1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season was the team's 65th season of play overall and its 58th season of play in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Dodgers finished in first place in the National League with a record of 94–60, five games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals. They advanced to the 1947 World Series against the American League champion New York Yankees, but lost the series in seven games. The Dodgers played their home games at Ebbets Field.
On April 15, Jackie Robinson started at first base for the Dodgers, breaking the baseball color line and becoming the first black player in MLB since Moses Fleetwood Walker in the 1880s. Robinson went on to bat.297, score 125 runs, steal 29 bases, and win MLB's inaugural Rookie of the Year award. This season was dramatized in the movie 42.

Offseason

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

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. On the road, the Dodgers drew 1.9 million paying fans, also a National League record at that time.

Season summary

April

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. During a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 22, Robinson committed an error for the first time in his major league career.

May

On 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. Various racial slurs were hurled at Robinson by the fans. Pee Wee Reese put his hand on Robinson's shoulder to hush the crowd. 46,572 paying fans on May 18 came to Chicago's Wrigley Field to see Robinson play against the Cubs. The Dodgers won by a score of 4–2.

June

Against the [1947 Pittsburgh 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pirates season|Pirates] on June 24, Robinson stole home plate for the first time in his career. The Pirates catcher was Dixie Howell, who had started the season in Brooklyn's farm system.

July

The Dodgers had five players selected to the All-Star Game: Dixie Walker, Ralph Branca, Bruce Edwards, Eddie Stanky, and Pee Wee Reese.

August

On August 20, St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Enos Slaughter stepped on Robinson's foot and it got injured. He fell down to the ground and all of his teammates stood up for him and shouted back at the Cardinals.

September

On September 11, 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. The incident was later part of a children's book titled In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. Against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 17, Robinson hit a home run off Fritz Ostermueller. That day, the Dodgers won the NL Pennant, sending them to the World Series.

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.
May 10, 1947: Howie Schultz was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.
May 13, 1947: Tommy Tatum was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cincinnati Reds.

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		130	471	139	.295	9	80
1B		151	590	175	.297	12	48
2B		146	559	141	.252	3	53
3B		129	441	121	.274	5	67
SS		142	476	135	.284	12	73
OF		148	529	162	.306	9	94
OF		110	388	120	.309	5	46
OF		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
	79	189	52	.275	7	39
	64	126	41	.325	2	25
	45	86	23	.267	4	10
	40	83	20	.241	0	5
	32	80	21	.263	0	7
	28	77	12	.156	1	7
	41	69	18	.261	3	11
	37	62	11	.177	0	6
	25	36	7	.194	0	3
	15	34	8	.235	0	2
	11	20	6	.300	2	5
	5	13	2	.154	0	0
	4	10	4	.400	0	2
	18	9	2	.222	0	2
	4	6	0	.000	0	0
	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
	43	280.0	21	12	2.67	148
	42	225.1	17	8	3.63	76
	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
	33	174.2	12	11	2.99	72
	33	162.0	10	5	3.11	58
	37	104.1	4	5	5.87	59
	29	87.2	6	5	2.77	31
	28	77.2	5	2	4.75	36
	3	7.2	0	1	7.04	3
	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
	46	10	4	18	3.99	40
	38	5	3	8	5.30	31
	15	0	1	1	6.37	8
	6	1	0	0	2.84	4
	4	0	0	1	7.20	6
	4	0	0	0	11.81	1
	3	0	1	0	3.00	1
	2	1	1	0	6.75	3
	2	0	0	0	5.40	2

Postseason

Postseason rosters

Pitchers: 23 Dan Bankhead 11 Jack Banta 26 Rex Barney 20 Ralph Branca 25 Hugh Casey 28 Hal Gregg 19 Joe Hatten 20 Phil Haugstad 21 Clyde King 18 Vic Lombardi 40 Erv Palica 32 Willie Ramsdell 41 Harry Taylor 43 Johnny Van Cuyk
Catchers: 24 Bobby Bragan 10 Bruce Edwards 14 Gil Hodges
Infielders: 21 Spider Jorgensen 5 Cookie Lavagetto 1 Pee Wee Reese 42 Jackie Robinson 12 Eddie Stanky
Outfielders: 6 Carl Furillo 22 Gene Hermanski 7 Pete Reiser 4 Duke Snider 11 Dixie Walker 30 Al Gionfriddo

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

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