1946 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1946 throughout the world.  

Champions

Major League Baseball

• World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over Boston Red Sox (4–3)
• All-Star Game, July 9 at Fenway Park: American League, 12–0

Other champions

• Negro League World Series: Newark Eagles over Kansas City Monarchs (4–3)
• Negro League Baseball All-Star Game: East, 5–3 (first game, at Griffith Stadium); West, 4–1 (second game, at Comiskey Park)
• All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Racine Belles

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
  • Ted Williams (AL) – OF, Boston Red Sox
  • Stan Musial (NL) – 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
• The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
  • Stan Musial (NL) – 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
• The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
  • Eddie Dyer (NL) – St. Louis Cardinals
• The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
  • Del Ennis (Philadelphia NL, OF)

MLB statistical leaders

Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP

Major league baseball final standings

American League final standings

National League final standings

Negro League Baseball final standings

Negro National League final standings

Events

• January 12 – Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams receives his discharge from the U.S. Marine Air Corps after a three-year stint serving in World War II. In spite of the long absence from competitive baseball, Williams will return to the major leagues by hitting .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBI in 1946.

• January 12 – The first official professional game is played in Venezuela, launching the newly constituted four-team Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Venezuela. The league is composed of four teams: Cervecería Caracas, Magallanes, Vargas and Venezuela. The inaugural game is won by Magallanes over Venezuela, 5–2, behind strong pitching from Alex Carrasquel, who gives up 11 hits in a complete game effort.

• January 20 – In a classic pitching matchup played in Caracas, Venezuela, Alex Carrasquel of Magallanes beat Roy Welmaker and Vargas club, 3–2, in 17 innings. In the six-and-a-half-hour marathon, Carrasquel is good enough to silence the bats of Roy Campanella and Sam Jethroe. Both pitchers go the distance in one of the greatest matchups ever.

• February 19 – New York Giants OF Danny Gardella becomes the first major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the "outlaw" Mexican League, the first shot in the series of events that will dominate baseball even more than the return of all the war veterans. His attempt to return to Major League Baseball a few years later will initiate a major court battle.

• April 18 – Jackie Robinson, signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers organization by owner Branch Rickey, makes his first appearance with the Montreal Royals in the International League.

• April 23 – Ed Head pitches a no-hitter as the Brooklyn Dodgers blank the Boston Braves, 5-0.

• April 30 – Bob Feller tosses the second no-hitter of his career in a 1-0 Cleveland Indians win over the New York Yankees.

• June 24 – A bus carrying the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team crashed on Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State in the worst accident in the history of all of U.S. professional sports (as of October 2007). Nine members of the 16-member team were killed and six were injured. Eight of those who died served in World War II. Citation (please see for a complete list of sources):Colford, Ann B. (2006). Bus carrying Spokane Indians baseball team crashes on Snoqualmie Pass on June 24, 1946. HistoryLink.org. http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7959. 

• July 9 – At Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, the American League crushes the National League, 12–0, in the All-Star Game.

• July 14 – Player-manager Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians hits four doubles and one home run, but Ted Williams wallops three homers and drives in eight runs, as the Boston Red Sox top the Indians, 11–10. In the Sox second-game win, the famous Boudreau Shift is born. Boudreau shifts all his players, except the third baseman and left fielder, to the right side of the diamond in an effort to stop Williams. Ted grounds out and walks twice while ignoring the shift.

• August 4 - St. Louis Browns relief pitcher Tom Ferrick earns the win in both games of a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics.

• August 9 – All games (four each for both the American and National Leagues) were played at night for the first time in Major League history.

• September 13 – The Boston Red Sox clinch the American League pennant, edging the Cleveland Indians, 1–0, at Cleveland's League Park II on Ted Williams' inside-the-park home run, the only one of his career. Williams punches the ball over the shift when Cleveland left fielder Pat Seerey pulls in behind the shortstop position. It is Boston's first pennant since 1918.

• October 1 – October 3 – After finishing the regular season tied for first place, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers met in the first-ever National League playoff series. The Cardinals win the best-of-three series, two games to none, and advance to the World Series.

• October 15 – The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, in Game 7 of the World Series to win their sixth World Series, four games to three. The Red Sox would not appear in the World Series for another 21 years, which, coincidentally, would be a rematch with the Cardinals.

