Brooklyn Dodgers 1947-1952 The Last Days in Brooklyn -Part 1

             A few days ago after reading one of my stories’s on a Dodger decade, Hodges asked if I would consider doing the same thing for the Dodgers last years in Brooklyn. I thought this was a great idea simply because those teams were the most successful ever in Brooklyn. Oh, they had some good teams before then, but never a stretch as they had from 47 to 57. And it all started with the arrival of Jackie Robinson and a few others who would soon be known as “The Boys of Summer”.

              No Dodger team had ever been to 2 World Series in a row. They had gone in 1916, 1920, and 1941. Losing all 3 times. This decade would see them make 6 trips to the big dance and win their only title in 1955.

          It is hard enough to get there once, but twice in a row is pretty hard. Especially in this era. Our Dodgers of this era went back to back in 17 and 18, but lost both. What they have done is make 8 straight trips to the playoffs, a feat never done by any Dodger team ever.

        The Braves made the most consecutive trips to the playoffs going 14 straight times from 1991 to 2005. There was no series in 94 due to the strike, so their streak was intact. In that time they went to the series 5 times. They went two times in a row twice and won 1 of the 5.

        Branch Rickey was running the team in 1947, and immediately just before the season started he had a major problem when the commissioner suspended Manager Leo Durocher for the entire season. It had something to do with his affair with a married actress, Laraine Day. So Rickey went to a former manager who said he would take the job, but not wear a uniform, Burt Shotton. Shotton took over the third game of the season.

                                                      1947

                  The story during spring training was centered on Jackie Robinson. He was Rickey’s choice to break the color barrier in baseball. So everything the 28 year old Robinson would do was under extreme scrutiny. If he were to fail, it would probably delay Black’s from being in the major leagues for at least 20 years or so. He had asked Robinson if he could have the courage to not fight back for at least his first season. No one could have expected the amount of abuse he would be subjected to, including death threats.

               They finished April with an 8-3 record. But in May they were 12-14. Through July they battled with the Cardinals and then started to pull away. They ended up winning the National League Pennant by 5 games and went on to face the Yankees in the series.

              The series was pretty exciting and went 7 games. There were some very exciting moments including a pinch hit double that broke up a no hitter and won the game, and a great catch by a reserve outfielder that robbed Joe DiMaggio of a HR.

             Game 1 was in Yankee Stadium and the home team did not disappoint the fans.  The Dodgers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a Dixie Walker single. But the Yanks jumped on Branca for 5 in the 5th, and that was all they needed winning 5-3.

            Game 2 it was the Yanks that struck first and never looked back. They scored in 6 of their 8 at bats winning 10-3. The Dodgers hit their only HR of the series when Walked connected off of Allie Reynolds in the 4th.

           Game 3. Back in Brooklyn, the Dodgers scored 6 in the second inning, 1 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th to go up 9-4 with the Yanks scoring 2, 2, 2 more in the 5th, and 1 in each the 6th and 7th innings for a 9-8 final. Bobo Newsom got the loss and Hugh Casey got the win in relief.

          Game 4. The Yankees took a 2-0 lead by the 4th inning. But the story was Bill Bivens. Despite walking 10 he had a no hitter going in the top of the 9th. Pee Wee Reese had driven in a run with an infield out in the bottom of the 5th so they went to the 9th with the score 2-1 Yankees.

         In the 9th, Edwards flew out to left, but Furillo drew the 9th walk. Gionfriddo ran for Furillo and Jorgensen fouled out. Reiser was pinch hitting for Casey, and Gionfriddo stole second. That changed Mngr Bucky Harris’s strategy and even though Reiser was injured, he decided to walk him. Eddie Miksis went in to run for Reiser, and Lavegetto, a 34-year-old veteran was sent up to hit for Eddie Stanky.

        Lavagetto swung and missed the first pitch, and Bivens was 2 strikes away from history. But on the next pitch, Lavagetto hit the ball high off of the RF wall, and Gionfriddo and Miksis scored giving the Dodgers a 3-2 win, and the Yanks and Bivens a heartbreaking loss.

       In Game 5 in Brooklyn, Spec Shea totally shut down the Brooks on 4 hits. He also walked 5 giving the Dodgers 15 walks in two games. The Yanks scored in the 4th and 5th innings to eke out the win, 2-1.

       Game 6. Back at Yankee Stadium, The Dodgers were up 4-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd and the Yankees scored 4 to tie. They went on top 5-4 in the bottom of the 4th. In the top of the 6th the Dodgers scored 4 to go up 8-5.

      Joe Hatten came into pitch and immediately was in trouble. Eddie Miksis had gone in for Gene Hermanski, but he was replaced by Gionfriddo.

