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The 1946 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series at the conclusion of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1946 regular season to decide the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The games were played on October 1 and October 3, 1946, between the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. It was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 96–58. This was the first ever tie-breaker series in MLB history. The first game took place at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, and the second, at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. The Cardinals swept the Dodgers behind wins from pitchers Howie Pollet and Murry Dickson, thus advancing to the 1946 World Series in which they defeated the Boston Red Sox, four games to three. In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker series counted as the 155th and 156th regular season games by both teams, with all events in the games added to regular season statistics. ==Background== In the first season of baseball since the conclusion of World War II, all ballplayers who had served in the military were returning to their former teams. The Cardinals regained Hall of Famer Stan Musial, and the Dodgers reacquired Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=National League Players In Service During World War II )〕 The previous season, St. Louis finished second in the NL, and Brooklyn ended the season third, with records of 95–59 and 87–67, respectively. In a pre-season poll of 119 sportswriters, 115 picked the Cardinals to win the National League, while none selected the Dodgers. Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer said that talk about his team being a "shoo-in" to win the pennant was devised by Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey to ease the pressure on them, and increase pressure on the Cardinals, noting that he felt Brooklyn was the clear favorite. The Dodgers spent the first month of the season creating a "youth movement" on their club, allowing younger players to have significant playing time. When the team was in first place in the middle of May, however, manager Leo Durocher dropped the idea and instead focused on winning the pennant. Dyer said at the start of the season that as long as Saint Louis was within five games of first place on July 4, they would win the pennant race. As July 4 came and went, they found themselves seven games behind the Dodgers, and concern grew in St. Louis. The Cardinals rebounded, and on August 22, after winning both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies, the clubs were tied, 71–45. After the Dodgers had led the league most of the season, the Cardinals were in first place most of September. On September 29, Saint Louis and Brooklyn were again tied with just one game left to play against the Chicago Cubs and Boston Braves, respectively. The Cardinals lost to the Cubs, 8–3, while the Dodgers lost to the Braves, 4–0, and as a result the two teams were placed in a best-of-three playoff series to determine who would face the Boston Red Sox in the 1946 World Series. The Dodgers chose Ralph Branca to pitch the first game in the series. The Cardinals debated starting either Howie Pollet or Murry Dickson, before deciding on Pollet. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1946 National League tie-breaker series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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