#5: 1942 St. Louis Cardinals, 58.1 WAR162<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The seasons between 1942 and 1945 are a bit unusual, due to the impact of World War 2 on team rosters. Some teams suffered greater harm by losing star players such as Ted Williams<\/a> (Red Sox) or Joe DiMaggio<\/a> (Yankees). The war-era Cardinals maintained an edge by retaining their biggest star (Stan Musial<\/a>), which helped propel them to the top of the rankings. The 1942 Cardinals won just enough to hold off the Dodgers by two games in the NL race. The Cards went on to defeat the Yankees in a five-game World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n The Cardinals nosed out the Dodgers by a scant 13 runs on the season, and also led the NL in doubles, triples, BA, OBP, and OPS. Their pitching staff easily led the league in ERA and WHIP, as well as strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk rate.<\/p>\n\n\n Enos Slaughter<\/a> led the offensive charge, totaling 17 triples and 188 hits (both NL-bests) while batting .318. A 21-year-old Stan Musial batted .315, and shortstop Marty Marion<\/a> laced 38 doubles (NL-best) with a .276 BA while standing out defensively. Mort Cooper<\/a> had a great year on the mound winning 22 with 10 shutouts and a 1.78 ERA, all tops in the NL. Johnny Beazley<\/a> (21-6, 2.13 ERA) and Max Lanier<\/a> (13-8, 2.96 ERA) rounded out a strong threesome on the hill for the Cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cardinals followed up their 1942 pennant with another title a year later. This time, the Yankees defeated them in a five-game World Series rematch.<\/p>\n\n\n The 1943 version of the team trailed the Dodgers in runs scored (715 to 679), and also placed second in doubles, triples, and home runs. They easily topped the NL in BA and OPS, and were second in OBP. The pitching staff had an ERA a half-run better than their closest rival, and also led the NL in WHIP, shutouts, strikeouts, and strikeout-to-walk rate.<\/p>\n\n\n Stan Musial had a big 1943 season, leading the league in hits (220), BA (.357), doubles (48), and triples (20), while scoring 108 runs. Lou Klein<\/a> provided strong support with a .287 BA and 91 runs scored, while Marty Marion batted .280 and played sterling defense at shortstop. Catcher Walker Cooper<\/a> added a .318 BA and 81 RBI from the catcher spot. On the mound, Mort Cooper was again the ace, winning 21 games with a 2.30 ERA, and Max Lanier posted a 15-7 mark with an NL-best 1.90 ERA. Howie Pollet<\/a> went 8-4 in limited duty to bolster the staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 1942 Yankees coasted to an easy AL pennant by 9 games over the Red Sox. Their 103 wins were actually four shy of their Pythagorean projection for 107 victories. The season ended with a disappointing five-game World Series loss to the Cardinals.<\/p>\n\n\n The Yankees topped the AL with 801 runs, 40 more than the Red Sox, and totaled 108 homers to top the AL. They ranked second behind their Boston rivals in BA, OBP, and OPS. Once again, it was the team’s pitching that outshone their rivals. The staff posted a splendid 2.91 ERA and led the league in nearly every meaningful category except strikeouts, where they ranked second to the Tigers.<\/p>\n\n\n Second baseman Joe Gordon<\/a> had a career year in 1942, batting .322 with a .409 OBP, 18 homers, and 103 RBI. Charlie Keller<\/a> belted 26 homers with 114 walks and 108 RBI, and Joe DiMaggio batted .305 with 123 runs scored and 114 RBI. Shortstop Phil Rizzuto<\/a> batted .284 with 22 steals and formed a great double-play combo with Gordon. Tiny Bonham<\/a> starred on the mound with a 21-5 mark, 2.27 ERA, and 6 shutouts (AL-best). Veteran Spud Chandler<\/a> won 16 at age 34, and the 37-year-old Red Ruffing<\/a> added 14 more wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 1948 Indians prevailed in one of the great three-team pennant races in AL history, topping the Red Sox in a single-game tiebreaker to capture the flag. The third-place Yankees finished 2.5 games back (just 2 games before the tiebreaker). The Indians went on to defeat the other Boston team (the Braves) in a six-game World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n The Indians scored 840 runs, well behind the Red Sox’s 907, and slightly behind the 857 scored by the Yankees. They did lead the league in homers, BA, and OPS, and were second in OBP. Pitching was the team’s major strength, as they posted a 3.22 ERA, more than half a run ahead of the Yankees, and more than a full run better than Boston. The Indians staff tossed 26 shutouts, 10 more than their closest rival, and were far ahead of everyone on WHIP.<\/p>\n\n\n Shortstop Lou Boudreau<\/a> had an amazing campaign, batting .355 with a .453 OBP, 116 runs scored, and 106 RBI. Infield mates Joe Gordon (32 homers, 124 RBI) and Ken Keltner<\/a> (31 homers, 119 RBI) supplied the power for the club. Larry Doby<\/a> batted .301 in his age-24 season, and Dale Mitchell<\/a> batted .336. The pitching was led by Bob Lemon<\/a>, who had 20 complete games and 10 shutouts in his 20-win season. Gene Bearden<\/a> also won 20 and posted an AL-best 2.43 ERA, while Bob Feller<\/a> had a down year by his standard but still led the league with 164 strikeouts and managed a 19-15 record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The <\/mark>1944 Cardinals blitzed the NL on their way to a 14.5-game margin over the Pirates before defeating the crosstown Browns in a six-game World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n The Cards possessed both the best offense and pitching in the league in 1944. Their 772 runs scored led the NL, as did their 274 doubles and 100 home runs. They also swept the BA, OBP, and OPS rankings by a comfortable margin. The pitching was even better, leading the NL with a 2.67 ERA and 26 shutouts, 9 more than their closest competitor. They also ranked first in WHIP, strikeouts, and strikeout-to-walk rate.<\/p>\n\n\n Stan Musial had a huge age-23 season, leading the league in doubles (51), OBP (.440), and OPS (.990) while batting a robust .347 and scoring 112 runs. His primary support came from Johnny Hopp<\/a> (.336 BA, 106 runs) and Marty Marion, the Cards’ outstanding defensive shortstop. Whitey Kurowski<\/a> slugged 20 homers with 87 RBI, and Ray Sanders<\/a> added 102 RBI. Catcher Walker Cooper posted a .317 BA to round out the offensive firepower. Veteran hurler Mort Cooper posted 22 wins with a league-best 7 shutouts, and Ted Wilks<\/a> led the NL in WHIP on his way to a 17-4 mark. Harry Brecheen<\/a> (16) and Red Munger<\/a> (11) added another 27 wins; Munger posted a microscopic 1.34 ERA for the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s it for the final entry in our MLB Team Rankings for the 1940s decade! Here’s a summary of the most dominant franchises of the 1940s:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to the final countdown post in our series of MLB team rankings for the 1940s. As a reminder, the teams are ranked from #20 through #1 based on aggregate WAR162. For the 1940s (1940-1949), a total of 160 teams were eligible (16 teams x 10 seasons), so the top 20 teams are a fairly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[71,41,66,47,64],"class_list":["post-3698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dashboards","tag-1940s","tag-mlb-statistics","tag-rankings","tag-team-war","tag-war162"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-43.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-44.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n#4: 1943 St. Louis Cardinals, 60.3 WAR162<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-45.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-46.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n#3: 1942 New York Yankees, 60.7 WAR162<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-47.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-48.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n#2: 1948 Cleveland Indians, 61.8 WAR162<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-49.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-50.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n#1: 1944 St. Louis Cardinals, 64.9 WAR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-51.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-52.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nSummary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visual-baseball.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-53.png\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"