The 1945 Major League Baseball season featured 16 teams, eight in both the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...
(AL) and
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL). The AL's
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
defeated the NL's
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
in the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
, four games to three. It would prove to be the Cubs’ last appearance in a World Series until the
2016 World Series
The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...
.
Awards and honors
The Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award went to Detroit Tigers third baseman
Eddie Mayo
Edward Joseph Mayo (born Edward Joseph Mayoski; April 15, 1910 – November 27, 2006), nicknamed "Hotshot" and "Steady Eddie", was an American professional baseball player. He played as an infielder in the Major League Baseball from to , most no ...
; however, following a post-season vote, the official AL MVP Award was given to fellow Detroit Tiger
Hal Newhouser
Harold Newhouser (May 20, 1921 – November 10, 1998), nicknamed "Prince Hal," was an American professional baseball player. In Major League Baseball (MLB), he pitched 17 seasons on the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, from 1939 through 19 ...
, a pitcher.
Newhouser ended the season with an ERA of 1.81, a record of 25 wins and 9 losses, and 212 strikeouts.
Both of them helped lead the Detroit Tigers to a World Series win, and Newhouser remarked that Eddie Mayo was the driving force behind the 1945 pennant chase and that Mayo was a "take-charge kind of guy in our field."
The NL Most Valuable Player Award went to Chicago Cubs first baseman and outfielder Phil Cavarretta.
He ended the season with an impressive batting average of .355 and an on-base-percentage of .455.
The second-place finisher was Boston Braves player Tommy Holmes who finished the season with a batting average of .352 and an impressive slugging percentage of .577.
Hal Newhouser won the pitching Triple Crown in addition to the official AL MVP Award.
To win this award you have to lead the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA.
There was no hitter that was awarded the Triple Crown, which entails leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
There were nine players and one manager inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during the year 1945.
The players were:
Jim O'Rourke,
King Kelly
Michael Joseph "King" Kelly (December 31, 1857 – November 8, 1894), also commonly known as "$10,000 Kelly", was an American outfielder, catcher, and manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League, Inter ...
,
Hughie Jennings
Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won N ...
,
Hugh Duffy
Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwaukee ...
,
Ed Delahanty
Edward James Delahanty (October 30, 1867 – July 2, 1903), nicknamed "Big Ed", was an American professional baseball player, who spent his Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers, Cleveland Infants, Philadel ...
,
Jimmy Collins
James Joseph Collins (January 16, 1870 – March 6, 1943) was an American professional baseball player. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball. Collins was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.
Collins was especially regarded fo ...
,
Fred Clarke
Fred Clifford Clarke (October 3, 1872 – August 14, 1960) was an American Major League Baseball player from 1894 to and manager from 1897 to 1915. A Hall of Famer, Clarke played for and managed both the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pi ...
,
Dan Brouthers
Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , wh ...
, and
Roger Bresnahan
Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee", was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago ...
.
was the manager that was inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Statistical leaders
Standings
American League
National League
Postseason
Bracket
Managers
American League
National League
Home Field Attendance
Events
* On April 17, Pete Gray
Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to:
People
* Pete (given name)
* Pete (nickname)
* Pete (surname)
Fictional characters
* Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe
* Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...
became the first (and so far, only) one-armed man to ever play in the Major Leagues. He batted .218 in 77 games with the St. Louis Browns.
* This season would be the last World Series appearance for the Chicago Cubs until 2016.
See also
*1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
The 1945 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season marked the third season of the circuit. The action began with six teams, like the previous season. But the Milwaukee Chicks and the Minneapolis Millerettes franchises were renamed the ...
References
External links
1945 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1945 Major League Baseball Season
Major League Baseball seasons