The 1940s St. Louis Cardinals, Part 5: 1946 - In Peacetime, The Cardinals Battle for the Pennant and World Series Again

 

 

In his documentary Ken Burns states that during the 1946 season “much of baseball’s attention was devoted to Montreal” where Jackie Robinson had become the first African-American who had signed a major league contract in the twentieth century.

I have little doubt that the African-American community was focused on it as were certain aspects of ownership and the Brooklyn fanbase. That said, I think Burns is giving too much credit where it is due. Now that the war was over, the GIs and most importantly the stars were back, baseball fans were far more focused on their home teams, whether their old favorites still had it and whether their teams could win the pennant. Across both leagues on Opening Day 1946, record attendance was in every game.  Indians fans got a special treat as Bob Feller pitched opening day and threw a no-hitter. He would have an extraordinary season, going 26-15 and striking out 348 batters.

Other stars had a mixed bag. Joe DiMaggio, back from the Army, had his worst season, hitting .290 with only 25 home runs.  Joe McCarthy would have an argument with reliever Joe Page on a plane trip and resign less than a quarter of a way through the season. The Yankees would finish third, seventeen games out of first place.

Hank Greenberg was in better form in his first full season back with the Tigers he had helped lead to a World Championship the year before. He hit 44 home runs and drove in 127 runs. Hal Newhouser proved he was not a war time fluke, winning 26 games and striking out 275.  And Ted Williams was best of all, batting .346 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs. He would win his first American League MVP award and help lead his Boston Red Sox to 104 wins and their first American League pennant since 1918.

In the National League, rookie Ralph Kiner of Pittsburgh led the league in home runs with 23, the first of seven consecutive seasons he would lead the league. Johnny Mize, back from the war, hit 22 home runs for the Giants. And Stan Musial was about to prove yet again that he was among the all-time greats, batting .365  and leading the National League in hits, runs scored, total bases, doubles and triples. He would win his second MVP.  Enos Slaughter, back after three years in the military, had  a great season of his own, batting an even .300 and leading the National League in RBIs. The Cardinals pitching staff was led by Howie Pollet, who won 21 games and Harry Brecheen and Murray Dickson.

The new manager of the Cardinals was Eddie Dyer. At the end of the war Billy Southworth was offered a heft contract from the owner of the Boston Braves. Southworth persuaded owner Sam Breadon to release him, even though he still had  a year to go on his contract with St. Louis.  During his five and a half year tenure, Southworth had won 577 games and lost 301 for a .657 winning percentage, one of the most successful runs any manager has ever had with any major league team in the history of the game.

Southworth had a challenge ahead of him. The Braves hadn’t won a National League Pennant since their miracle comeback in 1914 and they hadn’t finished higher than fifth place since 1934.  But his old team helped him quite a bit. With so much talent coming back from the war, many of Southworth’s charges ended up signed with the Braves among them Johnny Hopp and Mort Cooper. Cooper only won thirteen games with Boston that year, but Southworth was helped by the presence of Johnny Sain, who won 20 games and the newly discovered Warren Spahn who went 8-5.  The Braves finished fourth that year, winning fourteen more games than they had in 1945.

Another reason I doubt the Dodger fanbase was focused on Montreal is because for the first time since 1942 Brooklyn was back in the hunt for the National League pennant. Branch Rickey had spent the last three years letting his team bottom out and they were now in the process of rebuilding.

Several of the players on the 1941 roster were still with the Dodgers, including Pee Wee Reese, outfielder Dixie Walker,  starting pitcher Kirby Higbe and reliever Hugh Casey. Pete Reiser had his last good season as a regular, batting .310 and stealing 34 bases. That year he tied the National League record for most steals of home with seven. There were new faces on the Dodgers, second baseman Eddie Stanky, outfielder Carl Furillo and catcher Bruce Edwards – many of whom would be vital in years to come.

The Cardinals had been picked in spring training as the overwhelming favorite to win the pennant that year and no one had picked the Dodgers. In the middle of May, the Dodgers got off to a big lead. By July 4^th they had a seven game lead over St. Louis.

The Cardinals rebounded and on August 22^nd, after beating the Phillies in both games of a doubleheader, the two teams were tied for first place. The Cardinals overtook Brooklyn and were in first for most of September but Brooklyn managed to tie them. On September 29^th, the last day of the season, the two teams were tied for first place.  Billy Southworth’s Braves managed to beat Brooklyn 4-0 while the Cardinals lost to Chicago 8-3. For the first time in major league history, a playoff was necessary to determine the winner of the National League pennant.

It would be a best of three game series. In preparation for this the National League President tossed a coin. The Dodgers won the toss and Durocher got the right to choose where the first game would be played. He decided that the first game would take place at Sportsman Park and the second, and if necessary the third game, would take place at Ebbets Field.

