1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season

On April 15, Jackie Robinson was the opening day first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball. Robinson went on to bat .297, score 125 runs, steal 29 bases and be named the first African-American 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.

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)	James & Dearie Mulvey, Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, John L. Smith
General manager(s)	Branch Rickey
Manager(s)	Clyde Sukeforth, Burt Shotton
Local radio	WHN Red Barber, Connie Desmond
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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	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	94	60	0.610	—	52–25	42–35
St. Louis Cardinals	89	65	0.578	5	46–31	43–34
Boston Braves	86	68	0.558	8	50–27	36–41
New York Giants	81	73	0.526	13	45–31	36–42
Cincinnati Reds	73	81	0.474	21	42–35	31–46
Chicago Cubs	69	85	0.448	25	36–43	33–42
Philadelphia Phillies	62	92	0.403	32	38–38	24–54
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	0.403	32	32–45	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1947 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	12–10	13–9	13–9	13–9	14–8	12–10	9–13
Brooklyn	10–12	—	15–7	15–7	14–8	14–8	15–7	11–11–1
Chicago	9–13	7–15	—	12–10	7–15	16–6–1	8–14	10–12
Cincinnati	9–13	7–15	10–12	—	13–9	13–9	13–9	8–14
New York	9–13	8–14	15–7	9–13	—	12–10	15–7–1	13–9
Philadelphia	8–14	8–14	6–16–1	9–13	10–12	—	13–9	8–14
Pittsburgh	10–12	7–15	14–8	9–13	7–15–1	9–13	—	6–16–1
St. Louis	13–9	11–11–1	12–10	14–8	9–13	14–8	16–6–1	—

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	Bruce Edwards	130	471	139	.295	9	80
1B	Jackie Robinson	151	590	175	.297	12	48
2B	Eddie Stanky	146	559	141	.252	3	53
3B	Spider Jorgensen	129	441	121	.274	5	67
SS	Pee Wee Reese	142	476	135	.284	12	73
OF	Dixie Walker	148	529	162	.306	9	94
OF	Pete Reiser	110	388	120	.309	5	46
OF	Carl 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
Gene Hermanski	79	189	52	.275	7	39
Arky Vaughan	64	126	41	.325	2	25
Eddie Miksis	45	86	23	.267	4	10
Duke Snider	40	83	20	.241	0	5
Stan Rojek	32	80	21	.263	0	7
Gil Hodges	28	77	12	.156	1	7
Cookie Lavagetto	41	69	18	.261	3	11
Al Gionfriddo	37	62	11	.177	0	6
Bobby Bragan	25	36	7	.194	0	3
Tommy Brown	15	34	8	.235	0	2
Don Lund	11	20	6	.300	2	5
Ed Stevens	5	13	2	.154	0	0
Dick Whitman	4	10	4	.400	0	2
Marv Rackley	18	9	2	.222	0	2
Tommy Tatum	4	6	0	.000	0	0
Howie 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
Ralph Branca	43	280	21	12	2.67	148
Joe Hatten	42	225.1	17	8	3.63	76
Kirby 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
Vic Lombardi	33	174.2	12	11	2.99	72
Harry Taylor	33	162	10	5	3.11	58
Hal Gregg	37	104.1	4	5	5.87	59
Clyde King	29	87.2	6	5	2.77	31
Rex Barney	28	77.2	5	2	4.75	36
Jack Banta	3	7.2	0	1	7.04	3
Rube Melton	4	4.2	0	1	13.50	1

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
Hugh Casey	46	10	4	18	3.99	40
Hank Behrman	38	5	3	8	5.30	31
Ed Chandler	15	0	1	1	6.37	8
Phil Haugstad	6	1	0	0	2.84	4
Dan Bankhead	4	0	0	1	7.20	6
George Dockins	4	0	0	0	11.81	1
Erv Palica	3	0	1	0	3.00	1
Willie Ramsdell	2	1	1	0	6.75	3
Johnny Van Cuyk	2	0	0	0	5.40	2

1947 World Series

Main article: 1947 World Series

Game 1

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

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 City

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 City

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 City

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-Rivières 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

1. Steve Nagy page at Baseball Reference
2. Art Herring page at Baseball Reference
3. Augie Galan page at Baseball Reference
4. Eddie Basinski page at Baseball Reference
5. Marion Fricano page at Baseball Reference
6. 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
7. Box score of Robinson's first game from Retrosheet
8. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 75
9. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 125
10. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 127
11. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 141
12. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 167
13. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 228
14. Kirby Higbe page at Baseball Reference
15. Howie Schultz page at Baseball Reference
16. Tommy Tatum page at Baseball Reference

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page
• Retrosheet