# 1943 Cleveland Indians season

The 1943 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American major league baseball. The team finished third in the American League with a record of 82–71.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1943 season (exact date unknown)
** Sherm Lollar was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.
** Pete Milne was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 54‍–‍23 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Washington Senators | 84 | 69 | .549 | 13½ | 44‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Cleveland Indians | 82 | 71 | .536 | 15½ | 44‍–‍33 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 16 | 40‍–‍36 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | 76 | .506 | 20 | 45‍–‍32 | 33‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Browns | 72 | 80 | .474 | 25 | 44‍–‍33 | 28‍–‍47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 68 | 84 | .447 | 29 | 39‍–‍36 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 49 | 105 | .318 | 49 | 27‍–‍51 | 22‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1943 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 5–17–1 | 11–11 | 11–9–1 | 10–12 |
| Chicago | 14–8 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 18–4–1 | 10–12 | 14–8 |
| Cleveland | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 8–13 |
| Detroit | 11–11–1 | 13–9 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 13–9 |
| New York | 17–5–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 17–5 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 4–18–1 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 9–11–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 |
| Washington | 12–10 | 8–14 | 13–8 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — |

### 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 | 115 | 382 | 108 | .283 | 1 | 41 |
| 1B | Mickey Rocco | 108 | 405 | 97 | .240 | 5 | 46 |
| 2B | Ray Mack | 153 | 545 | 120 | .220 | 7 | 62 |
| SS | Lou Boudreau | 152 | 539 | 154 | .286 | 3 | 67 |
| 3B | Ken Keltner | 110 | 427 | 111 | .260 | 4 | 39 |
| OF | Oris Hockett | 141 | 601 | 166 | .276 | 2 | 51 |
| OF | Jeff Heath | 118 | 424 | 116 | .274 | 18 | 79 |
| OF | Roy Cullenbine | 138 | 488 | 141 | .289 | 8 | 56 |

### 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 |
| Hank Edwards | 92 | 297 | 82 | .276 | 3 | 28 |
| Rusty Peters | 79 | 215 | 47 | .219 | 1 | 19 |
| Gene Desautels | 68 | 185 | 38 | .205 | 0 | 19 |
| Otto Denning | 37 | 129 | 31 | .240 | 0 | 13 |
| Pat Seerey | 26 | 72 | 16 | .222 | 1 | 5 |
| Gene Woodling | 8 | 25 | 8 | .320 | 1 | 5 |
| Jimmy Grant | 15 | 22 | 3 | .136 | 0 | 1 |
| Eddie Turchin | 11 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Doljack | 3 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim McDonnell | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| George Susce | 3 | 1 | 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 |
| Jim Bagby | 36 | 273.0 | 17 | 14 | 3.10 | 70 |
| Al Smith | 29 | 208.1 | 17 | 7 | 2.55 | 72 |
| Allie Reynolds | 34 | 198.2 | 11 | 12 | 2.99 | 151 |
| Vern Kennedy | 28 | 146.2 | 10 | 7 | 2.45 | 63 |
| Mel Harder | 19 | 135.1 | 8 | 7 | 3.06 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Poat | 17 | 45.0 | 2 | 5 | 4.40 | 31 |
| Al Milnar | 16 | 39.0 | 1 | 3 | 8.08 | 12 |
| Ed Klieman | 1 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 2 |
| Paul Calvert | 5 | 8.1 | 0 | 0 | 4.32 | 2 |
| Steve Gromek | 3 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 4 |

### 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 |
| Joe Heving | 30 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2.75 | 34 |
| Jack Salveson | 23 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3.35 | 24 |
| Mike Naymick | 29 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2.30 | 41 |
| Pete Center | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.76 | 10 |
| Chubby Dean | 17 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.50 | 29 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
Lou Boudreau, Shortstop
Roy Cullenbine, Outfielder
Oris Hockett, Outfielder
Ken Keltner, Third baseman (starter)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Baltimore Orioles | International League | Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas |
| A | Wilkes-Barre Barons | Eastern League | Tony Lazzeri |
| D | Batavia Clippers | PONY League | Earl Wolgamot |