1949 Major League Baseball season
| 1949 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Number of games | 154 |
| Number of teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Ted Williams (BRS) NL: Jackie Robinson (BKN) |
| AL champions | New York Yankees |
| AL runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
| NL champions | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| NL runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
| World Series | |
| Champions | New York Yankees |
| Runners-up | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| Finals MVP | Joe Page (NYY) |
The 1949 major league baseball season began on April 18, 1949. The regular season ended on October 2, with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 46th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 5 on October 9. In the third iteration of this Subway Series World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to one, capturing their 12th championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1947, and their first in a five-run World Series. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Cleveland Indians from the 1948 season.
The 16th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 12 at Ebbets Field in New York, New York, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The American League won, 11–7, for their fourth straight win.
With the Negro National League folding and the Negro American League losing their major-league status prior to the 1949 season, as per MLB's 2020 designation of Negro Leagues, the National and American Leagues remain as the sole major-leagues of baseball, a fact which continues to the present day.
On July 8, the New York Giants become the fourth team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Hank Thompson (who previously integrated the St. Louis Browns, becoming the only player to integrate two teams) and Monte Irvin.