1942 Brooklyn Dodgers season

Last updated

1942  Brooklyn Dodgers
Brooklyn Dodgers Cap Logo (1934 to 1936, 1938 to 1955).svg
League National League
Ballpark Ebbets Field
City Brooklyn, New York
Owners James & Dearie Mulvey, Brooklyn Trust Company
President Larry MacPhail
Managers Leo Durocher
Radio WHN, WOR
Red Barber, Alan Hale
  1941
1943  

The 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers team won 104 games in the season, but fell two games short of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League pennant race. The Dodgers' 104 wins tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs for the most wins by a team that failed to finish first in its league (or, since 1969, division); this record lasted until 2021, when the Dodgers won 106 games but finished a game behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. [1]

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

The Dodgers were 73–30 and 10 games ahead on August 4, but the Cardinals went on to win 45 of their last 56 to grab the NL title. To exacerbate the problem, the Dodgers had also dropped several close games to St. Louis in September.

Defending NL batting champ Pete Reiser, hitting .380, was sidelined in mid-season after repeatedly crashing into the unpadded outfield wall in Ebbets Field. While he recovered from a fractured skull, Brooklyn could not keep up their early pace. A healthy Reiser may very well have made up the two-game difference. [10]

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 10648.68860174631
Brooklyn Dodgers 10450.675257224728
New York Giants 8567.5592047313836
Cincinnati Reds 7676.5002938393837
Pittsburgh Pirates 6681.44936½41342547
Chicago Cubs 6886.4423836413245
Boston Braves 5989.3994433362653
Philadelphia Phils 42109.27862½23511958

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBOSBRCHCCINNYGPHIPITSTL
Boston 6–1613–95–16–18–1214–87–12–16–16
Brooklyn 16–616–615–714–8–118–416–69–13
Chicago 9–136–1613–99–13–114–811–116–16
Cincinnati 16–5–17–159–139–1316–612–9–17–15
New York 12–88–14–113–9–113–917–515–77–15
Philadelphia 8–144–188–146–165–176–135–17
Pittsburgh 12–7–16–1611–119–12–17–1513–68–14–2
St. Louis 16–613–916–615–715–717–514–8–2

Notable transactions

Roster

1942 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader

Batting

Starters by position

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

PosPlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBISB
C Mickey Owen 13342153109.25904410
1B Dolph Camilli 15052489132.2522610910
2B Billy Herman 15557176146.2562656
3B Arky Vaughan 12849582137.2772498
SS Pee Wee Reese 15156487144.25535315
LF Joe Medwick 14255369166.3004962
CF Pete Reiser 12548089149.310106420
RF Dixie Walker 11839357114.2906541

Other batters

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

PlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBISB
Johnny Rizzo 782173150.2304272
Augie Galan 692092455.2630222
Lew Riggs 701992050.2783220
Billy Sullivan 431011127.2671141
Frenchy Bordagaray 48581114.241052
Alex Kampouris 102135.238030
Babe Dahlgren 171921.053000
Cliff Dapper 81728.471190
Stan Rojek 1010----000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; CG = Complete games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGGSCGIPWLERABBSO
Kirby Higbe 383213221.216113.25106115
Whit Wyatt 313016217.11972.7363104
Curt Davis 322613206.01562.365160
Bobo Newsom 65232.0223.381421
Freddie Fitzsimmons 1103.00015.0010

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; CG = Complete games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGGSCGIPWLERABBSO
Larry French 38145147.21541.833662
Ed Head 36155136.21063.564778
Johnny Allen 27155118.01063.203950
Max Macon 148484.0531.933327
Les Webber 193151.2322.962223
Schoolboy Rowe 92030.1105.34126
Chet Kehn 3107.2007.0443

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLSVERABBSO
Hugh Casey 50112.063132.254454
Newt Kimball 1429.12003.68198
Bob Chipman 21.10000.0021

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Dolph Camilli

Hugh Casey

Curt Davis

Kirby Higbe

Ducky Medwick

Pistol Pete Reiser

Farm System

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AA Montreal Royals International League Clyde Sukeforth
AA San Francisco Seals Pacific Coast League Lefty O'Doul
B Durham Bulls Piedmont League Bruno Betzel
C Santa Barbara Saints California League John Clancy
C Dayton Ducks Middle Atlantic League Paul Chervinko
Howard Holmes
William McWilliams
D Kingsport Dodgers Appalachian League Merle Settlemire
D Valdosta Trojans Georgia–Florida League Stew Hofferth
Clancy Odell
D Johnstown Johnnies Pennsylvania State Association Jay Kirke, Jr.
D Olean Oilers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Jake Pitler
D Lamesa Dodgers West Texas–New Mexico League Joe Tate

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Santa Barbara

Notes

  1. "Trea Turner wins NL batting title, Dodgers beat Brewers 10-3". Associated Press. October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021 via ESPN.
  2. Heinie Mueller page at Baseball Reference
  3. Mace Brown page at Baseball Reference
  4. Don Padgett page at Baseball Reference
  5. Johnny Rizzo page at Baseball Reference
  6. Pete Coscarart page at Baseball Reference
  7. Billy Sullivan page at Baseball Reference
  8. Frenchy Bordagaray page at Baseball Reference
  9. Steve Nagy page at Baseball Reference
  10. "HowStuffWorks "1942 Baseball Season"". entertainment.howstuffworks.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  11. Schoolboy Rowe page at Baseball Reference
  12. Babe Dahlgren page at Baseball Reference
  13. Bobo Newsom page at Baseball Reference

References