1948 Boston Braves season


The 1948 Boston Braves season was the 78th consecutive season of the Major League Baseball franchise, its 73rd in the National League. It produced the team's second NL pennant of the 20th century, its first since, and its tenth overall league title dating to 1876.
Led by starting pitchers Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn, and the hitting of Bob Elliott, Jeff Heath, Tommy Holmes and rookie Alvin Dark, the Braves captured 91 games to finish 6 paces ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. They also attracted 1,455,439 fans to Braves Field, the third-largest gate in the National League and a high-water mark for the team's stay in Boston. The 1948 pennant was the fourth National League championship in seven years for Braves' manager Billy Southworth, who had won three NL titles and two World Series championships with the Cardinals. Southworth would be posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2008.
However, the Braves fell in six games to the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 World Series, and would experience a swift decline in both on-field success and popularity over the next four seasons. Attendance woes—the Braves would draw only 281,278 home fans in —forced the team's relocation to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in March 1953.
After playing.500 baseball in April and May 1948, the Braves vaulted into first place on the strength of a 39–21 record during June and July. Hampered by second baseman Eddie Stanky's broken ankle and center fielder Jim Russell's season-ending illness, the club slumped slightly in August, going only 14–17 and falling out of the lead August 29. But then it righted itself to win 21 of its final 28 games, regain the top spot September 2, and clinch the NL flag on the 26th. Meanwhile, the city's American League team, the Red Sox, ended their season in a first-place tie with the Indians and lost a playoff game to Cleveland at Fenway Park on October 4, ruining the prospect of what would have been the only all-Boston World Series in MLB history.
For both the Braves and Red Sox, the 1948 season was the first in which their games were broadcast on television, with telecasts alternating between WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV and the teams sharing the same announcers. The first-ever telecast of a major league game in New England occurred on Tuesday night, June 15, with the Braves defeating the visiting Chicago Cubs 6–3 behind Sain's complete game.

Offseason

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C11337695.253544
1B134438111.2531067
2B6724779.320229
SS137543175.322348
3B151540153.28323100
OF139585190.325661
OF115364116.3192076
OF8932285.264954

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
115343104.303139
8322154.244021
9022460.277323
7819848.242828
7518045.250434
5112226.213010
347817.21804
13339.27306
3133.23102
541.25002
242.50000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
42314.224152.60137
3625715123.71114
37215.213133.6389
331461153.2760
13103.002

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
32128.1783.6540
1885522.3347
1016.21110.263
316014.504

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
408223.2343
365144.0125
150221.968
71007.825
40002.250
30001.932
20000.000

1948 World Series

Game 1

October 6, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 2

October 7, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 3

October 8 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 4

October 9, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 5

October 10, 1948, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 6

October 11, 1948, at Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville