1946 Cleveland Indians season

1946 Cleveland Indians
1946 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	League Park; Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	Alva Bradley, Bill Veeck
General managers	Roger Peckinpaugh, Bill Veeck
Managers	Lou Boudreau
Radio	WGAR (AM) · WHK · WJW · WTAM ; (Jack Graney, Bob Neal, Earl Harper, Don Campbell, Tom Manning)

In 1946, Bill Veeck finally became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put the team's games on radio, and set about to put his own indelible stamp on the franchise. Actor Bob Hope also acquired a minority share of the Indians.^[1]

Offseason

Prior to 1946 season: Al Aber was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.^[2]

Regular season

During the season, Bob Feller became the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in one season for the Indians in the 20th century.^[3]

Season standings

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	104	50	.675	—	61‍–‍16	43‍–‍34
Detroit Tigers	92	62	.597	12	48‍–‍30	44‍–‍32
New York Yankees	87	67	.565	17	47‍–‍30	40‍–‍37
Washington Senators	76	78	.494	28	38‍–‍38	38‍–‍40
Chicago White Sox	74	80	.481	30	40‍–‍38	34‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	68	86	.442	36	36‍–‍41	32‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns	66	88	.429	38	35‍–‍41	31‍–‍47
Philadelphia Athletics	49	105	.318	55	31‍–‍46	18‍–‍59

Record vs. opponents

1946 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	13–9	15–7	15–7–1	14–8	17–5	14–8–1	16–6
Chicago	9–13	—	13–9–1	10–12	8–14	12–10	12–10	10–12
Cleveland	7–15	9–13–1	—	5–17	10–12	15–7	15–7–1	7–15
Detroit	7–15–1	12–10	17–5	—	13–9	17–5	14–8	12–10
New York	8–14	14–8	12–10	9–13	—	16–6	14–8	14–8
Philadelphia	5–17	10–12	7–15	5–17	6–16	—	10–12	6–16–1
St. Louis	8–14–1	10–12	7–15–1	8–14	8–14	12–10	—	13–9
Washington	6–16	12–10	15–7	10–12	8–14	16–6–1	9–13	—

Notable transactions

June 26, 1946: Mickey Rocco and cash were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Heinz Becker.^[4]
July 4, 1946: The Indians traded a player to be named later to the Chicago White Sox for Tom Jordan. The Indians completed the deal by sending Frankie Hayes to the White Sox on July 15.^[5]

Roster

1946 Cleveland Indians

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

7 Blas Monaco

Manager

5 Lou Boudreau

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	Jim Hegan	88	271	64	.236	0	17
1B	Les Fleming	99	306	85	.278	8	42
2B	Dutch Meyer	72	207	48	.232	0	16
SS	Lou Boudreau	140	515	151	.293	6	62
3B	Ken Keltner	116	398	96	.241	13	45
OF	Pat Seerey	117	404	91	.225	26	62
OF	Hank Edwards	124	458	138	.301	10	54
OF	George Case	118	484	109	.225	1	22

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
Jack Conway	68	258	58	.225	0	18
Felix Mackiewicz	78	258	67	.260	0	16
Ray Mack	61	171	35	.205	1	9
Frankie Hayes	51	156	40	.256	3	18
Don Ross	55	153	41	.268	3	14
Heinz Becker	50	147	44	.299	0	17
Gene Woodling	61	133	25	.188	0	9
Mickey Rocco	34	98	24	.245	2	14
Bob Lemon	55	89	16	.180	1	4
Sherm Lollar	28	62	15	.242	1	9
Dale Mitchell	11	44	19	.432	0	5
Jimmy Wasdell	32	41	11	.268	0	4
Tom Jordan	14	35	7	.200	1	3
Howie Moss	8	32	2	.063	0	0
Eddie Robinson	8	30	12	.400	3	4
Buster Mills	9	22	6	.273	0	3
Rusty Peters	9	21	6	.286	0	2
Jackie Price	7	13	3	.231	0	0
Ralph Weigel	6	12	2	.167	0	0
Ted Sopkowski	2	8	4	.500	0	1
Blas Monaco	12	6	0	.000	0	0
Charlie Brewster	3	2	0	.000	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
Bob Feller	48	371.1	26	15	2.18	348
Red Embree	28	200.0	8	12	3.47	87
Allie Reynolds	31	183.1	11	15	3.88	107
Steve Gromek	29	153.2	5	15	4.33	75
Mel Harder	13	92.1	5	4	3.41	21

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
Charlie Gassaway	13	50.2	1	1	3.91	23
Don Black	18	43.2	1	2	4.53	15
Ed Klieman	9	15.0	0	0	6.60	2
Vic Johnson	9	13.2	0	1	9.22	3
Bob Kuzava	2	12.0	1	0	3.00	4
Ray Flanigan	3	9.0	0	1	11.00	2
Johnny Podgajny	6	9.0	0	0	5.00	4
Les Webber	4	5.1	1	1	23.63	5
Ralph McCabe	1	4.0	0	1	11.25	3

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
Bob Lemon	32	4	5	1	2.49	39
Joe Krakauskas	29	2	5	1	5.51	20
Joe Berry	21	3	6	1	3.38	16
Pete Center	21	0	2	1	4.97	6
Tom Ferrick	9	0	0	1	5.00	9

Awards and honors

Bob Feller, Led American League with 36 complete games (it would also be the highest total in the decade)^[6]

All-Star Game

Bob Feller, Pitcher (starter)

Frankie Hayes, Catcher (starter)

Ken Keltner, Third baseman (starter)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Baltimore Orioles	International League	Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas
AA	Oklahoma City Indians	Texas League	Roy Schalk
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Dick Porter
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
C	Bakersfield Indians	California League	Martin Metrovich and Tony Governor
C	Pittsfield Electrics	Canadian–American League	Tony Rensa
C	Clovis Pioneers	West Texas–New Mexico League	Harold Webb
D	Centreville Orioles	Eastern Shore League	Jim McLeod
D	Dayton Indians	Ohio State League	Frank Parenti and Ival Goodman
D	Batavia Clippers	PONY League	Jack Tighe
D	Appleton Papermakers	Wisconsin State League	Ray Powell

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Harrisburg, Centreville, Batavia^[7]

Notes

^ "For our favorite son Bob Hope, all roads lead back home to Ohio". www.cleveland.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
^ Al Aber at Baseball Reference
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Mickey Rocco at Baseball-Reference
^ Frankie Hayes at Baseball-Reference
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.105, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

1946 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Reference
1946 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac

[1] "For our favorite son Bob Hope, all roads lead back home to Ohio". www.cleveland.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.

[2] Al Aber at Baseball Reference

[3] Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

[4] Mickey Rocco at Baseball-Reference

[5] Frankie Hayes at Baseball-Reference

[6] Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.105, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

[7] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

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