Top 5 Players of the 1948 World Series

Originally published on May 3, 2019

By Zane Miller

On Monday, October 11th, 1948, the Cleveland Indians defeated the Boston (now Atlanta) Braves at Braves Field in Boston to win the 45th World Series four games to two. It was the second (and as of this writing, most recent) World Series championship for the Indians franchise and the sixth that was won in Massachusetts. These are the top five players that I felt most stood out during the series.

5. #3 Bob Elliott (Braves)- 3B

Elliott was the player of the game in game five, hitting four RBIs with three runs, two hits and a walk in the Braves’ 11-5 victory over the Indians.

4. #33 Johnny Sain (Braves)- P

Sain picked up player of the game honors in game one, pitching a complete game shutout while allowing just four hits and no walks as the Braves went on to win 1-0.

3. #27 Steve Gromek (Indians)- P

Gromek, game four’s player of the game, had a complete game pitched with just one earned run allowed with seven hits and a walk as the Indians won it 2-1.

2. #30 Gene Bearden (Indians)- P

Bearden earned player of the game in game three, getting a complete game shutout on five hits given up with no walks. The Indians went on to win 2-0.

1. #21 Bob Lemon (Indians)- P

Lemon took player of the game in games two and six, as in game two he pitched all nine innings while allowing no earned runs on eight hits and three walks in the Indians’ 4-1 win, while in game six he gave up three earned runs on eight hits and four walks over seven and a third innings as the Indians won 4-3 to claim the series championship.

Players of the Game Breakdown:

 

Link to stats database: https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1948_WS.shtml