1948 Brooklyn Dodgers season

For the football team, see 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) season.

1948  Brooklyn Dodgers
League	National League
Ballpark	Ebbets Field
City	Brooklyn, New York
Owners	James & Dearie Mulvey, Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, John L. Smith
President	Branch Rickey
Managers	Leo Durocher, Ray Blades, Burt Shotton
Radio	WMGM Red Barber, Connie Desmond, Ernie Harwell
←  1947 1949  →

Leo Durocher returned as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers to start the 1948 season but was fired in mid-season. He was replaced first by team coach Ray Blades and then by Burt Shotton, who had managed the team to the 1947 pennant. The Dodgers finished third in the National League after this tumultuous season.

The 1948 Dodgers were very much a work in progress, beginning to coalesce into the classic "Boys of Summer" teams of the 1950s. Gil Hodges was in the opening day lineup, but as a catcher. He would only be shifted to first base after the emergence of Roy Campanella. Jackie Robinson started the season at second base—Eddie Stanky had been traded just before the start of the season to make room for Robinson at his natural position; he had played first base during his 1947 rookie season. Pee Wee Reese was the only "Boys of summer" regular to already be ensconced at his position, shortstop. Billy Cox had been acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates during the offseason, but as one of nine players who would see time at third for the team that year, he only played 70 games at the position. Carl Furillo was already a regular, but in center field. Duke Snider was brought up to the team in mid-season, and it was not until 1949 that Furillo moved to right field and Snider became the regular center fielder.

Preacher Roe and Ralph Branca were in the starting rotation, but Carl Erskine only appeared in a handful of games, and Don Newcombe would not join the staff until the following year.

Offseason

• November 14, 1947: Stan Rojek ^[1] and Ed Stevens ^[2] were purchased from the Dodgers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• December 3, 1947: Monty Basgall was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jimmy Bloodworth and Vic Barnhart. ^[3]
• December 8, 1947: Dixie Walker, Hal Gregg and Vic Lombardi were traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Preacher Roe, Billy Cox and Gene Mauch. ^[4]
• March 6, 1948: Eddie Stanky was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Bama Rowell, Ray Sanders and cash. ^[5]

Regular season

Future Hall of Famer Roy Campanella made his major league debut on April 20. ^[6] In July, Campanella replaced Bruce Edwards as the club's starting catcher. This marked the first time that a major league team had two black players in its everyday lineup. ^[7]

On September 9, Rex Barney pitched a no-hitter against the New York Giants. He walked two batters and struck out four in a 2–0 victory.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Braves	91	62	.595	—	45‍–‍31	46‍–‍31
St. Louis Cardinals	85	69	.552	6½	44‍–‍33	41‍–‍36
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	.545	7½	36‍–‍41	48‍–‍29
Pittsburgh Pirates	83	71	.539	8½	47‍–‍31	36‍–‍40
New York Giants	78	76	.506	13½	37‍–‍40	41‍–‍36
Philadelphia Phillies	66	88	.429	25½	32‍–‍44	34‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds	64	89	.418	27	32‍–‍45	32‍–‍44
Chicago Cubs	64	90	.416	27½	35‍–‍42	29‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1948 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BSN	BRO	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	14–8	16–6–1	13–8	11–11	14–8	12–10	11–11
Brooklyn	8–14	—	11–11	18–4	11–11–1	15–7	9–13	12–10
Chicago	6–16–1	11–11	—	10–12	11–11	7–15	8–14	11–11
Cincinnati	8–13	4–18	12–10	—	10–12	11–11	9–13	10–12
New York	11–11	11–11–1	11–11	12–10	—	14–8	12–10	7–15
Philadelphia	8–14	7–15	15–7	11–11	8–14	—	12–10–1	5–17
Pittsburgh	10–12	13–9	14–8	13–9	10–12	10–12–1	—	13–9–1
St. Louis	11–11	10–12	11–11	12–10	15–7	17–5	9–13–1	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day lineup
Name	Position
Jackie Robinson	Second baseman
Arky Vaughan	Left fielder
Preston Ward	First baseman
Carl Furillo	Center fielder
Pee Wee Reese	Shortstop
Dick Whitman	Right fielder
Billy Cox	Third baseman
Gil Hodges	Catcher
Rex Barney	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• April 18, 1948: Ray Sanders was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves. ^[8]
• September 29, 1948: Jimmy Bloodworth was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cincinnati Reds. ^[3]

Roster

1948 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 11 Jack Banta 26 Rex Barney 29 Hank Behrman 13 Ralph Branca 25 Hugh Casey 17 Carl Erskine 23,45 John Hall 19 Joe Hatten 20 Phil Haugstad 16,23 Clyde King 38 Paul Minner 12,40 Erv Palica 32 Willie Ramsdell 28 Preacher Roe 20 Elmer Sexauer 30 Lefty Sloat 41 Harry Taylor 37 Johnny Van Cuyk		Catchers 24 Bobby Bragan 33,39,56 Roy Campanella 10 Bruce Edwards Infielders 33 Tommy Brown  3 Billy Cox 14 Gil Hodges 21 Spider Jorgensen 29,44 Gene Mauch 34 Eddie Miksis 17 Bob Ramazzotti  1 Pee Wee Reese 42 Jackie Robinson 36,52 Preston Ward		Outfielders  6 Carl Furillo 22 Gene Hermanski 17,40 Don Lund 35 Marv Rackley  7 Pete Reiser  8 George Shuba  4 Duke Snider  9 Arky Vaughan 18 Dick Whitman		Manager 27 Ray Blades  2 Leo Durocher -- Burt Shotton Coaches 27 Ray Blades 31 Jake Pitler 15 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	Roy Campanella	83	279	72	.258	9	45
1B	Gil Hodges	134	481	120	.249	11	70
2B	Jackie Robinson	147	574	170	.296	12	85
3B	Billy Cox	88	237	59	.249	3	15
SS	Pee Wee Reese	151	566	155	.274	9	75
OF	Gene Hermanski	133	400	116	.290	15	60
OF	Carl Furillo	108	364	108	.297	4	44
OF	Marv Rackley	88	281	92	.327	0	15

