1950 Boston Braves season

The 1950 Boston Braves season was the 80th season of the franchise. During the season, Sam Jethroe became the first black player in the history of the Braves.^[1]

1950 Boston Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Braves Field (since 1915) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1871)
Results
Record	83–71 (.539)
League place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	Louis R. Perini
General manager(s)	John J. Quinn
Manager(s)	Billy Southworth
Local television	WNAC WBZ-TV (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Bump Hadley)
Local radio	WHDH (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey, Leo Egan)
< Previous season     Next season >

Offseason

• December 5, 1949: Phil Paine was selected by the Braves from the Philadelphia Phillies in the minor league draft.^[2]
• December 14, 1949: Eddie Stanky and Alvin Dark were traded by the Braves to the New York Giants for Sid Gordon, Buddy Kerr, Willard Marshall, and Red Webb.^[3]
• Prior to 1950 season: Art Fowler was acquired by the Braves from the Atlanta Crackers.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	91	63	0.591	—	48–29	43–34
Brooklyn Dodgers	89	65	0.578	2	48–30	41–35
New York Giants	86	68	0.558	5	44–32	42–36
Boston Braves	83	71	0.539	8	46–31	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	78	75	0.510	12½	48–28	30–47
Cincinnati Reds	66	87	0.431	24½	38–38	28–49
Chicago Cubs	64	89	0.418	26½	35–42	29–47
Pittsburgh Pirates	57	96	0.373	33½	33–44	24–52

Record vs. opponents

1950 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	9–13	9–13	17–5	13–9	9–13–1	15–7–1	11–11
Brooklyn	13–9	—	10–12	12–10	12–10	11–11–1	19–3	12–10
Chicago	13–9	12–10	—	4–17	5–17	9–13–1	11–11	10–12
Cincinnati	5–17	10–12	17–4	—	11–11	4–18	12–10	7–15
New York	9–13	10–12	17–5	11–11	—	12–10	16–6	11–11
Philadelphia	13–9–1	11–11–1	13–9–1	18–4	10–12	—	14–8	12–10
Pittsburgh	7–15–1	3–19	11–11	10–12	6–16	8–14	—	12–9
St. Louis	11–11	10–12	12–10	15–7	11–11	10–12	9–12	—

Roster

1950 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers 34 Johnny Antonelli 24 Vern Bickford 17 Bob Chipman 16 Dave Cole 20,36 Dick Donovan 22 Mickey Haefner 25 Bob Hall 37 Bobby Hogue 19,50 Ernie Johnson 39 Dick Manville 26 Normie Roy 33 Johnny Sain 21 Warren Spahn 36 Max Surkont  6 Murray Wall 31 Bucky Walters		Catchers 14 Paul Burris 39 Walker Cooper 23 Del Crandall 22 Walt Linden Infielders  3 Bob Elliott 12 Roy Hartsfield 10 Buddy Kerr  2 Gene Mauch  8 Connie Ryan  7 Sibby Sisti  9 Earl Torgeson 18 Emil Verban		Outfielders  6 Bob Addis  4 Sid Gordon  1 Tommy Holmes  5 Sam Jethroe 27 Willard Marshall 15 Luis Olmo 11 Pete Reiser		Manager 30 Billy Southworth Coaches 29 Jimmy Brown 28 Johnny Cooney 35 Bob Keely 31 Bucky Walters

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	Walker Cooper	102	337	111	.329	14	60
1B	Earl Torgeson	156	576	167	.290	23	87
2B	Roy Hartsfield	107	419	116	.277	7	24
SS	Buddy Kerr	155	507	115	.227	2	46
3B	Bob Elliott	142	531	162	.305	24	107
OF	Sid Gordon	134	481	146	.304	27	103
OF	Sam Jethroe	141	582	159	.273	18	58
OF	Tommy Holmes	105	322	96	.298	9	51

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
Willard Marshall	105	298	70	.235	5	40
Del Crandall	79	255	56	.220	4	37
Luis Olmo	69	154	35	.227	5	22
Gene Mauch	48	121	28	.231	1	15
Sibby Sisti	69	105	18	.171	2	11
Pete Reiser	53	78	16	.205	1	10
Connie Ryan	20	72	14	.194	3	6
Bob Addis	16	28	7	.250	0	2
Paul Burris	10	23	4	.174	0	3
Walt Linden	3	5	2	.400	0	0
Emil Verban	4	5	0	.000	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
Vern Bickford	40	311.2	19	14	3.47	126
Warren Spahn	41	293.0	21	17	3.16	191
Johnny Sain	37	278.1	20	13	3.94	96
Max Surkont	9	55.2	5	2	3.23	21

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
Bob Chipman	27	124.0	7	7	4.43	40
Normie Roy	19	59.2	4	3	5.13	25
Johnny Antonelli	20	57.2	2	3	5.93	33
Bob Hall	21	50.1	0	2	6.97	22
Dick Donovan	10	29.2	0	2	8.19	9
Mickey Haefner	8	24.0	0	2	5.63	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
Bobby Hogue	36	3	5	7	5.03	15
Ernie Johnson Sr.	16	2	0	0	6.97	15
Dave Cole	4	0	1	0	1.13	8
Murray Wall	1	0	0	0	9.00	2
Bucky Walters	1	0	0	0	4.50	0
Dick Manville	1	0	0	0	0.00	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Milwaukee Brewers	American Association	Bob Coleman
AA	Atlanta Crackers	Southern Association	Dixie Walker
A	Hartford Chiefs	Eastern League	Ripper Collins
A	Denver Bears	Western League	Earl Browne
B	Evansville Braves	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Ernie White
B	Hagerstown Braves	Interstate League	Dutch Dorman
B	Jackson Senators	Southeastern League	Willis Hudlin
C	Ventura Braves	California League	Gene Lillard
C	Eau Claire Bears	Northern League	Andy Cohen
D	Bluefield Blue-Grays	Appalachian League	Bill Adair
D	Owensboro Oilers	KITTY League	Travis Jackson

References

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
2. Phil Paine at Baseball-Reference
3. Eddie Stanky at Baseball-Reference
4. Art Fowler at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1950 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference