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Pre-Season Prognostications
all 1946 major league statistics and references are from my replay of the 1946 season

American League

Most of the media expects the New York Yankees to rebound to an American League championship. New York suffered through the distractions of McCarthy’s departure and a lack of durabilty. Most of the returning veterans had not become re-acclimatized to major league life. DiMaggio could not sustain a .300 average and began dropping fly balls. Snuffy Stirnweiss looked from far from the batting champion of 1945. Despite a record 2.3 million in attendance, the Yankees were a failure on the field in 1946. Team president Col. Larry McPhail will not allow a repeat performance.

The inside scoop is that the Red Sox are not too happy as a group, and perhaps internal differences may gnaw at them like termites. The Cardinals exposed Boston with their baserunning and versatility in the Series, and new manager Bucky Harris may be able to extract the same type of play out of the pinstripers. McPhail and Harris may have a long trading season in front of them. The Yanks are in need of a first baseman, and may land another right fielder. "Ol’ Reliable" Tommy Henrich (.239, 18 HR, 78 RBI) may move back to first, thereby reducing the outfield defense. Perhaps, bonus baby Bobby Brown will be available at first. The young man who signed for $35,000 a year ago did good things at short with Newark (.341, 5 HR, 68 RBI), but may be better suited at third. Yankee hopes truly rest around one man, "the big fellow" as Bucky Harris calls him -- Joe DiMaggio who will have to improve off a disappointing post-war season by the Clipper’s standards (.263, 21 HR, 92 RBI). Phil Rizzuto will show the effects of better health, and it would be remarkable if Charley Keller could duplicate his 1946 power numbers (.293, 47 HR,118 RBI). On the mound, Allie Reynolds (10-17, 4.82 ERA in 28 starts) was acquired from Cleveland for All-Star MVP Joe Gordon, and Charley Wensloff will return to tone up the staff.

Bostonians will no doubt expect a return trip to the Series, given the way their team easily disposed of their AL counterparts. Joe Cronin has a solid lineup of Ted Williams (.350, 31 HR, 121 RBI), Bobby Doerr (.261, 20 HR, 134 RBI), Johnny Pesky (.324, 5 HR, 76 RBI), Dom DiMaggio (.335, 11 HR, 87 RBI), and Rudy York (.275, 16 HR, 99 RBI). With such an array of talent on the field, perhaps the best sign of life for Boston is the mound stars like Tex Hughson (23-9, 2.31 ERA in 35 starts) , '46 Series goat Mickey Harris (19-9, 3.66 ERA in 31 starts), and the talented 25 year old Dave "Boo" Ferriss (23-8, 3.00 ERA in 35 starts). Last October it was the Cardinals and Red Sox in the World Series, and there is no reason to believe it will be otherwise this October. These still are the two soundest teams in the game with great pitching, fine hitting and enough youth amongst the veterans to carry on. However as stated above, the level of difficulty in which the Sox can carry the junior circuit will be increased.

Despite the loss of Hank Greenberg, the Tigers are the most confident ball club in the world. They're not setting their sights on second place but first in the sublime belief that their pitching staff, arguably the best in baseball, will strong arm them into contention. Don't ask who will drive in the runs but the conviction in this corner is that Messrs. Wakefield (.263, 15 HR, 71 RBI), Evers (.300, 8 HR, 43 RBI), Mullin (.202, 2 HR, 33 RBI), et.al. can't have another mass collapse.

Cleveland should be improved. Since acquiring the team late in the 1946 campaign, new owner Bill Veeck has been making deals to tone up the infield, and rebuild his outfield closer to the demands of that vast terrain in the Cleveland Stadium. And then there’s Bob Feller. Rapid Robert put together one of baseball’s brilliant seasons in 1946 (22-16, 1.79 ERA in 42 starts) and setting a new strikeout record (377). A year ago, Cleveland was all out of balance with nothing but pitching. This season the Indians seem a sounder team, especially if Joe Gordon, embittered and resentful at (Yankee GM) Larry MacPhail, plays over his head as he very well can do. The All-Star game MVP is certainly not a .219 hitter and the change of scenery for him maybe just what the doctor ordered.

The Senators are confronted with the unenviable and tough task of rebuilding their pitching staff. Emil Leonard, long their key man, has gone to the National League. Ossie Bluege’s infield is a bit lopsided, He would like to be in a position to shift Cecil Travis from short to third. Travis has been unable to obtain his high pre-war standards. A .359 hitter in 1941, Travis sank to a .245 average in 1946 with 1 HR and 64 RBI.

