1946 Boston Red Sox season

The 1946 Boston Red Sox season was the 46th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 104 wins and 50 losses. This was the team's sixth AL championship, and their first since 1918. In the 1946 World Series, the Red Sox lost to the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals, whose winning run in the seventh game was scored on Enos Slaughter's famous "Mad Dash".

1946 Boston Red Sox
1946 American League Champions
Ted Williams named AL MVP
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record104–50 (.675)
League place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Tom Yawkey
General manager(s)Eddie Collins
Manager(s)Joe Cronin
Local radioWNAC
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Regular season

Overview

The 1946 Red Sox were led by their All-Star left fielder, Ted Williams, who was in his first year back in the majors after serving as a fighter pilot in World War II. 1946 was Ted Williams first of two MVP seasons, and the only time he ever won a pennant. He was among the league leaders in many offensive categories, with a batting average of .342, 38 home runs and 123 runs batted in.[1]

On April 24, the Red Sox were 6–3, 1 game behind the Yankees and tied for second with the defending world series champion Tigers.[2] Then, from April 25 through May 10, they won 15 games in a row, beating the Yankees twice and sweeping the Tigers in a three-game series.[3] Over this stretch Ted Williams had a batting average of .442, with 4 home runs and 17 runs batted in.[4] On May 10 the Red Sox were 21–3 and leading the American League, 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees and 8 games ahead of the Tigers.[5] This was their biggest lead in 28 seasons, since winning their last pennant in 1918.[6] The fans took notice as the Red Sox had their highest attendance ever, nearly doubling their previous record. For the first time in Fenway Park history the Red Sox were averaging over 10,000 fans per game, averaging 18,166 fans per game throughout 1946.[7]

The Red Sox never turned back, winning 12 straight decisions from May 29 through June 11, including their second three-game sweep of the Tigers.[3] On June 11, the Red Sox were 41–9, 10 games ahead of the Yankees.[8] From June 5 through July 21, in 48 games, Ted Williams had a batting average of .399, with 18 home runs and 52 runs batted in. The Red Sox swept the Tigers for the third time that year on July 11–13. On July 14, Williams hit three home runs in a game.[4] The Red Sox swept their rivals, the Yankees, in a double-header at Yankee Stadium on September 2, expanding their lead to 15.5 games ahead of the Yankees and 18 games ahead of the Tigers. The Red Sox clinched the American League Pennant on September 13.[9] It was their first Pennant since 1918, when they won the World Series. The Red Sox ended the season 12 games ahead of the Tigers and 17 games ahead of the Yankees.[10]

The Red Sox played a three-game series against an American League all star team following the end of the regular season and the beginning of the World Series. While the Red Sox had clinched in September, the St Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers would play a three-game playoff for the National League pennant, pushing back the start of the World Series. The Red Sox hosted the three game exhibition series beginning October 1, 1946, at Fenway Park. The Red Sox won two of three, but Williams exacerbated his injury which would plague him in the Series against St. Louis.[11]

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 10450 0.675 — 61–16 43–34
Detroit Tigers 9262 0.597 12 48–30 44–32
New York Yankees 8767 0.565 17 47–30 40–37
Washington Senators 7678 0.494 28 38–38 38–40
Chicago White Sox 7480 0.481 30 40–38 34–42
Cleveland Indians 6886 0.442 36 36–41 32–45
St. Louis Browns 6688 0.429 38 35–41 31–47
Philadelphia Athletics 49105 0.318 55 31–46 18–59

Record vs. opponents
1946 American League Records

Sources:
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHI STL WSH
Boston —13–915–715–7–114–817–514–8–116–6
Chicago 9–13—13–9–110–128–1412–1012–1010–12
Cleveland 7–159–13–1—5–1710–1215–715–7–17–15
Detroit 7–15–112–1017–5—13–917–514–812–10
New York 8–1414–812–109–13—16–614–814–8
Philadelphia 5–1710–127–155–176–16—10–126–16–1
St. Louis 8–14–110–127–15–18–148–1412–10—13–9
Washington 6–1612–1015–710–128–1416–6–19–13—

