The 1948 major league baseball season began on April 19, 1948. The regular season ended on October 4, with the Boston Braves and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Indians won the American League title via a tie-breaker game victory over the Boston Red Sox, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 96âÂÂ58 records. This was the second regular season tie-breaker, and saw a change from the previous three-game format to that of a single-game, Game 163. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 45th World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 6 on October 11. The Indians defeated the Braves, four games to two, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in . Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the season.
The 15th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 13 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri, hosted by the St. Louis Browns. The American League won, 5âÂÂ2, for their third straight win.
The 1948 season is notable as being the final season of any Negro League holding major-league status, as per MLB's 2020 designation of Negro Leagues. It would be the final season of the Negro National League, while the Negro American League would continue as a minor-league until it ceased play after the season.
The 1948 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 19, featuring six teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on October 3, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from . Due to the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians finishing with the same record of 96âÂÂ58, a tie-breaker game was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The Indians won the Game 163 tie-breaker on October 4. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 11.
7 tie games (3 in AL, 4 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on October 4 and ended on October 11 with the Cleveland Indians defeating the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series in six games.