1945 Major League Baseball season
Sports season
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The 1945 major league baseball season began on April 17, 1945. The regular season ended on September 30, with the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 42nd World Series on October 3 and ended with Game 7 on October 10. In the fourth iteration of this World Series matchup, the Tigers defeated the Cubs, four games to three, capturing their second championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1935. It would prove to be the Cubs' last appearance in a World Series until the 2016 World Series. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the St. Louis Cardinals from the 1944 season.
National League (NL)
- April 17 – September 30, 1945
- October 3–10, 1945
| 1945 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Hal Newhouser (DET) NL: Phil Cavarretta (CHC) |
| AL champions | Detroit Tigers |
| AL runners-up | Washington Senators |
| NL champions | Chicago Cubs |
| NL runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Detroit Tigers |
| Runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
The scheduled 13th All-Star Game, to be held at Fenway Park and hosted by the Boston Red Sox, was cancelled due to wartime travel restrictions in World War II. The Red Sox would host the following year.
This would be the last season in which any team's minor-league affiliates played under the color barrier, as Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers' top minor-league affiliate, the Montreal Royals, in late-October, following the World Series. He would eventually break the major-league color barrier following his promotion to the majors in 1947.
This was Happy Chandler's first season serving as Commissioner of Baseball (though due to his position as US Senator of Kentucky, he would not be formally appointed until November 1, following his resignation of the Senate), following the death of 24-year commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1944.
Schedule
The 1945 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 17, featuring all sixteen teams, the first since the 1942 season. The final day of the regular season was on September 30, which saw fourteen teams play. In a scheduling oddity, the Washington Senators of the AL saw their season finish a week earlier on September 23, partly due to World War II travel restrictions, but also the need to convert Griffith Stadium's playing field to host its autumn football tenants, the NFL Washington Redskins and Georgetown University. The World Series took place between October 3 and October 10.
Rule changes
The 1945 season saw the following rule changes:
- In addition to unlimited weekday nights, unrestricted ability to play night games was expanded to include Saturdays. All but holidays and Sundays were still restricted. Also, the host team was required to get formal consent from the visiting team to play at night.[1] Night games on Sunday would not exist until 1990, with ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
- The "Barrow Regulation" was passed, prohibiting teams from renting its ballpark to a football team as long as the baseball team had a chance of playing in the World Series.[1]
Teams
An asterisk (*) denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at
Standings
American League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 88 | 65 | .575 | — | 50–26 | 38–39 |
| Washington Senators | 87 | 67 | .565 | 1½ | 46–31 | 41–36 |
| St. Louis Browns | 81 | 70 | .536 | 6 | 47–27 | 34–43 |
| New York Yankees | 81 | 71 | .533 | 6½ | 48–28 | 33–43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 73 | 72 | .503 | 11 | 44–33 | 29–39 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 78 | .477 | 15 | 44–29 | 27–49 |
| Boston Red Sox | 71 | 83 | .461 | 17½ | 42–35 | 29–48 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 52 | 98 | .347 | 34½ | 39–35 | 13–63 |
National League
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 49–26 | 49–30 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 95 | 59 | .617 | 3 | 48–29 | 47–30 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 48–30 | 39–37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 82 | 72 | .532 | 16 | 45–34 | 37–38 |
| New York Giants | 78 | 74 | .513 | 19 | 47–30 | 31–44 |
| Boston Braves | 67 | 85 | .441 | 30 | 36–38 | 31–47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 61 | 93 | .396 | 37 | 36–41 | 25–52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 46 | 108 | .299 | 52 | 22–55 | 24–53 |
Tie games
12 tie games (8 in AL, 4 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
American League
- Boston Red Sox, 3
- Chicago White Sox, 1
- Cleveland Indians, 2
- Detroit Tigers, 2
- Philadelphia Athletics, 3
- St. Louis Browns, 3
- Washington Senators, 2
National League
- Boston Braves, 2
- Brooklyn Dodgers, 1
- Chicago Cubs, 1
- New York Giants, 1
- Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
- St. Louis Cardinals, 1
Postseason
The postseason began on October 3 and ended on October 10 with the Detroit Tigers defeating the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series in seven games.
