1949 New York Yankees season

1949 New York Yankees
Casey Stengel's first season as manager 1949 World Series Championship 1949 American League Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923)
New York City, New York (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	Dan Topping and Del Webb
General manager(s)	George Weiss
Manager(s)	Casey Stengel
Local television	WABD (Dolly Stark)
Local radio	WINS (AM) (Mel Allen, Curt Gowdy)
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The 1949 New York Yankees season was the team's 47th season in New York, and its 49th season overall. The team finished with a record of 97–57, winning their 16th pennant, finishing 1 game ahead of the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in 5 games.

Offseason

• November 15, 1948: Grant Dunlap was drafted by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 minor league draft.^[1]
• Prior to 1949 season: Lou Skizas was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.^[2]

Regular season

The 1949 Yankees team was seen as "underdogs" who came from behind to catch and surprise the powerful Red Sox on the last two days of the season, a face off that fueled the beginning of the modern Yankees – Red Sox rivalry.

The Red Sox needed just one win in two games and were to pitch Mel Parnell in the first game. After trailing 4–0, the Yankees came back to beat Parnell 5–4, as Johnny Lindell hit an eighth-inning, game-winning, home run and Joe Page had a great relief appearance for New York.^[3][4] And so it came down to the last game of the season. It was Ellis Kinder facing Vic Raschi.

The Yankees led 1–0 after seven innings, having scored in the first. In the eighth inning, manager Joe McCarthy lifted Kinder for a pinch hitter who did not come through. Then he brought in Mel Parnell in relief, and Parnell yielded a homer to Tommy Henrich and a single to Yogi Berra. Parnell was replaced by Tex Hughson, who had been on the disabled list and said his arm still hurt. But he came on and, with the bases loaded, Jerry Coleman hit a soft liner that Al Zarilla in right field tried to make a shoestring catch, but he missed and it went for a triple and three runs. In the ninth inning the Red Sox rallied for three runs but still fell short.^[5] The post-season proved to be a bit easier, as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one.

In 1949, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams, but MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.^[6] Phil Rizzuto moved from eighth to first in the batting lineup and finished the season second in voting for the American League MVP Award.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	--
Boston Red Sox	96	58	.623	1
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	8
Detroit Tigers	87	67	.565	10
Philadelphia Athletics	81	73	.526	16
Chicago White Sox	63	91	.409	34
St. Louis Browns	53	101	.344	44
Washington Senators	50	104	.325	47

Record vs. opponents

1949 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	17–5	8–14	15–7–1	9–13	14–8	15–7	18–4
Chicago	5–17	—	7–15	8–14	7–15	6–16	15–7	15–7
Cleveland	14–8	15–7	—	13–9	10–12	9–13	15–7	13–9
Detroit	7–15–1	14–8	9–13	—	11–11	14–8	14–8	18–4
New York	13–9	15–7	12–10	11–11	—	14–8	17–5–1	15–7
Philadelphia	8–14	16–6	13–9	8–14	8–14	—	12–10	16–6
St. Louis	7–15	7–15	7–15	8–14	5–17–1	10–12	—	9–13
Washington	4–18	7–15	9–13	4–18	7–15	6–16	13–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap was returned by the Yankees to the Indians.^[1]

Roster

1949 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 12 Ralph Buxton 28 Tommy Byrne 26 Hugh Casey 39 Frank Hiller 39,52 Wally Hood 30 Eddie Lopat 19 Cuddles Marshall 11 Joe Page 35 Duane Pillette 18 Bob Porterfield 17 Vic Raschi 22 Allie Reynolds 21 Fred Sanford 20 Spec Shea		Catchers  8 Yogi Berra 32 Ralph Houk 38 Gus Niarhos 29 Charlie Silvera Infielders  6 Bobby Brown 42 Jerry Coleman 41 Joe Collins 24 Billy Johnson 23 Dick Kryhoski 36 Johnny Mize 18, 23 Fenton Mole 36 Jack Phillips 10 Phil Rizzuto  1 Snuffy Stirnweiss		Outfielders 25 Hank Bauer 52 Jim Delsing  5 Joe DiMaggio 15 Tommy Henrich  9 Charlie Keller 27 Johnny Lindell  7 Cliff Mapes 14 Gene Woodling Other batters 35 Mickey Witek		Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches  2 Frankie Crosetti 33 Bill Dickey 31 Jim Turner

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	Berra, YogiYogi Berra	116	415	155	.277	20	91
1B	Henrich, TommyTommy Henrich	115	411	118	.287	24	85
2B	Coleman, JerryJerry Coleman	128	447	123	.275	2	42
3B	Brown, BobbyBobby Brown	104	343	97	.283	6	61
SS	Rizzuto, PhilPhil Rizzuto	153	614	169	.275	5	65
OF	Mapes, CliffCliff Mapes	111	304	75	.247	7	38
OF	Woodling, GeneGene Woodling	112	296	80	.270	5	44
OF	Bauer, HankHank Bauer	103	301	82	.272	10	45

