1949 Washington Senators
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkGriffith Stadium
CityWashington, D.C.
OwnersClark Griffith and the estate of George H. Richardson
ManagersJoe Kuhel
TelevisionWTTG
(Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Howard Williams)
RadioWWDC (FM)
(Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Howard Williams)
Seasons

The 1949 Washington Senators, the 49th season of the Major League Baseball franchise, won 50 games, lost 104, and finished in eighth place in the American League. It was the worst showing by the Washington club in 40 years, since the 1909 Senators lost 110 games. The team was managed by Joe Kuhel; it played its home games at Griffith Stadium, where it drew 770,745 fans, seventh in the circuit.[1]

The Senators actually won 25 of their first 45 games and stood in third place after Sunday, June 5, 1949. But they would win only 25 games more all season, playing at an abysmal .229 rate over their last 109 contests. In today's 162-game schedule, that would have resulted in a 37–125 mark, surpassing the 1962 Mets' record for futility. At year's end, manager Kuhel would be replaced by Bucky Harris, the Senators' 1924 "boy wonder" manager, now 53, returning for a third term as skipper of the Senators.

Offseason

Regular season

On September 28, Senators pitcher Ray Scarborough ended Ted Williams' streak of most consecutive games reaching base safely at 84 games.[4] Scarborough gave up just four hits in a 4–1 complete game win over the Boston Red Sox. Johnny Pesky made the final out with Williams on deck.

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9757 0.630 54–23 43–34
Boston Red Sox 9658 0.623 1 61–16 35–42
Cleveland Indians 8965 0.578 8 49–28 40–37
Detroit Tigers 8767 0.565 10 50–27 37–40
Philadelphia Athletics 8173 0.526 16 52–25 29–48
Chicago White Sox 6391 0.409 34 32–45 31–46
St. Louis Browns 53101 0.344 44 36–41 17–60
Washington Senators 50104 0.325 47 26–51 24–53

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston 17–58–1415–7–19–1314–815–718–4
Chicago 5–177–158–147–156–1615–715–7
Cleveland 14–815–713–910–129–1315–713–9
Detroit 7–15–114–89–1311–1114–814–818–4
New York 13–915–712–1011–1114–817–5–115–7
Philadelphia 8–1416–613–98–148–1412–1016–6
St. Louis 7–157–157–158–145–17–110–129–13
Washington 4–187–159–134–187–156–1613–9

Notable transactions

Roster

1949 Washington Senators
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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
CAl Evans10932187.271242
1BEddie Robinson143527155.2941878
2BAl Kozar10535094.269431
SSSam Dente153590161.273153
3BEddie Yost124435110.253945
OFGil Coan11135878.218325
OFBud Stewart118388110.284843
OFClyde Vollmer129443112.2531459

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
Sherry Robertson11037494.2511142
Sam Mele7826464.242325
Buddy Lewis9525763.245328
Jake Early5313834.246111
Roberto Ortiz4012936.279111
Mark Christman4911224.214318
John Simmons629320.21505
Ralph Weigel346014.23304
Hal Keller331.33300
Herman Reich220.00000
Jay Difani2111.00000

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
Sid Hudson40209.08174.2254
Ray Scarborough34199.213114.6081
Paul Calvert34160.26175.4352
Mickey Harris23129.02125.1654
Walt Masterson1053.0323.2317
Dizzy Sutherland11.00145.000

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
Lloyd Hittle36109.0574.2132
Joe Haynes3796.1296.2619
Dick Weik2795.13125.3858
Mickey Haefner1991.2554.4223
Forrest Thompson916.1134.418
Jim Pearce25.1018.441

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
Dick Welteroth522527.3637
Al Gettel160215.457
Julio González130004.725
Milo Candini30014.761
Buzz Dozier200011.371
Ed Klieman200018.001

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern Association George Myatt and Fred Walters
B Havana Cubanos Florida International League Oscar Rodríguez
B Hagerstown Owls Interstate League Woody Wheaton
B Charlotte Hornets Tri-State League Clyde McDowell
C New Castle Nats Middle Atlantic League Bill Mongiello
D Orlando Senators Florida State League Red Dulaney, Walter Zurowski and George Myatt
D Fulton Railroaders KITTY League Ivan Kuester
D Concord Nationals North Carolina State League James Calleran
D Emporia Nationals Virginia League Morrie Aderholt

[6]

References

  1. Baseball Reference: 1949 miscellaneous team information
  2. John Sullivan at Baseball-Reference
  3. Jim Pearce at Baseball-Reference
  4. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 44, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  5. Milo Candini at Baseball-Reference
  6. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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