1946 National League tie-breaker series

The 1946 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series at the conclusion of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1946 regular season to decide the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The games were played on October 1 and October 3, 1946, between the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers. It was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 96–58. This was the first ever tie-breaker series in MLB history.

The first game took place at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, and the second, at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. The Cardinals swept the Dodgers behind wins from pitchers Howie Pollet and Murry Dickson, thus advancing to the 1946 World Series in which they defeated the Boston Red Sox, four games to three. In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker series counted as the 155th and 156th regular season games by both teams, with all events in the games added to regular season statistics.

In the first season of baseball since the conclusion of World War II, all ballplayers who had served in the military were returning to their former teams. The Cardinals regained Hall of Famer Stan Musial, and the Dodgers reacquired Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese. The previous season, St. Louis finished second in the NL, and Brooklyn ended the season third, with records of 95–59 and 87–67, respectively. In a pre-season poll of 119 sportswriters, 115 picked the Cardinals to win the National League, while none selected the Dodgers.

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