Opening Day lineup
 7Dom DiMaggioCF
 6Johnny PeskySS
  9Ted WilliamsLF
 1Bobby Doerr2B
 3Rudy York1B
 2Catfish Metkovich   RF
35Ernie Andres3B
 8Hal WagnerC
21Tex HughsonP

Notable transactions

Roster
1946 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CHal Wagner11737085.230652
1BRudy York154579160.27617119
2BBobby Doerr151583158.27118116
SSJohnny Pesky153621208.335255
3BRip Russell8027457.208635
OFDom DiMaggio142534169.316773
OFTed Williams150514176.34238123
OFGeorge Metkovich8628169.246425

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
Pinky Higgins6420055.275228
Leon Culberson5917956.313318
Wally Moses4817536.206217
Tom McBride6115346.301019
Roy Partee4011135.31509
Eddie Pellagrini777115.21124
Don Gutteridge224711.23416
Eddie McGah15378.21601
Ernie Andres15414.09801
Johnny Lazor23294.13814
Paul Campbell28263.11500
Frankie Pytlak4142.14301
Tom Carey351.20000
Ben Steiner341.25000
Andy Gilbert210.00000

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
Tex Hughson3927820112.75172
Dave Ferriss402742563.25106
Mickey Harris34222.21793.64131
Joe Dobson32166.21373.2491

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
Jim Bagby21106.2763.7116
Earl Johnson2980543.7140
Bill Zuber1556.2512.5429
Charlie Wagner830.2105.8714
Bill Butland516.11011.0210
Randy Heflin514.2012.456

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
Bob Klinger283292.3716
Clem Dreisewerd204104.1819
Mace Brown183102.0510
Mike Ryba90113.555
Mel Deutsch30005.682
Jim Wilson100027.000

1946 World Series
Main article: 1946 World Series

NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)

Sportsman's Park during the 1946 World Series
GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Boston 3, St. Louis 2 (10 innings)October 6St. Louis36,218
2St. Louis 3, Boston 0October 7St. Louis35,815
3Boston 4, St. Louis 0October 9Boston34,500
4St. Louis 12, Boston 3October 10Boston35,645
5Boston 6, St. Louis 3October 11Boston35,982
6St. Louis 4, Boston 1October 13St. Louis35,768
7St. Louis 4, Boston 3October 15St. Louis36,143

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville Colonels American Association Fred Walters and Nemo Leibold
AA New Orleans Pelicans Southern Association Johnny Peacock
A Scranton Red Sox Eastern League Elmer Yoter
B Lynn Red Sox New England League Lawrence "Pip" Kennedy[14]
B Roanoke Red Sox Piedmont League Eddie Popowski
C Oneonta Red Sox Canadian–American League Red Marion
C Durham Bulls Carolina League Floyd "Pat" Patterson
D Geneva Red Birds Alabama State League Charles Holly
D Salem Friends / Lenoir Red Sox Blue Ridge League Vernon Mackie and Noel Casbier
D Goldsboro Gold Bugs Coastal Plain League Bill Herring
D Milford Red Sox Eastern Shore League Wally Millies
D New Iberia Cardinals Evangeline League Aaron Ward

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville, Scranton

Salem franchise moved to Lenoir, June 25, 1946[15]

Noel Casbier is listed as the sole manager for Salem/Lenoir by Baseball-Reference.com[16]

Notes
  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willite01.shtml
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?date=1946-04-24
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1946-schedule-scores.shtml
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1946
  5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?date=1946-05-10
  6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/attend.shtml
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?date=1946-06-11
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?date=1946-09-13
  10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1946.shtml
  11. Hamel, Michael. "October 1, 1946: Red Sox tune up for World Series vs. AL All-Stars". SABR Baseball Game Project. SABR. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  12. Bill Howerton page at Baseball-Reference
  13. Wally Moses page at Baseball-Reference
  14. "League Pickups". The Boston Globe. April 14, 1946. p. 34. Retrieved July 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  15. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  16. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=53234966

References

Further reading
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