1946 San Francisco Seals season

San Francisco Seals 1946 115–68 Pacific Coast League Seals Stadium San Francisco 1st Lefty O'Doul 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. 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.Seals Show Great Attendance Gain, Oakland Is Next Valley Times September 28, 1946 8 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45252128/seals_show_great_attendance_gain/ Newspapers.com In the Governor's Cup semi-final playoffs, the Seals swept the Hollywood Stars, four games to zero.Jansen Homer Wins for Seals: Only Four-Baser He Ever Hit Sinks L. A., 6 to 5 San Francisco Examiner Harry Borba September 30, 1946 18 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45226819/jansen_homer_wins_for_seals/ Newspapers.com 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.Seals Win Playoff! San Francisco Examiner Harry Borba October 8, 1946 21 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45225089/seals_win_playoff/ Newspapers.com Pitchers 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. 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. Position players 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. After the season, Fain was drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics.Connie Mack Drafts Ferris Fain San Francisco Examiner November 2, 1946 15 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45224741/connie_mack_drafts_ferris_fain/ Newspapers.com 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. 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.San Francisco Seals: Images of Baseball Martin Jacobs Jack McGuire Arcadia Publishing 2005 1439630917 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. 1946 PCL standings 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 Batting 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 1946 San Francisco Seals Sports Reference LLC Baseball-Reference.com February 19, 2020 https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=546a1e46 Pitching 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 References Further reading "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) Category:1946 in sports in California Category:Pacific Coast League seasons