# 1946 Washington Senators season

The 1946 Washington Senators of Major League Baseball won 76 games, lost 78, and finished in fourth place in the American League. The 46th edition of the franchise was managed by Ossie Bluege and played its home games at Griffith Stadium, where it drew 1,027,216 fans, fifth in the league and tenth-most among the 16 MLB clubs. It was the only time the franchise would exceed one million in home attendance in its 60 years in Washington. In addition, its fourth-place standing represented the highest, and last "first-division", finish for the team during its final 15 seasons in the U.S. capital.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1946 season: Dick Weik was signed as an amateur free agent by the Senators.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAmerican 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

1946 American League recordvte Sources: :
| 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 12, 1946: Jug Thesenga was released by the Senators.
* June 15, 1946: Jeff Heath was traded by the Senators to the St. Louis Browns for Joe Grace and Al LaMacchia.

### Roster
## 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 | Al Evans | 88 | 272 | 69 | .254 | 2 | 30 |
| 1B | Mickey Vernon | 148 | 587 | 207 | .353 | 8 | 85 |
| 2B | Jerry Priddy | 138 | 511 | 130 | .254 | 6 | 58 |
| SS | Cecil Travis | 137 | 465 | 117 | .252 | 1 | 56 |
| 3B | Billy Hitchcock | 98 | 354 | 75 | .212 | 0 | 25 |
| OF | Joe Grace | 77 | 321 | 97 | .302 | 2 | 31 |
| OF | Stan Spence | 152 | 578 | 169 | .292 | 16 | 87 |
| OF | Buddy Lewis | 150 | 582 | 170 | .292 | 7 | 45 |

#### 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 |
| Sherry Robertson | 74 | 230 | 46 | .200 | 6 | 19 |
| Jake Early | 64 | 189 | 38 | .201 | 4 | 18 |
| Gil Torres | 63 | 185 | 47 | .254 | 0 | 13 |
| Jeff Heath | 48 | 166 | 47 | .283 | 4 | 27 |
| Gil Coan | 59 | 134 | 28 | .209 | 3 | 9 |
| George Binks | 65 | 134 | 26 | .194 | 0 | 12 |
| Mike Guerra | 41 | 83 | 21 | .253 | 0 | 4 |
| George Myatt | 15 | 34 | 8 | .235 | 0 | 4 |
| Jack Sanford | 10 | 28 | 6 | .214 | 0 | 1 |
| Eddie Yost | 8 | 25 | 2 | .080 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Kuhel | 14 | 20 | 3 | .150 | 0 | 2 |
| Ray Goolsby | 3 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Mickey Haefner | 33 | 227.2 | 14 | 11 | 2.85 | 85 |
| Bobo Newsom | 24 | 178.0 | 11 | 8 | 2.78 | 82 |
| Dutch Leonard | 26 | 161.2 | 10 | 10 | 3.56 | 62 |
| Roger Wolff | 21 | 122.0 | 5 | 8 | 2.58 | 50 |
| Early Wynn | 17 | 107.0 | 8 | 5 | 3.11 | 36 |
| Johnny Niggeling | 8 | 38.0 | 3 | 2 | 4.03 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Scarborough | 32 | 155.2 | 7 | 11 | 4.05 | 46 |
| Sid Hudson | 31 | 142.2 | 8 | 11 | 3.60 | 35 |
| Walt Masterson | 29 | 91.1 | 5 | 6 | 6.01 | 61 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Kennedy | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6.00 | 18 |
| Marino Pieretti | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5.95 | 20 |
| Vern Curtis | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.16 | 7 |
| Milo Candini | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.08 | 6 |
| Max Wilson | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.11 | 8 |
| Jake Wade | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 9 |
| Gil Torres | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7.71 | 2 |
| Al LaMacchia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16.88 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern Association | Bert Niehoff |
| B | Pensacola Fliers | Southeastern League | Bill McGhee |
| B | Charlotte Hornets | Tri-State League | Spencer Abbott |
| D | Kingsport Cherokees | Appalachian League | Hobe Brummette and Red Mincy |
| D | Orlando Senators | Florida State League | Ed Madjeski |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando