# 1948 Philadelphia Athletics season

The 1948 Philadelphia Athletics season, the 48th in the history of the American League franchise, resulted in Connie Mack's club finishing in the AL's first division for the first time in 15 years with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses (.545), good enough for fourth place. The 1948 Athletics drew 945,076 fans to Shibe Park, which will be the largest "gate" in their 54-year history in Philadelphia. Their home attendance ranked fifth-best in the AL and eleventh-best among the 16 Major League Baseball teams (and 177,647 higher than their National League tenants, the Phillies).
On the field, the 1948 season represented a dramatic turnaround from the club's dismal 1946 campaign, when it finished last at 49–105, a full 55 games out of first place. In both on- and off-field terms, it will prove to be the high-water mark for the Athletics' final 22 seasons in Philadelphia.
Posting stellar records in May (21–7) and July (18–13) of 1948, the Athletics ranked among the American League's contenders for most of the season, spending May 26 to June 5 in, or virtually tied for, first place. They returned to the AL's top spot on August 1, and held first for the month's first eight days. However, a five-game losing streak from August 20–25, then an eight-game skid between August 29 and September 6, effectively doomed their chances of gaining a tenth pennant for "Mister Mack", the club's 85-year-old manager, co-founder, and principal owner.
Led by pitchers Carl Scheib, Dick Fowler, Lou Brissie and Joe Coleman, and position players Hank Majeski, Eddie Joost, Ferris Fain, Elmer Valo and Barney McCosky, the Athletics finished fourth in the circuit in runs per game (4.73), and fifth in both total runs allowed (735) and staff earned run average (4.43).

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cleveland Indians | 97 | 58 | .626 | — | 48‍–‍30 | 49‍–‍28 |
| Boston Red Sox | 96 | 59 | .619 | 1 | 55‍–‍23 | 41‍–‍36 |
| New York Yankees | 94 | 60 | .610 | 2½ | 50‍–‍27 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 84 | 70 | .545 | 12½ | 36‍–‍41 | 48‍–‍29 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 18½ | 39‍–‍38 | 39‍–‍38 |
| St. Louis Browns | 59 | 94 | .386 | 37 | 34‍–‍42 | 25‍–‍52 |
| Washington Senators | 56 | 97 | .366 | 40 | 29‍–‍48 | 27‍–‍49 |
| Chicago White Sox | 51 | 101 | .336 | 44½ | 27‍–‍48 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1948 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 14–8 | 11–12 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 8–14 | — | 6–16 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 8–13–1 | 9–12–1 |
| Cleveland | 12–11 | 16–6 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 14–8–1 | 16–6 |
| Detroit | 7–15 | 14–8 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 16–6 |
| New York | 8–14 | 16–6 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 | 17–5 |
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 16–6 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 10–12 | — | 18–4 | 14–8 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 13–8–1 | 8–14–1 | 11–11 | 6–16 | 4–18 | — | 10–12 |
| Washington | 7–15 | 12–9–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 5–17 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 3, 1948: The Athletics sell the contract of relief pitcher Russ Christopher to the Cleveland Indians.
* May 15, 1948: The Athletics purchase the contract of relief pitcher Nels Potter from the St. Louis Browns for $17,500.
* June 4, 1948: The Athletics trade outfielder George Binks and $20,000 to the St. Louis Browns for outfielder Ray Coleman.
* June 14, 1948: The Athletics release pitchers Bill Dietrich and Nels Potter.

### 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 | Buddy Rosar | 90 | 302 | 77 | .255 | 4 | 41 |
| 1B | Ferris Fain | 145 | 520 | 146 | .281 | 7 | 88 |
| 2B | Pete Suder | 148 | 519 | 125 | .241 | 7 | 60 |
| SS | Eddie Joost | 135 | 509 | 127 | .250 | 16 | 55 |
| 3B | Hank Majeski | 148 | 590 | 183 | .310 | 12 | 120 |
| OF | Elmer Valo | 113 | 383 | 117 | .305 | 3 | 46 |
| OF | Barney McCosky | 135 | 515 | 168 | .326 | 0 | 46 |
| OF | Sam Chapman | 123 | 445 | 115 | .258 | 13 | 70 |

#### 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 |
| Don White | 86 | 253 | 62 | .245 | 1 | 28 |
| Ray Coleman | 68 | 210 | 51 | .243 | 0 | 21 |
| Mike Guerra | 53 | 142 | 30 | .211 | 1 | 23 |
| Herman Franks | 40 | 98 | 22 | .224 | 1 | 14 |
| Skeeter Webb | 23 | 54 | 8 | .148 | 0 | 3 |
| Rudy York | 31 | 51 | 8 | .157 | 0 | 6 |
| George Binks | 17 | 41 | 4 | .098 | 0 | 2 |
| Billy DeMars | 18 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 1 |
| Nellie Fox | 3 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Wellman | 4 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Earle Brucker | 2 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 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 |
| Phil Marchildon | 33 | 226.1 | 9 | 15 | 4.53 | 66 |
| Joe Coleman | 33 | 215.2 | 14 | 13 | 4.09 | 86 |
| Dick Fowler | 29 | 204.2 | 15 | 8 | 3.78 | 50 |
| Carl Scheib | 32 | 198.2 | 14 | 8 | 3.94 | 44 |
| Bill McCahan | 17 | 86.2 | 4 | 7 | 5.71 | 20 |

#### 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 |
| Lou Brissie | 39 | 194.0 | 14 | 10 | 4.13 | 127 |
| Wally Holborow | 5 | 17.1 | 1 | 2 | 5.71 | 3 |
| Bill Dietrich | 4 | 15.1 | 1 | 2 | 5.87 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Bubba Harris | 45 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4.13 | 32 |
| Bob Savage | 33 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6.21 | 26 |
| Alex Kellner | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.83 | 14 |
| Nels Potter | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4.00 | 13 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| A | Savannah Indians | Sally League | Eric McNair |
| A | Lincoln Athletics | Western League | Jimmie DeShong |
| C | Martinsville Athletics | Carolina League | Eddie Morgan |
| C | Moline/Kewanee A's | Central Association | Joe Glenn |
| D | Welch Miners | Appalachian League | Woody Wheaton |
| D | Federalsburg A's | Eastern Shore League | Ducky Detweiler |
| D | Moultrie Athletics | Georgia–Florida League | Joe Antolick |
| D | Lexington Indians | North Carolina State League | Homer Lee Cox |
| D | Portsmouth A's | Ohio–Indiana League | George Staller |
| D | Red Springs Red Robins | Tobacco State League | Red Norris |