# 1945 Cleveland Indians season

The 1945 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American major league baseball. The team finished fifth in the American League with a record of 73–72–2.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 65 | .575 | — | 50‍–‍26 | 38‍–‍39 |
| Washington Senators | 87 | 67 | .565 | 1½ | 46‍–‍31 | 41‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 81 | 70 | .536 | 6 | 47‍–‍27 | 34‍–‍43 |
| New York Yankees | 81 | 71 | .533 | 6½ | 48‍–‍28 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 73 | 72 | .503 | 11 | 44‍–‍33 | 29‍–‍39 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 78 | .477 | 15 | 44‍–‍29 | 27‍–‍49 |
| Boston Red Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 17½ | 42‍–‍35 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | 98 | .347 | 34½ | 39‍–‍35 | 13‍–‍63 |

### Record vs. opponents

1945 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 | 14–8 | 8–14–1 | 11–11–1 |
| Chicago | 13–9 | — | 11–8–1 | 10–12 | 9–12 | 12–10 | 8–13 | 8–14 |
| Cleveland | 11–11 | 8–11–1 | — | 11–11 | 12–9 | 12–6–1 | 11–10 | 8–14 |
| Detroit | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 15–7 | 15–7–1 | 15–6 | 10–12 |
| New York | 16–6 | 12–9 | 9–12 | 7–15 | — | 16–6 | 7–15 | 14–8 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 6–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 6–16 | — | 10–12–1 | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 14–8–1 | 13–8 | 10–11 | 6–15 | 15–7 | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–1 |
| Washington | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 17–5 | 11–11–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 29, 1945: Buddy Rosar was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Athletics for Frankie Hayes.

### 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 | Frankie Hayes | 119 | 385 | 91 | .236 | 6 | 43 |
| 1B | Mickey Rocco | 143 | 565 | 149 | .264 | 10 | 56 |
| 2B | Dutch Meyer | 130 | 524 | 153 | .292 | 7 | 48 |
| SS | Lou Boudreau | 97 | 345 | 106 | .307 | 3 | 48 |
| 3B | Don Ross | 106 | 363 | 95 | .262 | 2 | 43 |
| OF | Pat Seerey | 126 | 414 | 98 | .237 | 14 | 56 |
| OF | Jeff Heath | 102 | 370 | 113 | .305 | 15 | 61 |
| OF | Felix Mackiewicz | 120 | 359 | 98 | .273 | 2 | 37 |

#### 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 |
| Al Cihocki | 92 | 283 | 60 | .212 | 0 | 24 |
| Paul O'Dea | 87 | 221 | 52 | .235 | 1 | 21 |
| Les Fleming | 42 | 140 | 46 | .329 | 3 | 22 |
| Myril Hoag | 40 | 128 | 27 | .211 | 0 | 3 |
| Eddie Carnett | 30 | 73 | 16 | .219 | 0 | 7 |
| Ed Wheeler | 46 | 72 | 14 | .194 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim McDonnell | 28 | 51 | 10 | .196 | 0 | 8 |
| Hank Ruszkowski | 14 | 49 | 10 | .204 | 0 | 5 |
| Elmer Weingartner | 20 | 39 | 9 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Stan Benjamin | 14 | 21 | 7 | .333 | 0 | 3 |
| Red Steiner | 12 | 20 | 3 | .150 | 0 | 2 |
| Fred Williams | 16 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 0 |
| Roy Cullenbine | 8 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Rothel | 4 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Gene Desautels | 10 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 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 |
| Steve Gromek | 33 | 251.0 | 19 | 9 | 2.55 | 101 |
| Allie Reynolds | 44 | 247.1 | 18 | 12 | 3.20 | 112 |
| Jim Bagby | 25 | 159.1 | 8 | 11 | 3.73 | 38 |
| Al Smith | 21 | 133.2 | 5 | 12 | 3.84 | 34 |
| Mel Harder | 11 | 76.0 | 3 | 7 | 3.67 | 16 |

#### 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 Feller | 9 | 72.0 | 5 | 3 | 2.50 | 59 |
| Red Embree | 8 | 70.0 | 4 | 4 | 1.93 | 42 |
| Hal Kleine | 3 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 5 |
| Myril Hoag | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Paul O'Dea | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |
| Eddie Carnett | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Paul Calvert | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Ed Klieman | 38 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3.85 | 33 |
| Pete Center | 31 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3.99 | 34 |
| Jack Salveson | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.68 | 11 |
| Earl Henry | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.40 | 10 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game (note: rosters were named by Associated Press writers, but game was not played due to travel restrictions during World War II)
Lou Boudreau, Shortstop
Steve Gromek, Pitcher
Frankie Hayes, Catcher
Jeff Heath, Outfielder
Allie Reynolds, Pitcher

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Baltimore Orioles | International League | Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas |
| A | Wilkes-Barre Barons | Eastern League | Dick Porter and Mike McNally |
| D | Batavia Clippers | PONY League | Jack Tighe |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Batavia