# 1950 Major League Baseball season

The 1950 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1950. The regular season ended on October 1, with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 47th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 4 on October 7. The Yankees swept the Phillies in four games, capturing their 13th championship in franchise history, and their second in a five-run World Series.
The 17th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 11 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, home of the Chicago White Sox. The National League won, 4–3.
On April 18, the Boston Braves become the fifth team in MLB to break the color line when they fielded Sam Jethroe.
The only no-hitter of the season was pitched by Vern Bickford on August 9, in the Boston Braves 7–0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. This season saw the first use of a bullpen car, by the Cleveland Indians.
On Opening Day, April 18, the Boston Braves become the fifth team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Sam Jethroe.

## Schedule

The 1950 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 18, featuring all sixteen teams, the first time since 1947. The final day of the regular season was on October 1, which also saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. This was the first time since 1947 that all sixteen teams played their first and last games on the same days. The World Series took place between October 4 and October 7.

## Rule changes

The 1950 season saw the following rule changes:
* Home team must bat second, in the bottom of the inning. This replaced the previous rule which would give the manager or captain of the home team preference to whether the home team would bat first or second. A major league game did not feature a home team in the top of the inning since 1914.
* Mount must be 15 inches high. The previous rule stated that the maximum height was 15 inches, but gave no minimum.
* Rules for determining winning and losing pitcher established.
* The size of all glove, aside from first baseman and catcher's gloves, are regulated to be no more than 8 inches wide and 12 inches long. The size and shape of the webbing between the thumb and index finger was also regulated.
* Strike zone redefined and shrunk to be from the armpits to top of the knees.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 35,200 | Joe McCarthy |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 35,200 | Steve O'Neill |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 47,400 | Jack Onslow |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 47,400 | Red Corriden |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium | 73,811 | Lou Boudreau |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Briggs Stadium | 58,000 | Red Rolfe |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 67,000 | Casey Stengel |
| American League | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,166 | Connie Mack |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,000 | Zack Taylor |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 29,731 | Bucky Walters |
| National League | Boston Braves | Boston, Massachusetts | Braves Field | 37,106 | Billy Southworth |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 32,111 | Burt Shotton |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 38,690 | Frankie Frisch |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 30,101 | Luke Sewell |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 54,500 | Leo Durocher |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Shibe Park | 33,166 | Eddie Sawyer |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 33,730 | Billy Meyer |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 34,000 | Eddie Dyer |

## Standings
### American League

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 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 63 | .591 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 89 | 65 | .578 | 2 | 48‍–‍30 | 41‍–‍35 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 68 | .558 | 5 | 44‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Boston Braves | 83 | 71 | .539 | 8 | 46‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 78 | 75 | .510 | 12½ | 48‍–‍28 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 87 | .431 | 24½ | 38‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍49 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 89 | .418 | 26½ | 35‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 57 | 96 | .373 | 33½ | 33‍–‍44 | 24‍–‍52 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | Philadelphia Phillies | 0 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Braves | Johnny Cooney | Billy Southworth |
| Washington Senators | Joe Kuhel | Bucky Harris |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Boston Red Sox | Joe McCarthy | Steve O'Neill |
| Chicago White Sox | Jack Onslow | Red Corriden |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Billy Goodman (BRS) | .354 |
| OPS | Larry Doby (CLE) | .986 |
| HR | Al Rosen (CLE) | 37 |
| RBI | Walt Dropo (BRS) Vern Stephens (BRS) | 144 |
| R | Dom DiMaggio (BRS) | 131 |
| H | George Kell (DET) | 218 |
| SB | Dom DiMaggio (BRS) | 15 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 23 |
| L | Alex Kellner (PHA) | 20 |
| ERA | Early Wynn (CLE) | 3.20 |
| K | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 170 |
| IP | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 288.0 |
| SV | Mickey Harris (WSH) | 15 |
| WHIP | Early Wynn (CLE) | 1.250 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Stan Musial (SLC) | .346 |
| OPS | Stan Musial (SLC) | 1.034 |
| HR | Ralph Kiner (PIT) | 47 |
| RBI | Del Ennis (PHP) | 126 |
| R | Earl Torgeson (BSB) | 120 |
| H | Duke Snider (BKN) | 199 |
| SB | Sam Jethroe (BSB) | 35 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Warren Spahn (BSB) | 21 |
| L | Bob Rush (CHC) | 20 |
| ERA | Sal Maglie (NYG) | 2.71 |
| K | Warren Spahn (BSB) | 191 |
| IP | Vern Bickford (BSB) | 311.2 |
| SV | Jim Konstanty (PHP) | 22 |
| WHIP | Larry Jansen (NYG) | 1.065 |

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Rookie of the Year | Sam Jethroe (BSB) | Walt Dropo (BRS) |
| Most Valuable Player | Jim Konstanty (PHP) | Phil Rizzuto (NYY) |

### Other awards

* Babe Ruth Award (World Series MVP): Jerry Coleman (NYY)
The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Player of the Year | — | Phil Rizzuto (NYY) |
| Pitcher of the Year | Jim Konstanty (PHP) | Bob Lemon (CLE) |
| Rookie of the Year | — | Whitey Ford (NYY) |
| Manager of the Year | — | Red Rolfe (DET) |
| Executive of the Year | — | George Weiss (NYY) |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 1.0% | 2,081,380 | −8.9% | 27,031 |
| Detroit Tigers | 95 | 9.2% | 1,951,474 | 7.2% | 24,092 |
| Cleveland Indians | 92 | 3.4% | 1,727,464 | −22.7% | 22,435 |
| Boston Red Sox | 94 | −2.1% | 1,344,080 | −15.8% | 17,456 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 12.3% | 1,217,035 | 48.5% | 15,603 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 89 | −8.2% | 1,185,896 | −27.4% | 15,204 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 57 | −19.7% | 1,166,267 | −19.5% | 15,146 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 4.9% | 1,165,944 | 2.0% | 14,948 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 78 | −18.8% | 1,093,411 | −23.6% | 14,387 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 17.8% | 1,008,878 | −17.2% | 13,275 |
| Boston Braves | 83 | 10.7% | 944,391 | −12.7% | 11,954 |
| Chicago White Sox | 60 | −4.8% | 781,330 | −16.6% | 9,890 |
| Washington Senators | 67 | 34.0% | 699,697 | −9.2% | 8,970 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 6.5% | 538,794 | −23.9% | 7,089 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | −35.8% | 309,805 | −62.1% | 4,023 |
| St. Louis Browns | 58 | 9.4% | 247,131 | −8.8% | 3,340 |