1950 Cleveland Indians season

The 1950 Cleveland Indians season was the 50th season in franchise history. The team finished fourth in the American League with a record of 92–62, six games behind the New York Yankees.

1950 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932) Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Ellis Ryan
General manager(s)	Hank Greenberg
Manager(s)	Lou Boudreau
Local television	WXEL (Jack Graney, Jimmy Dudley)
Local radio	WERE (Jack Graney, Jimmy Dudley)
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Offseason

• December 5, 1949: Grant Dunlap was drafted from the Indians by the St. Louis Browns in the 1949 minor league draft.[1]
• February 17, 1950: Satchel Paige was released by the Indians.[2]

Regular season

In 1950, the Cleveland Indians became the first Major League Baseball franchise to use a bullpen car.[3] Rookie Al Rosen led the American League in home runs with 37.[4]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	98	56	0.636	—	53–24	45–32
Detroit Tigers	95	59	0.617	3	50–30	45–29
Boston Red Sox	94	60	0.610	4	55–22	39–38
Cleveland Indians	92	62	0.597	6	49–28	43–34
Washington Senators	67	87	0.435	31	35–42	32–45
Chicago White Sox	60	94	0.390	38	35–42	25–52
St. Louis Browns	58	96	0.377	40	27–47	31–49
Philadelphia Athletics	52	102	0.338	46	29–48	23–54

Record vs. opponents

1950 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	15–7	10–12	10–12	9–13	19–3	19–3	12–10
Chicago	7–15	—	8–14	6–16–2	8–14	11–11	12–10	8–14
Cleveland	12–10	14–8	—	13–9–1	8–14	17–5	13–9	15–7
Detroit	12–10	16–6–2	9–13–1	—	11–11	17–5	17–5	13–9
New York	13–9	14–8	14–8	11–11	—	15–7	17–5	14–8–1
Philadelphia	3–19	11–11	5–17	5–17	7–15	—	8–14	13–9
St. Louis	3–19	10–12	9–13	5–17	5–17	14–8	—	12–10
Washington	10–12	14–8	7–15	9–13	8–14–1	9–13	10–12	—

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1950: Mike Tresh was released by the Indians.[5]
• May 11, 1950: Grant Dunlap was returned to the Indians by the St. Louis Browns.[1]
• June 14, 1950: Mickey Vernon was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Dick Weik.[6]

Roster

1950 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 17 Al Aber 30 Gene Bearden 22 Al Benton 19 Bob Feller 23 Jesse Flores 25 Mike Garcia 27 Steve Gromek 21 Bob Lemon 18 Marino Pieretti 26 Dick Rozek 28 Dick Weik 24 Early Wynn 20 Sam Zoldak		Catchers 10 Jim Hegan 12 Ray Murray Infielders  1 Bobby Ávila  2 Johnny Berardino  8 Ray Boone  5 Lou Boudreau 11 Herb Conyers  9 Luke Easter  4 Joe Gordon  7 Al Rosen  3 Mickey Vernon		Outfielders 31 Allie Clark 14 Larry Doby 33 Bob Kennedy 30 Jim Lemon 34 Dale Mitchell 38 Thurman Tucker		Manager  5 Lou Boudreau Coaches 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 41 Ski Melillo 42 Muddy Ruel 44 Al Simmons (Third Base)

Player stats

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	131	415	91	.219	14	58
1B	Luke Easter	141	540	151	.280	28	107
2B	Joe Gordon	119	368	87	.236	19	57
SS	Ray Boone	109	365	110	.301	7	58
3B	Al Rosen	155	554	159	.287	37	116
OF	Bob Kennedy	146	540	157	.291	9	54
OF	Larry Doby	142	503	164	.326	25	102
OF	Dale Mitchell	130	506	156	.308	3	49

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
Lou Boudreau	81	260	70	.269	1	29
Bobby Avila	80	201	60	.299	1	21
Allie Clark	59	163	35	.215	6	21
Ray Murray	55	139	38	.273	1	13
Thurman Tucker	57	101	18	.178	1	7
Mickey Vernon	28	90	17	.189	0	10
Jim Lemon	12	34	6	.176	1	1
Herb Conyers	7	9	3	.333	1	1
Johnny Berardino	4	5	2	.400	0	3

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	44	288	23	11	3.84	170
Bob Feller	35	247	16	11	3.43	119
Early Wynn	32	213.2	18	8	3.20	143
Mike Garcia	33	184	11	11	3.86	76
Al Aber	1	9	1	0	2.00	4

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	31	113.1	10	7	3.65	43
Gene Bearden	14	45.1	1	3	6.15	10

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	36	4	2	4	3.57	26
Sam Zoldak	33	4	2	4	3.96	15
Marino Pieretti	29	0	1	1	4.18	11
Jesse Flores	28	3	3	4	3.74	27
Dick Rozek	12	0	0	0	4.97	14
Dick Weik	11	1	3	0	3.81	16

Awards and honors

• Al Rosen, American League leader, home runs (37)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Diego Padres	Pacific Coast League	Del Baker
AA	Oklahoma City Indians	Texas League	Joe Vosmik, Hank Gowdy and Tommy Reis
A	Dayton Indians	Central League	Dolph Camilli
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Bill Norman
B	Cedar Rapids Indians	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Billy Jurges
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
B	Spartanburg Peaches	Tri-State League	Kerby Farrell
B	Tacoma Tigers	Western International League	Jim Brillheart
C	Tucson Cowboys	Arizona–Texas League	Hank Leiber
C	Bakersfield Indians	California League	Harry Griswold
C	Pittsfield Indians	Canadian–American League	Lloyd Brown
D	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	Red Ruffing
D	Zanesville Indians	Ohio–Indiana League	Knowles Piercy
D	Batavia Clippers	PONY League	Ed Kobesky
D	Green Bay Blue Jays	Wisconsin State League	Phil Seghi

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wilkes-Barre[7]

References

1. Grant Dunlap at Baseball-Reference
2. Satchel Paige at Baseball-Reference
3. Lukas, Paul (October 19, 2007). "Lukas: Long live the bullpen car - ESPN Page 2". Espn.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 346, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
5. Mike Tresh at Baseball-Reference
6. Mickey Vernon at Baseball-Reference
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1950 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference