| 1950 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 |
| Mvp Link: | Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Conf1: | AL |
| Conf1 Champ: | New York Yankees |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Detroit Tigers |
| Conf2: | NL |
| Conf2 Champ: | Philadelphia Phillies |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| Finals: | World Series |
| Finals Link: | 1950 World Series |
| Finals Champ: | New York Yankees |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Philadelphia Phillies |
| Finals Mvp: | Jerry Coleman (NYY) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Babe Ruth Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of MLB seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | MLB |
| Prevseason Link: | 1949 Major League Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1949 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1951 Major League Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1951 |
The 1950 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1950. The regular season ended on October 1, with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 47th World Series on October 4 and ended with Game 4 on October 7. The Yankees swept the Phillies in four games, capturing the 13th championship in franchise history.
The 17th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 11, hosted by the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, with the National League winning, 4–3.
On April 18, the Boston Braves become the fifth team in MLB to break the color line when they fielded Sam Jethroe.[1]
The only no-hitter of the season was pitched by Vern Bickford on August 9, in the Boston Braves 7–0 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.[2] [3] This season saw the first use of a bullpen car, by the Cleveland Indians.[4]
See also: Major League Baseball schedule. The 1950 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 18, featuring all sixteen teams, the first time since . The final day of the regular season was on October 1, which also saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from the . This was the first time since that all sixteen teams played their first and last games on the same days. The World Series took place between October 4 to October 7.
The 1950 season saw the following rule changes:[5]
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Braves | Johnny Cooney | Billy Southworth | |
| Washington Senators | Joe Kuhel | Bucky Harris |
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe McCarthy | Steve O'Neill | ||
| Jack Onslow | Red Corriden |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Goodman (BRS) | .354 | ||
| Al Rosen (CLE) | 37 | ||
| Walt Dropo (BRS) Vern Stephens (BRS) | 144 | ||
| Dom DiMaggio (BRS) | 131 | ||
| George Kell (DET) | 218 | ||
| Dom DiMaggio (BRS) | 15 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Lemon (CLE) | 23 | ||
| Alex Kellner (PHA) | 20 | ||
| Early Wynn (CLE) | 3.20 | ||
| Bob Lemon (CLE) | 170 | ||
| Bob Lemon (CLE) | 288.0 | ||
| Mickey Harris (WSH) | 15 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stan Musial (SLC) | .346 | ||
| Ralph Kiner (PIT) | 47 | ||
| Del Ennis (PHP) | 126 | ||
| Earl Torgeson (BSB) | 120 | ||
| Duke Snider (BKN) | 199 | ||
| Sam Jethroe (BSB) | 35 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Spahn (BSB) | 21 | ||
| Bob Rush (CHC) | 20 | ||
| Sal Maglie (NYG) | 2.71 | ||
| Warren Spahn (BSB) | 191 | ||
| Vern Bickford (BSB) | 311.2 | ||
| Jim Konstanty (PHP) | 22 |
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League | |
| Sam Jethroe (BSB) | Walt Dropo (BRS) | ||
| Jim Konstanty (PHP) | Phil Rizzuto (NYY) | ||
| Team name | Wins | Home attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees[18] | 98 | 1.0% | 2,081,380 | −8.9% | 27,031 | |
| Detroit Tigers[19] | 95 | 9.2% | 1,951,474 | 7.2% | 24,092 | |
| Cleveland Indians[20] | 92 | 3.4% | 1,727,464 | −22.7% | 22,435 | |
| Boston Red Sox[21] | 94 | −2.1% | 1,344,080 | −15.8% | 17,456 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies[22] | 91 | 12.3% | 1,217,035 | 48.5% | 15,603 | |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[23] | 89 | −8.2% | 1,185,896 | −27.4% | 15,204 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[24] | 57 | −19.7% | 1,166,267 | −19.5% | 15,146 | |
| Chicago Cubs[25] | 64 | 4.9% | 1,165,944 | 2.0% | 14,948 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals[26] | 78 | −18.8% | 1,093,411 | −23.6% | 14,387 | |
| New York Giants[27] | 86 | 17.8% | 1,008,878 | −17.2% | 13,275 | |
| Boston Braves[28] | 83 | 10.7% | 944,391 | −12.7% | 11,954 | |
| Chicago White Sox[29] | 60 | −4.8% | 781,330 | −16.6% | 9,890 | |
| Washington Senators[30] | 67 | 34.0% | 699,697 | −9.2% | 8,970 | |
| Cincinnati Reds[31] | 66 | 6.5% | 538,794 | −23.9% | 7,089 | |
| Philadelphia Athletics[32] | 52 | −35.8% | 309,805 | −62.1% | 4,023 | |
| St. Louis Browns[33] | 58 | 9.4% | 247,131 | −8.8% | 3,340 |