1941 St. Louis Browns season

MLB yearly infobox-pre1969
name = St. Louis Browns
season = 1941
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
ballpark = Sportsman's Park
y4 = 1902
city = St. Louis, Missouri
y5 = 1902
owners = Donald Lee Barnes
managers = Fred Haney, Luke Sewell
television =
radio = KWK
(Dizzy Dean)
KXOK (AM)|The by|1941 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing 6th in the American League with a record of 70 wins and 84 losses.

Offseason

*November 16, 1940: George Caster was selected off waivers by the St. Louis Browns from the Philadelphia Athletics. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/castege01.shtml]

Regular season

The 1941 season would mark a change in management. Luke Sewell was appointed the Browns new manager on June 5, 1941, three days after Lou Gehrig died. As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p.13, David Alan Heller, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-3199-5 ] While the St. Louis Cardinals drew over 600,000 fans, the Browns barely drew 175,000. As Good As It Got, The 1944 St. Louis Browns, p.12, David Alan Heller, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-3199-5 ] The consensus was that St. Louis could not support two teams.

Move to Los Angeles

The Browns ownership had reached an agreement to move the franchise to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce had guaranteed attendance of 500,000, a figure that the Browns had not seen since their 1924 season. The Browns would play in the stadium that was used in the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Angels. As part of the agreement to move to Los Angeles, the Browns would buy the stadium. It was expected that all Major League Baseball owners would approve of the move at the upcoming Winter Meetings. Before the scheduled meetings, the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. California would stay closed to Major League Baseball.

Opening Day Roster

Transactions

*May 5, 1941: Rip Radcliffe was purchased by the Detroit Tigers from the St. Louis Browns for $25,000. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/radclri01.shtml]

eason standings

Roster

Starting pitchers

Farm system [Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Basebal". Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997]

* Class AA: Toledo Mud Hens (American Association; Zack Taylor and Fred Haney, managers)
* Class A1: San Antonio Missions (Texas League; Marty McManus, manager)
* Class B: Meridian Eagles (Southeastern League; Benny Tate, manager)
* Class B: Springfield Browns (Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League; Art Scharein, manager)
* Class C: St. Joseph Autos (Michigan State League; Elmer Kirchoff, manager)
* Class C: Youngstown Browns (Middle Atlantic League; Joe Bilgere and Len Schulte, managers)
* Class C: St. Joseph Ponies/Carthage Browns (Western Association; Walter Holke, Gus Albright and Dennis Burns, managers) — Franchise transferred and renamed, June 3
* Class D: Lafayette White Sox (Evangeline League; Bobby Goff, manager)
* Class D: Mayfield Browns (KITTY League; Bill Hornsby, manager)
* Class D: Paragould Browns (Northeast Arkansas League; Sam Hancock and Gus Albright, managers)
* Class D: Pueblo Rollers (Western League; Pug Griffin, manager)

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SLB/1941.shtml 1941 St. Louis Browns team page at Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1941&t=SLA 1941 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com]