Played before an enthusiastic and appreciative postwar crowd, baseball in the closing years of the decade rarely lacked excitement. Baseball's best players were back from the war, and America was ready for anything. In 1946 Bob Feller returned from four years in the navy to reestablish himself as one of the game's finest pitchers, winning twenty-six games for the Cleveland Indians, ten by shutout. Led by Stan Musial, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers in the first pennant playoff since 1908, then edged the Red Sox in a tense seven-game World Series. In 1947 Ted Williams excited the American League with his hitting, winning the triple crown (leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in) for the second time, but lost the Most Valuable Player award to the "Yankee Clipper," Joe DiMaggio. The New York Yankees returned to baseball dominance that year, beating.....
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