1946 San Francisco Seals season

The 1946 San Francisco Seals season was the 44th season in the history of the San Francisco Seals baseball team. The team compiled a 115–68 record and won the PCL pennant. Lefty O'Doul was in his 12th season as the team's manager.[1] Playing its home games at Seals Stadium, the Seals led the PCL in attendance with paid admissions of 670,563, an increase of more than 240,000 over the prior year.[2]

1946 San Francisco Seals
LeaguePacific Coast League
BallparkSeals Stadium
CitySan Francisco
Record115–68
League place1st
ManagersLefty O'Doul

In the Governor's Cup semi-final playoffs, the Seals swept the Hollywood Stars, four games to zero.[3] In the finals, they defeated the Oakland Oaks, four games to two. With the victory over the Oaks, the Seals won their fourth consecutive Governor's Cup.[4]

Pitchers

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Pitcher Larry Jansen, an Oregon native, led the PCL with 30 wins, a 1.57 earned run average (ERA), an .833 winning percentage, and 31 complete games. He also tallied 171 strikeouts.[1] Jansen joined the New York Giants in 1947 and remained with that club for eight seasons.

Cliff Melton was San Francisco's No. 2 pitcher, compiling a 17–12 record and a 2.83 ERA.[1]

Position players

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First baseman Ferris Fain, who grew up across the Bay in Oakland, California, led the PCL with 112 RBIs, compiled a .301 batting average, and led the Seals with 11 home runs and 117 runs scored.[1] After the season, Fain was drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics.[5] Fain went on to play nine seasons in the majors from 1947 to 1955.

Second baseman Hugh Luby led the team in hits with 199.[1] Luby was one of the most durable players in PCL history. He set a PCL record playing in 866 consecutive games with the Oakland Oaks between 1939 and 1943.[6]

Vince DiMaggio, older brother of Joe DiMaggio who played 10 years in the majors from 1937 to 1946, appeared in 43 games for the Seals.[1]

1946 PCL standings

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Team W L Pct. GB
San Francisco Seals 115 68 .628 --
Oakland Oaks 111 72 .607 4.0
Hollywood Stars 95 88 .519 20.0
Los Angeles Angels 94 89 .514 21.0
Sacramento Solons 94 92 .505 22.5
San Diego Padres 78 108 .419 38.5
Seattle Rainiers 74 109 .404 41.0
Portland Beavers 74 109 .404 41.0

Statistics

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Batting

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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
3B Ted Jennings 136 495 150 .303 3 53
1B Ferris Fain 180 615 185 .301 11 112
2B Hugh Luby 176 678 199 .294 2 60
CF, LF Don White 159 553 159 .288 4 90
CF Frenchy Uhalt 137 520 137 .263 1 24
RF Neill Sheridan 116 357 96 .269 5 55
SS Roy Nicely 133 446 98 .220 1 46
RF Sal Taormina 112 357 91 .255 4 69
C Bruce Ogrodowski 114 312 76 .244 0 34
CF Vince DiMaggio 43 129 34 .265 1 21

[1]

Pitching

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; PCT = Win percentage; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L PCT ERA SO
Larry Jansen 38 321.0 30 6 .833 1.57 171
Cliff Melton 33 248.0 17 12 .586 2.83 99
Frank Seward 31 219.0 15 13 .536 3.12 72
Ray Harrell 34 167.0 13 6 .684 2.91 70
Bill Werle 33 175.0 12 8 .600 2.26 72
Frank Rosso 38 141.0 11 9 .550 2.68 60

[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "1946 San Francisco Seals". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  2. ^ "Seals Show Great Attendance Gain, Oakland Is Next". Valley Times. September 28, 1946. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Harry Borba (September 30, 1946). "Jansen Homer Wins for Seals: Only Four-Baser He Ever Hit Sinks L. A., 6 to 5". San Francisco Examiner. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Harry Borba (October 8, 1946). "Seals Win Playoff!". San Francisco Examiner. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Connie Mack Drafts Ferris Fain". San Francisco Examiner. November 2, 1946. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Martin Jacobs; Jack McGuire (2005). San Francisco Seals: Images of Baseball. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 1439630917.

Further reading

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  • "The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957", by Dennis Snelling (McFarland 2011)
  • "San Francisco Seals", by Martin Jacobs & Jack McGuire (Arcadia Publishing 2005)