1946 American League

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The 1946 season of the American League was the forty-sixth season of the league.

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Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
1 Boston Red Sox 156 104 50 2 .667 -.- 792 (5.08) 594 (3.81) 0.271 0.354 0.402 3.38 0.977
2 Detroit Tigers 155 92 62 1 .594 12.0 704 (4.54) 567 (3.66) 0.258 0.336 0.374 3.22 0.974
3 New York Yankees 154 87 67 0 .565 17.0 684 (4.44) 547 (3.55) 0.248 0.330 0.387 3.13 0.975
4 Washington Senators 155 76 78 1 .490 28.0 608 (3.92) 706 (4.55) 0.260 0.325 0.366 3.74 0.966
5 Chicago White Sox 155 74 80 1 .477 30.0 562 (3.63) 595 (3.84) 0.257 0.321 0.333 3.10 0.972
6 Cleveland Indians 156 68 86 2 .436 36.0 537 (3.44) 638 (4.09) 0.245 0.312 0.356 3.62 0.975
7 St. Louis Browns 156 66 88 2 .423 38.0 621 (3.98) 710 (4.55) 0.251 0.311 0.356 3.95 0.974
8 Philadelphia Athletics 155 49 105 1 .316 55.0 529 (3.41) 680 (4.39) 0.253 0.317 0.338 3.90 0.971

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Eddie Lake Detroit Tigers 155
At Bats Johnny Pesky Boston Red Sox 621
Runs Scored Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 142
Hits Johnny Pesky Boston Red Sox 208
Doubles Mickey Vernon Washington Senators 51
Triples Hank Edwards Cleveland Indians 16
Home Runs Hank Greenberg Detroit Tigers 44
Total Bases Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 343
Runs Batted In Hank Greenberg Detroit Tigers 127
Stolen Bases George Case Cleveland Indians 28
Caught Stealing George Case Cleveland Indians 11
Walks Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 156
Hit by Pitch Tommy Henrich New York Yankees 7
Strikeouts Charlie Keller
Pat Seerey
New York Yankees
Cleveland Indians
101
Sacrifice Hits Lou Boudreau
George Kell
Cleveland Indians
Philadelphia Athletics/Detroit Tigers
15
Grounded into Double Plays Sam Chapman Philadelphia Athletics 22
Batting Average Mickey Vernon Washington Senators 0.353
On-Base Percentage Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 0.497
Slugging Percentage Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 0.667
On-Base plus Slugging Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 1.164
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Ted Williams Boston Red Sox 215

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Bob Feller
Hal Newhouser
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
26
Losses Dick Fowler
Lou Knerr
Phil Marchildon
Philadelphia Athletics
Philadelphia Athletics
Philadelphia Athletics
16
Win-Loss Percentage Dave Ferriss Boston Red Sox 0.806
Appearances Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 48
Games Started Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 42
Complete Games Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 36
Shutouts Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 10
Games Finished Earl Caldwell Chicago White Sox 37
Saves Bob Klinger Boston Red Sox 9
Innings Pitched Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 371.1
Batters Faced Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 1512
Hits Allowed Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 277
Home Runs Allowed Virgil Trucks Detroit Tigers 23
Base-on-Balls Allowed Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 153
Hit Batsmen Bobo Newsom Philadelphia Athletics/Washington Senators 7
Strikeouts Bob Feller Cleveland Indians 348
Wild Pitches Orval Grove Chicago White Sox 10
Balks Joe Dobson
Jack Kramer
Phil Marchildon
Joe Page
Boston Red Sox
St. Louis Browns
Philadelphia Athletics
New York Yankees
2
Runs Allowed Dave Ferriss Boston Red Sox 109
Earned Runs Allowed Dave Ferriss Boston Red Sox 99
Earned Run Average Hal Newhouser Detroit Tigers 1.94
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Hal Newhouser Detroit Tigers 1.069

All-Star Game[edit]

The American League won the thirteenth midsummer classic at Fenway Park in Boston, MA on Tuesday, July 9, 1946 by a score of 12 to 0. The league's manager was Steve O'Neill.

Postseason[edit]

In the World Series, the American League champion Boston Red Sox were defeated by the National League's St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Ted Williams, an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox. In the award's voting, he had 224 out of a possible 336 points and 9 first place votes.

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The fifth annual Hall of Fame Game was played on June 13 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In the game, the American League's Detroit Tigers lost to the New York Giants of the National League by a score of 9 to 5.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Robert Weintraub: The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age, Little, Brown and Company, New York, NY, 2013. ISBN 978-0316205917