Age: 31 (July 17)
10th
season with Indians
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’11” Weight: 185
Prior to 1948:
Boudreau, a
native of Harvey, Illinois, was the son of a semipro baseball player who worked
with him from a young age to develop his baseball skills. He was a very fine
basketball player in a high school and went on to play baseball and basketball
at the Univ. of Illinois. A natural leader with abundant self-confidence and
competitiveness, he captained both teams. Boudreau signed with the Indians in
1938. He appeared in 60 games with the Cedar Rapids Raiders of the Class B
Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in ’38 and hit .290 while playing at third base.
He earned a late-season call-up to the Indians and appeared in one game, going
hitless in two plate appearances. Boudreau went to spring training with the
Indians in 1939 and was advised to switch to shortstop due to the presence of
talented young Ken Keltner at third base. He was sent to the Buffalo Bisons of
the Class AA International League to learn the new position and performed well
while also hitting .331 with 17 home runs, earning a promotion back to the
Indians. He appeared in 53 games at shortstop with Cleveland in ’39 and batted
.258. 1940 was a tumultuous season for the Indians and the rookie shortstop
performed well, batting .295 with 46 doubles, 10 triples, 9 home runs, and 101
RBIs. He earned an All-Star selection and was named Rookie of the Year by the
Chicago chapter of the BBWAA, a precursor to the current Rookie of the Year
award. Boudreau had a lesser year in 1941, batting .257 with a league-leading
45 doubles, plus 8 triples, 10 home runs, and 56 RBIs. He was once again an AL
All-Star and tied for seventeenth in league MVP voting. Despite his youth, in
the offseason the 24-year-old shortstop was named player/manager. With the US
entry into World War II players began leaving for the military, not including
Boudreau, who was declared unfit for service due to the arthritic ankles that
also contributed to his being a slow baserunner. Cleveland, without star
pitcher Bob Feller, who went into the Navy, had a rough first season in 1942
under Boudreau, who was assisted by a group of veteran coaches, going 75-79 and
placing fourth in the AL. Boudreau hit .283 with 58 RBIs and was an All-Star
for the third straight year. The Indians improved to 82-71 in 1943 and Boudreau
helped with solid play in the field and a .286 batting average with 32 doubles,
7 triples, 3 home runs, and 67 RBIs. The Indians dropped to 72-82 in 1944,
otherwise an outstanding year for Boudreau the player who won the AL batting
title with a .327 average in addition to leading the league with 45 doubles. A
broken leg limited him to 97 games in 1945. The fifth-place Indians were 73-72
in the last of the war-affected seasons. Boudreau hit .293 in 1946 with 30
doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs, and 62 RBIs for the 68-86 Indians. He was an
innovative manager who also implemented a defensive shift to try and thwart
Boston’s star left-handed hitter, Ted Williams. Also in ’46 Bill Veeck became
the team’s principal owner, vowing to revamp the club. Boudreau was retained as
manager and during the 1947 season, Larry Doby joined the team to become the
first African-American player in the AL, following Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson
in the NL by three months. Cleveland finished in fourth place at 80-74 while
Boudreau batted .307 and topped the AL with 45 doubles and finished third in
MVP voting. While Veeck toyed with the idea of trading the popular shortstop
and thus replacing him as manager, the popular Boudreau returned as
player/manager in 1948, which was viewed as a make-or-break season.