National League

The talk here before the 1946 season was that the Cardinals would run away and hide from the rest of the NL. However, Eddie Dyer’s club received a strong challenge from Brooklyn. But, in face-to-face encounters, the Redbirds had the Bums’ number. As Dyer aptly remarked when it was all over, "We never lost a ball game that we had to win." During the season, the Cardinals had one team to beat and they drubbed the Dodgers 17 times in 23 games. But how do things shape up in 1947? Brooklyn is looking for a first baseman and a third baseman. Durocher doesn’t know what his outfield will be except that if Dixie Walker isn’t in right field the hue and cry will be tremendous. Walker (.336, 10 HR, 123 RBI) still shapes up as a grand competitor, but at the age of 37, most athletes do not improve. Perhaps the key will be the health of Pete Reiser (.284, 14 HR, 82 RBI) who was the leading home run hitter for Brooklyn. An astonishing fact is that not one of the promising rookies on the Dodger roster hit that many in the minors. This is important because the good Brooklyn clubs are invariably power clubs. Ebbets Field has a short and inviting right field fence that fairly begs to left handed pull hitters. Since Dolph Camilli bowed out, there have been few Dodgers and a disturbing number of enemy sluggers who could hit it. It would help if Reiser, who underwent a complicated operation on his right shoulder last fall, is completely cured but that would be amazing if not downright miracleous.

Chicago’s roster was good enough for the 1945 title but fell to the wayside in post-war baseball life last May. Charley Grimm’s club faces the strong possibility that Stan Hack, long-time star third baseman for the Cubs, may be heading for his last round-up. And so the top Chicago rookie seems to be 3B Hank Schenz, who belted an impressive .333 at Tulsa. Chicago was struck a pretty tough blow when P Claude Passeau (8-7, 2.63 ERA in 21 starts) had to undergo an operation for his ailing back just before spring training. Grimm hopes that Big Bill Lee, who won 22 games in 1938 and 20 in 1935 on the Cubs’ championship clubs, will be able to take up some of the slack left by the loss of Passeau. Lee returned to the club this spring. Grimm is pinning his hopes to improve on seasoned veterans with a sprinkling of freshman talent. Phil Cavaretta, starting his 13th Cub campaign, Hack, his 15th are the vets, and Andy Pafko, a speedy flychaser who missed 90 games due to injury, and Eddie Waitkus, voted the major’s outstanding rookie by the Chicago baseball writers, provide the youth. A trade for a top-flight shortstop would be in order if this team wishes to contend. Hank Borowy worked hard all off-season toughening his pitching hand to avoid repetition of the blister trouble which hampered his effectiveness last season. Grimm also has Johnny Schmitz (13-11, 3.34 ERA in 31 starts) and Emil Kush (11-3, 1.98 in 41 games), outstanding freshman in 1946, and three rookie southpaws, Cliff Chambers, Dutch McCall, and Russ Meyer, who all showed promise this spring.

Under Billy Southworth, the Braves were the most improved club in the league in 1946. Southworth sent Sibby Sisti out to Indianapolis specifically to learn how to play shortstop last season. Sisti succeeded in a phenomenal way. He batted .342 to lead the American Association. The Sporting News called him the Minor League Player of the Year. There also is Earl Torgeson, a first baseman from far-off Seattle, and Tom Neill, a left-handed outfielder, who clubbed a hefty .374 at Birmingham. Should big Mort Cooper (11-9; 3.29 ERA) have a twenty-game season, the Braves will be tough to shave.   Johnny Sain (25-6; 2.12 ERA) served notice last season that he is ace material, and Warren Spahn (9-7; 3.28 ERA) proved effective after returning from military duty last summer. If there is a dark horse in the league this year, the Braves are the likely candidates.

Chapman’s Phillies is inclined to rely upon the natural improvement of the young players who served him so well last year. This list includes Rookie of the Year, Del Ennis (.328, 15 HR, 92 RBI) and catcher Andy Seminick (.255, 10 HR, 62 RBI).

There are plenty of changes in Cincinnati apart from the fact that Johnny Neun occupies the leader’s job that Bill McKechnie filled so long and so well. The first three hitters in the Sally League – Ted Kluszewski, Jack Warren, and Frank Baumholtz – are all Red rookies and will figure in the fight for jobs. Another prominent rookie may be pitcher Eddie Erautt who rated the best pitcher in the Pacific Coast League while striking out 234 batters for Hollywood last season. This bumper crop is in addition to rookie 3B Grady Hatton (.242, 13 HR, 54 RBI), who would have been rookie of the year if he had not injured his knee. Neun expects to bring aggressiveness and offensive improvement to an anemic attack (.220 team BA in 1946). Red players can only look at Neun’s resume to understand the aggressiveness he seeks. As a player, Neun stole 5 bases for the Tigers in a game against the Yankees in 1927. Four days later, he stole home twice against Washington in a doubleheader.

Pittsburgh is the most changed club since the change in ownership last August. Gone is Robert Murphy and his Guild unionization efforts, so the Pirate clubhouse may be a more relaxing atmosphere. Billy Herman, obtained from Brooklyn, is the new manager, replacing ex-Gashouser Frankie Frisch. Hank Greenberg was purchased from Detroit to give Pittsburgh the heaviest homer club along with Ralph Kiner (.208, 18 HR, 81 RBI). Pitcher Steve Nagy who pitched at Montreal last season and IF Eddie Basinksi may give help this year.

New York may enjoy a brighter future due to a good crop of rookies. Clint Hartung is a veritable Paul Bunyan of a man out of the army who may be able to pitch like Feller and hit like Ruth. Lucky Lourke, a shortstop by trade, can be of help at second or third, it will be a big boost for the Ottmen. This club is hard to estimate as they trained in comparative privacy out West, but simply it can't get much worse for Mel Ott's troops so it has to get better.