# 1950 Cleveland Indians season

The 1950 Cleveland Indians season was the 50th season in franchise history. The team finished fourth in the American League with a record of 92–62, six games behind the New York Yankees.

## Offseason

* December 5, 1949: Grant Dunlap was drafted from the Indians by the St. Louis Browns in the 1949 minor league draft.
* February 17, 1950: Satchel Paige was released by the Indians.

## Regular season

In 1950, the Cleveland Indians became the first Major League Baseball franchise to use a bullpen car. Rookie Al Rosen led the American League in home runs with 37.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 53‍–‍24 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 95 | 59 | .617 | 3 | 50‍–‍30 | 45‍–‍29 |
| Boston Red Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | 4 | 55‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 92 | 62 | .597 | 6 | 49‍–‍28 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Washington Senators | 67 | 87 | .435 | 31 | 35‍–‍42 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Chicago White Sox | 60 | 94 | .390 | 38 | 35‍–‍42 | 25‍–‍52 |
| St. Louis Browns | 58 | 96 | .377 | 40 | 27‍–‍47 | 31‍–‍49 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | 102 | .338 | 46 | 29‍–‍48 | 23‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1950 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 15–7 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 19–3 | 19–3 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 6–16–2 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 8–14 |
| Cleveland | 12–10 | 14–8 | — | 13–9–1 | 8–14 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 15–7 |
| Detroit | 12–10 | 16–6–2 | 9–13–1 | — | 11–11 | 17–5 | 17–5 | 13–9 |
| New York | 13–9 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | — | 15–7 | 17–5 | 14–8–1 |
| Philadelphia | 3–19 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 5–17 | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 13–9 |
| St. Louis | 3–19 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 5–17 | 14–8 | — | 12–10 |
| Washington | 10–12 | 14–8 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | 10–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 3, 1950: Mike Tresh was released by the Indians.
* May 11, 1950: Grant Dunlap was returned to the Indians by the St. Louis Browns.
* June 14, 1950: Mickey Vernon was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Dick Weik.

### 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 | 131 | 415 | 91 | .219 | 14 | 58 |
| 1B | Luke Easter | 141 | 540 | 151 | .280 | 28 | 107 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 119 | 368 | 87 | .236 | 19 | 57 |
| SS | Ray Boone | 109 | 365 | 110 | .301 | 7 | 58 |
| 3B | Al Rosen | 155 | 554 | 159 | .287 | 37 | 116 |
| OF | Bob Kennedy | 146 | 540 | 157 | .291 | 9 | 54 |
| OF | Larry Doby | 142 | 503 | 164 | .326 | 25 | 102 |
| OF | Dale Mitchell | 130 | 506 | 156 | .308 | 3 | 49 |

#### 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 |
| Lou Boudreau | 81 | 260 | 70 | .269 | 1 | 29 |
| Bobby Avila | 80 | 201 | 60 | .299 | 1 | 21 |
| Allie Clark | 59 | 163 | 35 | .215 | 6 | 21 |
| Ray Murray | 55 | 139 | 38 | .273 | 1 | 13 |
| Thurman Tucker | 57 | 101 | 18 | .178 | 1 | 7 |
| Mickey Vernon | 28 | 90 | 17 | .189 | 0 | 10 |
| Jim Lemon | 12 | 34 | 6 | .176 | 1 | 1 |
| Herb Conyers | 7 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 1 | 1 |
| Johnny Berardino | 4 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 | 44 | 288.0 | 23 | 11 | 3.84 | 170 |
| Bob Feller | 35 | 247.0 | 16 | 11 | 3.43 | 119 |
| Early Wynn | 32 | 213.2 | 18 | 8 | 3.20 | 143 |
| Mike Garcia | 33 | 184.0 | 11 | 11 | 3.86 | 76 |
| Al Aber | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 4 |

#### 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 | 31 | 113.1 | 10 | 7 | 3.65 | 43 |
| Gene Bearden | 14 | 45.1 | 1 | 3 | 6.15 | 10 |

#### 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 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3.57 | 26 |
| Sam Zoldak | 33 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3.96 | 15 |
| Marino Pieretti | 29 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.18 | 11 |
| Jesse Flores | 28 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.74 | 27 |
| Dick Rozek | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.97 | 14 |
| Dick Weik | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.81 | 16 |

## Awards and honors

* Al Rosen, American League leader, home runs (37)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | San Diego Padres | Pacific Coast League | Del Baker |
| AA | Oklahoma City Indians | Texas League | Joe Vosmik, Hank Gowdy and Tommy Reis |
| A | Dayton Indians | Central League | Dolph Camilli |
| A | Wilkes-Barre Barons | Eastern League | Bill Norman |
| B | Cedar Rapids Indians | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Billy Jurges |
| B | Harrisburg Senators | Interstate League | Les Bell |
| B | Spartanburg Peaches | Tri-State League | Kerby Farrell |
| B | Tacoma Tigers | Western International League | Jim Brillheart |
| C | Tucson Cowboys | Arizona–Texas League | Hank Leiber |
| C | Bakersfield Indians | California League | Harry Griswold |
| C | Pittsfield Indians | Canadian–American League | Lloyd Brown |
| D | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Red Ruffing |
| D | Zanesville Indians | Ohio–Indiana League | Knowles Piercy |
| D | Batavia Clippers | PONY League | Ed Kobesky |
| D | Green Bay Blue Jays | Wisconsin State League | Phil Seghi |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wilkes-Barre