1937 Brooklyn Dodgers season

Former Dodgers pitcher Burleigh Grimes was brought in to manage the 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers, but the team continued to struggle, finishing in sixth place.

This article is about the baseball team. For the NFL team, see 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) season.

1937 Brooklyn Dodgers
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Ebbets Field (since 1913) Brooklyn, New York (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Stephen McKeever
Manager(s)	Burleigh Grimes
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Offseason

• November 19, 1936: Tony Malinosky was purchased by the Dodgers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[1]
• December 4, 1936: Ed Brandt was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Cookie Lavagetto and Ralph Birkofer.[2]
• December 5, 1936: Lonny Frey was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Roy Henshaw and Woody English.[3]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	95	57	0.625	—	50–25	45–32
Chicago Cubs	93	61	0.604	3	46–32	47–29
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	68	0.558	10	46–32	40–36
St. Louis Cardinals	81	73	0.526	15	45–33	36–40
Boston Bees	79	73	0.520	16	43–33	36–40
Brooklyn Dodgers	62	91	0.405	33½	36–39	26–52
Philadelphia Phillies	61	92	0.399	34½	29–45	32–47
Cincinnati Reds	56	98	0.364	40	28–51	28–47

Record vs. opponents

1937 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	15–7	9–13	11–11	10–10	14–8	11–11	9–13
Brooklyn	7–15	—	8–14	12–10–1	6–16	10–11	12–10	7–15–1
Chicago	13–9	14–8	—	14–8	12–10	14–8	9–13	17–5
Cincinnati	11–11	10–12–1	8–14	—	8–14	11–11	1–21	7–15
New York	10–10	16–6	10–12	14–8	—	15–7	16–6	14–8
Philadelphia	8–14	11–10	8–14	11–11	7–15	—	11–11	5–17–2
Pittsburgh	11–11	10–12	13–9	21–1	6–16	11–11	—	14–8
St. Louis	13–9	15–7–1	5–17	15–7	8–14	17–5–2	8–14	—

Notable transactions

• May 2, 1937: Roy Spencer was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Giants.[4]
• May 24, 1937: Randy Moore was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Paul Chervinko.[5]
• June 11, 1937: Tom Baker was traded by the Dodgers to the New York Giants for Freddie Fitzsimmons.[6]
• June 12, 1937: Waite Hoyt was purchased by the Dodgers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[7]
• July 11, 1937: Ralph Birkofer was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for Lindsay Brown and cash.[8]
• July 23, 1937: Frank Skaff and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the Washington Senators for Jake Daniel.[9]
• August 9, 1937: Ben Cantwell was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Giants.[10]
• September 10, 1937: Tot Pressnell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.[11]
• September 10, 1937: Ben Geraghty and Jack Radtke were traded by the Dodgers to the Washington Senators for Fred Chapman.[12]
• October 4, 1937: Johnny Cooney, Jim Bucher, Joe Stripp and Roy Henshaw were traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Leo Durocher.[13]

Roster

1937 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 20 Tom Baker 19 Ralph Birkofer 15 Max Butcher 27 Ben Cantwell 17 Watty Clark 18 Harry Eisenstat 10 Freddie Fitzsimmons 11 Fred Frankhouse 12 Luke Hamlin 22 Roy Henshaw 34 Waite Hoyt 23 George Jeffcoat 19 Jim Lindsey -- Buck Marrow 16 Van Mungo -- Jim Peterson		Catchers  8 Paul Chervinko 34 Elmer Klumpp 10 Randy Moore  9 Babe Phelps 14 Roy Spencer Infielders  7 Lindsay Brown  2 Jim Bucher 24 Jake Daniel  1 Woody English -- George Fallon  6 Buddy Hassett  7 Johnny Hudson  5 Cookie Lavagetto  4 Tony Malinosky 27 Eddie Morgan -- Nick Polly  3 Joe Stripp		Outfielders 30 Gibby Brack -- George Cisar 25 Johnny Cooney  8 Sid Gautreaux -- Bert Haas 26 Heinie Manush -- Art Parks -- Goody Rosen 28 Eddie Wilson 29 Tom Winsett		Manager 33 Burleigh Grimes Coaches 31 Andy High

