1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season

1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
1947 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Ebbets Field (since 1913)
Brooklyn, New York (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Branch Rickey, Walter O'Malley, James Lawrence Smith
Manager(s)	Clyde Sukeforth/Burt Shotton
Local radio	WHN Red Barber, Connie Desmond
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On April 15, Jackie Robinson was the opening day first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball since 1884. Robinson went on to bat .297, score 125 runs, steal 29 bases and be named the very first Rookie of the Year. The Dodgers won the National League title and went on to lose to the New York Yankees in the 1947 World Series. This season was dramatized in the movie 42.

Offseason

October 2, 1946: Steve Nagy was purchased from the Dodgers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[1]
October 19, 1946: Art Herring was purchased from the Dodgers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[2]
December 4, 1946: Augie Galan was traded by the Dodgers to the Cincinnati Reds for Ed Heusser.^[3]
December 5, 1946: Eddie Basinski was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Al Gerheauser.^[4]
Prior to 1947 season: Marion Fricano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.^[5]

Regular season

Due to the suspension of Leo Durocher for a year for "conduct detrimental to baseball", coach Clyde Sukeforth managed the first 2 games of the season on an emergency basis, but declined to manage for the full season, so Burt Shotton took over as manager for the rest of the season.

The Dodgers had a home attendance of 1.8 million paying fans, a National League record at the time.^[6] On road, the Dodgers drew 1.9 million paying fans, also a National League record at that time.

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Brooklyn Dodgers	94	60	--	.610
St. Louis Cardinals	89	65	5	.578
Boston Braves	86	68	8	.558
New York Giants	81	73	13	.526
Cincinnati Reds	73	81	21	.474
Chicago Cubs	69	85	25	.448
Philadelphia Phillies	62	92	32	.403
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	32	.403

Opening Day lineup


Opening Day lineup
Name	Position
Eddie Stanky	Second baseman
Jackie Robinson	First baseman
Pete Reiser	Center fielder
Dixie Walker	Right fielder
Gene Hermanski	Left fielder
Bruce Edwards	Catcher
Spider Jorgensen	Third baseman
Pee Wee Reese	Shortstop
Joe Hatten	Starting pitcher

Season chronology

April 15: On Opening Day, Jackie Robinson made his debut as the Dodgers' first baseman. He went 0-for-3, scoring a run. He also had one sacrifice hit and grounded into a double play before being replaced late in the game by Howie Schultz. In the field, he had 11 putouts without an error.^[7]
April 22: In a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Robinson committed an error for the first time in his major league career.^[8]
May 13: Robinson played in his first game in Cincinnati. The Reds won the game 7–5. Despite the loss, Robinson had a walk, a single, and a run.^[9] Various racial slurs were hurled at Robinson by the fans. Pee Wee Reese put his hand on Robinson's shoulder to hush the crowd.^[10]
May 18: 46,572 paying fans (while there were 20,000 fans outside) came to Chicago's Wrigley Field to see Robinson play against the Cubs. The Dodgers won by a score of 4–2.^[11]
June 24: Against the Pirates, Robinson stole home plate for the first time in his career.^[12] The Pirates catcher was Dixie Howell, who had started the season in Brooklyn's farm system.
September 11: St. Louis Cardinals catcher Joe Garagiola and Robinson were involved in an incident at home plate. Garagiola stepped on Robinson’s foot and the two started arguing. Umpire Beans Reardon held back Garagiola while Robinson clapped.^[13] The incident was later part of a children’s book titled Year of the Boar and Jackie.

