1944 St. Louis Browns | ||
---|---|---|
American League Champions | ||
League | American League | |
Ballpark | Sportsman's Park | |
City | St. Louis, Missouri | |
Record | 89–65 (.578) | |
League place | 1st | |
Owners | Donald Lee Barnes | |
General managers | Bill DeWitt | |
Managers | Luke Sewell | |
Radio |
WEW/WTMV ( Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) | |
|
The 1944 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing first in the American League with a record of 89 wins and 65 losses. In the World Series, they lost to the team they shared a stadium with, the Cardinals, four games to two.
The Browns were one of the unlikeliest pennant-winners in history, failing to contend in nine of the previous 10 seasons.
However, 1944 marked the peak of wartime conditions in Major League Baseball. The shortage of available players degraded the talent level of both major leagues, benefiting the 1944 Browns who were relatively untouched by the military draft. Nine players were at least 34 years old and the all-4F infield included 23-year-old shortstop Vern Stephens, who led the league in RBI (109) and was second in home runs (20).
St. Louis started the season with nine straight wins and continued to contend in a four-team race with Detroit, Boston, and New York. It came down to the final week, when the Browns defeated the Yankees five times, winning the pennant by a game over Detroit. It was the only championship the franchise won in St. Louis. Nine years later, after the 1953 season, the Browns were sold and became the Baltimore Orioles.
Hal Epps | CF |
Don Gutteridge | 2B |
George McQuinn | 1B |
Vern Stephens | SS |
Gene Moore | RF |
Milt Byrnes | LF |
Mark Christman | 3B |
Frank Mancuso | C |
Jack Kramer | P |
American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis Browns | 89 | 65 | 0.578 | — | 54–23 | 35–42 |
Detroit Tigers | 88 | 66 | 0.571 | 1 | 43–34 | 45–32 |
New York Yankees | 83 | 71 | 0.539 | 6 | 47–31 | 36–40 |
Boston Red Sox | 77 | 77 | 0.500 | 12 | 47–30 | 30–47 |
Cleveland Indians | 72 | 82 | 0.468 | 17 | 39–38 | 33–44 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 72 | 82 | 0.468 | 17 | 39–37 | 33–45 |
Chicago White Sox | 71 | 83 | 0.461 | 18 | 41–36 | 30–47 |
Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | 0.416 | 25 | 40–37 | 24–53 |
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
Boston | — | 17–5 | 8–14 | 10–12–2 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 10–12 | |||||
Chicago | 5–17 | — | 14–8 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 16–6 | |||||
Cleveland | 14–8 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10–1 | 10–12 | 10–12 | |||||
Detroit | 12–10–2 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 14–8 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 17–5 | |||||
New York | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 8–14 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 15–7 | |||||
Philadelphia | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | |||||
St. Louis | 12–10 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 13–9 | |||||
Washington | 12–10 | 6–16 | 12–10 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — |
1944 St. Louis Browns | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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= Indicates team leader |
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 | Red Hayworth | 89 | 239 | 60 | .223 | 1 | 25 |
1B | George McQuinn | 146 | 516 | 129 | .250 | 11 | 72 |
2B | Don Gutteridge | 148 | 603 | 148 | .245 | 3 | 36 |
3B | Mark Christman | 148 | 547 | 148 | .271 | 6 | 83 |
SS | Vern Stephens | 145 | 559 | 164 | .293 | 20 | 109 |
OF | Milt Byrnes | 128 | 407 | 120 | .295 | 4 | 45 |
OF | Mike Kreevich | 105 | 402 | 121 | .301 | 5 | 44 |
OF | Gene Moore | 110 | 390 | 93 | .238 | 6 | 58 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Zarilla | 100 | 288 | 86 | .299 | 6 | 45 |
Frank Mancuso | 88 | 244 | 50 | .205 | 1 | 24 |
Chet Laabs | 66 | 201 | 47 | .234 | 5 | 33 |
Floyd Baker | 44 | 97 | 17 | .175 | 0 | 5 |
Mike Chartak | 35 | 72 | 17 | .236 | 1 | 7 |
Hal Epps | 22 | 62 | 11 | .177 | 0 | 3 |
Frank Demaree | 16 | 51 | 13 | .255 | 0 | 6 |
Ellis Clary | 25 | 49 | 13 | .265 | 0 | 4 |
Tom Turner | 15 | 25 | 8 | .320 | 0 | 4 |
Tom Hafey | 8 | 14 | 5 | .357 | 0 | 2 |
Joe Schultz | 3 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
Babe Martin | 2 | 4 | 3 | .750 | 0 | 0 |
Len Schulte | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Kramer | 33 | 257.0 | 17 | 13 | 2.49 | 124 |
Nels Potter | 32 | 232.0 | 19 | 7 | 2.83 | 91 |
Bob Muncrief | 33 | 219.1 | 13 | 8 | 3.08 | 88 |
Sig Jakucki | 35 | 198.0 | 13 | 9 | 3.55 | 67 |
Denny Galehouse | 24 | 153.0 | 9 | 10 | 3.12 | 80 |
Steve Sundra | 3 | 19.0 | 2 | 0 | 1.42 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Hollingsworth | 26 | 92.2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 4.47 | 22 |
Tex Shirley | 23 | 80.1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4.15 | 35 |
Note: G = Games pitched; Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Caster | 42 | 81.0 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2.44 | 46 |
Sam Zoldak | 18 | 38.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.72 | 15 |
Lefty West | 11 | 24.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.29 | 11 |
Willis Hudlin | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL St. Louis Browns (2)
Game | Score | Date |
---|---|---|
1 | Browns 2, Cardinals 1 | October 4 |
2 | Cardinals 3, Browns 2 (11 innings) | October 5 |
3 | Browns 6, Cardinals 2 | October 6 |
4 | Cardinals 5, Browns 1 | October 7 |
5 | Cardinals 2, Browns 0 | October 8 |
6 | Cardinals 3, Browns 1 | October 9 |
Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
AA | Toledo Mud Hens | American Association | Ollie Marquardt |
D | Newark Moundsmen | Ohio State League | Clay Bryant |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Newark [13]