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 playoff series 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

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

• April 27, 1946: Jack Graham^[1] and Goody Rosen^[2] were purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants.
• June 12, 1946: Don Padgett was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves.^[3]
• June 15, 1946: Billy Herman was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Stew Hofferth.^[4]

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Nashua, Newport News, Trois Rivieres, Zanesville

Notes

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page
• Retrosheet