Notable transactions

May 3, 1947: Kirby Higbe, Hank Behrman, Cal McLish, Gene Mauch and Dixie Howell were traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Al Gionfriddo and cash.^[14]
May 10, 1947: Howie Schultz was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.^[15]
May 13, 1947: Tommy Tatum was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cincinnati Reds.^[16]

Roster

1947 Brooklyn Dodgers

Roster

Pitchers

23 Dan Bankhead

11 Jack Banta

26 Rex Barney

29 Hank Behrman

13,20 Ralph Branca

25 Hugh Casey

39 Ed Chandler

23 George Dockins

8,28 Hal Gregg

19 Joe Hatten

20 Phil Haugstad

13 Kirby Higbe

16,21 Clyde King

18 Vic Lombardi

37 Rube Melton

40 Erv Palica

32 Willie Ramsdell

41 Harry Taylor

43 Johnny Van Cuyk

Catchers

24 Bobby Bragan

10 Bruce Edwards

14 Gil Hodges

Infielders

33 Tommy Brown

21 Spider Jorgensen

5 Cookie Lavagetto

34 Eddie Miksis

1 Pee Wee Reese

42 Jackie Robinson

3 Stan Rojek

8 Howie Schultz

12 Eddie Stanky

36 Ed Stevens

Outfielders

6 Carl Furillo

30 Al Gionfriddo

22 Gene Hermanski

17,40 Don Lund

35 Marv Rackley

7 Pete Reiser

4 Duke Snider

17 Tommy Tatum

11 Dixie Walker

14 Dick Whitman

Manager

-- Burt Shotton

40 Clyde Sukeforth

Coaches

16,27 Ray Blades

31 Jake Pitler

40 Clyde Sukeforth

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Edwards, BruceBruce Edwards	130	471	139	.295	9	80
1B	Robinson, JackieJackie Robinson	151	590	175	.297	12	48
2B	Stanky, EddieEddie Stanky	146	559	141	.252	3	53
3B	Jorgensen, SpiderSpider Jorgensen	129	441	121	.274	5	67
SS	Reese, Pee WeePee Wee Reese	142	476	135	.284	12	73
OF	Walker, DixieDixie Walker	148	529	162	.306	9	94
OF	Reiser, PetePete Reiser	110	388	120	.309	5	46
OF	Furillo, CarlCarl Furillo	124	437	129	.295	8	88

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Hermanski, GeneGene Hermanski	79	189	52	.275	7	39
Vaughan, ArkyArky Vaughan	64	126	41	.325	2	25
Snider, DukeDuke Snider	40	83	20	.241	0	5
Hodges, GilGil Hodges	28	77	12	.156	1	7
Gionfriddo, AlAl Gionfriddo	37	62	11	.177	0	6
Stevens, EdEd Stevens	5	13	2	.154	0	0
Tatum, TommyTommy Tatum	4	6	0	.000	0	0
Schultz, HowieHowie Schultz	2	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Branca, RalphRalph Branca	43	280	21	12	2.67	148
Hatten, JoeJoe Hatten	42	225.1	17	8	3.63	76
Higbe, KirbyKirby Higbe	4	15.2	2	0	5.17	10

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Lombardi, VicVic Lombardi	33	174.2	12	11	2.99	72
Taylor, HarryHarry Taylor	33	162	10	5	3.11	58
Gregg, HalHal Gregg	37	104.1	4	5	5.87	59
Barney, RexRex Barney	28	77.2	5	2	4.75	36
Banta, JackJack Banta	3	7.2	0	1	7.04	3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Casey, HughHugh Casey	46	10	4	18	3.99	40
Behrman, HankHank Behrman	38	5	3	8	5.30	31
Chandler, EdEd Chandler	15	0	1	1	6.37	8
Bankhead, DanDan Bankhead	4	0	0	1	7.20	6
Dockins, GeorgeGeorge Dockins	4	0	0	0	11.81	1

1947 World Series

Main article: 1947 World Series

Game 1

September 30, 1947 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	6	0
New York	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	X	5	4	0
WP: Spec Shea (1–0) LP: Ralph Branca (0–1)

Game 2

October 1, 1947 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	9	2
New York	1	0	1	1	2	1	4	0	X	10	15	1
WP: Allie Reynolds (1–0) LP: Vic Lombardi (0–1) Home runs: BKLYN: Dixie Walker (1) NY: Tommy Henrich (1)

