# 1950 Boston Braves season

The 1950 Boston Braves season was the 80th season of the franchise. During the season, Sam Jethroe became the first black player in the history of the Braves.

## Offseason

* December 5, 1949: Phil Paine was selected by the Braves from the Philadelphia Phillies in the minor league draft.
* December 14, 1949: Eddie Stanky and Alvin Dark were traded by the Braves to the New York Giants for Sid Gordon, Buddy Kerr, Willard Marshall, and Red Webb.
* Prior to 1950 season: Art Fowler was acquired by the Braves from the Atlanta Crackers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1950 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 9–13–1 | 15–7–1 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 19–3 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 4–17 | 5–17 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 5–17 | 10–12 | 17–4 | — | 11–11 | 4–18 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 17–5 | 11–11 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9–1 | 11–11–1 | 13–9–1 | 18–4 | 10–12 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–15–1 | 3–19 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 6–16 | 8–14 | — | 12–9 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–12 | — |

### 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 | Walker Cooper | 102 | 337 | 111 | .329 | 14 | 60 |
| 1B | Earl Torgeson | 156 | 576 | 167 | .290 | 23 | 87 |
| 2B | Roy Hartsfield | 107 | 419 | 116 | .277 | 7 | 24 |
| SS | Buddy Kerr | 155 | 507 | 115 | .227 | 2 | 46 |
| 3B | Bob Elliott | 142 | 531 | 162 | .305 | 24 | 107 |
| OF | Sid Gordon | 134 | 481 | 146 | .304 | 27 | 103 |
| OF | Sam Jethroe | 141 | 582 | 159 | .273 | 18 | 58 |
| OF | Tommy Holmes | 105 | 322 | 96 | .298 | 9 | 51 |

#### 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 |
| Willard Marshall | 105 | 298 | 70 | .235 | 5 | 40 |
| Del Crandall | 79 | 255 | 56 | .220 | 4 | 37 |
| Luis Olmo | 69 | 154 | 35 | .227 | 5 | 22 |
| Gene Mauch | 48 | 121 | 28 | .231 | 1 | 15 |
| Sibby Sisti | 69 | 105 | 18 | .171 | 2 | 11 |
| Pete Reiser | 53 | 78 | 16 | .205 | 1 | 10 |
| Connie Ryan | 20 | 72 | 14 | .194 | 3 | 6 |
| Bob Addis | 16 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Paul Burris | 10 | 23 | 4 | .174 | 0 | 3 |
| Walt Linden | 3 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 0 |
| Emil Verban | 4 | 5 | 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 |
| Vern Bickford | 40 | 311.2 | 19 | 14 | 3.47 | 126 |
| Warren Spahn | 41 | 293.0 | 21 | 17 | 3.16 | 191 |
| Johnny Sain | 37 | 278.1 | 20 | 13 | 3.94 | 96 |
| Max Surkont | 9 | 55.2 | 5 | 2 | 3.23 | 21 |

#### 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 Chipman | 27 | 124.0 | 7 | 7 | 4.43 | 40 |
| Normie Roy | 19 | 59.2 | 4 | 3 | 5.13 | 25 |
| Johnny Antonelli | 20 | 57.2 | 2 | 3 | 5.93 | 33 |
| Bob Hall | 21 | 50.1 | 0 | 2 | 6.97 | 22 |
| Dick Donovan | 10 | 29.2 | 0 | 2 | 8.19 | 9 |
| Mickey Haefner | 8 | 24.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.63 | 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 |
| Bobby Hogue | 36 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5.03 | 15 |
| Ernie Johnson Sr. | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.97 | 15 |
| Dave Cole | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.13 | 8 |
| Murray Wall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
| Bucky Walters | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |
| Dick Manville | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Milwaukee Brewers | American Association | Bob Coleman |
| AA | Atlanta Crackers | Southern Association | Dixie Walker |
| A | Hartford Chiefs | Eastern League | Ripper Collins |
| A | Denver Bears | Western League | Earl Browne |
| B | Evansville Braves | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Ernie White |
| B | Hagerstown Braves | Interstate League | Dutch Dorman |
| B | Jackson Senators | Southeastern League | Willis Hudlin |
| C | Ventura Braves | California League | Gene Lillard |
| C | Eau Claire Bears | Northern League | Andy Cohen |
| D | Bluefield Blue-Grays | Appalachian League | Bill Adair |
| D | Owensboro Oilers | KITTY League | Travis Jackson |