1948 Major League Baseball season
# 1948 Major League Baseball season

The 1948 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 19 to October 11, 1948. The Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Indians won the American League title via a tie-breaker game victory over the Boston Red Sox, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96–58 records. The Indians then defeated the Braves in the World Series, four games to two.

## Awards and honors

* Baseball Hall of Fame
   * Herb Pennock
   * Pie Traynor
* Most Valuable Player
   * Lou Boudreau (AL)
   * Stan Musial (NL)
* Rookie of the Year
   * Alvin Dark
* The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
   * Lou Boudreau Cleveland Indians
* The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
   * Bob Lemon Cleveland Indians
   * Johnny Sain Boston Braves
* The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
   * Billy Meyer Pittsburgh Pirates

## Standings

* The Cleveland Indians defeated the Boston Red Sox in a one-game playoff to earn the American League pennant.

## Postseason

### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| - | - | - |
| AL | Cleveland Indians | 4 |
| NL | Boston Braves | 2 |

## League leaders

### American League

Hitting leaders :

| Stat | Player | Total |
| - | - | - |
| AVG | Ted Williams (BSR) | .369 |
| HR | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 39 |
| RBI | Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 155 |
| R | Tommy Henrich (NYY) | 138 |
| H | Bob Dillinger (SLB) | 207 |
| SB | Bob Dillinger (SLB) | 28 |

Pitching leaders :

| Stat | Player | Total |
| - | - | - |
| W | Hal Newhouser (DET) | 21 |
| L | Fred Sanford (SLB) | 21 |
| ERA | Gene Bearden (CLE) | 2.43 |
| K | Bob Feller (CLE) | 164 |
| IP | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 293.2 |
| SV | Russ Christopher (CLE) | 17 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :

| Stat | Player | Total |
| - | - | - |
| AVG | Stan Musial (SLC) | .376 |
| HR | Ralph Kiner (PIT) Johnny Mize (NYG) | 40 |
| RBI | Stan Musial (SLC) | 131 |
| R | Stan Musial (SLC) | 135 |
| H | Stan Musial (SLC) | 230 |
| SB | Richie Ashburn (PHP) | 32 |

Pitching leaders :

| Stat | Player | Total |
| - | - | - |
| W | Johnny Sain (BSB) | 24 |
| L | Dutch Leonard (PHP) | 17 |
| ERA | Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 2.24 |
| K | Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 149 |
| IP | Johnny Sain (BSB) | 314.2 |
| SV | Harry Gumbert (CIN) | 17 |

## Managers

### American League

| Team | Manager | Comments |
| - | - | - |
| Boston Red Sox | Joe Cronin | Finished 2nd, lost 1 game playoff to Cleveland |
| Chicago White Sox | Ted Lyons | |
| Cleveland Indians | Lou Boudreau | Won World Series |
| Detroit Tigers | Del Baker | |
| New York Yankees | Bucky Harris | Finished 3rd |
| Philadelphia Athletics | Connie Mack | |
| St. Louis Browns | Zack Taylor | |
| Washington Senators | Joe Kuhel | |

### National League

| Team | Manager | Comments |
| - | - | - |
| Boston Braves | Billy Southworth | Won Pennant |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Burt Shotton | Finished 3rd |
| Chicago Cubs | Charlie Grimm | |
| Cincinnati Reds | Johnny Neun and Bucky Walters | |
| New York Giants | Mel Ott and Leo Durocher | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Ben Chapman and Eddie Sawyer | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Billy Meyer | |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Eddie Dyer | Finished 2nd |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cleveland Indians | 97 | 21.3% | 2,620,627 | 72.2% | 33,172 |
| New York Yankees | 94 | -3.1% | 2,373,901 | 8.9% | 30,830 |
| Detroit Tigers | 78 | -8.2% | 1,743,035 | 24.7% | 22,637 |
| Boston Red Sox | 96 | 15.7% | 1,558,798 | 9.2% | 19,985 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 83 | 33.9% | 1,517,021 | 18.2% | 18,963 |
| New York Giants | 78 | -3.7% | 1,459,269 | -8.8% | 18,952 |
| Boston Braves | 91 | 5.8% | 1,455,439 | 13.9% | 19,151 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | -10.6% | 1,398,967 | -22.6% | 17,935 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | -7.2% | 1,237,792 | -9.3% | 15,869 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 85 | -4.5% | 1,111,440 | -10.9% | 14,434 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 84 | 7.7% | 945,076 | 3.7% | 12,274 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | -12.3% | 823,386 | -8.5% | 10,693 |
| Washington Senators | 56 | -12.5% | 795,254 | -6.5% | 10,196 |
| Chicago White Sox | 51 | -27.1% | 777,844 | -11.3% | 10,235 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 6.5% | 767,429 | -15.4% | 10,098 |
| St. Louis Browns | 59 | 0.0% | 335,564 | 4.7% | 4,415 |