Durocher chose rookie Ralph Branca, who had won just three games to pitch Game 1.  Dyer debated between Murry Dickson and Howie Pollet before going with the latter.

In the bottom of the first inning, Branca stuck out Red Schoendienst before giving up a single to Terry Moore. He struck out Stan Musial but then Enos Slaughter singled and Whitey Kurowski walked.  Rookie Joe Garagiola singled but was tagged out to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

In the third inning, Howie Schultz tied the game for Brooklyn with a home run but in the bottom of that inning, Musial walked, Slaughter singled, and Kurowski managed a hit to drive Musial in. Two more singles drove in Kurowski and Branca left in the third for Kirby Higbe.

In the top of the fifth, the Dodgers loaded the bases but Eddie Stanky grounded into a double play. In the top of the seventh, Reese, Edwards and Schultz all single, the last one driving in Reese. However Slaughter throughout Edwards and third base and the rally was snuffed out. In the bottom of the seventh, Musial tripled off Rube Melton and scored on a wild pitch. That made the score 4-2, which was how the game ended.

Back in Ebbets Field for Game 2, the Cardinals debated between using Dickson or Harry Brecheen, before decided on Dickson. The Dodgers went with Joe Hatten, who’d gone 14-11. The Dodgers took an early 1-0 lead, but in the second Erv Dusak tripled, Marty Marion hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score. Clyde Kluttz then singled and Dickson himself tripled to drive in the go-ahead run.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth. With two out, Musial doubled, Kurowski walked, Slaughter tripled and Dusak singled. Hatten left the game but the score was now 5-1. In the seventh, Vic Lombardi gave up two walks, Dusak bunted. Higbe came in relief but Marion bunted in  another run. In the eighth, Schoendienst singled, Moore doubled and Musial was intentionally walked. Kurowski singled and drove in two runs.

It was 8-1 in the bottom of the ninth but then Dickson, who had pitched superbly, began to flag. Galan doubled. Dixie Walker flew out. Ed Stevens tripled to score Galan. Furillo singled to score stevens. Dickson then threw a wild pitched and walked another batter. Harry Brecheen came in relief with the score 8-3. Edwards singled to score Furillo, Cookie Lavagetto walked and the score was 8-4 with the bases loaded. But Brecheen held firm and struck out the last two batters.  The Cardinals won 8-4 and the National League pennant.

The Dodger franchise would be involved in four National League playoffs before both leagues were split into divisions in 1969.  With the exception of 1959, where they managed to beat the Milwaukee Braves, they would lose them all.   And there is a possibility the roots of their most famous defeat originated in this one. Charlie Dressen was one of Durocher’s coaches and watching what happened during this play-off, he was convinced Durocher had outsmarted himself. Five years later, when a play-off between Brooklyn and New York loomed, the Dodgers again won the coin toss but Dressen asked for the first game to be played at Ebbets Field. Branca would pitch that game and lose 3-`1 on a home run to Bobby Thomson.  Unfortunately for Branca, neither of his Game 1 defeats would be his most famous play-off losses.

The Boston Red Sox were waiting for St. Louis – had in fact, been waiting since September. Even given the Cardinals history during the World Series, the Red Sox were heavily favored. Considering how much effort it had taken the Cardinals to get there, it’s hard to blame the oddsmakers, even though the Red Sox had not played in a World Series since 1918.

Indeed many thought at the time, the Red Sox might be on their way to a dynasty of their own. It was not just the presence of Williams but such solid players as Joe DiMaggio’s brother Dominic, considered the best defensive center fielder in the game, Bobby Doerr, a brilliant fielding second baseman and a superb hitter and shortstop Johnny Pesky. First baseman Rudy York had driven in 114 runs and Doerr had driven in 116.  DiMaggio batted .316 that year and Pesky had over 200 hits.

And it wasn’t just offense that gave Red Sox confidence. Tex Hughson had been a superb pitcher during World War II, going 22-6 in 1942 and 18-5 in 1944, both times with low ERAs. In 1946, he had arguably his best season going 20-11, striking out 175 and throwing six shutouts, impressive for a pitcher in Fenway Park.  Better still was Boo Ferris, who went 25-6, threw 26 complete games and another six shutouts. The year before Ferris had gone 21-10. Both pitchers had proven their success had not been wartime flukes and looked like they could be stalwarts of the Red Sox rotation for years to come.

Much of the discussion of Red Sox-Cardinals series has to include the so called ‘Williams shift’, a revolutionary maneuver where the Cardinals essentially moved all their infielders to the right of second base, essentially leaving the third base side of the infield open. In truth that shift was not original to the Cardinals. In July of 1946, Cleveland player-manager Lou Boudreau had deployed the same shift in the second game of a Boston-Cleveland double-header.  In Game 1, Williams had hit 3 home runs and driven in eight runs in an 11-8 victory. In Game 2 of that doubleheader, he hit a double in his first at bat before Boudreau did the same thing with his infielders and outfielders. When Williams saw it, he growled and ordered the umpire to do something and when he was dismissed, he gripped the bat so hard that the Cleveland catcher saw sawdust coming from the handle.

