The Cardinals again dominated the league, winning the pennant for the third straight year, and also capturing the World Series. They won 105 games, 15 more than the second place Pirates. Their big man was Stan Musial, but the MVP vote was a surprise.
        The Cardinals' shortstop, Marty Marion, won the MVP by one vote over Bill Nicholson of the Cubs. Musial finished fourth in the voting, which seems strange to me because I think he was clearly the league's best player. Judge for yourself.

        Nicholson produced the most runs in the league, but his overall numbers weren't as good as Musial's. Nicholson had emerged as the premier power hitter in the NL; it helped that he wasn't drafted into war service, but "Swish" had been a pretty good player before the war, too. He was 29 this year, and should have had several more good seasons; but in 1945, he just stopped hitting. He reportedly had problems with his eyesight; Nicholson played nine more years, but was unable to get his power stroke back before his career ended in 1953. He had a couple of decent seasons after the war, but for the most part was never again a very effective player.

        Fred "Dixie" Walker was 34 years old, and may have had his best season, in a career that spanned 19 years and included over 2000 hits. Walker was in his fifth year with the Brooklyn Dodgers; he was, at the time, one of the most popular players in franchise history, and was even given the folksy nickname "The Peepul's Cherce". Later, he became infamous for a petition he circulated in 1947, trying to keep Jackie Robinson from breaking the colour barrier.
        Walker played for 19 years, but his career didn't really get underway until 1940, when he joined the Dodgers at age 29. He was the son of former big leaguer Ewart Walker, who was also called "Dixie"; his uncle Ernie also played in the majors, as did his brother Harry. Born in Georgia, Dixie dropped out of school when he was 15 to work in a steel mill; the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company had its own baseball league, where Walker played and was scouted. He signed with the Yankees at age 17.
        Dixie tore up the minor leagues, but was stuck behind the Yankee trio of Ruth, Combs and Chapman; he also broke both a leg and his collarbone. He got his first at bat with the Yankees in 1931 at age 20; two years later, he was touted as a replacement for the aging Ruth. An injury to Combs gave him a chance to play, but he tore a ligament in his shoulder, and for three years was unable to throw. The Yankees released him in 1936, and his career was only saved by radical surgery on his shoulder.
        He had short stints in Chicago and Detroit before landing in Brooklyn, and emerging as a star. Walker consistently hit over .300 with doubles and walks for the Dodgers; his long history of injuries also kept him out of war service, giving him the opportunity to win the batting title this season. He also served as the National League's player representative while he was active, then managed in the minors and served as a coach in the majors after his retirement.
        Though his education was limited, Walker was a gifted salesman and a sharp entrepreneur who used the offseason to sell real estate and start up new businesses. He never smoke nor drank, and was by all accounts a fine person. The only real black mark on his life story is that infamous petition, which was angrily dismissed by both Branch Rickey and Leo Durocher, and died when team captain Pee Wee Reese refused to sign it.
        Walker claimed that customers threatened to boycott his businesses if Robinson played for the Dodgers, causing him to panic; this may be true, but peer pressure and his own bigotry undoubtedly influenced his actions as well. Many years later, Walker called the petition the "stupidest thing I ever did"; under the circumstances, it is all we can ask anyone to say. Nothing came easy for Dixie Walker in his career, but he deserves credit for making the most of second chances, both on the field and off.

        Marty Marion was a terrific defensive shortstop, the best of his era. He was an ineffective hitter, but "The Octopus" was so highly admired for his glovework that he was an All-Star six times. He was tall for a shortstop (6'2") and thin, which also earned the nickname "Slats". When he was 10 years old, he fell off an embankment and suffered a compound fracture in his right leg. It was this injury that kept him in limited service in the army during the war years, allowing him to emerge as a star player.
        He played for 13 years, and was a key member of a great Cardinals team that won three World Series in a five year span. This season, he hit just .227 in the postseason — but was the star of the Series, thanks to some dazzling plays in the field, and a controversy that erupted over whether he was a better defensive player than Honus Wagner (a testament to how highly regarded Wagner's defence was at the time). He was in the limelight again in 1945, when the Cardinals lost a pennant race with the Cubs, and earned another top-ten finish in the MVP vote.
        Even after the return of Rizzuto, Reese, Pesky and other shortstops from the war in 1946, Marion remained "Mr. Shortstop", and for a couple of years the press debated whether or not he was still the best, until it became obvious that the younger stars had passed him by. In 1951, Marion became player-manager for the Cardinals, then later the Browns. He managed the White Sox to a pair of winning seasons, but never reached the postseason as a manager.
        Marion won the MVP Award this year, despite his weakness with the bat. Even Ozzie Smith would not be a strong MVP candidate with those hitting numbers. For those of us who can't remember his graceful play at short, it is hard to see as a more valuable player than Musial, Walker or Bob Elliott. I don't think Marion was the MVP, and I'm not going to include him among the top four candidates. But maybe I'm underestimating him. For curiosity, let's check out the other shortstops in the league.

        Well, it was the war years; as I've mentioned, a lot of good shortstops were in the service, and only a childhood accident kept Marion at home. Marion and Buddy Kerr were really the only good shortstops in the league, though Roy Hughes played 52 games at short for the Cubs and hit .287, and Eddie Stanky played 35 games at short for the Dodgers and hit .276. Looking at this group, you can perhaps see why Marion was considered so valuable at the time, though I think his reputation was inflated a bit by playing on a great team with Stan Musial. I'm still not putting him in my top four, but I would rank him in the top ten.