1946 WORLD SERIES

The '1946 World Series' was played in October 1946 between the St. Louis Cardinals (representing the National League) and the Boston Red Sox (representing the American League). In the eighth inning of Game 7, with the score 3-3, the Cardinals' Enos Slaughter opened the inning with a single but two batters failed to advance him. With two outs, Harry Walker walloped a hit over Johnny Pesky's head into left-center field. As Leon Culberson chased it down, Slaughter started his dash. Pesky caught Culberson's throw, turned and - perhaps surprised to see Slaughter headed for the plate - hesitated just a split second before throwing home. Roy Partee had to take a few steps up the third base line to catch Pesky's toss, but Slaughter was safe without a play at the plate and Walker was credited with an RBI double. The Cardinals won the game and the Series in seven games, giving them their sixth championship.
Boston superstar Ted Williams played the Series injured and was largely ineffective but refused to use his injury as an excuse.
The World Series was back to the 2-3-2 format for home teams.
'Records:' St. Louis Cardinals (W: 98, L: 58, Pct: .628, GA: -
★ ) - Boston Red Sox (W: 104, L: 50, Pct: .675, GA: 12)

★ Won a best-of-3 game playoff over the Brooklyn Dodgers, October 1st (4-2), and October 3rd (8-4)
'Managers:' Joe Cronin (Boston), Eddie Dyer (St. Louis)
'Umpires:' Lee Ballanfant (NL), Cal Hubbard (AL), Al Barlick (NL), Charlie Berry (AL)

Contents

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

Composite Box

Trivia

Reference(s)

External links

Summary

'NL St. Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)'

Game	Score	Date	Attendance
1	'Boston 3', St. Louis 2 (10 innings)	October 6	36,218
2	'St. Louis 3', Boston 0	October 7	35,815
3	'Boston 4', St. Louis 0	October 9	34,500
4	'St. Louis 12', Boston 3	October 10	35,645
5	'Boston 6', St. Louis 3	October 11	35,982
6	'St. Louis 4', Boston 1	October 13	35,768
7	'St. Louis 4', Boston 3	October 15	36,143

Matchups

Game 1

October 6, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Game 2

October 7, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Game 3

October 9, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 4

October 10, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 5

October 11, 1946 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

Game 6

October 13, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Game 7

October 15, 1946 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Composite Box

1946 World Series '(4-3): St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.)' over Boston Red Sox (A.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
'St. Louis Cardinals '	0	5	7	0	5	1	1	3	6	0	'28'	'60'	'4'
'Boston Red Sox '	5	2	0	1	0	1	4	5	1	1	'20'	'56'	'10'
'Total Attendance': 250,071   'Average Attendance': 35,724
'Winning Player’s Share': – $3,742   'Losing Player’s Share' – $2,141

Trivia

★ This was the first World Series appearance for the Red Sox since 1918 and it would be the last appearance until "the Impossible Dream" 21 years later.

★ The World Series loss snapped the Red Sox's record of winning their first five postseason series, a feat that would not be matched until the Florida Marlins did it 57 years later in the 2003 World Series.

★ Joe Cronin became the fourth manager to take two teams to the World Series (Pat Moran, Bill McKechnie, and Joe McCarthy were the first three) but was the first who did not win with either of them.

★ Several sources erroneously reported that Harry Walker hit a single allowing Enos Slaughter to score. It was officially scored a double and at the end of the game Walker commented, "I hit a low pitch that was sinking. This was the biggest thrill of my life. What a game. What a finish."

★ Mel Allen broadcast the 1946 World Series and his play-by-play of the Mad Dash went as follows, "Enos Slaughter is on first base with two away. Harry Walker at bat. Bob Klinger on the mound. He takes the stretch. Here's the pitch. There goes Slaughter. The ball is swung on, there's a line drive going into left-center field. It's in there for a base hit. Culberson fumbles the ball momentarily and Slaughter charges around second, heads for third. Pesky goes into short left field to take the relay from Culberson. And HERE COMES ENOS SLAUGHTER ROUNDING THIRD. HE'S GOING TO TRY FOR HOME. HERE COMES THE THROW AND IT'S NOT IN TIME. Slaughter scores!"

★ Enos Slaughter once poetically described his "Mad Dash" with, "When the ball went into left-center, I hit second base and I said to myself, 'I can score.' I didn't know whether the ball had been cut off or not. I didn't know nothin'. It was a gutsy play. But, you know, two men out and the winning run, you can't let the grass grow under your feet."

★ Joe Garagiola, a young catcher for the Cards who later became a network sports announcer, batted .316 in the Series. Before the 7th Game he told reporters, "This will be the last game--you can quote me."

Reference(s)

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. ''The World Series.'' 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 208-212)

External links

★ 1946 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com

★ 1946 World Series at ''WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)''

★ 1946 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com

★ 1946 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org

★ Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash