Let there be lights!

1946 – Let there be lights!

Boston Braves finish 81-72-1, fourth in the NL

Braves field had some improvements begun before this season, and one of them was lights so there could be the occasional night game – though they wouldn’t be fully installed until after this season. With the end of the war and some players returning for Opening Day, and others returning throughout the year, the Braves new manager Billy Southworth had some promising things happening with the team. Southworth had been an outfielder with several teams throughout the teens and twenties, including the Braves for a few years. He became a manager after his retirement and made his name by winning two championships with the wartime Cardinals. He would end up managing the Braves through 1951 and eventually make it into the Hall of Fame, though only long after his death (in 2008.)

Billy’s Hall of Fame plaque

 

All-Stars

Mort Cooper, P

Cooper had come over to the Braves from the Cardinals in 1945 after having three straight 20 game seasons with them in 1942-1944. Once the cream of the league’s hitting returned from the war Mort wasn’t really an ace anymore but bounced around with various teams until 1949. In 1946 he was 13-11 with the Braves and had a very respectable 3.12 ERA and 1.11 WHIP but it was the last time he really pitched well.

Phil Masi, C

This guy looks like a real ballplayer.

Phil had been with the Braves since 1939, but mostly as the backup catcher (though he did catch knuckleballer Jim Tobin) until last season, where he surprised the team by being able to hit quite a bit. No doubt he would have been an All-Star in ’45 if there had been any, and he made it this year with a solid .267 average and knocking in 62 runs, a career high. Phil was an excellent defensive catcher as well, so being able to hit even some was enough to win him three All-Star nods before his time with the Braves was done.

Johnny Hopp, OF

The tomahawk was added to the Braves uniform this season and stayed on through the early 60s.

 

Hopp came over from the Cardinals this year along with Billy Southworth – he had won two championships with the Cardinals, and would end up winning two more with different teams before his career was over. He was a solid hitter, good for .333 average this year and stealing 20 bases as well, finishing with a n OPS of .827. Hopp would leave the Braves after the 1947 season and would eventually play with the Pirates, Dodges, Yankees, and Tigers.

The 1946 OOTP Braves weren’t too hot, and ended up finishing fourth with a 73-80 record. Phil Masi was an All-Star as well as relief pitcher Ed Wright. The Cardinals lost a very close World Series to the Yankees in 7 games, but in real life they won a close one over the Red Sox this year.

 

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