       The first hitter lined out, but Stirnweiss walked. Henrich just missed a HR, then fouled out, Yogi Berra playing RF singled and up came Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio jumped on a pitch and hit it deep to left center, Gionfriddo went back and made an amazing catch against the low fence in left center. It was one of the few times anyone had seen the Yankee Clipper show emotion when he kicked the dirt.

       Hatten got out of trouble, pitched 2 more innings. Hugh Casey came in and shut the Yanks down. The Yanks scored 1 more in the 8th and the final was 8-6.

       Game 7. Game 5 starter Spec Shea was not as good this time and the Dodgers jumped on him for a 2 run lead. He was gone before the end of the second. But Bivens and Joe Page shut them down the rest of the way. The Yanks took a 3-2 lead in the 5th and never looked back. The final was 5-2.

      The powerful Yanks only hit 4 HR’s in the series. They scored 38 runs to Brooklyn’s 29. Furillo led Brooklyn with a .333 avg, and Reese hit .304. Jackie Robinson in his first series hit .259.

       The first ever Rookie of the Year award was given that year, and Robinson was the recipient. For the season he hit .297 with 12 HR’s and 48 RBI’s. Walker and Reiser hit over .300. Hall of Famer, Arky Vaughn hit .325 in 64 games. Gil Hodges as a Catcher saw action in 28 games, and 20 year old Duke Snider was in 40, hitting .241.

                                                              1948

       Leo Durocher was back at the beginning of the year. Roy Campanella made his MLB debut and got into 83 games. Walker, Vic Lombardi, and Hal Gregg had been traded to the Pirates for Preacher Roe, 3rd baseman, Billy Cox, and Gene Mauch. The 3 had circulated a petition in 47 that said they would not play with Jackie Robinson. Pee Wee Reese, a southerner from Kentucky, had refused to sign and shown support for his teammate.

     Hodges took over as the 1st baseman and hit .249. Robinson moved to 2nd with Reese at SS and Cox at 3rd. Hermanski, Furillo and Marv Rackley were the starting outfielders. Bruce Edwards was the backup catcher, George Shuba and Duke Snider saw limited action. Snider hit his first 5 MLB homers. Barney, Branca, Hatten, Roe and Harry Taylor were the starters. Erv Palica won 6 in his rookie campaign. Carl Erskine, 21, also won 6 in his first year.

     A poor start and friction with Rickey saw Durocher released from his contract on the 16th of July and he went to the Giants. Ray Blades managed the team for 1 game, and Burt Shotton returned. The Dodgers went 48-33 under Burt, but finished 3rd behind the Braves and Cardinals 14 games over .500 at 84-70. Babe Ruth died on the 16th of August and close to 100,000 people viewed him in the Yankee Stadium rotunda. In another earth shattering event, on the 14th of June at 1:15 in the morning a baby boy weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces was born to Al and Genivieve Norris. Me.

                                                   1949

         Over the winter a few moves were made. Reiser was traded to the Braves for Nanny Fernandez and Mike McCormick. In November, they drafted a young pitcher who would someday manage the team, Tommy Lasorda. Jim Hughes was obtained from the Hollywood Stars. Long-time Dodger Mickey Owens went to the Cubs on a waiver claim in July.

        But the starting core was taking shape, as was the revolving door which would be left field over the next several years. Campy, Hodges, Robinson, Reese, Cox, Hermanski, and Furillo retained their status as starters, but 22 year old Edwin, Duke Snider took over in CF.

       His first full season, Duke hit .292, tied Hodges for the team lead in HR’s with 23, and drove in 92. Snider was very hard on himself and struck out 92 times. Not a good ratio back in those days. Robinson, Hodges and Furillo drove in over 100 runs each with Jackie leading the team with 124. He also tallied 203 hits. Edwards, the backup catcher, got into the most games of any bench player with 64. Rackley hit .300 in 63 games, Luis Olmo and Tommy Brown, a rookie also, did the same in limited appearances. Chuck Connors, 28 at the time and destined to be more famous for his acting than his bat, got into 1 game.

        On the pitching side they were led by rookie Don Newcombe who went 17-8 in 31 games with 5 shutouts and 19 complete games. Roe was 15-6, Hatten 12-8, Branca 13-5, and Barney 9-8. Palica won 8 out of the pen, Banta 10, Erskine went 8-1 mostly in relief.

         Newcombe would become their 2nd rookie of the year. The team went 97-57 under Shotton beating out the Cardinals by 1 game. In the Series they would face the Yanks again and lose, 4 games to 1. The first two games were pitching duels. Allie Reynolds outdueled Newcombe, 1-0, and the next day, Roe beat Rashi, 1-0. Back in Brooklyn, Byrne started for the Yanks, and Branca went for the Dodgers. They were 1-1 going into the 9th, and the Yankees rallied with 2 outs and scored 3 times.  Gene Woodlings double started the rally, and Johnny Mize’s 2 run single and Jerry Coleman’s single, knocking in the runs.

