1946 Brooklyn Dodgers season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season tied for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals. The two teams played in the first ever regular season tie-breaker to decide the pennant, and the Cardinals took two straight to win the title.
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| 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Ebbets Field |
| City | Brooklyn, New York |
| Record | 96–60 (.615) |
| League place | 2nd |
| Owners | James & Dearie Mulvey, Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, John L. Smith |
| President | Branch Rickey |
| Managers | Leo Durocher |
| Radio | WHN Red Barber, Connie Desmond |
This season was the team's – and Major League Baseball's – last non-integrated one.
Offseason
On October 23, 1945, the Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson as a free agent. Robinson was the first black player to be officially a part of a major league organization in over 60 years, since the barring of Fleet and Welday Walker in 1884. For the 1946 season, Robinson was assigned to the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers' top farm team.
Later in the offseason, the Dodgers signed two more players from the Negro leagues, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe, who were assigned to the Nashua Dodgers.
Regular season
Season standings
| 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 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 5–17 | 12–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 7–15 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 17–5 | — | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 15–7 | 17–5 | 14–8 | 8–16 | |||||
| Chicago | 9–12–1 | 11–11 | — | 13–9 | 17–5 | 12–10 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 7–15 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 8–14–1 | 13–9 | 8–14 | |||||
| New York | 9–13 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 8–14 | — | 12–10 | 10–12 | 10–12 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 5–17 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | 10–12 | — | 14–8 | 8–14 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 7–15 | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 9–13 | |||||
| St. Louis | 15–7 | 16–8 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 13–9 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
Notable transactions
- April 27, 1946: Jack Graham[1] and Goody Rosen[2] were purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants.
- June 12, 1946: Don Padgett was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves.[3]
- June 15, 1946: Billy Herman was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Stew Hofferth.[4]
Roster
| 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Bruce Edwards | 92 | 292 | 78 | .267 | 1 | 25 |
| 1B | Ed Stevens | 103 | 310 | 75 | .242 | 10 | 60 |
| 2B | Eddie Stanky | 144 | 483 | 132 | .273 | 0 | 36 |
| 3B | Cookie Lavagetto | 88 | 242 | 57 | .236 | 3 | 27 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 152 | 542 | 154 | .284 | 5 | 60 |
| OF | Carl Furillo | 117 | 335 | 95 | .284 | 3 | 35 |
| OF | Pete Reiser | 122 | 423 | 117 | .277 | 11 | 73 |
| OF | Dixie Walker | 150 | 576 | 184 | .319 | 9 | 116 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augie Galan | 99 | 274 | 85 | .310 | 3 | 38 |
| Dick Whitman | 104 | 265 | 69 | .260 | 2 | 31 |
| Howie Schultz | 90 | 249 | 63 | .253 | 3 | 27 |
| Ferrell Anderson | 79 | 199 | 51 | .256 | 2 | 14 |
| Billy Herman | 47 | 184 | 53 | .288 | 0 | 28 |
| Bob Ramazzotti | 62 | 120 | 25 | .208 | 0 | 7 |
| Gene Hermanski | 64 | 110 | 22 | .200 | 0 | 8 |
| Joe Medwick | 41 | 77 | 24 | .312 | 2 | 18 |
| Eddie Miksis | 23 | 48 | 7 | .146 | 0 | 5 |
| Stan Rojek | 45 | 47 | 13 | .277 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Sandlock | 19 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Padgett | 19 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 1 | 9 |
| Joe Tepsic | 15 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Graham | 2 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Lew Riggs | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Rosen | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Naylor | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Otis Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
| John Corriden | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Hatten | 42 | 222.0 | 14 | 11 | 2.84 | 85 |
| Kirby Higbe | 42 | 210.2 | 17 | 8 | 3.03 | 134 |
| Vic Lombardi | 41 | 193.0 | 13 | 10 | 2.89 | 60 |
| Hal Gregg | 26 | 117.1 | 6 | 4 | 2.99 | 54 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hank Behrman | 47 | 150.2 | 11 | 5 | 2.93 | 78 |
| Rube Melton | 24 | 99.2 | 6 | 3 | 1.99 | 44 |
| Ralph Branca | 24 | 67.1 | 3 | 1 | 3.88 | 42 |
| Ed Head | 13 | 56.0 | 3 | 2 | 3.21 | 17 |
| Rex Barney | 16 | 53.2 | 2 | 5 | 5.87 | 36 |
| Les Webber | 11 | 43.0 | 3 | 3 | 2.30 | 16 |
| Jean-Pierre Roy | 3 | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 9.95 | 6 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh Casey | 46 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1.99 | 31 |
| Art Herring | 35 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3.35 | 34 |
| Harry Taylor | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 | 6 |
| Paul Minner | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 |
| Curt Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |
| Glen Moulder | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Cal McLish | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 |
Awards and honors
- 1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Dixie Walker starter
- Kirby Higbe reserve
- Pee Wee Reese reserve
- Pete Reiser reserve
League top five finishers
- #2 in NL in strikeouts (134)
- #3 in NL in wins (17)
- MLB leader in stolen bases (34)
- #3 in NL in runs scored (98)
- #2 in NL in RBI (116)
- #3 in NL in batting average (.319)
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Nashua, Newport News, Trois-Rivières, Zanesville