from World War II service because of a perforated eardrum, in Cavaretta batted .321 with a league-high 197 hits, had career highs with 106 runs, 35 doubles and 15 triples, and earned his first of four straight All-Star selections (reaching base a record five times in the game) though the Cubs suffered their fifth consecutive losing season. But the team improved by 23 games in 1945, edging the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals by three games for the pennant as Cavaretta was named MVP. That season he won the National League batting title, hitting .355. He also had a career-high 97 RBI, leading the NL in on-base percentage and finishing third in slugging average. He batted .423 in the World Series against the Tigers, though the Cubs again lost, in seven games. In Game 1, he singled and scored as the Cubs took a 4–0 lead in the first inning, singled and scored again in the third, and homered in the seventh as Chicago took the opener 9–0. He scored the Cubs' only run in Game 2, and in a 12-inning 8–7 win in Game 6 had a 2–RBI single and scored a run; he had three hits in Game 7, but the Cubs lost 9–3. He made the All-Star team again in 1946 and 1947, batting .314 the latter year, as the Cubs again fell back in the standings. He was named manager in June 1951, succeeding Frankie Frisch. Continuing as manager for two more years, he compiled a record of 169–213. In , his final season with the Cubs, he surpassed Stan Hack's modern team record of 1,938 games; Ernie Banks would eventually break his mark of 1,953 games in . Cavarretta was fired during spring training after admitting the team was unlikely to finish above fifth place (they finished seventh), and in May he signed with the crosstown Chicago White Sox; he ended his career there in . Legacy In his 22-year major league career covering 2,030 games, Cavaretta compiled a .293 batting average (1,977-for-6,754) with 990 runs, 347 doubles, 99 triples, 95 home runs, 920 RBI, 65 stolen bases, 820 bases on balls, .372 on-base percentage and .416 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .989 fielding percentage playing at first base and all three outfield positions. In three World Series (1935, 1938 and 1945) he hit .317 (20-for-63) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 1