July 24, 1949: Cleveland’s Bob Lemon hits two home runs, throws complete-game victory against Washington

After the All-Star break in 1949, the Cleveland Indians opened the second half of the season with a 13-game homestand against the American League’s Eastern clubs: the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Washington Senators. The Indians, who had won eight of their last nine games going into the break, were 44-32 and in second place in the AL, trailing the Yankees (50-27) by 5½ games.

Cleveland was the defending World Series champion, and hometown expectations were high that they would repeat in 1949. So much so that their attendance figures surpassed the million mark (1,045,136) before July 4.  

The Athletics were the first to invade Cleveland Stadium, and the Indians took two of three games, with All-Star Bob Lemon pitching a complete game for his 10th win of the season and hitting a triple in the series opener, on July 14. Boston was next and the same result ensued, with Cleveland winning two games of the three-game series.

New York—whose lead over the Indians was now 4½ games—was the third visitor. On July 19 the Indians rallied for a thrilling 5-4 win, tying the game in the eighth and winning on Jim Hegan’s ninth-inning homer. Lemon, in his fourth season as a pitcher after converting from the outfield in 1946, picked up his second complete-game win of the homestand and smacked a two-run home run against Yankees starter Allie Reynolds. Cleveland had moved to within 3½ games of first, closer to the top than it had been in more than two months.

A crowd of 75,340 showed up at the lakefront stadium the next day to see Eddie Lopat and Bob Feller face off. But the Yankees drove Feller from the mound in the third inning and got the better of the Indians, winning 7-3. They won the third game in the series as well, 5-3.

Washington was the final team to visit the shores of Lake Erie. The Senators (34-49) were in seventh place, and Cleveland took the first two games of the four-game set. The Indians were still in second place, 4½ games behind the Yankees.

On July 24 the series with the Senators—and the homestand—closed with a Sunday afternoon doubleheader on a sultry 86-degree day. A group of around 500 fans from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, a steel-milling town near Pittsburgh, made the two-hour drive to Cleveland. The contingent was there to honor one of their favorite sons, Senators second baseman Al Kozar. They had planned to present him with a cash offering between games. But he declined and suggested that the money instead be given to the McKees Rocks Boys Club.1   

In the opener, Al Gettel started for Washington. The right-hander had appeared in 36 games for the Indians in 1947 and 1948 before going to the Chicago White Sox in the June 1948 deal that brought Bob Kennedy to Cleveland. This was Gettel’s first start for the Senators since they purchased him from the White Sox on July 12. He had been credited with a win against Cleveland on July 6, pitching 1⅓ innings of relief in his last appearance for Chicago.

Cleveland manager-shortstop Lou Boudreau countered with Lemon, who entered with an 11-4 record, a 2.84 ERA, and a three-game win streak dating back to July 7.

Both teams were scoreless for the first three frames, with Lemon and Gettel allowing just one hit apiece. Washington was the first to light up the run column on the scoreboard, in the fourth. Sherry Robertson singled with one out and Buddy Lewis walked one out later. Former Indian Eddie Robinson—traded to the Senators in December 1948, in a deal that sent Mickey Vernon and Early Wynn to Cleveland—then picked out the first pitch from Lemon and launched it into the right-field stands for a three-run homer.

Cleveland got one run back in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Ray Boone, scoring Thurman Tucker.

With a 3-1 lead, Gettel came out to pitch the fifth inning, making it his longest outing since June 18, when he went 4⅔ innings in relief for Chicago. His effectiveness ran out at this point, as Hegan and Lemon walked on eight straight pitches, and Dale Mitchell followed with a three-run blast. The round-tripper was Mitchell’s second of the season, and the baseball cleared the Indians’ bullpen behind the right-field wall. Cleveland had rallied for a 4-3 lead.

Washington manager Joe Kuhel gave the hook to Gettel. The Senators skipper summoned right-handed reliever Sid Hudson. Hudson gave up a single to Tucker but restored order for the Senators as he retired the side without further damage.  

Cleveland’s advantage was short-lived. With one out in the sixth, Lemon surrendered another home run to the Senators. This time Bud Stewart clobbered a solo shot over the right-field fence for his seventh home run of the season, tying the game. Lemon had given up 13 home runs to this point in the season. Of the 52 runs he had allowed in 20 appearances, 27 had come by way of a home run.2

In the bottom of the sixth, Senators shortstop Sam Dente fielded all three groundouts, and Washington went back on the attack in the seventh. Dente led off by singling to left field. He was sacrificed to second by Jake Early and continued to third on a groundout by Hudson. Eddie Yost singled Dente home, and the Senators regained the lead, 5-4.

Lemon and the Indians had an answer in their half of the seventh against Hudson. Lemon led off by hitting his fifth home run of the year, over the fence in right field. Mitchell sent a grounder to second, but Robertson’s throw to first pulled Robinson off the bag and Mitchell was safely aboard.

Tucker’s sacrifice moved Mitchell to second, and Kuhel decided to give an intentional walk to Vernon. But Joe Gordon lined a single to left field to score Mitchell with the go-ahead run and end Hudson’s day. He was replaced by Ray Scarborough. Washington’s third pitcher of the day halted the Indians, who had pulled ahead, 6-5.

Lemon allowed a single to Robertson to start the eighth but induced Stewart to hit into a double play, quashing the threat. In the bottom of the eighth, with two down, Lemon gave the team, and himself, some breathing room when he drilled his second homer of the day, and sixth of the year, into the right-field seats. Cleveland now led 7-5.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Senators made some noise. With one down, Dente shot a single into right field. Early also singled to right field. Kuhel sent Sam Mele up to pinch-hit for Scarborough. Boudreau went to his bullpen and summoned Al Benton. Benton slammed the door on the visitors, getting Mele to fly out to center field and striking out Yost.

Cleveland won 7-5 as Lemon improved to 12-4. He gave up five runs, all earned, walked two and struck out one. Benton earned his fifth save of the year. Hudson (5-9) was charged with the loss.

“My mother told me there would be days like this,” said Lemon. “My curve ball was breaking too high. Just right for them to murder. Lucky none of our boys got hurt.”3

As for his two home runs, Lemon said, “Just evening it up. It was a hot afternoon to run those bases, though.”4 His 2-for-3 day boosted his batting average to .309 and his slugging percentage to .764.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Cleveland came away with another win to sweep the Senators. Behind southpaw Gene Bearden, the Indians won 5-2. Vernon connected on two two-run homers to lead the offense. Bearden went the distance to raise his record to 7-6. Fans continued to support the Indians; 51,353 turned out for the twin bill.

The four-game sweep of the Senators gave Cleveland a 9-4 homestand, which it ended in second place, four games behind Yankees. The Indians came as close as 2½ games on August 4 and remained in the pennant race until mid-September, when a stretch of two wins in 11 games (September 11-24) doomed their hopes for a repeat title. Cleveland (89-65) finished in third, eight games behind first-place New York (97-57) and seven games behind second-place Boston (96-58).

Lemon ended the 1949 season with a record of 22-10—his second of seven career seasons with 20 wins or more—and a 2.99 ERA. He hit seven home runs and came in ninth in the AL MVP voting.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Laura Peebles and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Trading Card DB.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE194907241.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1949/B07241CLE1949.htm

Notes   

1 Harry Jones, “Wynn to Oppose Raschi or Lopat as Indians Face Yanks Tonight,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 25, 1949: 19.

2 Jones.

3 Hal Lebovitz, “’Over the Hump Now, Gene Says,” Cleveland News, July 25, 1949: 10.

4 Charles Heaton, “Sunday Punch Is Big Lift for Lou,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 25, 1949: 19.