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	Babe Phelps	121	409	128	.313	7	58
1B	Buddy Hassett	137	556	169	.304	1	53
2B	Cookie Lavagetto	149	503	142	.282	8	70
3B	Joe Stripp	90	300	73	.243	1	26
SS	Woody English	129	378	90	.238	1	42
OF	Heinie Manush	132	466	155	.333	4	73
OF	Johnny Cooney	120	430	126	.293	0	37
OF	Gibby Brack	112	372	102	.274	5	38

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
Jim Bucher	125	380	96	.253	4	37
Tom Winsett	118	350	83	.237	5	42
Roy Spencer	51	117	24	.205	0	4
Lindsay Brown	48	115	31	.270	0	6
Tony Malinosky	35	79	18	.228	0	3
Goody Rosen	22	77	24	.312	0	6
Eddie Wilson	36	54	12	.222	1	8
Paul Chervinko	30	48	7	.146	0	2
Eddie Morgan	31	48	9	.188	0	5
George Cisar	20	29	6	.207	0	4
Jake Daniel	12	27	5	.185	0	3
Johnny Hudson	13	27	5	.185	0	2
Bert Haas	16	25	10	.400	0	2
Randy Moore	13	22	3	.136	0	2
Nick Polly	10	18	4	.222	0	2
Art Parks	7	16	5	.313	0	0
Elmer Klumpp	5	11	1	.091	0	2
Sid Gautreaux	11	10	1	.100	0	2
George Fallon	4	8	2	.250	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
Fred Frankhouse	33	179.1	10	13	4.27	64
Waite Hoyt	27	167	7	7	3.23	44
Van Mungo	25	161	9	11	2.91	122
Freddie Fitzsimmons	13	90.2	4	8	4.27	29

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
Max Butcher	39	191.2	11	15	4.27	57
Luke Hamlin	39	185.2	11	13	3.59	93
Roy Henshaw	42	156.1	5	12	5.07	98
Harry Eisenstat	13	47.2	3	3	3.97	12
Buck Marrow	6	16.1	1	2	6.61	2

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
George Jeffcoat	21	1	3	0	5.13	29
Jim Lindsey	20	0	1	2	3.52	15
Ben Cantwell	13	0	0	0	4.61	12
Ralph Birkofer	11	0	2	0	6.67	9
Tom Baker	7	0	1	0	8.64	2
Jim Peterson	3	0	0	0	7.94	4
Watty Clark	2	0	0	0	7.71	0
Tom Winsett	1	0	0	0	18.00	0

Awards and honors

• 1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Van Mungo reserve

Farm System

Level	Team	League	Manager
A1	Knoxville Smokies	Southern Association	Neil Caldwell
A	Elmira Pioneers	Eastern League	Bruno Betzel
A	Davenport Blue Sox	Western League	John Fitzpatrick
B	Clinton Owls	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Clyde Sukeforth
C	Greenwood Dodgers	Cotton States League	Elmer Yoter
D	Pocomoke City Red Sox	Eastern Shore League	Vic Keen
D	Cordele Reds	Georgia–Florida League	Ivy Griffin
D	Americus Cardinals	Georgia–Florida League	Dixie Parker Bill Porter Guy Lacy
D	Beatrice Blues	Nebraska State League	Leon Riley
D	Greensburg Green Sox	Pennsylvania State Association	Wilbur Cooper

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira

Notes

1. Tony Malinosky at Baseball-Reference
2. Ed Brandt at Baseball-Reference
3. Lonny Frey at Baseball-Reference
4. Roy Spencer at Baseball-Reference
5. Randy Moore at Baseball-Reference
6. Tom Baker at Baseball-Reference
7. Waite Hoyt at Baseball-Reference
8. Ralph Birkofer at Baseball-Reference
9. Frank Skaff at Baseball-Reference
10. Ben Cantwell at Baseball-Reference
11. Tot Pressnell at Baseball-Reference
12. Ben Geraghty at Baseball-Reference
13. Johnny Cooney at Baseball-Reference

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page
• Retrosheet