No. 74: Greatest seasons in Dodgers history: Eddie Stanky, 1946

Eddie Stanky, 1946

Stats: .273/.436/.352/.788, 0 HR, 36 RBI, 132 H, 98 R, 137 BB, 124 OPS+

Baseball Reference WAR: 6.6

FanGraphs WAR: 5.6

Combined WAR: 6.1

Eddie Stanky was a Dodger for four years, and this is the lone time he ends up on our countdown. When you look at his offensive production, his numbers don’t really stand out too much. So, with no homers and only 36 runs batted in, how exactly did he come in at No. 74 on the list?

Well, if you look at his on-base percentage, you’ll see that it is nearly 200 points higher than what his average was. Although he was about a .270 hitter, he was getting on base nearly half of the time. His on-base percentage of .436 led the National League. He only had 132 hits, but he finished the season with a league-leading 137 walks! He had more walks than he had base hits.

Stanky finished seventh in MVP voting in 1946.

The crazy part is, through the first four months of the season, Stanky was getting on-base almost 50 percent of the time. Entering August 1, he had a slash of .310/.475/.415/.890. Imagine entering August with an OBP of just under .500! Incredible. His numbers took a hit over the final two months, as he hit only .223 with an on-base percentage of only .380.

Out of the 144 games Stanky played in 1946, he got on base in 127 of them. Surprisingly, his longest on-base streak was only 23 games.

Get caught up on the rest of the “All-Time Dodgers” lists!

• 100 Greatest Dodgers of All-Time
• 100 Greatest Seasons in Dodgers History