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1946 Brooklyn Dodgers season

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1946 Brooklyn Dodgers
LeagueNational League
BallparkEbbets Field
CityBrooklyn, New York
OwnersJames & Dearie Mulvey, Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, John L. Smith
PresidentBranch Rickey
ManagersLeo Durocher
RadioWHN
Red Barber, Connie Desmond
← 1945
1947 →

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.

With their star players back from the war, Brooklyn had jumped back into serious contention. They would be respectable until their move to Los Angeles 10 years later.

This season was the team's – and Major League Baseball's – last non-integrated one.

Offseason

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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

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Season standings

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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

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR 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

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Opening Day lineup
Name Position
Pee Wee Reese Shortstop
Billy Herman Second baseman
Dick Whitman Left fielder
Gene Hermanski Right fielder
Jack Graham First baseman
Carl Furillo Center fielder
Lew Riggs Third baseman
Ferrell Anderson Catcher
Hal Gregg Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

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Roster

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1946 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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

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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

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Starting pitchers

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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

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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

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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

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League top five finishers

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Kirby Higbe

  • #2 in NL in strikeouts (134)
  • #3 in NL in wins (17)

Pete Reiser

  • MLB leader in stolen bases (34)

Eddie Stanky

  • #3 in NL in runs scored (98)

Dixie Walker

  • #2 in NL in RBI (116)
  • #3 in NL in batting average (.319)

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Montreal Royals International League Clay Hopper
AAA St. Paul Saints American Association Ray Blades
AA Ft. Worth Cats Texas League Ray Hayworth
AA Mobile Bears Southern Association Alfred Todd
B Asheville Tourists Tri-State League William Sayles
B Danville Dodgers Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Jake Pitler
Paul Chervinko
B Nashua Dodgers New England League Walter Alston
B Newport News Dodgers Piedmont League John Fitzpatrick
C Abilene Blue Sox West Texas–New Mexico League Hayden Greer
C Grand Forks Chiefs Northern League Glenn Chapman
Rae Blaemire
C Johnstown Johnnies Middle Atlantic League Cyril Pfeifer
C Santa Barbara Dodgers California League Jack Knight
Jack Mele
D Trois-Rivières Royals Canadian–American League Frenchy Bordagaray
D Cambridge Dodgers Eastern Shore League Jimmy Cooney
Barney DeForge
D Daytona Beach Islanders Florida State League Jason Sosh
D Miami Blues Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League Guy Froman
D Olean Oilers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Greg Mulleavy
D Thomasville Dodgers North Carolina State League John Carey
Jay Kirke, Jr.
D Valdosta Dodgers Georgia–Florida League Bill Welp
D Zanesville Dodgers Ohio–Indiana League Clay Bryant

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Nashua, Newport News, Trois-Rivières, Zanesville

Notes

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References

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