# 1946 Carolina League season

The 1946 Carolina League was a Class C baseball season played between April 24 and September 9. Eight teams played a 142-game schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the post-season.
The Raleigh Capitals won the Carolina League championship, defeating the Durham Bulls in the final round of the playoffs.

## Team changes

* The Durham Bulls ended their affiliation with the Boston Red Sox.
* The Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets ended their affiliation with the Chicago Cubs.
* The Greensboro Patriots ended their affiliation with the Philadelphia Phillies.
* The Raleigh Capitals ended their affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds and began an affiliation with the Boston Braves.

## Teams

1946 Carolina League :
| Team | City | MLB Affiliate | Stadium |
| Burlington Bees | Burlington, North Carolina | None | Elon College Park |
| Danville Leafs | Danville, Virginia | New York Giants | League Park |
| Durham Bulls | Durham, North Carolina | None | Durham Athletic Park |
| Greensboro Patriots | Greensboro, North Carolina | None | World War Memorial Stadium |
| Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets | Leaksville, North Carolina | None | Tri-City Baseball Park |
| Martinsville Athletics | Martinsville, Virginia | Philadelphia Athletics | Doug English Field |
| Raleigh Capitals | Raleigh, North Carolina | Boston Braves | Devereaux Meadow |
| Winston-Salem Cardinals | Winston-Salem, North Carolina | St. Louis Cardinals | South Side Park |

## Regular season
### Summary

* The Greensboro Patriots finished with the best record in the regular season for the first time in franchise history.
* The regular season schedule was lengthened from 138-games to 142-games.

### Standings

Carolina League :
| Team | Win | Loss | % | GB |
| Greensboro Patriots | 85 | 57 | .599 | – |
| Raleigh Capitals | 80 | 62 | .563 | 5 |
| Durham Bulls | 80 | 62 | .563 | 5 |
| Burlington Bees | 69 | 71 | .493 | 15 |
| Winston-Salem Cardinals | 68 | 72 | .486 | 16 |
| Martinsville Athletics | 67 | 75 | .472 | 18 |
| Danville Leafs | 60 | 82 | .423 | 25 |
| Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets | 57 | 85 | .401 | 28 |

## League Leaders
### Batting leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Tom Wright, Durham Bulls | .380 |
| H | Tom Wright, Durham Bulls | 200 |
| R | Woody Fair, Durham Bulls | 161 |
| 2B | Woody Fair, Durham Bulls | 51 |
| 3B | Don Butzer, Greensboro Patriots | 15 |
| HR | Gus Zernial, Burlington Bees | 41 |
| RBI | Woody Fair, Durham Bulls | 161 |
| SB | Hilliard Nance, Martinsville Athletics | 61 |

### Pitching leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Frank Paulin, Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets Roy Pinyoun, Raleigh Capitals | 19 |
| CG | Frank Paulin, Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets | 31 |
| SHO | Harry Byrd, Martinsville Athletics Kenneth Deal, Burlington Bees | 3 |
| SO | Frank Paulin, Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets | 220 |
| IP | Frank Paulin, Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets | 303.0 |

## Playoffs

* The Raleigh Capitals won their first Carolina League championship, defeating the Durham Bulls in six games.

### Playoff bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Greensboro | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Durham | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Durham | 4 | 3 | Durham | 2 |
| | | | 2 | Raleigh | 4 |
| 2 | Raleigh | 4 | 2 | Raleigh | 4 |
| 4 | Burlington | 2 | | | |

## Awards

Carolina League awards :
| Award name | Recipient |
| Manager of the Year | Floyd Patterson, Durham Bulls |