The 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season tied for first place with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. 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 Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

'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 Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach ...

and Welday Walker in 1884. For the 1946 season, Robinson was assigned to the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...

, the Dodgers' top farm team. Later in the offseason, the Dodgers signed two more players from the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor lea ...

and

Don Newcombe Donald Newcombe (June 14, 1926 – February 19, 2019), nicknamed "Newk", was an American professional baseball pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball who played for the Newark Eagles (1944–45), Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1949–1 ...

, who were assigned to the

Nashua Dodgers The Nashua Dodgers was a farm club of the Brooklyn Dodgers, operating in the class-B New England League between 1946 and 1949. It is believed to be the first professional baseball team based in the United States in the twentieth century to play wi ...

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

* April 27, 1946: Jack Graham and Goody Rosen were purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants. * June 12, 1946: Don Padgett was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves. * June 15, 1946: Billy Herman was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for

Stew Hofferth Stewart Edward Hofferth (January 27, 1913 – March 7, 1994) was an American professional baseball baseball player, player. The catcher appeared in 136 Major League Baseball games played over three seasons for the 1944–46 Boston Braves (baseball ...

.Billy Herman page at Baseball Reference
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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 The 1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 13th playing of the "Midsummer Classic" by Major League Baseball's (MLB) American League (AL) and National League (NL) All-Star teams. The All-Star Game was held on July 9, 1946 at Fenway Park ...

** Dixie Walker starter **

Kirby Higbe Walter Kirby Higbe (April 8, 1915 – May 6, 1985) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1937 to 1950. Best known for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was a two-time National League (NL) All-S ...

reserve **

Pee Wee Reese Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee" Reese (July 23, 1918 – August 14, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1940 to 1958. A ten-time All-Star ...

reserve **

Pete Reiser Harold Patrick Reiser (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), during the 1940s and early 1950s. While known primarily f ...

reserve

League top five finishers

* #2 in NL in strikeouts (134) * #3 in NL in wins (17)

* MLB leader in stolen bases (34)

Eddie Stanky Edward Raymond Stanky (born Stankiewicz (September 3, 1915 – June 6, 1999) was an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston ...

* #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-Rivières, Zanesville

Notes

References

Baseball-Reference season pageBaseball Almanac season page

External links

1946 Brooklyn Dodgers uniformAcme Dodgers page

Retrosheet
{{Los Angeles Dodgers * Los Angeles Dodgers seasons Brooklyn Dodgers season Brooklyn Dodgers season 1940s in Brooklyn Flatbush, Brooklyn