The phrase “1946 National League tie‑breaker series” does not correspond to a widely documented event in major baseball reference works, historical records, or reputable encyclopedic sources. Official National League standings for the 1946 season show that the St. Louis Cardinals finished first outright, with no other team sharing their win‑loss record, and consequently no tie‑breaker series was contested.
Possible contextual interpretation
- In Major League Baseball, a “tie‑breaker series” (often a single-game playoff) is employed when two teams finish the regular season with identical records for a postseason berth. The term became common after the introduction of such playoffs in the early 20th century, but the National League did not schedule a tie‑breaker series in 1946.
- The wording may stem from a misunderstanding or mislabeling of the 1946 National League pennant race, perhaps conflating it with later tie‑breaker games (e.g., the 1951 “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” playoff between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, or the 1962 and 1978 NL tie‑breakers).
Given the absence of verifiable documentation, the term is not recognized as an established historical concept.
