1944 Philadelphia Athletics season

1944 Philadelphia Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Shibe Park (since 1909)
Philadelphia (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Connie Mack
Manager(s)	Connie Mack
Local radio	WIBG (By Saam, Claude Haring, Doug Arthur)
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The 1944 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing 5th in the American League with a record of 72 wins and 82 losses.

Offseason

Spring training

The Athletics considered using the Bader Field ballpark in Atlantic City for their 1944 spring training site. On November 17, 1943, Connie Mack examined Bader Field and the National Guard Armory as one possibility. But he knew the New York Yankees were already considering it. The A's went to McCurdy Field in Frederick, Maryland when the Yankees chose Atlantic City.^[1]

Notable transactions

• October 11, 1943: Don Heffner and Bob Swift were traded by the Athletics to the Detroit Tigers for Rip Radcliff.^[2]
• February 17, 1944: Sam Zoldak and Barney Lutz (minors) were traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Browns for Frankie Hayes.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
St. Louis Browns	89	65	.578	--
Detroit Tigers	88	66	.571	1
New York Yankees	83	71	.539	6
Boston Red Sox	77	77	.500	12
Cleveland Indians	72	82	.468	17
Philadelphia Athletics	72	82	.468	17
Chicago White Sox	71	83	.461	18
Washington Senators	64	90	.416	25

Record vs. opponents

1944 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	17–5	8–14	10–12–2	11–11	11–11	10–12	10–12
Chicago	5–17	—	14–8	9–13	10–12	9–13	8–14	16–6
Cleveland	14–8	8–14	—	10–12	8–14	12–10–1	10–12	10–12
Detroit	12–10–2	13–9	12–10	—	14–8	11–11	9–13	17–5
New York	11–11	12–10	14–8	8–14	—	13–9	10–12	15–7
Philadelphia	11–11	13–9	10–12–1	11–11	9–13	—	9–13	9–13
St. Louis	12–10	14–8	12–10	13–9	12–10	13–9	—	13–9
Washington	12–10	6–16	12–10	5–17	7–15	13–9	9–13	—

Notable transactions

• April 15, 1944: Al Simmons was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[4]

Roster

1944 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 23 Tal Abernathy 20 Joe Berry 21 Don Black 17 Russ Christopher 19 Jesse Flores 31 Luke Hamlin 18 Lum Harris  3 John McGillen 16 Bobo Newsom 24 Carl Scheib 30 Woody Wheaton		Catchers 15 Bob Garbark  8 Frankie Hayes 23 Bill Mills 10 Tony Parisse -- Jim Pruett  9 Hal Wagner Infielders 22 Joe Burns  2 Ed Busch  6 Irv Hall  7 George Kell 11 Bill McGhee 12 Joe Rullo  5 Dick Siebert 23 Bobby Wilkins		Outfielders 11 Bill Burgo  3 Hal Epps  4 Bobby Estalella 14 Lew Flick  9 Ford Garrison 14 Charlie Metro -- Hal Peck 12 Larry Rosenthal 28,32 Al Simmons  1 Jo-Jo White		Manager Connie Mack Coaches 26 Earle Brucker, Sr. 29 Dave Keefe 27 Earle Mack 32 Al Simmons

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	Hayes, FrankieFrankie Hayes	155	581	144	.248	13	78
OF	Estalella, BobbyBobby Estalella	140	506	151	.298	7	60

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
Burns, JoeJoe Burns	28	75	18	.240	1	8
Flick, LewLew Flick	19	35	4	.114	0	2
Simmons, AlAl Simmons	4	6	3	.500	0	2
Mills, BillBill Mills	5	4	1	.250	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
Christopher, RussRuss Christopher	35	215.1	14	14	2.97	84
Flores, JesseJesse Flores	27	185.2	9	11	3.39	65
Black, DonDon Black	29	177.1	10	12	4.06	78

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

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
Berry, JoeJoe Berry	53	10	8	12	1.94	44
Abernathy, TalTal Abernathy	1	0	0	0	3.00	2

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Elmira Pioneers	Eastern League	Al Todd
B	Lancaster Red Roses	Interstate League	Lena Blackburne

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lancaster

References

1. Warrington, Bob. "Spring Training 1944". Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
2. Rip Radcliff page at Baseball-Reference
3. Sam Zoldak page at Baseball-Reference
4. Al Simmons page at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1944 Philadelphia Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1944 Philadelphia Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com