1946 New York Yankees season
The 1946 New York Yankees season was the team's 44th season. The team finished with a record of 87–67, finishing 17 games behind the Boston Red Sox. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy, Bill Dickey, and Johnny Neun. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.
| 1946 New York Yankees | |
|---|---|
| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owners | Larry MacPhail, Dan Topping and Del Webb |
| General managers | Larry MacPhail |
| Managers | Joe McCarthy, Bill Dickey, Johnny Neun |
| Local television | none |
| Local radio | WINS (AM) (Mel Allen, Russ Hodges) |
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Offseason
- Prior to 1946 season: Frank Verdi was signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees.[1]
Regular season
On May 24, Joe McCarthy, who had managed the team since 1931 and led them to seven World Championships, resigned.[2] Although he had been in ill health, there were also underlying issues with team executive Larry MacPhail[3] and frustrations with the team's performance, especially that of pitcher Joe Page,[4] with whom he had an argument the previous day on the team plane.[5] Long-time Yankee catcher Bill Dickey took over the team. Dickey himself resigned on September 12,[6] and coach Johnny Neun finished out the year at the helm.
Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox | 104 | 50 | 0.675 | — | 61–16 | 43–34 |
| Detroit Tigers | 92 | 62 | 0.597 | 12 | 48–30 | 44–32 |
| New York Yankees | 87 | 67 | 0.565 | 17 | 47–30 | 40–37 |
| Washington Senators | 76 | 78 | 0.494 | 28 | 38–38 | 38–40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 74 | 80 | 0.481 | 30 | 40–38 | 34–42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 68 | 86 | 0.442 | 36 | 36–41 | 32–45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 66 | 88 | 0.429 | 38 | 35–41 | 31–47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 49 | 105 | 0.318 | 55 | 31–46 | 18–59 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 17, 1946: Frank Colman was purchased by the Yankees from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[7]
Roster
| 1946 New York Yankees roster | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
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 | Aaron Robinson | 100 | 330 | 98 | .297 | 16 | 64 |
| 1B | Nick Etten | 108 | 323 | 75 | .232 | 9 | 49 |
| 2B | Joe Gordon | 112 | 376 | 79 | .210 | 11 | 47 |
| SS | Phil Rizzuto | 126 | 471 | 121 | .257 | 2 | 38 |
| 3B | Snuffy Stirnweiss | 129 | 487 | 122 | .251 | 0 | 37 |
| OF | Joe DiMaggio | 132 | 503 | 146 | .290 | 25 | 95 |
| OF | Charlie Keller | 150 | 538 | 148 | .275 | 30 | 101 |
| OF | Tommy Henrich | 150 | 565 | 142 | .251 | 19 | 83 |
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 Lindell | 102 | 332 | 86 | .259 | 10 | 40 |
| Billy Johnson | 85 | 296 | 77 | .260 | 4 | 35 |
| Bill Dickey | 56 | 134 | 35 | .261 | 2 | 10 |
| Bud Souchock | 47 | 86 | 26 | .302 | 2 | 10 |
| Frankie Crosetti | 28 | 59 | 17 | .288 | 0 | 3 |
| Gus Niarhos | 37 | 40 | 9 | .225 | 0 | 2 |
| Oscar Grimes | 14 | 39 | 8 | .205 | 0 | 4 |
| Bobby Brown | 7 | 24 | 8 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Yogi Berra | 7 | 22 | 8 | .364 | 2 | 4 |
| Ken Silvestri | 13 | 21 | 6 | .286 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Colman | 5 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 1 | 5 |
| Eddie Bockman | 4 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Majeski | 8 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Drescher | 5 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Bud Metheny | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Roy Weatherly | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spud Chandler | 34 | 257.1 | 20 | 8 | 2.10 | 138 |
| Bill Bevens | 31 | 249.2 | 16 | 13 | 2.23 | 120 |
| Tiny Bonham | 18 | 104.2 | 5 | 8 | 3.70 | 30 |
| Red Ruffing | 8 | 61.0 | 5 | 1 | 1.77 | 19 |
| Vic Raschi | 2 | 16.0 | 2 | 0 | 3.94 | 11 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Page | 31 | 136.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.57 | 77 |
| Randy Gumpert | 33 | 132.2 | 11 | 3 | 2.31 | 63 |
| Al Gettel | 26 | 103.0 | 6 | 7 | 2.97 | 54 |
| Cuddles Marshall | 23 | 81.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.33 | 32 |
| Bill Wight | 14 | 40.1 | 2 | 2 | 4.46 | 11 |
| Mel Queen | 14 | 30.1 | 1 | 1 | 6.53 | 26 |
| Marius Russo | 8 | 18.2 | 0 | 2 | 4.34 | 7 |
| Frank Hiller | 3 | 11.1 | 0 | 2 | 4.76 | 4 |
| Tommy Byrne | 4 | 9.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.79 | 5 |
| Al Lyons | 2 | 8.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 4 |
| Karl Drews | 3 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 8.53 | 4 |
| Steve Roser | 4 | 3.1 | 1 | 1 | 16.20 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Murphy | 27 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3.40 | 19 |
| Jake Wade | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2.29 | 22 |
| Bill Zuber | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12.71 | 3 |
| Charley Stanceu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |
| Herb Karpel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 0 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Kansas City Blues | American Association | Billy Meyer and Burleigh Grimes |
| AAA | Newark Bears | International League | George Selkirk |
| AA | Beaumont Exporters | Texas League | Jim Turner |
| A | Binghamton Triplets | Eastern League | Garland Braxton and Lefty Gomez |
| A | Augusta Tigers | Sally League | Dib Williams |
| B | Quincy Gems | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Charles Marleau and Cedric Durst |
| B | Sunbury Yankees | Interstate League | Walt Van Grofski |
| B | Norfolk Tars | Piedmont League | Tom Kain |
| C | Amsterdam Rugmakers | Canadian–American League | Solly Mishkin |
| C | Butler Yankees | Middle Atlantic League | Milt Rosner |
| C | Twin Falls Cowboys | Pioneer League | Earl Bolyard |
| C | Joplin Miners | Western Association | Jim Acton |
| D | Easton Yankees | Eastern Shore League | Jack Farmer |
| D | Wellsville Yankees | PONY League | Joe Abreu |
| D | Fond du Lac Panthers | Wisconsin State League | James Adlam |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Augusta[8]
References
- Frank Verdi page at Baseball Reference
- "Joe McCarthy". Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- "New York Yankees team history at Baseball Library". Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
- Google Books result: The Yankee Encyclopedia By Mark Gallagher, Walter LeConte, p. 281
- Joe Page at They Played the Game
- Google Books result: The Yankee Encyclopedia, p. 283
- Frank Colman page at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007