41 |
| Mike Garcia | 41 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 2.36 | 94 |
| Satchel Paige | 31 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3.04 | 54 |
| Frank Papish | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.19 | 23 |

## Awards and honors

* Dale Mitchell, American League leader, triples (23)
* Team ERA of 3.36 lowest in MLB for 1949
* Team fielding percentage of .983 highest in MLB for 1949
All Star Game
Larry Doby, Outfielder, reserve
Joe Gordon, Second baseman, reserve
Jim Hegan, Catcher, reserve
Bob Lemon, Pitcher, reserve
Dale Mitchell, Outfielder, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | San Diego Padres | Pacific Coast League | Bucky Harris |
| AA | Oklahoma City Indians | Texas League | Joe Vosmik |
| A | Dayton Indians | Central League | Ski Melillo |
| A | Wilkes-Barre Barons | Eastern League | Bill Norman |
| B | St. Petersburg Saints | Florida International League | Myril Hoag, Harry Sullivan, Johnny Beazley and Dick Porter |
| B | Harrisburg Senators | Interstate League | Les Bell |
| B | Spartanburg Peaches | Tri-State League | Kerby Farrell |
| C | Tucson Cowboys | Arizona–Texas League | Gene Lillard |
| C | Bakersfield Indians | California League | Harry Griswold |
| C | Pittsfield Indians | Canadian–American League | Gene Hasson |
| C | Burlington Indians | Central Association | Lloyd Brown |
| D | Cordele Indians | Georgia–Florida League | Hal Lee |
| D | Iola Indians | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Winlow Johnson |
| D | Union City Greyhounds | KITTY League | Tony Rensa and Rudy York |
| D | Stroudsburg Poconos | North Atlantic League | Frank Radler |
| D | Zanesville Indians | Ohio–Indiana League | Pat McLaughlin |
| D | Batavia Clippers | PONY League | Ed Kobesky |
| D | Green Bay Blue Jays | Wisconsin State League | Phil Seghi |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Stroudsburg