Game 3

October 2, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	2	2	2	1	1	0	0	8	13	0
Brooklyn	0	6	1	2	0	0	0	0	X	9	13	1
WP: Hugh Casey (1–0) LP: Bobo Newsom (0–1) Home runs: NY: Joe DiMaggio (1), Yogi Berra (1) BRK: None

Game 4

October 3, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	1	3
WP: Hugh Casey (2–0) LP: Bill Bevens (0–1)

Game 5

October 4, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
Brooklyn	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	1
WP: Spec Shea (2–0) LP: Rex Barney (0–1) Home runs: NY: Joe DiMaggio (2) BRK: None

Game 6

October 5, 1947 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	2	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	8	12	1
New York	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	15	2
WP: Ralph Branca (1–1) LP: Joe Page (0–1)

Game 7

October 6, 1947 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	0
New York	0	1	0	2	0	1	1	0	X	5	7	0
WP: Joe Page (1–1) LP: Hal Gregg (0–1)

Awards and honors

1947 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Dixie Walker starter
- Ralph Branca reserve
- Bruce Edwards reserve
- Pee Wee Reese reserve
- Eddie Stanky reserve
Rookie of the Year Award
- Jackie Robinson
TSN Major League Executive of the Year
- Branch Rickey
TSN Major League All-Star Team
- Ralph Branca
TSN Rookie of the Year Award
- Jackie Robinson

Farm System

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Montreal Royals	International League	Clay Hopper
AAA	St. Paul Saints	American Association	Herman Franks Curt Davis
AA	Ft. Worth Cats	Texas League	Les Burge
AA	Mobile Bears	Southern Association	Alfred Todd
A	Greenville Spinners	South Atlantic League	Frenchy Bordagaray Pepper Martin
A	Pueblo Dodgers	Western League	Walter Alston
B	Asheville Tourists	Tri-State League	William Sayles
B	Danville Dodgers	Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League	Paul Chervinko
B	Nashua Dodgers	New England League	John Dantonio
B	Newport News Dodgers	Piedmont League	John Fitzpatrick
B	Spokane Indians	Western International League	Ben Geraghty
C	Abilene Blue Sox	West Texas-New Mexico League	Art Bowland Hayden Greer
C	Greenwood Dodgers	Cotton States League	Jim Bivin
C	Johnstown Johnnies	Middle Atlantic League	Jay Kirke, Jr.
C	Santa Barbara Dodgers	California League	Ray Hathaway
D	Trois Rivieres Royals	Canadian-American League	Lou Rochelli
D	Cambridge Dodgers	Eastern Shore League	Roy Nichols
D	Kingston Dodgers	North Atlantic League	George Scherger
D	Olean Oilers	Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League	Greg Mulleavy
D	Ponca City Dodgers	Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League	Boyd Bartley
D	Pulaski Counts	Appalachian League	Larry Kinzer
D	Valdosta Dodgers	Georgia-Florida League	Hugh Holliday
D	Zanesville Dodgers	Ohio-Indiana League	Clay Bryant

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Mobile, Pueblo, Nashua, Spokane, Greenwood, Zanesville

Notes

↑ Steve Nagy page at Baseball Reference
↑ Art Herring page at Baseball Reference
↑ Augie Galan page at Baseball Reference
↑ Eddie Basinski page at Baseball Reference
↑ Marion Fricano page at Baseball Reference
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 231, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
↑ Box score of Robinson's first game from Retrosheet
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 75
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 125
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 127
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 141
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 167
↑ Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 228
↑ Kirby Higbe page at Baseball Reference
↑ Howie Schultz page at Baseball Reference
↑ Tommy Tatum page at Baseball Reference

References

External links

National League champions

1947 MLB season by team

American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington

National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

1947 All-Star Game 1947 World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers

Formerly the Brooklyn Robins and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Based in Los Angeles, California

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General Manager: Farhan Zaidi
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