The 1946 Boston Braves season was the 76th in the history of the Major League Baseball franchise, and its 71st season as a charter member of the National League. In finishing 81–72 (.529) and in fourth place, the Braves enjoyed their most successful year since 1933, and signaled the post-World War II renaissance of the franchise under its new ownership group, headed by Louis R. Perini, and its Baseball Hall of Fame manager, Billy Southworth, in his first year at the Boston helm after departing the St. Louis Cardinals. The 1946 team set a new club record for attendance, with 969,373 paying fans passing through Braves Field's turnstiles; it would break that record in .
Regular season The Braves' home schedule began on an inauspicious note April 16. Perini and his partners had invested $500,000 in refurbishing Braves Field, installing lights for night baseball and applying a fresh coat of green paint to the wooden grandstands. But colder than expected April weather foiled their plans. The club's home opener, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, attracted 19,482 fans, who witnessed a 5–3 Boston victory. However, some 13,000 of those fans were dismayed to discover that their clothing was smeared with green paint, still wet, from their grandstand seats.Brady, Bob, April 16, 1946: The 'wearing of the green' at Braves' Opening Day, Society for American Baseball Research The seats eventually dried out, as the Braves went on an early-season road trip punctuated by a Sunday doubleheader played at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox of the American League.
On the other hand, the first-ever major-league night game to be played in the city of Boston, on May 11 against the New York Giants, was an off-field success. The contest, on a Saturday night, drew 37,407 fans to Braves Field—the team's largest crowd since 1933—with the home side sporting satin uniforms, specially designed to glow under the arc lights of night baseball.Wisnia, Saul, May 11, 1946: Braves Field hosts its first game under the lights, Society for American Baseball Research On the field, however, the Giants' Monte Kennedy outpitched Boston's Johnny Sain, 5–1.Retrosheet box score (11 May 1946): "New York Giants 5, Boston Braves 1" Later in 1946, during an extended road trip, Braves Field will see further changes when its playing surface is lowered to improve sight lines.
His May 11 setback notwithstanding, Sain was the Braves' leading pitcher, winning 20 games and posting a superb 2.21 earned run average, second-best in the National League. Although a poor May and June doomed their pennant chances, a strong 36–23 mark during August and September enabled the Braves to claim the final spot in the first division, only one game out of third place.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Roster 1946 Boston Braves Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Phil Masi 133 397 106 .267 3 62 1B Ray Sanders 80 259 63 .243 6 35 2B Connie Ryan 143 502 121 .241 1 48 SS Dick Culler 134 482 123 .255 0 33 3B 115 372 95 .255 2 42 OF Carden Gillenwater 99 224 51 .228 1 14 OF Bama Rowell 95 293 82 .280 3 31 OF Tommy Holmes 149 568 176 .310 6 79
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Johnny Hopp 129 445 148 .333 3 48 Billy Herman 75 252 77 .306 3 22 Danny Litwhiler 79 247 72 .291 8 38 Skippy Roberge 48 169 39 .231 2 20 59 164 43 .262 1 16 Don Padgett 44 98 25 .255 2 21 Whitey Wietelmann 44 78 16 .205 0 5 Stew Hofferth 20 58 12 .207 0 10 Chuck Workman 25 48 8 .167 2 7 Tommy Neill 13 45 12 .267 0 7 Johnny Barrett 24 43 10 .233 0 6 Ken O'Dea 12 32 7 .219 0 2 15 13 3 .231 0 1 Johnny McCarthy 2 7 1 .143 0 1 Hugh Poland 4 6 1 .167 0 0 Bob Brady 3 5 1 .200 0 0 2 2 1 .500 0 0 Ducky Detweiler 1 1 0 .000 0 0 Max West 1 1 0 .000 0 0 Sibby Sisti 1 0 0 ---- 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Johnny Sain 37 265.0 20 14 2.21 129 28 199.0 13 11 3.12 83 25 140.0 10 9 4.18 32 Warren Spahn 24 125.2 8 5 2.94 67 Johnny Niggeling 8 58.0 2 5 3.26 24 Johnny Hutchings 1 3.0 0 1 9.00 1
Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Ed Wright 36 176.1 12 9 3.52 44 Si Johnson 28 127.0 6 5 2.76 41 Lefty Wallace 27 75.1 3 3 4.18 27 Al Javery 2 3.1 0 1 13.50 0
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Bill Posedel 19 2 0 4 6.99 9 23 2 4 1 5.09 12 Elmer Singleton 15 0 1 1 3.74 17 Steve Roser 14 1 1 1 3.60 18 Ernie White 12 0 1 0 4.18 8 Jim Konstanty 10 0 1 0 5.28 9 Dick Mulligan 4 1 0 0 2.35 4 Whitey Wietelmann 3 0 0 0 8.10 2 Earl Reid 2 1 0 0 3.00 2 Don Hendrickson 2 0 1 0 4.50 2 Ace Williams 1 0 0 0 ---- 0
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Evansville, Raleigh, OwensboroJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
Notes
References 1946 Boston Braves at Baseball Reference