The 1948 Philadelphia Athletics season, the 48th in the history of the American League franchise, resulted in Connie Mack's club finishing in the AL's first division for the first time in 15 years[1] with a record of 84 wins and 70 losses (.545), good enough for fourth place. The 1948 Athletics drew 945,076 fans to Shibe Park, which will be the largest "gate" in their 54-year history in Philadelphia.[1] Their home attendance ranked fifth-best in the AL and eleventh-best among the 16 Major League Baseball teams (and 177,647 higher than their National League tenants, the Phillies).[2][1]

On the field, the 1948 season represented a dramatic turnaround from the club's dismal 1946 campaign, when it finished last at 49–105, a full 55 games out of first place. In both on- and off-field terms, it will prove to be the high-water mark for the Athletics' final 22 seasons in Philadelphia.

Posting stellar records in May (21–7) and July (18–13) of 1948, the Athletics ranked among the American League's contenders for most of the season, spending May 26 to June 5 in, or virtually tied for, first place. They returned to the AL's top spot on August 1, and held first for the month's first eight days. However, a five-game losing streak from August 20–25, then an eight-game skid between August 29 and September 6,[3] effectively doomed their chances of gaining a tenth pennant for "Mister Mack", the club's 85-year-old manager, co-founder, and principal owner.

Led by pitchers Carl Scheib, Dick Fowler, Lou Brissie and Joe Coleman, and position players Hank Majeski, Eddie Joost, Ferris Fain, Elmer Valo and Barney McCosky, the Athletics finished fourth in the circuit in runs per game (4.73), and fifth in both total runs allowed (735) and staff earned run average (4.43).[4]

Regular season

Season standings

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 97 58 .626 — 48‍–‍30 49‍–‍28
Boston Red Sox 96 59 .619 1 55‍–‍23 41‍–‍36
New York Yankees 94 60 .610 2½ 50‍–‍27 44‍–‍33
Philadelphia Athletics 84 70 .545 12½ 36‍–‍41 48‍–‍29
Detroit Tigers 78 76 .506 18½ 39‍–‍38 39‍–‍38
St. Louis Browns 59 94 .386 37 34‍–‍42 25‍–‍52
Washington Senators 56 97 .366 40 29‍–‍48 27‍–‍49
Chicago White Sox 51 101 .336 44½ 27‍–‍48 24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1948 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston — 14–8 11–12 15–7 14–8 12–10 15–7 15–7
Chicago 8–14 — 6–16 8–14 6–16 6–16 8–13–1 9–12–1
Cleveland 12–11 16–6 — 13–9 10–12 16–6 14–8–1 16–6
Detroit 7–15 14–8 9–13 — 9–13 12–10 11–11 16–6
New York 8–14 16–6 12–10 13–9 — 12–10 16–6 17–5
Philadelphia 10–12 16–6 6–16 10–12 10–12 — 18–4 14–8
St. Louis 7–15 13–8–1 8–14–1 11–11 6–16 4–18 — 10–12
Washington 7–15 12–9–1 6–16 6–16 5–17 8–14 12–10 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1948 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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
C Buddy Rosar 90 302 77 .255 4 41
1B Ferris Fain 145 520 146 .281 7 88
2B Pete Suder 148 519 125 .241 7 60
SS Eddie Joost 135 509 127 .250 16 55
3B Hank Majeski 148 590 183 .310 12 120
OF Elmer Valo 113 383 117 .305 3 46
OF Barney McCosky 135 515 168 .326 0 46
OF Sam Chapman 123 445 115 .258 13 70

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
Don White 86 253 62 .245 1 28
Ray Coleman 68 210 51 .243 0 21
Mike Guerra 53 142 30 .211 1 23
Herman Franks 40 98 22 .224 1 14
Skeeter Webb 23 54 8 .148 0 3
Rudy York 31 51 8 .157 0 6
George Binks 17 41 4 .098 0 2
Billy DeMars 18 29 5 .172 0 1
Nellie Fox 3 13 2 .154 0 0
Bob Wellman 4 10 2 .200 0 0
Earle Brucker 2 6 1 .167 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
Phil Marchildon 33 226.1 9 15 4.53 66
Joe Coleman 33 215.2 14 13 4.09 86
Dick Fowler 29 204.2 15 8 3.78 50
Carl Scheib 32 198.2 14 8 3.94 44
Bill McCahan 17 86.2 4 7 5.71 20

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
Lou Brissie 39 194.0 14 10 4.13 127
Wally Holborow 5 17.1 1 2 5.71 3
Bill Dietrich 4 15.1 1 2 5.87 5

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
Bubba Harris 45 5 2 5 4.13 32
Bob Savage 33 5 1 5 6.21 26
Alex Kellner 13 0 0 0 7.83 14
Nels Potter 8 2 2 1 4.00 13

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
A Savannah Indians Sally League Eric McNair
A Lincoln Athletics Western League Jimmie DeShong
C Martinsville Athletics Carolina League Eddie Morgan
C Moline/Kewanee A's Central Association Joe Glenn
D Welch Miners Appalachian League Woody Wheaton
D Federalsburg A's Eastern Shore League Ducky Detweiler
D Moultrie Athletics Georgia–Florida League Joe Antolick
D Lexington Indians North Carolina State League Homer Lee Cox
D Portsmouth A's Ohio–Indiana League George Staller
D Red Springs Red Robins Tobacco State League Red Norris
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Martinsville, Red Springs
Moline franchise moved to Kewanee, June 18, 1948

References

  1. ^ a b c "(Oakland) Athletics (1901–2024) franchise history", Retrosheet
  2. ^ "1948 Major League Attendance by team", Baseball Reference
  3. ^ "1948 Philadelphia Athletics game log", Retrosheet
  4. ^ "1948 American League team statistics", Baseball Reference
  5. ^ a b c d "Transactions for 1948 Philadelphia Athletics." Retrosheet
  6. ^ Ray Coleman at Baseball-Reference


Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Philadelphia_Athletics_season
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