1948 New York Yankees season

1948 New York Yankees
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkYankee Stadium
CityNew York City
OwnersDan Topping and Del Webb
General managersGeorge Weiss
ManagersBucky Harris
TelevisionWABD
(Mel Allen, Russ Hodges, Bill Slater)
RadioWINS (AM)
(Mel Allen, Russ Hodges)
← 1947 Seasons 1949 →

The 1948 New York Yankees season was the team's 46th season. The team finished with a record of 94–60, finishing 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians and 1.5 games behind the second-place Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Bucky Harris. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.

The fractional games-behind came about due to the frenzied pennant race, which saw the Yankees, Red Sox and Indians all battling it out to the end. The Yankees fell just a little short, and the Red Sox and Indians finished in a tie for first at 96–58. They held a one-game playoff, which counted as part of the regular season, so the Indians' victory raised their record to 97–58, and dropped the Red Sox to 96–59.

The Yankees did not renew Bucky Harris' contract after the season, opting instead to hire Casey Stengel starting in 1949. This move raised some eyebrows, but Stengel had just led the Oakland Oaks to the Pacific Coast League pennant in 1948, demonstrating that with good talent, he had a good chance to succeed. The Yankees were about to begin the most dominating stretch of their long dynasty.

Babe Ruth's death

Babe Ruth's number 3 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1948.
The grave of Babe Ruth

On July 26, 1948, Babe Ruth attended the premiere of the film The Babe Ruth Story, a biopic about his life. William Bendix portrayed Ruth. Shortly thereafter, Ruth returned to the hospital for the final time. He was barely able to speak. Ruth's condition gradually became worse, and in his last days, scores of reporters and photographers hovered around the hospital. Only a few visitors were allowed to see him, one of whom was National League president and future Commissioner of Baseball, Ford Frick. "Ruth was so thin it was unbelievable. He had been such a big man and his arms were just skinny little bones, and his face was so haggard," Frick said years later.

On August 16, the day after Frick's visit, Babe Ruth died at age 53. His body lay in repose in Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth's funeral was two days later at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Ruth was then buried in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.[1] The procession ended at Gate of Heaven Cemetery where 6,000 people came witness Ruth's gravesite. His casket was covered with a blanket of roses and orchids.[2]

At his death, the New York Times called Babe Ruth, "a figure unprecedented in American life. A born showman off the field and a marvelous performer on it, he had an amazing flair for doing the spectacular at the most dramatic moment."[3]

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 97 58 .626 — 48‍–‍30 49‍–‍28
Boston Red Sox 96 59 .619 1 55‍–‍23 41‍–‍36
New York Yankees 94 60 .610 2½ 50‍–‍27 44‍–‍33
Philadelphia Athletics 84 70 .545 12½ 36‍–‍41 48‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers 78 76 .506 18½ 39‍–‍38 39‍–‍38
St. Louis Browns 59 94 .386 37 34‍–‍42 25‍–‍52
Washington Senators 56 97 .366 40 29‍–‍48 27‍–‍49
Chicago White Sox 51 101 .336 44½ 27‍–‍48 24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1948 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston — 14–8 11–12 15–7 14–8 12–10 15–7 15–7
Chicago 8–14 — 6–16 8–14 6–16 6–16 8–13–1 9–12–1
Cleveland 12–11 16–6 — 13–9 10–12 16–6 14–8–1 16–6
Detroit 7–15 14–8 9–13 — 9–13 12–10 11–11 16–6
New York 8–14 16–6 12–10 13–9 — 12–10 16–6 17–5
Philadelphia 10–12 16–6 6–16 10–12 10–12 — 18–4 14–8
St. Louis 7–15 13–8–1 8–14–1 11–11 6–16 4–18 — 10–12
Washington 7–15 12–9–1 6–16 6–16 5–17 8–14 12–10 —


Roster

1948 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 Gus Niarhos 82 228 61 .268 0 19
1B George McQuinn 94 302 75 .248 11 41
2B Snuffy Stirnweiss 141 515 130 .252 3 32
3B Billy Johnson 127 446 131 .294 12 64
SS Phil Rizzuto 128 464 117 .252 6 50
OF Joe DiMaggio 153 594 190 .320 39 155
OF Johnny Lindell 88 309 138 .317 13 55
OF Tommy Henrich 146 598 181 .308 25 100

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
Yogi Berra 125 469 143 .305 14 98
Bobby Brown 113 363 109 .300 3 48
Charlie Keller 83 247 66 .267 6 44
Steve Souchock 44 118 24 .203 3 11
Cliff Mapes 53 88 22 .250 1 12
Hank Bauer 19 50 9 .180 1 9
Sherm Lollar 22 38 8 .211 0 4
Ralph Houk 14 29 8 .276 0 3
Charlie Silvera 4 14 8 .571 0 1
Frankie Crosetti 17 14 4 .286 0 0
Joe Collins 5 5 1 .200 0 2
Bud Stewart 6 5 1 .200 0 0
Jack Phillips 1 2 0 .000 0 0
Lonny Frey 1 0 0 ---- 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
Allie Reynolds 39 236.1 16 7 3.77 101
Eddie Lopat 33 226.2 17 11 3.65 83
Vic Raschi 36 222.2 19 8 3.84 124
Spec Shea 28 155.2 9 10 3.41 71
Bob Porterfield 16 78.0 5 3 4.50 30

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
Tommy Byrne 31 133.2 8 5 3.30 101
Red Embree 20 76.2 5 3 3.76 25
Frank Hiller 22 62.1 5 2 4.04 25

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Joe Page 55 107.2 7 8 16 4.26 77
Karl Drews 19 38 2 3 1 3.79 11
Randy Gumpert 15 25 1 0 0 2.88 12
Dick Starr 1 2 0 0 0 4.50 2
Cuddles Marshall 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Notes

  1. ^ Kelly, Jim (August 27, 1948). "6,000 Jam Into Cathedral For Babe Ruth funeral". The Catholic Advance. p. 8. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "75,000 Stand in the Rain at Draft:Babe Ruth funeral". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Associated Press. August 20, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "Babe Ruth, Baseball's Great Star and Idol of Children, Had a Career Both Dramatic and Bizarre". New York Times. August 17, 1948. Retrieved July 21, 2007. Probably nowhere in all the imaginative field of fiction could one find a career more dramatic and bizarre than that portrayed in real life by George Herman Ruth. Known the world over, even in foreign lands where baseball is never played, as the Babe, he was the boy who rose from the obscurity of a charitable institution in Baltimore to a position as the leading figure in professional baseball. He was also its greatest drawing-card, its highest salaried performer—at least of his day—and the idol of millions of youngsters throughout the land.
  4. ^ Eddie Lopat page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Al Cicotte page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Gus Triandos Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
  7. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References