1946 Junior World Series

The 1946 Junior World Series was the first Junior World Series in nine years to see the teams with the best record from each league survive the playoffs to make the Series. Representing the American Association were the Louisville Colonels, who had been 92-61 in the regular sason. Louisville was managed by Nemo Leibold and had the AA leader in ERA, Al Widmar (12-9, 2.43). The International League's top club was the Montreal Royals, who were 100-54 in the season and led their league in runs (1,019, 217 more than the runner-up). Clay Hopper's team had the first African-American in the minor leagues in decades, second baseman Jackie Robinson, who led the IL in average (.349) and runs (113). Supporting Robinson were OF Marv Rackley (.305, a league-high 65 steals and 14 triples) and Steve Nagy (17-4, 3.01), the IL leader in wins.

The Series opened on September 28, 1946, with Montreal topping Louisville 7-5. The next day, Louisville staged a sitdown strike after Leibold was suspended for a run-in with a Junior Series Commission representative. After a 25-minute halt, Leibold was reinstated. Harry Dorish then blanked Montreal on a 2-hit shutout.

Louisville took Game 3 on September 30 by a 15-6 rout against 6 Montreal hurlers. Jim Gleeson hit a grand slam during the game for the Colonels. Game 4 went to Montreal on October 2, 6-5 - the Royals trailed 4-0 after 4 1/2 innings and 5-2 entering the bottom of the 8th but rallied to win in 10 innings.

On October 3, the Royals took a 3-2 lead by winning 5-3. They then took the finale 2-0 thanks to a shutout by Curt Davis.

Al Flair hit .462 for Louisville and Gleeson drove in 9 runs. Al Campanis batted .350 for Montreal.

Montreal vs. Louisville Date Away Home September 28 Montreal 7 Louisville 5 September 29 Montreal 0 Louisville 3 September 30 Montreal 6 Louisville 15 October 2 Louisville 5 Montreal 6 10 innings October 3 Louisville 3 Montreal 5 October 4 Louisville 0 Montreal 2 Montreal wins series 4-2

Further Reading

• Gary Belleville: "October 2, 1946: Jackie Robinson leads Montreal to thrilling 10-inning victory over Louisville," SABR Baseball Games Project.
• Gary Belleville: "October 3, 1946: Jackie Robinson’s heroics put Montreal on verge of first Junior World Series title," SABR Baseball Games Project.

References

• 1947 Baseball Guide

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. Baseball America, 1993.