# 1946 Chicago Cubs season

The 1946 Chicago Cubs season was the 75th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 71st in the National League and the 31st at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished third in the National League with a record of 82–71.

## Offseason

* Prior to the 1946 season: Hal Jeffcoat was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.

## 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 26, 1946: Heinz Becker was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Mickey Rocco and cash.

### 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 | Clyde McCullough | 95 | 307 | 88 | .287 | 4 | 34 |
| 1B | Eddie Waitkus | 113 | 441 | 134 | .304 | 4 | 55 |
| 2B | Don Johnson | 83 | 314 | 76 | .242 | 1 | 19 |
| SS | Billy Jurges | 82 | 221 | 49 | .222 | 0 | 17 |
| 3B | Stan Hack | 92 | 323 | 92 | .285 | 0 | 26 |
| OF | Peanuts Lowrey | 144 | 540 | 139 | .257 | 4 | 54 |
| OF | Marv Rickert | 111 | 392 | 103 | .263 | 7 | 47 |
| OF | Phil Cavarretta | 139 | 510 | 150 | .294 | 8 | 78 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Nicholson | 105 | 296 | 65 | .220 | 8 | 41 |
| Bobby Sturgeon | 100 | 294 | 87 | .296 | 1 | 21 |
| Andy Pafko | 65 | 234 | 66 | .282 | 3 | 39 |
| Lou Stringer | 80 | 209 | 51 | .244 | 3 | 19 |
| Mickey Livingston | 66 | 176 | 45 | .256 | 2 | 20 |
| Johnny Ostrowski | 64 | 160 | 34 | .213 | 3 | 12 |
| Lennie Merullo | 65 | 126 | 19 | .151 | 0 | 7 |
| Bob Scheffing | 63 | 115 | 32 | .278 | 0 | 18 |
| Dom Dallessandro | 65 | 89 | 20 | .225 | 1 | 9 |
| Frank Secory | 33 | 43 | 10 | .233 | 3 | 12 |
| Cy Block | 6 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Gilbert | 15 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 1 |
| Hank Schenz | 6 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Al Glossop | 4 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Heinz Becker | 9 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 1 |
| Cecil Garriott | 6 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dewey Williams | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Pawelek | 4 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Clarence Maddern | 3 | 3 | 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 |
| Johnny Schmitz | 41 | 224.1 | 11 | 11 | 2.61 | 135 |
| Hank Wyse | 40 | 201.1 | 14 | 12 | 2.68 | 52 |
| Hank Borowy | 32 | 201.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.76 | 95 |
| Claude Passeau | 21 | 129.1 | 9 | 8 | 3.13 | 47 |

#### 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 |
| Paul Erickson | 32 | 137.0 | 9 | 7 | 2.43 | 70 |
| Emil Kush | 40 | 129.2 | 9 | 2 | 3.05 | 50 |
| Bob Chipman | 34 | 109.1 | 6 | 5 | 3.13 | 42 |
| Hi Bithorn | 26 | 86.2 | 6 | 5 | 3.84 | 34 |
| Russ Meyer | 4 | 17.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 | 10 |
| Doyle Lade | 3 | 15.1 | 0 | 2 | 4.11 | 8 |
| Russ Meers | 7 | 11.1 | 1 | 2 | 3.18 | 2 |
| Hal Manders | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Russ Bauers | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3.53 | 22 |
| Bill Fleming | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.14 | 10 |
| Ray Prim | 14 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5.79 | 10 |
| Red Adams | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.25 | 8 |
| Vern Olsen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 8 |
| Ed Hanyzewski | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Emmett O'Neill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Bill Sweeney |
| AA | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Larry Gilbert |
| AA | Tulsa Oilers | Texas League | Gus Mancuso |
| A | Macon Peaches | Sally League | Al Leitz and Bobby LaMotte |
| B | Davenport Cubs | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Bill Kelly |
| B | Hagerstown Owls | Interstate League | Bunny Griffiths |
| B | Portsmouth Cubs | Piedmont League | Gene Hasson and Ace Parker |
| B | Shelby Cubs | Tri-State League | Clyde McDowell |
| B | Tacoma Tigers | Western International League | Red Harvel |
| C | Visalia Cubs | California League | Bobby Schang and Pete Beiden |
| C | Quebec Alouettes | Canadian–American League | Joe Sugrue, Tim Murchison and John Intlekofer |
| C | Hutchinson Cubs | Western Association | Dickey Kerr |
| D | Elizabethton Betsy Cubs | Appalachian League | Lou Bekeza |
| D | Fayetteville Cubs | Coastal Plain League | John Intlekofer and Donald Anderson |
| D | Iola Cubs | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Al Reitz |
| D | Hopkinsville Hoppers | KITTY League | Calvin Chapman |
| D | Statesville Cubs | North Carolina State League | Halley Wilson |
| D | Janesville Bears | Wisconsin State League | Quinto Valentino |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hutchinson; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Iola