The best NL teams of the 1940's were the Dodgers and the Cardinals. Entering this season, the Cardinals were defending World Series champions, and had three championships in the decade. But the Dodgers were the pennant winners this year; not only was it a great year for the team, but they also made history by adding Jackie Robinson to their lineup. Brooklyn lost the World Series to their hated rivals, the Yankees; still, it was a great year for the Dodgers, and the hard-fought Series was one of the greatest ever.

         The Boston Braves won the World Series in 1914, but since then had been one of the worst teams in baseball. Now, they started to pull out of it; they had some good players in their lineup, notably MVP third baseman Bob Elliott. The Braves also had two outstanding pitchers, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. Spahn had his first of many great seasons; he had first joined the Braves in 1942, but then lost three years to war service. Now, at age 26, Spahn was finally getting underway a career in which he would win an incredible 363 games.
        The Braves were a good team this year; they finished in third place, not far behind and Brooklyn and St. Louis. Next year, they would win the pennant. The pitching staff was still thin at this time; fans hoped that Spahn and Sain could start as many games as possible, and the famous team motto "Spahn and Sain and then pray for rain" was born. In this year's MVP vote, Spahn did very poorly, finishing behind Dutch Leonard, Larry Jansen, and others. Perhaps this was because he was still an unknown at the time. No matter; I think Spahn was the league's best pitcher this year.
        Spahn's closest competition came from Ewell Blackwell of the Reds. Blackwell almost won the MVP Award, finishing a close second behind Elliott. Blackwell was also a newcomer, and had a story similar to Spahn's. He joined the Reds in 1942, at age 19, and appeared in two games. Then came three years of war service; he spent 1946 getting back into peak form, and led the NL in shutouts. This year, at age 24, "The Whip" was better than any NL pitcher except Spahn. Unlike Spahn, Blackwell did not have greatness in his future; he hurt his arm in 1948, and had two disastrous seasons. He made a comeback in 1950 and pitched well for two seasons, but further problems then finished Blackwell's career, with only 82 total wins.
        This was easily Ralph Branca's best season. Branca debuted with the Dodgers in 1944, at age 18; this year, he was only 21. He had some other good seasons, but was never a consistently effective pitcher. Branca is most famous for serving up Bobby Thomson's game-winning home run in the 1951 playoff game against the Giants. There is a famous picture of Branca, lying on the clubhouse steps after the game, crying.