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
Johnson, BillyBilly Johnson	113	329	82	.249	8	56
DiMaggio, JoeJoe DiMaggio	76	272	94	.346	14	67
Lindell, JohnnyJohnny Lindell	78	211	51	.242	6	27
Kryhoski, DickDick Kryhoski	54	177	52	.294	1	27
Stirnweiss, SnuffySnuffy Stirnweiss	70	157	41	.261	0	11
Silvera, CharlieCharlie Silvera	58	130	41	.315	0	13
Keller, CharlieCharlie Keller	60	116	29	.250	3	16
Phillips, JackJack Phillips	45	91	28	.308	1	10
Niarhos, GusGus Niarhos	32	43	12	.279	0	6
Mole, FentonFenton Mole	10	27	5	.185	0	2
Mize, JohnnyJohnny Mize	13	23	6	.261	1	2
Delsing, JimJim Delsing	9	20	7	.350	1	3
Collins, JoeJoe Collins	7	10	1	.100	0	4
Houk, RalphRalph Houk	5	7	4	.571	0	1
Witek, MickeyMickey Witek	1	1	1	1.000	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
Raschi, VicVic Raschi	38	274.2	21	10	3.34	124
Lopat, EdEd Lopat	31	215.1	15	10	3.26	70
Reynolds, AllieAllie Reynolds	35	213.2	17	6	4.00	105
Byrne, TommyTommy Byrne	32	196	15	7	3.72	129

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
Sanford, FredFred Sanford	29	95.1	7	3	3.87	51
Porterfield, BobBob Porterfield	12	57.2	2	5	4.06	25
Pillette, DuaneDuane Pillette	12	37.1	2	4	4.34	9

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
Page, JoeJoe Page	60	13	8	27	2.59	99
Marshall, CuddlesCuddles Marshall	21	3	0	3	5.11	13
Shea, SpecSpec Shea	20	1	1	1	5.33	22
Buxton, RalphRalph Buxton	14	0	1	2	4.05	14
Casey, HughHugh Casey	4	1	0	0	8.22	5
Hiller, FrankFrank Hiller	4	0	2	1	5.87	3
Hood, WallyWally Hood	2	0	0	0	0.00	2

1949 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (1)

Game	Score	Date	Attendance
1	New York 1, Brooklyn 0	October 5	66,224
2	Brooklyn 1, New York 0	October 6	70,053
3	New York 4, Brooklyn 3	October 7	32,788
4	New York 6, Brooklyn 4	October 8	33,934
5	New York 10, Brooklyn 6	October 9	33,711

Awards and honors

• Joe Page, Babe Ruth Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager AAA Kansas City Blues American Association Bill Skiff AAA Newark Bears International League Buddy Hassett AA Beaumont Exporters Texas League Chick Autry A Binghamton Triplets Eastern League George Selkirk A Augusta Tigers Sally League Alton Biggs and Jim Pruett B Quincy Gems Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League James Adlam B Manchester Yankees New England League Wally Berger B Norfolk Tars Piedmont League Earl Bolyard and Frank Novosel B Victoria Athletics Western International League Ted Norbert and Earl Bolyard C Ventura Yankees California League Bones Sanders C Amsterdam Rugmakers Canadian–American League Mayo Smith C Grand Forks Chiefs Northern League Eddie Kearse, Joe McDermott and Wally Berger C Twin Falls Cowboys Pioneer League Charlie Metro C Joplin Miners Western Association Johnny Sturm D Easton Yankees Eastern Shore League Jack Farmer D LaGrange Troupers Georgia–Alabama League Carl Cooper

Level Team League Manager D Independence Yankees Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League Harry Craft D Belleville Stags Mississippi–Ohio Valley League Les Mueller, Joe Yurkovich, Addie Nesbit and Bunny Mick D Newark Yankees Ohio–Indiana League Jim McLeod D McAlester Rockets Sooner State League Vern Hoscheit D Fond du Lac Panthers Wisconsin State League Fred Collins LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Binghamton, Joplin, Independence Manchester club folded, July 19, 1949[7]

Notes

1. Grant Dunlap page at Baseball Reference
2. Lou Skizas page at Baseball Reference
3. "Yanks, Sox Settle Title In New York". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. September 29, 1949. p. 8. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
4. "October 1, 1949 Red Sox-Yankees box score". retrosheet.org. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
5. "October 2, 1949 Red Sox-Yankees box score". retrosheet.org. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
6. ESPN.com – Page2 – The List: Baseball's biggest rumors
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

• 1949 New York Yankees
• 1949 World Series
• 1949 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com