# 1948 Chicago Cubs season

The 1948 Chicago Cubs season was the 77th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 73rd in the National League and the 33rd at Wrigley Field, as well as the first of many seasons to be broadcast on television on WGN-TV while keeping its separate WBKB telecasts. The Cubs finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 64–90.

## Offseason

* October 9, 1947: Randy Jackson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.
* December 6, 1947: Don Elston was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.
* Prior to 1948 season (exact date unknown):
** Jim Pearce was released by the Cubs.
** Carl Sawatski was acquired by the Cubs from the Boston Braves.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Braves | 91 | 62 | .595 | — | 45‍–‍31 | 46‍–‍31 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 85 | 69 | .552 | 6½ | 44‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 7½ | 36‍–‍41 | 48‍–‍29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 83 | 71 | .539 | 8½ | 47‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍40 |
| New York Giants | 78 | 76 | .506 | 13½ | 37‍–‍40 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 88 | .429 | 25½ | 32‍–‍44 | 34‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | 89 | .418 | 27 | 32‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍44 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 27½ | 35‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1948 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 14–8 | 16–6–1 | 13–8 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 8–14 | — | 11–11 | 18–4 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 6–16–1 | 11–11 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 11–11 |
| Cincinnati | 8–13 | 4–18 | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 10–12 |
| New York | 11–11 | 11–11–1 | 11–11 | 12–10 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 8–14 | — | 12–10–1 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | — | 13–9–1 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 17–5 | 9–13–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* September 1948: Warren Hacker was acquired by the Cubs from the Shreveport Sports.

### 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 | Bob Scheffing | 102 | 293 | 88 | .300 | 5 | 45 |
| 1B | Eddie Waitkus | 139 | 562 | 166 | .295 | 7 | 44 |
| 2B | Hank Schenz | 96 | 337 | 88 | .261 | 1 | 14 |
| SS | Roy Smalley Jr. | 124 | 361 | 78 | .216 | 4 | 36 |
| 3B | Andy Pafko | 142 | 548 | 171 | .312 | 26 | 101 |
| OF | Peanuts Lowrey | 129 | 435 | 128 | .294 | 2 | 54 |
| OF | Hal Jeffcoat | 134 | 473 | 132 | .279 | 4 | 42 |
| OF | Bill Nicholson | 143 | 494 | 129 | .261 | 19 | 67 |

#### 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 |
| Phil Cavarretta | 111 | 334 | 93 | .278 | 3 | 40 |
| Emil Verban | 56 | 248 | 73 | .294 | 1 | 16 |
| Clarence Maddern | 80 | 214 | 54 | .252 | 4 | 27 |
| Clyde McCullough | 69 | 172 | 36 | .209 | 1 | 7 |
| Rube Walker | 79 | 171 | 47 | .275 | 5 | 26 |
| Gene Mauch | 53 | 138 | 28 | .203 | 1 | 7 |
| Dick Culler | 48 | 89 | 15 | .169 | 0 | 5 |
| Cliff Aberson | 12 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 1 | 6 |
| Jeff Cross | 16 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Johnson | 6 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Lynch | 7 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 1 | 1 |
| Carmen Mauro | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 1 | 1 |
| Carl Sawatski | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Johnny Schmitz | 34 | 242.0 | 18 | 13 | 2.64 | 100 |
| Russ Meyer | 29 | 164.2 | 10 | 10 | 3.66 | 89 |
| Dutch McCall | 30 | 151.1 | 4 | 13 | 4.82 | 89 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Rush | 36 | 133.1 | 5 | 11 | 3.92 | 72 |
| Hank Borowy | 39 | 127.0 | 5 | 10 | 4.89 | 50 |
| Ralph Hamner | 27 | 111.1 | 5 | 9 | 4.69 | 53 |
| Cliff Chambers | 29 | 103.2 | 2 | 9 | 4.43 | 51 |
| Doyle Lade | 19 | 87.1 | 5 | 6 | 4.02 | 29 |
| Warren Hacker | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 21.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Chipman | 34 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3.58 | 16 |
| Emil Kush | 34 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4.38 | 31 |
| Jess Dobernic | 54 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3.15 | 48 |
| Paul Erickson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.35 | 4 |
| Ben Wade | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.20 | 1 |
| Tony Jacobs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |
| Don Carlsen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Bill Kelly |
| AA | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Larry Gilbert |
| A | Macon Peaches | Sally League | Don Osborn |
| A | Des Moines Bruins | Western League | Stan Hack |
| B | Decatur Commodores | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Red Lucas and Nelson Burbrink |
| B | Springfield Cubs | New England League | Bob Peterson |
| B | Selma Cloverleafs | Southeastern League | Morrie Arnovich |
| B | Fayetteville Cubs | Tri-State League | Skeeter Scalzi |
| C | Visalia Cubs | California League | John Intlekofer, Jigger Statz and Donald Anderson |
| C | Clinton Cubs | Central Association | Nelson Burbrink and Lee Eilbracht |
| C | Sioux Falls Canaries | Northern League | Jim Oglesby |
| C | Hutchinson/Springfield Cubs | Western Association | Frankie Piet |
| D | Elizabethton Betsy Cubs | Appalachian League | Adolph Matulis |
| D | St. Augustine Saints | Florida State League | Donald Anderson and John Sebastian |
| D | Centralia Cubs | Illinois State League | Willard Sellergren and Claude Passeau |
| D | Marion Cubs | Ohio–Indiana League | Lou Bekeza and Frank Kristie |
| D | Lumberton Cubs | Tobacco State League | Charles Jamin |
| D | Janesville Cubs | Wisconsin State League | Frank Kristie and Lou Bekeza |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fayetteville, Clinton
Hutchinson club moved to Springfield (Missouri), July 21, 1948