| 1948 MLB season | |
| League: | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | Regular season:World Series: |
| No Of Games: | 154 |
| No Of Teams: | 16 (8 per league) |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Mvp: | AL Lou Boudreau (CLE) |
| Mvp Link: | Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Conf1: | AL |
| Conf1 Champ: | Cleveland Indians |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Boston Red Sox |
| Conf2: | NL |
| Conf2 Champ: | Boston Braves |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Finals: | World Series |
| Finals Link: | 1948 World Series |
| Finals Champ: | Cleveland Indians |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Boston Braves |
| Seasonslist: | List of MLB seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | MLB |
| Prevseason Link: | 1947 Major League Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1947 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1949 Major League Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1949 |
The 1948 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1948. The regular season ended on October 4, with the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Indians won the American League title via a tie-breaker game victory over the Boston Red Sox, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96–58 records. This was the second regular season tie-breaker, and saw a change from the previous three-game format to that of a single-game, Game 163. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 45th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 6 on October 11. The Indians defeated the Braves, four games to two.
The 15th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 13, hosted by the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, with the American League winning, 5–2 for their third straight win.
See also: Major League Baseball schedule. The 1948 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the season (except for) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 19, featuring six teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on October 3, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from the . Due to the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians finishing with the same record of 96–58, a tie-breaker was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The Indians won the Game 163 tie-breaker on October 4. The World Series took place between October 6 to October 11.
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Burt Shotton | Leo Durocher | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Bill Burwell | Billy Meyer | |
| St. Louis Browns | Muddy Ruel | Zack Taylor | |
| Washington Senators | Ossie Bluege | Joe Kuhel |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Williams (BRS) | .369 | ||
| Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 39 | ||
| Joe DiMaggio (NYY) | 155 | ||
| Tommy Henrich (NYY) | 138 | ||
| Bob Dillinger (SLB) | 207 | ||
| Bob Dillinger (SLB) | 28 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hal Newhouser (DET) | 21 | ||
| Fred Sanford (SLB) | 21 | ||
| Gene Bearden (CLE) | 2.43 | ||
| Bob Feller (CLE) | 164 | ||
| Bob Lemon (CLE) | 293.2 | ||
| Russ Christopher (CLE) | 17 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stan Musial (SLC) | .376 | ||
| Ralph Kiner (PIT) Johnny Mize (NYG) | 40 | ||
| Stan Musial (SLC) | 131 | ||
| Stan Musial (SLC) | 135 | ||
| Stan Musial (SLC) | 230 | ||
| Richie Ashburn (PHP) | 32 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Sain (BSB) | 24 | ||
| Dutch Leonard (PHP) | 17 | ||
| Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 2.24 | ||
| Harry Brecheen (SLC) | 149 | ||
| Johnny Sain (BSB) | 314.2 | ||
| Harry Gumbert (CIN) | 17 |
Lou Boudreau, Cleveland Indians, SS
Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals, OF
| Team name | Wins | Home attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians[1] | 97 | 21.3% | 2,620,627 | 72.2% | 33,172 | |
| New York Yankees[2] | 94 | −3.1% | 2,373,901 | 8.9% | 30,830 | |
| Detroit Tigers[3] | 78 | −8.2% | 1,743,035 | 24.7% | 22,637 | |
| Boston Red Sox[4] | 96 | 15.7% | 1,558,798 | 9.2% | 19,985 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[5] | 83 | 33.9% | 1,517,021 | 18.2% | 18,963 | |
| New York Giants[6] | 78 | −3.7% | 1,459,269 | −8.8% | 18,952 | |
| Boston Braves[7] | 91 | 5.8% | 1,455,439 | 13.9% | 19,151 | |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[8] | 84 | −10.6% | 1,398,967 | −22.6% | 17,935 | |
| Chicago Cubs[9] | 64 | −7.2% | 1,237,792 | −9.3% | 15,869 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals[10] | 85 | −4.5% | 1,111,440 | −10.9% | 14,434 | |
| Philadelphia Athletics[11] | 84 | 7.7% | 945,076 | 3.7% | 12,274 | |
| Cincinnati Reds[12] | 64 | −12.3% | 823,386 | −8.5% | 10,693 | |
| Washington Senators[13] | 56 | −12.5% | 795,254 | −6.5% | 10,196 | |
| Chicago White Sox[14] | 51 | −27.1% | 777,844 | −11.3% | 10,235 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies[15] | 66 | 6.5% | 767,429 | −15.4% | 10,098 | |
| St. Louis Browns[16] | 59 | 0.0% | 335,564 | 4.7% | 4,415 |