# 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers season

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

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
### Season standings

vteNational 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

1946 National League recordvte Sources: :
| 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

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

* April 27, 1946: Jack Graham and Goody Rosen were purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants.
* June 12, 1946: Don Padgett was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves.
* June 15, 1946: Billy Herman was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Stew Hofferth.

### 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 | 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

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
#### 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 |
| 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

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

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

* 1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Dixie Walker starter
** Kirby Higbe reserve
** Pee Wee Reese reserve
** Pete Reiser reserve

### League top five finishers

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

| 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