1946 Major League Baseball season

Sports season

1946 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 16 – October 15, 1946
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Ted Williams (BSR) NL: Stan Musial (SLC)
AL champions	Boston Red Sox
AL runners-up	Detroit Tigers
NL champions	St. Louis Cardinals
NL runners-up	Brooklyn Dodgers
World Series
Champions	St. Louis Cardinals
Runners-up	Boston Red Sox
MLB seasons
← 1945 1947 →

The 1946 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 16 to October 15, 1946. The St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Cardinals defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in a best-of-three series, for the National League title. It was Major League Baseball's first-ever regular season tie-breaker. The Cardinals then defeated the Red Sox in the World Series, four games to three.

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.

Awards and honors

Baseball Hall of Fame
- Sam Crawford
- Joe McCarthy
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
- American League: Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, OF
- National League: Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B
The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
- Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals
The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
- Eddie Dyer, St. Louis Cardinals

Standings

American League

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	104	50	0.675	—	61–16	43–34
Detroit Tigers	92	62	0.597	12	48–30	44–32
New York Yankees	87	67	0.565	17	47–30	40–37
Washington Senators	76	78	0.494	28	38–38	38–40
Chicago White Sox	74	80	0.481	30	40–38	34–42
Cleveland Indians	68	86	0.442	36	36–41	32–45
St. Louis Browns	66	88	0.429	38	35–41	31–47
Philadelphia Athletics	49	105	0.318	55	31–46	18–59

National League

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	98	58	0.628	—	49–29	49–29
Brooklyn Dodgers	96	60	0.615	2	56–22	40–38
Chicago Cubs	82	71	0.536	14½	44–33	38–38
Boston Braves	81	72	0.529	15½	45–31	36–41
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	0.448	28	41–36	28–49
Cincinnati Reds	67	87	0.435	30	35–42	32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	63	91	0.409	34	37–40	26–51
New York Giants	61	93	0.396	36	38–39	23–54

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in best-of-three playoff series to earn the National League pennant.

Postseason

Bracket

World Series

AL	Boston Red Sox	3

NL	St. Louis Cardinals	4

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Boston Red Sox	Joe Cronin	Won Pennant
Chicago White Sox	Jimmy Dykes and Ted Lyons
Cleveland Indians	Lou Boudreau
Detroit Tigers	Del Baker	Finished 2nd
New York Yankees	Joe McCarthy, Bill Dickey and Johnny Neun	Finished 3rd
Philadelphia Athletics	Connie Mack
St. Louis Browns	Luke Sewell and Zack Taylor
Washington Senators	Ossie Bluege

National League

Team	Manager	Comments
Boston Braves	Billy Southworth
Brooklyn Dodgers	Leo Durocher	Finished 2nd, lost to Cardinals in playoff, 2-0
Chicago Cubs	Charlie Grimm	Finished 3rd
Cincinnati Reds	Bill McKechnie and Hank Gowdy
New York Giants	Mel Ott
Philadelphia Phillies	Ben Chapman
Pittsburgh Pirates	Frankie Frisch and Spud Davis
St. Louis Cardinals	Eddie Dyer	Won World Series

Home field attendance

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

May 18 – The Chicago Cubs become the first team in Major League history to score six runs in the first and ninth innings of a game, when defeating the New York Giants 19–3.^[17]
June 9 – Mel Ott of the New York Giants is the first manager to be ejected from both games of a doubleheader, when the Giants lose both games to the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[18]

References

^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
^ "Elias Says..." ESPN.com. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
^ Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Book of Baseball Facts. United States: Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 352. ISBN 9781402742736.

External links

1946 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference

1946 MLB season by team

Major League Baseball

American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

Negro American League

Negro National League

Major League Baseball seasons

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