The 1948 Season

Win/Loss (AL Finish)	Best Hitter (Average)	Best Pitcher (Wins)
97-58 (1, World Champions)	Lou Boudreau (.355)	Gene Bearden and Bob Lemon (20)

1948 was the last year that the Indians won the World Series. Before that, the only time they ever won a world championship was in 1920. In 1948, the Indians defeated the Boston Braves in six games, after defeating the Boston Red Sox in a dramatic one-game playoff.

Lou Boudreau

In 1948, the Indians had a very unique rookie pitcher. Forty-one year-old pitcher Satchel Paige was (almost) old enough to be the father of most other rookies, but had never thrown a pitch in the major leagues before the 1948 season. A Negro League legend, Paige was the oldest rookie ever in the major leagues. He was a huge attraction, not just for his stellar pitching, but for his well-known antics. Some of his pitches included a fastball and a curveball as well as a “jump-ball” and a “trouble-ball”. He had lost some of his legendary skill, but still managed a 6-1 record and 2.48 ERA as he helped the Indians to the World Series.
Five Indians players were on the American League All-Star team: shortstop/manager Lou Boudreau, pitchers Bob Feller and Bob Lemon, third baseman Ken Keltner, and second baseman Joe Gordon. Boudreau was the American League Most Valuable Player, Lemon, Bearden and Gordon were in the top ten, and Keltner, Feller, Jim Hegan, and Larry Doby also received votes.

Satchel Paige

Lou Boudreau was known as the “boy manager”. At the young age of 24, he became the manager of the Indians. He was a hugely popular player in Cleveland. Before the 1948 season, owner Bill Veeck wanted to trade Boudreau, but there was such a public outcry in Cleveland that Veeck backed down. Boudreau thanked the city by producing an MVP season and leading the team to the world championship. He went 4-for-4 with two home runs in the playoff game against the Red Sox.
Another success story of the 1948 team was rookie pitcher Gene Bearden. In his first major league season, 26-year-old Bearden went 20-7 with a 2.43 ERA. He was never as good as he was that season, but he made those games count: his twentieth game was in the same playoff game against the Red Sox.