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
Bruce Edwards	96	286	79	.276	8	54
Eddie Miksis	86	221	47	.213	2	16
Dick Whitman	60	165	48	.291	0	20
George Shuba	63	161	43	.267	4	32
Duke Snider	53	160	39	.244	5	21
Preston Ward	42	146	38	.260	1	21
Tommy Brown	54	145	35	.241	2	20
Pete Reiser	64	127	30	.236	1	19
Arky Vaughan	65	123	30	.244	3	22
Spider Jorgensen	31	90	27	.300	1	13
Don Lund	27	69	13	.188	1	5
Gene Mauch	12	13	2	.154	0	0
Bobby Bragan	9	12	2	.167	0	0
Bob Ramazzotti	4	3	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
Rex Barney	44	246.2	15	13	3.10	138
Ralph Branca	36	215.2	14	9	3.51	122
Harry Taylor	17	80.2	2	7	5.36	32

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
Joe Hatten	42	208.2	13	10	3.58	73
Preacher Roe	34	177.2	12	8	2.63	86
Erv Palica	41	125.1	6	6	4.45	74
Carl Erskine	17	64.0	6	3	3.23	29
Lefty Sloat	4	7.1	0	1	6.14	1
Jack Banta	2	3.1	0	1	8.10	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
Hank Behrman	34	5	4	7	4.05	42
Paul Minner	28	4	3	1	2.44	23
Willie Ramsdell	27	4	4	4	5.19	34
Hugh Casey	22	3	0	4	8.00	7
Clyde King	9	0	1	0	8.03	5
Johnny Van Cuyk	3	0	0	0	3.60	1
John Hall	3	0	0	0	6.23	2
Elmer Sexauer	2	0	0	0	13.50	0
Phil Haugstad	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• 1948 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Ralph Branca starter
  • Pee Wee Reese starter

League top five finishers

Rex Barney

• #2 in NL in strikeouts (138)
• #4 in NL in shutouts (4)

Ralph Branca

• #5 in NL in strikeouts (122)

Pee Wee Reese

• #2 in NL in stolen bases (25)

Jackie Robinson

• #4 in NL in runs scored (108)
• #4 in NL in stolen bases (22)
• #4 in NL in doubles (38)

Preacher Roe

• #4 in NL in ERA (2.63)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Montreal Royals	International League	Clay Hopper
AAA	St. Paul Saints	American Association	Walter Alston
AA	Fort Worth Cats	Texas League	Les Burge George Dockins Bobby Bragan
AA	Mobile Bears	Southern Association	Alfred Todd
A	Greenville Spinners	South Atlantic League	Greg Mulleavy
A	Pueblo Dodgers	Western League	John Fitzpatrick
B	Asheville Tourists	Tri-State League	Clay Bryant
B	Danville Dodgers	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Paul Chervinko
B	Lancaster Red Roses	Interstate League	Dibrell Williams Jack Knight
B	Nashua Dodgers	New England League	Al Campanis
B	Newport News Dodgers	Piedmont League	Roy Schalk
C	Abilene Blue Sox	West Texas–New Mexico League	Art Bowland Otis Davis
C	Greenwood Dodgers	Cotton States League	Jim Bivin
C	Idaho Falls Russets	Pioneer League	Jay Kirke, Jr. Lewis Garland
C	Johnstown Johnnies	Middle Atlantic League	Roy Nichols
C	Santa Barbara Dodgers	California League	Chester Kehn
D	Trois-Rivières Royals	Canadian–American League	Ed Head
D	Cairo Dodgers	Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League	Hugh Holliday Norbert Hall
D	Cambridge Dodgers	Eastern Shore League	Bob Vickery Stew Hofferth
D	Medford Nuggets	Far West League	Larry Shepard
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	George Pfister
D	Sheboygan Indians	Wisconsin State League	Joe Hauser
D	Valdosta Dodgers	Georgia–Florida League	Lou Rochelli
D	Zanesville Dodgers	Ohio–Indiana League	Ray Hathaway

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, St. Paul, Ft. Worth, Greenville, Nashua, Newport News, Santa Barbara, Pulaski, Sheboygan, Zanesville

Notes

1. Stan Rojek page at Baseball Reference
2. Ed Stevens page at Baseball Reference
3. Jimmy Bloodworth page at Baseball Reference
4. Dixie Walker page at Baseball Reference
5. Eddie Stanky page at Baseball Reference
6. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 267, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN   978-0-7432-9461-4
7. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 267
8. Ray Sanders page at Baseball Reference

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page Archived September 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
• Retrosheet