It's doubtful any baseball player has had--or ever will have--the all-around accomplishments of Lou Boudreau in 1948. The 30-year-old shortstop, in his seventh year as player-manager of the Cleveland Indians, won the American League Most Valuable Player Award and led the club to a six-game World Series victory over the Boston Braves.
Boudreau had already achieved a number of distinctions. He was baseball's youngest manager at 24. He had led the league in batting in 1944, admittedly a wartime year, with a .327 average, and in 1947, he had set a record for shortstops with a .982 fielding percentage. With the Indians' acquisition that season of the New York Yankees' brilliant second baseman, Joe Gordon, he had formed one of the notable double-play combinations of baseball history.
But nothing in that background presaged the uniquely spectacular season Boudreau was to have in 1948. The Indians had finished a distant fourth to a powerful Yankees team in 1947. Future Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller was a multiple-year 20-game-winner, but the rest of the staff was unproven. Ken Keltner, a perennial All Star third baseman, and Gordon were the only other outstanding players.
An as yet unrealized asset was Bill Veeck, who had acquired the club the previous year and was determined to bring Cleveland its first championship since 1920. Satisfied that the Jackie Robinson racial barrier- breaking experiment was working in Brooklyn, Veeck quickly signed Negro League star outfielder Larry Doby as the American League's first black player. Doby promptly added needed punch to the Indians' lineup. Veeck pulled off an even greater coup by hiring the fabled Satchel Paige, perhaps the Negro Leagues' all-time greatest pitcher, in the middle of the season. Paige, despite his age (it was never clear whether he was 42 or much older), won six games down the stretch for the Indians.
Along with these additions, Boudreau found converted oufielder-infielder Bob Lemon developing into a 20-game winner on the mound. Rookie Gene Bearden was also providing quality pitching. With the Yankees off to a disappointing start, the Indians began to believe that a pennant was within reach.
But the brightest star in the new Cleveland constellation was the player-manager himself. His consistent and timely hitting had him in a contest for the batting title with the immortal Ted Williams, who was also having one of his greatest seasons at the plate. Boudreau's fielding, alongside Gordon and Keltner, was bolstering the efforts of the pitchers and inspiring both the players and the fans.
The Indians finished the 1948 regular season tied with Williams's Red Sox for the American League championship, necessitating an unprecedented one-game playoff. Boudreau's year-long dual contributions as player-manager were highlighted as he chose the rookie Bearden for the clutch pitching assignment and then backed him up with four hits of his own, including two home runs.
The Indians won, 8-3, and went on to defeat the Boston Braves in the World Series. Although he lost the batting championship to Williams, Boudreau hit a career-high of .355 and was named American League Most Valuable Player over Williams and another immortal, Joe DiMaggio. Ball players have had greater individual achievements, but no one has reached the double peak he scaled in 1948.
