1945 NL Stargell Award

This was the final year of war-time baseball. Stan Musial left for the service, which hurt the Cardinals enough to allow the Cubs (gasp!) to win the pennant. As of 2002, it is the last pennant the Cubs have won. Chicago fought hard in the World Series, but lost to the Tigers in seven games.
The league MVP was the Cubs' star first baseman, Phil Cavaretta.

National League 1945

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
1B	P CAVARETTA	CHI	355	449	500	498	177	34	10	6	94	97	81	5	949
RF	T HOLMES	BOS	352	420	577	636	224	47	6	28	125	117	70	15	997
RF	M OTT	NY	308	411	499	451	139	23	0	21	73	79	71	1	910
RF	D WALKER	BRO	300	381	438	607	182	42	9	8	102	124	75	6	820
LF	A GALAN	BRO	307	423	441	576	177	36	7	9	114	92	114	13	864
LF/3B	L OLMO	BRO	313	356	462	556	174	27	13	10	62	110	36	15	818

3B	W KUROWSKI	STL	323	383	511	511	165	27	3	21	84	102	45	1	894
3B	B ELLIOTT	PIT	290	366	423	541	157	36	6	8	80	108	64	5	790
CF	B ADAMS	PHI-STL	287	353	440	634	182	29	1	22	104	109	62	3	793
CF	A PAFKO	CHI	298	361	455	534	159	24	12	12	64	110	45	5	816
CF	G ROSEN	BRO	325	379	460	606	197	24	11	12	126	75	50	4	840

3B	S HACK	CHI	323	420	405	597	193	29	7	2	110	43	99	12	826
2B	E STANKY	BRO	258	417	333	555	143	29	5	1	128	39	148	6	751
SS	M MARION	STL	277	340	370	430	119	27	5	1	63	59	39	2	709

         The NL's two best hitters this year were Cavaretta and Tommy Holmes. Cavaretta was a consistently good player, similar to Mark Grace; he joined the Cubs in 1934 at age 17, and had some growing pains before he developed into a good player. This was the only year that he was an MVP candidate; Cavaretta also had a great World Series, hitting .423 and producing 11 runs. Cavaretta played 20 years with the Cubs, and two more with the White Sox; he amassed almost 2000 hits in his career, and also managed the Cubbies for three seasons.
        Tommy Holmes had one huge year, and a few other good ones. Though Holmes never again hit with any power, he remained a .300 hitter the rest of his career, and was a key to the Braves' success later in the decade. This year, I think Holmes was the best player in the league, and the MVP. Cavaretta did play for the champions, but he also missed 20 games with injury. Holmes had a better OPS, and produced many more runs.
        Stan Hack had another terrific year playing third base for the Cubs. Another third baseman, Whitey Kurowski was also great. Kurowski became a regular with St. Louis in 1943, and was an All-Star five straight years; he suffered injuries to his arm and elbow after that, and played only 87 games past the age of 30. This year, I think Kurowski was better than Eddie Stanky, who led the league in runs scored. Drawing walks is important, and Stanky drew lots of them, but he was mostly a one-dimensional hitter this year.