Bracket
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Detroit Tigers | 4 | ||
| NL | Chicago Cubs | 3 | ||
Managerial changes
In-season
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Braves | Bob Coleman | Del Bissonette |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Freddie Fitzsimmons | Ben Chapman |
League leaders
Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
American League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Snuffy Stirnweiss (NYY) | .309 |
| OPS | Snuffy Stirnweiss (NYY) | .862 |
| HR | Vern Stephens (SLB) | 24 |
| RBI | Nick Etten (NYY) | 111 |
| R | Snuffy Stirnweiss (NYY) | 107 |
| H | Snuffy Stirnweiss (NYY) | 195 |
| SB | Snuffy Stirnweiss (NYY) | 33 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Hal Newhouser1 (DET) | 25 |
| L | Bobo Newsom (PHA) | 20 |
| ERA | Hal Newhouser1 (DET) | 1.81 |
| K | Hal Newhouser1 (DET) | 212 |
| IP | Hal Newhouser (DET) | 313.1 |
| SV | Jim Turner (NYY) | 10 |
| WHIP | Roger Wolff (WSH) | 1.012 |
1 American League Triple Crown pitching winner
National League
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Phil Cavarretta (CHC) | .355 |
| OPS | Tommy Holmes (BSN) | .997 |
| HR | Tommy Holmes (BSN) | 28 |
| RBI | Dixie Walker (BRO) | 124 |
| R | Eddie Stanky (BRO) | 124 |
| H | Tommy Holmes (BSN) | 224 |
| SB | Red Schoendienst (STL) | 26 |
Milestones
Batters
Cycles
- Bob Elliott (PIT):
- Elliott hit for his first cycle and 12th in franchise history, in game two of a doubleheader on July 15 against the Brooklyn Dodgers.[7]
- Bill Salkeld (PIT):
- Salkeld hit for his first cycle and 13th in franchise history, on August 4 against the St. Louis Cardinals.[8]
Other batting accomplishments
- Mel Ott (NYG):
- Became the third player in Major League history to hit 500 home runs in the third inning against the Boston Braves on August 1.[9][10]
Pitchers
No-hitters
- Dick Fowler (PHA):
- Fowler threw his first career no-hitter and the fourth no-hitter in franchise history, by defeating the St. Louis Browns 1–0 in game two of a doubleheader on September 9. Fowler walked four and struck out six.[11]
Miscellaneous
Awards and honors
The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award went to Detroit Tigers third baseman Eddie Mayo; however, following a post-season vote, the official AL MVP Award was given to fellow Detroit Tiger Hal Newhouser, a pitcher.[12] Newhouser ended the season with an ERA of 1.81, a record of 25 wins and 9 losses, and 212 strikeouts.[12] Both of them helped lead the Detroit Tigers to a World Series win, and Newhouser remarked that Eddie Mayo was the driving force behind the 1945 pennant chase and that Mayo was a "take-charge kind of guy in our field."[citation needed]
The NL Most Valuable Player Award went to Chicago Cubs first baseman and outfielder Phil Cavarretta.[13] He ended the season with an impressive batting average of .355 and an on-base-percentage of .455.[14] The second-place finisher was Boston Braves player Tommy Holmes who finished the season with a batting average of .352 and an impressive slugging percentage of .577.[13]
Regular season
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player | Phil Cavarretta (CHC) | Hal Newhouser (DET) |
Other awards
| The Sporting News Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Award | National League | American League |
| Most Valuable Player[15] | Tommy Holmes (BSN) | Eddie Mayo (DET) |
| Player of the Year[16] | — | Hal Newhouser (DET) |
| Pitcher of the Year[17] | Hank Borowy (CHC) | Hal Newhouser (DET) |
| Manager of the Year[18] | — | Ossie Bluege (WSH) |
| Executive of the Year[19] | Philip K. Wrigley (CHC) | — |
Baseball Hall of Fame
Home field attendance
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers[21] | 88 | 0.0% | 1,280,341 | 38.7% | 16,847 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[22] | 87 | 38.1% | 1,059,220 | 74.8% | 13,580 |
| Chicago Cubs[23] | 98 | 30.7% | 1,036,386 | 61.9% | 13,637 |
| New York Giants[24] | 78 | 16.4% | 1,016,468 | 50.7% | 13,032 |
| New York Yankees[25] | 81 | −2.4% | 881,845 | 11.6% | 11,603 |
| Chicago White Sox[26] | 71 | 0.0% | 657,981 | 16.8% | 8,892 |
| Washington Senators[27] | 87 | 35.9% | 652,660 | 24.3% | 8,367 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[28] | 82 | −8.9% | 604,694 | 0.1% | 7,654 |
| Boston Red Sox[29] | 71 | −7.8% | 603,794 | 19.1% | 7,741 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[30] | 95 | −9.5% | 594,630 | 28.7% | 7,623 |
| Cleveland Indians[31] | 73 | 1.4% | 558,182 | 17.4% | 7,249 |
| St. Louis Browns[32] | 81 | −9.0% | 482,986 | −5.0% | 6,355 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[33] | 52 | −27.8% | 462,631 | −8.4% | 6,008 |
| Boston Braves[34] | 67 | 3.1% | 374,178 | 79.3% | 4,989 |
| Cincinnati Reds[35] | 61 | −31.5% | 290,070 | −29.2% | 3,767 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[36] | 46 | −24.6% | 285,057 | −22.9% | 3,702 |
Venues
Over 77 home games, the Cleveland Indians played 46 games at Cleveland Stadium and 31 games at League Park.[37] All Sunday and Monday home games took place at Cleveland Stadium. This would be the 11th of 12 seasons since 1932 that saw the Indians play at both venues.
