1946 Boston Braves season

1946 Boston Braves
LeagueNational League
BallparkBraves Field
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record81–72 (.529)
League place4th
OwnersLouis R. Perini
General managersJohn J. Quinn
ManagersBilly Southworth
RadioWNAC
(Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
← 1945
1947 →

The 1946 Boston Braves season was the 76th in the history of the Major League Baseball franchise, and its 71st season as a charter member of the National League. In finishing 81–72 (.529) and in fourth place, the Braves enjoyed their most successful year since 1933, and signaled the post-World War II renaissance of the franchise under its new ownership group, headed by Louis R. Perini, and its Baseball Hall of Fame manager, Billy Southworth, in his first year at the Boston helm after departing the St. Louis Cardinals. The 1946 team set a new club record for attendance, with 969,373 paying fans passing through Braves Field's turnstiles; it would break that record in 1947.

Regular season

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The Braves' home schedule began on an inauspicious note April 16. Perini and his partners had invested $500,000 in refurbishing Braves Field, lowering the playing surface to improve sight lines, installing lights for night baseball, and applying a fresh coat of green paint to the wooden grandstands. But colder than expected April weather foiled their plans. The club's home opener, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, attracted 19,482 fans, who witnessed a 5–3 Boston victory. However, some 13,000 of those fans were dismayed to discover that their clothing was smeared with green paint, still wet, from their grandstand seats.[1] The seats eventually dried out, as the Braves went on an early-season road trip punctuated by a Sunday doubleheader played at Fenway Park, home of the American League Red Sox.

On the other hand, the first-ever MLB night game to be played in the city of Boston, on May 11 against the New York Giants, was an off-field success. The contest, on a Saturday night, drew 37,407 fans to Braves Field—the team's largest crowd since 1933—with the home side sporting satin uniforms, specially designed to glow under the arc lights of night baseball.[2] On the field, however, the Giants' Monte Kennedy outpitched Boston's Johnny Sain, 5–1.[3]

Despite his May 11 setback, Sain was the Braves' leading pitcher, winning 20 games and posting a superb 2.21 earned run average, second-best in the National League. Although a poor May and June doomed their pennant chances, a strong 36–23 mark during August and September enabled the Braves to claim the final spot in the first division, only one game out of third place.

Season standings

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National 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

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1946 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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 —


Roster

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1946 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Phil Masi 133 397 106 .267 3 62
1B Ray Sanders 80 259 63 .243 6 35
2B Connie Ryan 143 502 121 .241 1 48
SS Dick Culler 134 482 123 .255 0 33
3B Nanny Fernandez 115 372 95 .255 2 42
OF Carden Gillenwater 99 224 51 .228 1 14
OF Bama Rowell 95 293 82 .280 3 31
OF Tommy Holmes 149 568 176 .310 6 79

[4]

Other batters

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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
Johnny Hopp 129 445 148 .333 3 48
Billy Herman 75 252 77 .306 3 22
Danny Litwhiler 79 247 72 .291 8 38
Skippy Roberge 48 169 39 .231 2 20
Mike McCormick 59 164 43 .262 1 16
Don Padgett 44 98 25 .255 2 21
Whitey Wietelmann 44 78 16 .205 0 5
Stew Hofferth 20 58 12 .207 0 10
Chuck Workman 25 48 8 .167 2 7
Tommy Neill 13 45 12 .267 0 7
Johnny Barrett 24 43 10 .233 0 6
Ken O'Dea 12 32 7 .219 0 2
Alvin Dark 15 13 3 .231 0 1
Johnny McCarthy 2 7 1 .143 0 1
Hugh Poland 4 6 1 .167 0 0
Bob Brady 3 5 1 .200 0 0
Dee Phillips 2 2 1 .500 0 0
Ducky Detweiler 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Max West 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Sibby Sisti 1 0 0 ---- 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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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 Sain 37 265.0 20 14 2.21 129
Mort Cooper 28 199.0 13 11 3.12 83
Bill Lee 25 140.0 10 9 4.18 32
Warren Spahn 24 125.2 8 5 2.94 67
Johnny Niggeling 8 58.0 2 5 3.26 24
Johnny Hutchings 1 3.0 0 1 9.00 1

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Ed Wright 36 176.1 12 9 3.52 44
Si Johnson 28 127.0 6 5 2.76 41
Lefty Wallace 27 75.1 3 3 4.18 27
Al Javery 2 3.1 0 1 13.50 0

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Bill Posedel 19 2 0 4 6.99 9
Frank Barrett 23 2 4 1 5.09 12
Elmer Singleton 15 0 1 1 3.74 17
Steve Roser 14 1 1 1 3.60 18
Ernie White 12 0 1 0 4.18 8
Jim Konstanty 10 0 1 0 5.28 9
Dick Mulligan 4 1 0 0 2.35 4
Whitey Wietelmann 3 0 0 0 8.10 2
Earl Reid 2 1 0 0 3.00 2
Don Hendrickson 2 0 1 0 4.50 2
Ace Williams 1 0 0 0 ---- 0

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Bill Burwell
AAA Seattle Rainiers Pacific Coast League Bill Skiff and Jo-Jo White
A Hartford Chiefs Eastern League Dutch Dorman
B Evansville Braves Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Bob Coleman
B Pawtucket Slaters New England League Hughie Wise
B Jackson Senators Southeastern League Travis Jackson
B Vancouver Capilanos Western International League Syl Johnson and Eddie Carnett
C Raleigh Capitals Carolina League Charles Carroll and Ray Thomas
C Miami Beach Flamingos Florida International League Max Rosenfeld
C Leavenworth Braves Western Association Charles Carman
D Bluefield Blue-Grays Appalachian League Walt DeFreitas and Bud Clancy
D Owensboro Oilers KITTY League Earl Browne
D Mahanoy City Bluebirds North Atlantic League Buck Boyle and Charles Dugan
D Richmond Roses Ohio State League Merle Settlemire

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville, Raleigh, Owensboro[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ Brady, Bob, April 16, 1946: The 'wearing of the green' at Braves' Opening Day, Society for American Baseball Research
  2. ^ Wisnia, Saul, May 11, 1946: Braves Field hosts its first game under the lights, Society for American Baseball Research
  3. ^ Retrosheet box score (11 May 1946): "New York Giants 5, Boston Braves 1"
  4. ^ "1946 Boston Braves Batting and Pitching Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  5. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References

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