DMB-Blog — 1945

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1945 Deluxe Past Season with transactions and lineups available now!

A Look Back at the 1945 MLB Season

The 1945 Major League Baseball season was a wild ride, shaped by the ongoing effects of World War II. With many big-league sluggers still in the service, the door was wide open for lesser-known players and seasoned veterans to step up to the plate. Despite the roster shake-ups, fans were still treated to a season full of clutch performances and thrilling pennant races.

Regular Season Highlights With some of the game's biggest bats and arms still on the bench due to the war, teams had to dig deep into their farm systems. The Chicago Cubs came out swinging, capturing the National League crown with a 98-56 record. Phil Cavarretta had a season for the ages, hitting .355 en route to the NL MVP award, while ace Hank Wyse kept hitters guessing on the mound. In the American League, the Detroit Tigers scratched and clawed their way to the pennant with an 88-65 record, thanks in large part to the lights-out pitching of Hal Newhouser, who bagged his second straight AL MVP award. The shortage of players famously gave Pete Gray, a one-armed minor league outfielder, an opportunity to play with the St. Louis Browns in 1945, showcasing incredible determination and athleticism.

The 1945 World Series The Fall Classic was a real nail-biter, with the Cubs and Tigers trading blows in a seven-game showdown. In the end, Detroit came up clutch, sealing the deal in Game 7 behind a masterful complete-game performance from Newhouser. This series also gave birth to the infamous "Billy Goat Curse," after a Chicago tavern owner and his pet goat were booted from Wrigley Field, supposedly putting a hex on the Cubs. It would be the Cubs' last appearance in a World Series until 2016. An absence of 71 years.

Impact of War and Return of Stars As World War II neared its end, baseball was on deck for a dramatic transformation. With the conflict winding down, the game eagerly welcomed back its wartime heroes, signaling a long-awaited return to normalcy. Among them was Hank Greenberg, who had been in military service since May 1941. In a storybook comeback, he homered in his first game back with the Tigers on July 1, instantly reigniting Detroit’s offense. Another returning star, Bob Feller, who had been serving in the Navy since December 1941, wasted no time making an impact. On August 24, he took the mound for the Cleveland Indians and fanned 12 batters in a dominant 4-2 victory over the Tigers, proving he hadn’t lost his touch. The return of more star players loomed on the horizon, promising to restore the game's prewar brilliance. Meanwhile, a game-changing moment took place when Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor league affiliate, setting the stage for baseball to break new ground.

Though it was a season played under unique circumstances, 1945 proved that baseball still had plenty of magic left in its bat. The Tigers took home the hardware, and with the sport poised for a new era, the best was yet to come.

Presenting the 1945 Deluxe Past Season Database

Revisit baseball’s Wartime Era with the 1945 Deluxe Past Season database. This fully-featured database provides everything you need to recreate and manage games using teams and players from the 1945 season.

More than just an update to the original Classic Past Season database, this "deluxe" edition has been meticulously reconstructed from scratch as an entirely new database. Using advanced tools and incorporating the most recent statistical data gathered from the most up-to-date online sources.

Database contents:

basic player facts: names, batting and throwing hands, birthdates
official batting and pitching statistics, including left/right splits
fielding statistics by position
games started at each position against left- and right-handed pitchers
thousands of player ratings that you can see: injury, bunting, range, running, throwing, and so on
thousands more player ratings that you can't see: the event tables and pitch-by-pitch ratings that make the game produce accurate results
opening day rosters for every team, plus more than 850 real-life transactions
manager profiles for every team, including starting rotations, bullpen roles, saved lineups, depth charts, manager and player tendencies
ballpark data, including dimensions, park factors, and weather ratings
the original (as-scheduled) and as-played schedules for the season
real-life starting lineups for every game played this season

Compatibility and Pricing:

The 1945 Deluxe Past Season database is available exclusively in version 12 format, priced at $24.95. This means it can only be installed with Diamond Mind Baseball: Version 12 and is not compatible with earlier versions of the game.

Upgrade Discount for the Classic Past Season:

If you've previously purchased the 1945 Classic Past Season database from Diamond Mind, you're eligible for an upgrade discount! To request your discount promotion code, send an email to dmb_info@imaginesports.com.