1948 Season Summary
Appeared in 152
games
SS – 151, C –
1, PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 676 [6]
At Bats – 560
[11, tied with Jerry Priddy]
Runs – 116 [5]
Hits – 199 [3]
Doubles – 34 [7,
tied with Bob Dillinger]
Triples – 6
Home Runs – 18
[10]
RBI – 106 [8]
Bases on Balls
– 98 [6]
Int. BB – N/A
Strikeouts – 9
Stolen Bases – 3
Caught Stealing
– 2
Average - .355
[2]
OBP - .453 [2]
Slugging Pct. -
.534 [4]
Total Bases – 299
[4, tied with Vern Stephens]
GDP – 15 [18,
tied with Jerry Priddy & Eddie Yost]
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 16
[5]
Sac Flies – N/A
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 6 AB) at Chi. White Sox 4/26 – 14 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 13 games
HR at home – 6
HR on road – 12
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 3 AB) vs. Phila. A’s 9/19, (in 4 AB) at Bos. Red Sox 10/4 –
playoff, counted as part of regular season
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 4 at Chi. White Sox 4/26 – 14 innings, vs. St. Louis Browns 5/31, at St.
Louis Browns 8/12
Pinch-hitting –
1 of 1 (1.000) with 2 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 800
Put Outs – 297
Assists – 483
Errors – 20
DP – 119
Pct. - .975
Postseason
Batting: 6 G (World Series vs. Bos. Braves)
PA – 24, AB – 22,
R – 1, H – 6, 2B – 4, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 3, BB – 1, SO – 1, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG
- .273, OBP - .333, SLG - .455, TB – 10, GDP – 2, HBP – 1, SH – 0, SF – N/A
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
(started for AL at SS)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Lou Boudreau,
Clev.: 324 pts. - 22 of 24 first place votes, 96% share
Joe DiMaggio,
NYY.: 213 pts. – 2 first place votes, 63% share
Ted Williams,
BosRS.: 171 pts. – 51% share
Vern Stephens,
BosRS.: 121 pts. – 36% share
Bob Lemon,
Clev.: 101 pts. – 30% share
---
Indians went 96-58
to finish tied for first in the AL with the Boston Red Sox, which necessitated
a season-extending one-game playoff in Boston. They defeated the Red Sox 8-3 as
Boudreau went 4 for 4 including his 17th and 18th home
runs of the season, to clinch the AL pennant with a final record of 97-58. The
team led the league in hits (1534), home runs (155), and batting (.282) while
battling the Red Sox and New York Yankees, who ended up in third, 2.5 games
behind Cleveland. Won World Series over the Boston Braves, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of ‘48:
Boudreau
received a raise to $62,000 in 1949 and he hit .284 with 20 doubles, 3 triples,
4 home runs, and 60 RBIs while the Indians dropped to third place. He managed
the club again in 1950 and played in only 81 games, batting just .269. With new
ownership in place, Boudreau was released after the season and signed with the
Red Sox in 1951 as a utility infielder. Nearing the end as a player, he
appeared in 82 games and batted .267 with 5 home runs and 47 RBIs. The Red Sox
named him manager in 1952 and he played in four games, thus ending his playing
career and becoming strictly a bench manager. He managed in Boston for three
seasons and the team had a 229-232 record under his direction. Fired by the Red
Sox following the 1954 season, he was next hired by the newly-relocated Kansas
City Athletics in 1955, where he lasted for nearly three years and was released
during the 1957 season with a 151-260 record. Overall as a player Boudreau
batted .295 with 1779 hits that included 385 doubles, 66 triples, and 68 home
runs. He drove in 789 runs. With the Indians he hit .296 with 367 doubles, 65
triples, 63 home runs, and 740 RBIs. He was an eight-time All-Star and a
two-time batting champion. He topped all AL shortstops in fielding seven times,
twice in assists, four times in put outs and five times in double plays. Following
his firing as manager of the A’s Boudreau moved into the broadcast booth for
Chicago Cubs games. He had one more managerial stint with the Cubs, finishing
out the 1960 season after Charlie Grimm was removed. As a major league manager
Boudreau’s teams went 1162-1224. In his nine seasons in Cleveland, the Indians
compiled a 728-649 tally that included the one pennant and World Series title.
He returned to broadcasting after his last managerial job with the Cubs and
stayed with it until retiring in 1988 at age 71. He was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Indians retired his #5.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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