Births

January–April

• January 7 - Joe Keough
• January 18 - Billy Grabarkewitz
• January 21 - Johnny Oates
• February 5 - Vic Correll
• February 23 - Ken Boswell
• March 15 - Bobby Bonds
• March 21 - Al Fitzmorris
• March 31 - Gonzalo Márquez
• April 3 - Rod Gaspar
• April 8 - Catfish Hunter
• April 9 - Nate Colbert
• April 10 - Leroy Stanton
• April 10 - Bob Watson
• April 20 - Tommy Hutton

May–August

• May 18 - Reggie Jackson
• May 20 - Bobby Murcer
• May 22 - Jim Colborn
• May 25 - Mike Corkins
• May 28 - Skip Jutze
• June 15 - Ken Henderson
• June 15 - Champ Summers
• August 15 - Joe Lis
• August 18 - Derryl Cousins
• August 25 - Rollie Fingers
• August 27 - Ed Herrmann
• August 28 - Mike Torrez

September–December

• September 4 - Ken Wright
• September 6 - Fran Healy
• September 7 - Willie Crawford
• September 7 - Joe Rudi
• September 8 - Ken Forsch
• September 19 - Joe Ferguson
• September 20 - Roric Harrison
• September 22 - Larry Dierker
• October 1 - Remy Hermoso
• October 2 - Bob Robertson
• October 6 - Gene Clines
• October 6 - Gary Gentry
• October 8 - Paul Splittorff
• October 10 - Gene Tenace
• October 14 - Frank Duffy
• October 14 - Al Oliver
• November 2 - Tom Paciorek
• November 3 - Tom Heintzelman
• November 5 - Jim Evans
• December 2 - Pedro Borbón
• December 8 - Alan Foster
• December 15 - Art Howe
• December 25 - Gene Lamont
• December 28 - Spaceman Bill Lee

Deaths

• January 23 - William Matthews, 68, pitcher for the 1909 Boston Red Sox
• January 29 - Ed Merrill, 85, second baseman who played in two seasons, 1882 and 1884.
• March 16 - John Kerin, 71, American League umpire from 1908 to 1910
• March 28 - Cumberland Posey, 55, owner of the Negro Leagues' Homestead Grays since the 1920 who built the team into a perennial power; previously an outfielder and manager
• April 4 - Harry Cross, 64, sportswriter for several New York newspapers since 1909
• April 5 - Wally Rehg, 57, right fielder for the Boston Red Sox, Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds between 1912 and 1919, later a minor league player and manager from 1910 to 1930
• May 19 - John K. Tener, 82, president of the National League from 1913 to 1918; won 25 games as pitcher from 1888–1890
• May 30 - Billy Earle, 78, catcher for five seasons, and five teams from 1889 to 1894.
• June 17 - James Isaminger, 65, sportswriter for Philadelphia newspapers from 1905 to 1940 who played a major role in breaking the story of the Black Sox scandal
• August 6 - Tony Lazzeri, 42, All-Star second baseman for the New York Yankees who batted .300 five times and had seven 100-RBI seasons; had two grand slams and 11 RBI in a 1936 game, and batted .400 in 1937 World Series
• October 4 - John Woods, 48, relief pitcher who played for the 1924 Boston Red Sox
• November 5 - Alejandro Oms, 51, Cuban center fielder of the Negro Leagues
• November 27 - Arlie Tarbert, 42, reserve outfielder for the 1927-28 Boston Red Sox
• December 10 - Walter Johnson, 59, Hall of Fame pitcher for the Washington Senators who won over 400 games, second only to Cy Young, earned MVP awards in 1913 and 1924, and recorded 3508 strikeouts and 110 shutouts, both easily records; posted career 2.17 ERA and won 20 games 12 times, including 30-win seasons in 1912-13; led AL in strikeouts twelve times, ERA five times; won 38 1-0 games, also losing 26 by same score
• December 10 - Walter Moser, 65, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1906 and 1911.
• December 10 - Damon Runyon, 62, famed New York sportswriter and author
• December 14 - Tom Dowse, 80, catcher/outfielder who played in the 1890s for the Spiders, Solons, Colonels, Reds, Phillies and Senators
• December 21 - Bill Evans, 53, pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1916 to 1919