The war ended, and many of baseball's biggest stars flooded back into the league. The St. Louis Cardinals, bolstered by the return of (among others) Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter, slipped by Brooklyn to win the pennant, and won their third World Series of the decade.
        Musial won his second MVP, and didn't leave too much room for debate.

         Returning from the war, both Musial and Slaughter had great seasons for St. Louis; Johnny Mize also made a big comeback with New York, but missed a third of the season. This was the year that Slaughter scored his famous run in Game Seven of the World Series. With the deciding game tied in the eighth inning, Slaughter singled; Harry Walker then followed with a single, and Slaughter scored all the way from first base. It was the defining moment of Slaughter's career, and helped keep his memory alive long enough that he was inducted to the Hall Of Fame many years after he retired.
        Del Ennis and Ralph Kiner were both rookies; this was the first of a record seven straight seasons Kiner would lead the National League in home runs. If 23 seems like a low total... you're right. Both leagues had been using a ball made of balata during the war, and it didn't have much jump to it. After the season, the balata ball was canned, and livelier ones were introduced. Kiner and Mize each hit 51 home runs in 1947.
        Whitey Kurowski and Red Schoendienst both played for the Cardinals; it was Red's second season. Kurowski received just three points in the MVP voting, Schoendienst only six; those were poor totals for two of the top infielders in the league, especially when they both played for the pennant winning team.
        Musial is the obvious choice for the MVP; I also like his teammates Slaughter and Kurowski. Dixie Walker of the Dodgers finished runner-up in the vote; he was good, but I think Pee Wee Reese was the better player. This was the year Pee Wee established himself as the NL's best shortstop.