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1946 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 1946 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1946 in baseball.
1946 MLB season
LeagueAmerican League (AL)
National League (NL)
SportBaseball
DurationRegular season:
  • April 16 – October 3, 1946
World Series:
  • October 6–15, 1946
Number of games154
Number of teams16 (8 per league)
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Ted Williams (BSR)
NL: Stan Musial (SLC)
AL championsBoston Red Sox
  AL runners-upDetroit Tigers
NL championsSt. Louis Cardinals
  NL runners-upBrooklyn Dodgers
World Series
ChampionsSt. Louis Cardinals
  Runners-upBoston Red Sox
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
American League
Locations of teams for the 1943–1952 National League seasons
National League

The 1946 major league baseball season began on April 16, 1946. The regular season ended on October 3, with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Cardinals defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in a regular season best-of-three tiebreaker, for the National League title. It was Major League Baseball's first-ever regular season tie-breaker. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 43rd World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 7 on October 15. The Cardinals defeated the Red Sox, four games to three.

The 13th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 9, hosted by the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, with the American League winning, 12–0.

Many notable ballplayers returned from their military service this season, following the end of World War II, such as Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams.

This was the last MLB season to be played under the color barrier, as Jackie Robinson would make his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers to start the following baseball season.

Schedule

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See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1946 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 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 16, featuring all sixteen teams, continuing the trend from the previous season. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on September 29, which saw all sixteen teams play, the first time since 1944. Due to the Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals finishing with the same record of 96–58, a best-of-three tie-breaker was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The Cardinals swept the series in two games, on October 1 & 3. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 15.

Teams

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An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at

League Team City Stadium Capacity Manager
American League Boston Red Sox Boston, Massachusetts Fenway Park 35,000 Joe Cronin
Chicago White Sox Chicago, Illinois Comiskey Park 50,000 Jimmy Dykes, Ted Lyons
Cleveland Indians Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Stadium
League Park* 		78,811
22,500* 		Lou Boudreau
Detroit Tigers Detroit, Michigan Briggs Stadium 58,000 Steve O'Neill
New York Yankees New York, New York Yankee Stadium 70,000 Joe McCarthy, Bill Dickey, Johnny Neun
Philadelphia Athletics Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Luke Sewell, Zack Taylor
Washington Senators Washington, D.C. Griffith Stadium 32,000 Ossie Bluege
National League Boston Braves Boston, Massachusetts Braves Field 37,746 Billy Southworth
Brooklyn Dodgers New York, New York Ebbets Field 34,219 Leo Durocher
Chicago Cubs Chicago, Illinois Wrigley Field 38,396 Charlie Grimm
Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati, Ohio Crosley Field 29,401 Bill McKechnie, Hank Gowdy
New York Giants New York, New York Polo Grounds 56,000 Mel Ott
Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shibe Park 33,000 Ben Chapman
Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forbes Field 33,467 Frankie Frisch, Spud Davis
St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis, Missouri Sportsman's Park 34,023 Eddie Dyer

Standings

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American League

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 104 50 .675 — 61‍–‍16 43‍–‍34
Detroit Tigers 92 62 .597 12 48‍–‍30 44‍–‍32
New York Yankees 87 67 .565 17 47‍–‍30 40‍–‍37
Washington Senators 76 78 .494 28 38‍–‍38 38‍–‍40
Chicago White Sox 74 80 .481 30 40‍–‍38 34‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians 68 86 .442 36 36‍–‍41 32‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns 66 88 .429 38 35‍–‍41 31‍–‍47
Philadelphia Athletics 49 105 .318 55 31‍–‍46 18‍–‍59

National League

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 98 58 .628 — 49‍–‍29 49‍–‍29
Brooklyn Dodgers 96 60 .615 2 56‍–‍22 40‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs 82 71 .536 14½ 44‍–‍33 38‍–‍38
Boston Braves 81 72 .529 15½ 45‍–‍31 36‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies 69 85 .448 28 41‍–‍36 28‍–‍49
Cincinnati Reds 67 87 .435 30 35‍–‍42 32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates 63 91 .409 34 37‍–‍40 26‍–‍51
New York Giants 61 93 .396 36 38‍–‍39 23‍–‍54

Postseason

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Bracket

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World Series
   
AL Boston Red Sox 3
NL St. Louis Cardinals 4

Managerial changes

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Off-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Boston Braves Del Bissonette Billy Southworth
St. Louis Cardinals Billy Southworth Eddie Dyer

In-season

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Team Former Manager New Manager
Chicago White Sox Jimmy Dykes Ted Lyons
Cincinnati Reds Bill McKechnie Hank Gowdy
New York Yankees Joe McCarthy Bill Dickey
New York Yankees Bill Dickey Johnny Neun
Pittsburgh Pirates Frankie Frisch Spud Davis
St. Louis Browns Luke Sewell Zack Taylor

League leaders

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American League

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Hitting leaders
Stat Player Total
AVG Mickey Vernon (WSH) .353
HR Hank Greenberg (DET) 44
RBI Hank Greenberg (DET) 127
R Ted Williams (BRS) 142
H Johnny Pesky (BRS) 208
SB George Case (CLE) 28
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W Bob Feller (CLE)
Hal Newhouser (DET)		 26
L Dick Fowler (PHA)
Lou Knerr (PHA)
Phil Marchildon (PHA)		 16
ERA Hal Newhouser (DET) 1.94
K Bob Feller (CLE) 348
IP Bob Feller (CLE) 371.1
SV Bob Klinger (BRS) 9

National League

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Hitting leaders
Stat Player Total
AVG Stan Musial (SLC) .365
HR Ralph Kiner (PIT) 23
RBI Enos Slaughter (SLC) 130
R Stan Musial (SLC) 124
H Stan Musial (SLC) 228
SB Pete Reiser (BKN) 34
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Total
W Howie Pollet (SLC) 21
L Dave Koslo (NYG) 19
ERA Howie Pollet (SLC) 2.10
K Johnny Schmitz (CHC) 135
IP Howie Pollet (SLC) 266.0
SV Ken Raffensberger (PHP) 6

Awards and honors

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Home field attendance

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Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
New York Yankees[1] 87 7.4% 2,265,512 156.9% 29,422
Brooklyn Dodgers[2] 96 10.3% 1,796,824 69.6% 22,745
Detroit Tigers[3] 92 4.5% 1,722,590 34.5% 21,805
Boston Red Sox[4] 104 46.5% 1,416,944 134.7% 18,166
Chicago Cubs[5] 82 −16.3% 1,342,970 29.6% 17,441
New York Giants[6] 61 −21.8% 1,219,873 20.0% 15,843
St. Louis Cardinals[7] 98 3.2% 1,061,807 78.6% 13,613
Cleveland Indians[8] 68 −6.8% 1,057,289 89.4% 13,731
Philadelphia Phillies[9] 69 50.0% 1,045,247 266.7% 13,401
Washington Senators[10] 76 −12.6% 1,027,216 57.4% 13,516
Chicago White Sox[11] 74 4.2% 983,403 49.5% 12,448
Boston Braves[12] 81 20.9% 969,673 159.1% 12,593
Pittsburgh Pirates[13] 63 −23.2% 749,962 24.0% 9,615
Cincinnati Reds[14] 67 9.8% 715,751 146.8% 9,295
Philadelphia Athletics[15] 49 −5.8% 621,793 34.4% 7,972
St. Louis Browns[16] 66 −18.5% 526,435 9.0% 6,837

Events

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Elias Says..." ESPN.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  18. ^ Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Book of Baseball Facts. United States: Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 352. ISBN 9781402742736.

Further reading

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