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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
American League Champions
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record104–50 (.675)
League place1st
OwnersTom Yawkey
PresidentTom Yawkey
General managersEddie Collins
ManagersJoe Cronin
RadioWNAC
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1945 Seasons 1947 →

Regular season

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Overview

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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

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 104 50 .675 — 61‍–‍16 43‍–‍34
Detroit Tigers 92 62 .597 12 48‍–‍30 44‍–‍32
New York Yankees 87 67 .565 17 47‍–‍30 40‍–‍37
Washington Senators 76 78 .494 28 38‍–‍38 38‍–‍40
Chicago White Sox 74 80 .481 30 40‍–‍38 34‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians 68 86 .442 36 36‍–‍41 32‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns 66 88 .429 38 35‍–‍41 31‍–‍47
Philadelphia Athletics 49 105 .318 55 31‍–‍46 18‍–‍59

Record vs. opponents

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1946 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston — 13–9 15–7 15–7–1 14–8 17–5 14–8–1 16–6
Chicago 9–13 — 13–9–1 10–12 8–14 12–10 12–10 10–12
Cleveland 7–15 9–13–1 — 5–17 10–12 15–7 15–7–1 7–15
Detroit 7–15–1 12–10 17–5 — 13–9 17–5 14–8 12–10
New York 8–14 14–8 12–10 9–13 — 16–6 14–8 14–8
Philadelphia 5–17 10–12 7–15 5–17 6–16 — 10–12 6–16–1
St. Louis 8–14–1 10–12 7–15–1 8–14 8–14 12–10 — 13–9
Washington 6–16 12–10 15–7 10–12 8–14 16–6–1 9–13 —


Opening Day lineup

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 7 Dom DiMaggio CF
 6 Johnny Pesky SS
  9 Ted Williams LF
 1 Bobby Doerr 2B
 3 Rudy York 1B
 2 Catfish Metkovich    RF
35 Ernie Andres 3B
 8 Hal Wagner C
21 Tex Hughson P

Notable transactions

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Roster

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1946 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

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 Hal Wagner 117 370 85 .230 6 52
1B Rudy York 154 579 160 .276 17 119
2B Bobby Doerr 151 583 158 .271 18 116
SS Johnny Pesky 153 621 208 .335 2 55
3B Rip Russell 80 274 57 .208 6 35
OF Dom DiMaggio 142 534 169 .316 7 73
OF Ted Williams 150 514 176 .342 38 123
OF George Metkovich 86 281 69 .246 4 25

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
Pinky Higgins 64 200 55 .275 2 28
Leon Culberson 59 179 56 .313 3 18
Wally Moses 48 175 36 .206 2 17
Tom McBride 61 153 46 .301 0 19
Roy Partee 40 111 35 .315 0 9
Eddie Pellagrini 77 71 15 .211 2 4
Don Gutteridge 22 47 11 .234 1 6
Ernie Andres 15 41 4 .098 0 1
Eddie McGah 15 37 8 .216 0 1
Johnny Lazor 23 29 4 .138 1 4
Paul Campbell 28 26 3 .115 0 0
Frankie Pytlak 4 14 2 .143 0 1
Tom Carey 3 5 1 .200 0 0
Ben Steiner 3 4 1 .250 0 0
Andy Gilbert 2 1 0 .000 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
Tex Hughson 39 278.0 20 11 2.75 172
Dave Ferriss 40 274.0 25 6 3.25 106
Mickey Harris 34 222.2 17 9 3.64 131
Joe Dobson 32 166.2 13 7 3.24 91

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
Jim Bagby 21 106.2 7 6 3.71 16
Earl Johnson 29 80.0 5 4 3.71 40
Bill Zuber 15 56.2 5 1 2.54 29
Charlie Wagner 8 30.2 1 0 5.87 14
Bill Butland 5 16.1 1 0 11.02 10
Randy Heflin 5 14.2 0 1 2.45 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
Bob Klinger 28 3 2 9 2.37 16
Clem Dreisewerd 20 4 1 0 4.18 19
Mace Brown 18 3 1 0 2.05 10
Mike Ryba 9 0 1 1 3.55 5
Mel Deutsch 3 0 0 0 5.68 2
Jim Wilson 1 0 0 0 27.00 0

1946 World Series

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Main article: 1946 World Series

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

 
Sportsman's Park during the 1946 World Series
Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Boston 3, St. Louis 2 (10) October 6 St. Louis 36,218
2 St. Louis 3, Boston 0 October 7 St. Louis 35,815
3 Boston 4, St. Louis 0 October 9 Boston 34,500
4 St. Louis 12, Boston 3 October 10 Boston 35,645
5 Boston 6, St. Louis 3 October 11 Boston 35,982
6 St. Louis 4, Boston 1 October 13 St. Louis 35,768
7 St. Louis 4, Boston 3 October 15 St. Louis 36,143

Farm system

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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 Noel Casbier
D Tarboro Tars Coastal Plain League Michael Kardish and F. L. "Bull" Hamons
D Milford Red Sox Eastern Shore League Wally Millies
D New Iberia Cardinals Evangeline League Aaron Ward

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Louisville, Scranton

Source:[15]: 407 [16][17][a]

Salem franchise moved to Lenoir on June 25, 1946[15]: 405 

† Noel Casbier is listed as the sole manager for Salem/Lenoir by Baseball-Reference.com[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ This table uses the Encyclopedia summary list for 1946, cross-checked with cited Baseball-Reference.com pages.

References

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  1. ^ "Ted Williams Stats".
  2. ^ "Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Wednesday, April 24, 1946".
  3. ^ a b "1946 Boston Red Sox Schedule".
  4. ^ a b "Reference at www.baseball-reference.com".
  5. ^ "Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Friday, May 10, 1946".
  6. ^ "Boston Red Sox Team History & Encyclopedia".
  7. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums, and Park Factors".
  8. ^ "Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Tuesday, June 11, 1946".
  9. ^ "Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Friday, September 13, 1946".
  10. ^ "1946 American League Season Summary".
  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. ^ a b Lloyd Johnson; Miles Wolff, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 978-1932391176.
  16. ^ "1946 Coastal Plain League". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  17. ^ "1946 Blue Ridge League". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  18. ^ "1946 Salem Friends/Lenoir Red Sox Statistics".

Further reading

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