1949 Cleveland Indians season

The 1949 season was the 49th season in the history of the Cleveland Indians. The club entered the season as the defending World Champions. On March 5, 1949, Indians minority owner Bob Hope donned a Cleveland Indians uniform and posed with manager Lou Boudreau and vice president Hank Greenberg as the World Series champions opened spring training camp in Tucson, Arizona.

Offseason

November 15, 1948: 1948 minor league draft
*Bob Chakales was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies.
*Grant Dunlap was drafted from the Indians by the New York Yankees.
December 14, 1948: Ed Klieman, Joe Haynes, and Eddie Robinson were traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Mickey Vernon and Early Wynn.
Prior to 1949 season: Brooks Lawrence was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.

Regular season

Following their 1948 World Series championship, the 1949 Indians season proved to be a disappointment. Despite having the best overall pitching and fielding statistics in either the American or National Leagues, the Indians finished a distant third place behind the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. A team roster that boasted eight future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame could not deliver a second consecutive championship to Cleveland. During the season, Indians fan Charlie Lupica spent 117 days on a flagpole, waiting for the Indians to regain first place. They never did, and he gave up his pursuit when the Indians were mathematically eliminated on September 25.

Notable transactions

April 28, 1949: Grant Dunlap was returned to the Indians by the New York Yankees.

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	Jim Hegan	152	468	105	.224	8	55
1B		153	584	170	.291	18	83
2B	Joe Gordon	148	533	136	.251	20	84
SS		134	475	135	.284	4	60
3B	Ken Keltner	80	246	57	.232	8	30
OF	Dale Mitchell	149	640	203	.317	3	56
OF	Larry Doby	147	547	153	.280	24	85
OF	Bob Kennedy	121	424	117	.276	9	57

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
Ray Boone	86	258	65	.252	4	26
Thurman Tucker	80	197	48	.244	0	14
Johnny Berardino	50	116	23	.198	0	13
Allie Clark	35	74	13	.176	1	9
Luke Easter	21	45	10	.222	0	2
Al Rosen	23	44	7	.159	0	5
Mike Tresh	38	37	8	.216	0	1
Hal Peck	33	29	9	.310	0	9
Minnie Miñoso	9	16	3	.188	1	1
Hank Edwards	5	15	4	.267	1	1
Bobby Ávila	31	14	3	.214	0	3
Milt Nielsen	3	9	1	.111	0	0
Herman Reich	1	2	1	.500	0	0
Fred Marsh	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
Bob Lemon	37	279.2	22	10	2.99	138
Bob Feller	36	211.0	15	14	3.75	108
Early Wynn	26	164.2	11	7	4.15	62
Gene Bearden	32	127.0	8	8	5.10	41

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
Steve Gromek	40	92.0	4	6	3.33	22
Sam Zoldak	27	53.0	1	2	4.25	11

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
Al Benton	40	9	6	10	2.12	41
Mike Garcia	41	14	5	2	2.36	94
Satchel Paige	31	4	7	5	3.04	54
Frank Papish	25	1	0	1	3.19	23

Awards and honors

Dale Mitchell, American League leader, triples
Team ERA of 3.36 lowest in MLB for 1949
Team fielding percentage of.983 highest in MLB for 1949

All Star Game
Larry Doby, Outfielder, reserve
Joe Gordon, Second baseman, reserve
Jim Hegan, Catcher, reserve
Bob Lemon, Pitcher, reserve
Dale Mitchell, Outfielder, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Stroudsburg