Over time Williams would try to hit against the shift occasionally, but for much of his career he was determined to defy it and it usually worked.  Burns documentary says that Williams’ failed to perform in the series because of the shift the Cardinals used as well as implying that Williams didn’t change his behavior because he was too proud. In truth, there was another reason for Williams’ poor performance. In an exhibition game that was scheduled for the Red Sox to keep them sharp prior to the series, Williams injured his wrist. He played through the pain but his performance sharply diminished for the rest of the season and the World Series.

And in truth the decision to blame Williams for what would happen in the 1946 series and indeed beyond it was one mainly attributed to the sportswriters in Boston with whom Williams relationship was already beyond toxic. The following year he would win his second triple crown but lose the American League MVP to Joe DiMaggio who’d had a terrible season. One of the factors was that one Boston sportswriter left Williams completely off his ballot, when even a tenth place vote would have given it to Williams.

Indeed, much of the narrative of a 1946 World Series blames the defeat on the Red Sox as part of ‘the curse’ and gives little credit to the Cardinals. The 1946 World Series was one of the most exciting of the decade,

Game 1 was a match up of 20 game winners as Howie Pollet faced off against Tex Hughson. The Cardinals took an early 2-1 lead but in the top of the ninth the Sox tied it when a ground ball went through Marion’s legs. In the tenth Rudy York hit a home run against Pollet who pitched a ten-inning complete game but Boston won 3-2. The Cardinals evened the series behind Harry Brecheen, who pitched a four hit shutout and drove in the first run of the game which St. Louis won three to nothing.

In Fenway Park, Boo Ferris pitched a six hit shut-out and the Red Sox won 4-0 on another home run by York. However in Game 4, the Red Sox were battered 12-3. The Cardinals tied a series records with 20 hits, including four apiece by Slaughter, Kurowski and Garagiola. The Red Sox recovered to win Game 5 in a 6-3 win. Joe Dobson pitched a complete game and all three Cardinal runs were unearned. The Red Sox went to St. Louis needed one victory to take the World Series. But in Game 6 Brecheen pitched another complete game to beat Boston 4-1.  The decision to use Tex Hughson in relief for four innings rather than save him for Game 7 was questioned for years to come. But Ferris was handed the ball for Game 7. He faced off against Murray Dickson, who he had defeated in Game 3.

Boston struck first in Game 7 when DiMaggio hit a sacrifice fly after two leadoff singles in the first. In the second, Kurowski doubled, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Harry Walker. In the fifth Walker hit a leadoff single and scored on a double by Dickson, who Schoendienst drove in to make it 3-1. The Cardinals held the lead until the bottom of the eighth, when Dom DiMaggio drove in two runs in a double. However, while running the bases, he pulled a hamstring and had to leave the game. Leon Culberson took his position in center field.

What happened in the bottom of the eighth would haunt Red Sox fans for nearly sixty years. Enos Slaughter singled. In the dugout DiMaggio tried to get Culberson to shade Walker properly. Walker lined the ball to left-center field. Culberson was out of position and was slow to field the ball. He threw a relay to Pesky at short.

While this was happening, Slaughter never slowed down. He had passed second and he ignored the third base coaches stop sign and kept running. Many would blame Pesky for hesitating or playing out of position. In truth, the chain of events which started with DiMaggio pulling up injured and ended with Slaughter never slow down had nothing to do with Pesky’s reaction. Slaughter scored just as Pesky’s throw reached the Red Sox catcher to put the Cardinals up to 4-3.

It's worth noting the Red Sox still had an inning left to play and they nearly did make it immaterial.  The Sox got their first two batters on in the inning, but Harry Brecheen who’d come in during the eighth when the Cardinals were in trouble, remained as calm as he had been in the second game of the playoff. He retired the next three batters to get his third win of the series and the Cardinals their third World Championship in five years.

The Red Sox would not return to the World Series until 1967 – when they would face off against the Cardinals.

Enos Slaughter and Harry Brecheen were the heroes of the 1946 World Series and though Stan Musial had disappointed, with the play of such talent as Kurowski, Walker, such great pitchers as Brecheen and Pollet, and new talent such as Schoendienst the Cardinals seemed like they would dominate the National League for years to come. Instead, this would be the last pennant and World Series the Cardinals would win for another eighteen years.

In the epilogue to this series, I will deal with the factors of the Cardinal decline which was not immediate and not entirely based on what was happening in St. Louis. I will also tell the fates of some of the most critical figures in the Cardinal dynasty of the 1940s.