The 1944 Boston Braves season was the 74th season of the franchise, 69th as a charter member of the National League. The Braves finished in sixth place with a 65–89 (.422) record, 40 games from the pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals. They attracted 208,691 fans to Braves Field during this wartime season, eighth and last in the NL and 16th of the 16 teams then classified as major league."1944 Major League Attendance and Team Age" by Baseball Reference

On January 21, 1944, the Braves were acquired by "The Three Little Steam Shovels" — all Boston-area heavy construction magnates; Louis R. Perini, 40, became the principal owner, with C. Joseph Maney, 59, and Guido Rugo, 45, as minority investors. The three were investors in the previous ownership group, headed by club president J.A. Robert Quinn, 73, who remained with the team as chief executive, general manager, and a member of its board of directors.

On August 10, 1944, pitcher Red Barrett pitched a complete-game 2-hit shutout against the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field, winning 2–0, requiring only 58 pitches and lasting only 1 hour 15 minutes. It was the fewest number of pitches thrown in a 9-inning complete game and was the quickest night game in MLB history.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1944 Boston Braves Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats = Indicates team leader Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Clyde Kluttz 81 229 64 .279 2 19 1B Buck Etchison 109 308 66 .214 8 33 2B Connie Ryan 88 332 98 .295 4 25 SS Whitey Wietelmann 125 417 100 .240 2 32 3B 140 489 126 .258 1 53 OF 140 418 87 .208 11 53 OF Tommy Holmes 155 631 195 .309 13 73 OF Butch Nieman 134 468 124 .265 16 65

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Max Macon 106 366 100 .273 3 36 Phil Masi 89 251 69 .275 3 23 Ab Wright 71 195 50 .256 7 35 Stew Hofferth 66 180 36 .200 1 26 Chet Ross 54 154 35 .227 5 26 Frank Drews 46 141 29 .206 0 10 Roland Gladu 21 66 16 .242 1 7 Warren Huston 33 55 11 .200 0 1 18 31 9 .290 0 1 Mike Sandlock 30 30 3 .100 0 2 Dick Culler 8 28 2 .071 0 0 8 23 3 .130 0 2 19 17 3 .176 0 2 Ben Geraghty 11 16 4 .250 0 0 Pat Capri 7 1 0 .000 0 0 Gene Patton 1 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Jim Tobin 43 299.1 18 19 3.01 83 37 257.1 16 15 3.22 76 Al Javery 40 254.0 10 19 3.54 137 42 230.1 9 16 4.06 54

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Ira Hutchinson 40 119.2 9 7 4.21 22 22 75.2 0 6 3.93 24 14 56.2 9 7 4.21 22 Woody Rich 7 25.0 1 1 5.76 6

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Stan Klopp 24 1 2 0 4.27 17 8 0 0 0 4.82 3 Carl Lindquist 5 0 0 0 3.12 4 George Woodend 3 0 0 0 13.50 0 Max Macon 1 0 0 0 21.00 1 Harry MacPherson 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997

Notes

References 1944 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference