Editor’s note: Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912. NESN.com will be celebrating Fenway’s 100-year anniversary with unique content from now until April 20, 2012.
One would think that a 154-game season would be enough time to determine who the best team in the league is. Yet in 1949, for the second straight season, the Red Sox were forced into a one-game playoff to determine who would represent the AL in the World Series.
This time, it was against an even more familiar foe — the Yankees.
Led by Mel Parnell and Ellis Kinder's 48 combined wins, the Sox owned a one-game lead over their rival from New York when the teams squared off at Yankee Stadium on the last day of the season. But the Yanks were able to squeak out a 5-4 victory, thus forcing Boston into another pennant-deciding playoff.
The Sox wouldn't fare any better this time around. And despite a furious comeback attempt, Joe McCarthy saw his club get eliminated on the season's final day for the second consecutive year.
Vern Stephens and Ted Williams led the offense that year with 159 RBIs apiece, while the latter missed out on his third Triple Crown with a batting average just .0002 points lower than the AL leader.
In addition to another drama-filled Red Sox season, Fenway Park had several renovations done to it in 1949. The wooden press boxes were replaced with permanent steel ones, and TV and radio perches were added behind home plate.
Those new perches would be put to good use in November of that year. Vin Scully, the legendary Dodgers announcer, made his broadcasting debut on CBS Radio during a Maryland-Boston University football game at Fenway, in a game that saw the Terps edge the Terriers 14-13.
For more information on Fenway Park, visit Fenway Park 100.