     The Dodgers rallied for 2 in the bottom of the inning on HR’s by Olmo and Campy, Campy’s came with 2 outs. But PH Bruce Edwards struck out and the game was over.

      Page got the win. In Game 4, Lopat started for the Yanks against Newcombe again. One more time, the Yanks chased the rookie in the 4th inning after scoring 3. Hatten got the final out, and then was tagged for 3 himself on 3 hits and 2 walks. Erskine and Banta would hole the Yanks to 2 hits over the next 4 innings.

     The Dodgers got on the board with 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th, all coming with 2 outs. Reese singled , then Cox and Snider went down. Robinson singled driving in Reese. Hodges singled to put 2 men on. Olmo singled in Robinson, Campy singled in Hodges, and Hermanski  singled in Olmo. Jorgensen then struck out to end the inning. But that was it, and Allie Reynolds went 3.1 hitless out of the pen for the save.

     In game 5, the Yanks struck early off of Rex Barney, scoring 5 off of him in his 2.2 innings. They kept hitting and scored 2 more off of Banta in his 2.1 innings. Erskine lasted 2/3 of an inning in the 6th and was tagged for 3 more to end the Bombers romp. Banta gave up the only HR by NY to DiMaggio in the 4th. Hodges hit a 3 run shot off of Raschi in the 7th to cap the scoring for the Dodgers in a 9-6 loss to end the series. Joe Page again got the save.

                                                  1950

       No real major changes in the winter. Brooklyn went into the season with most of the major players intact. They did sign some guys who would impact the team down the road, Roger Craig, Charlie Neal, Norm Sherry, and they got Norm Larker from Hazelton in the North Atlantic league.

      All the starters remained the same, only Hermanski would appear in less than 100 games. His backup was 31 year old Jim Russell who hit 10 HR’s, but had only a .229 avg. Bobby Morgan was the backup 3rd baseman. Shuba, Brown, and Cal Abrams all had time in the outfield. Edwards again the backup catcher, and Eddie Miksis the main inf reserve.

     Hodges led the team with 32 HR’s and 112 RBI’s. Campy hit 31 with 89 RBI’s, and Snider also hit 31 driving in 107 and hitting .321 with 199 hits. Newcombe, Roe and Palica were the big 3. Newcombe at 19-11, Roe, also at 19-11, and Palica went 13-8 in 43 games with 19 of them starts. Don Bankhead, a 30 year old rookie went 9-4. Erskine and Branca added 7 wins apiece. 11 different pitchers started that season. Rookie Billy Loes got into 10 games.

     The early part of the year they were in a tight race with the Phillies, but they slowly fell further behind. On September 18th, they were 9 games back. But they went on a run and by the 29th they were 2 games back of the Phillies with 2 left against them.

     They won on the 30th, 7-3 behind Palica. On the last day of the season, the Phillies won the game for 20 game winner Robin Roberts, when Dick Sisler, the son of Hall of Famer George Sisler, hit a 3 run HR off of Newcombe with 1 out. The Dodgers scored their only run on a 6th inning HR by Reese. Reese had 3 of the Dodgers 5 hits that game. 31 yr old Jackie Robinson finished that season leading the Dodgers in batting average with a .328 mark.

                                                             1951

        The biggest off season change was Chuck Dressen taking over as manager. But before the season, some players who would play prominent roles in the future were signed. Johnny Podres, Karl Spooner, Maury Wills, Jim Gilliam and Joe Black were purchased from the Baltimore team of the Negro league for 11,000 dollars. In June, Hermanski, Hatten, Edwards and Miksis were sent to the Cubs for Andy Pafko, Johnny Smitz, Wayne Terwilliger, and Rube Walker. The winds of change were happening in the front office as one Walter O’Malley began to influence decisions from his post with the Brooklyn Trust Company. They were managing the affairs of the heirs of part owner John L. Smith. O’Malley had purchased 25 % of the team in  1944. When Smith passed away, O’Malley managed to convince his widow to turn over control of the shares to the Trust company. He also started to accumulate shares of the Dodgers.

      He and Rickey were often at odds. Finally, in 1950, with Rickey’s contract expiring on the 28th of October. O’Malley lowballed Rickey with an offer of 346,000. Rickey wanted 1 million for his 25%. After William Zukendorf offered Rickey 1 million for his shares, O’Malley finally did a complicated buyout and on the 26th of October, he officially took over as owner of the Dodgers. Buzzie Bavasi was named GM.

     After a decent start and 2 very good months in May and June, the Dodgers were 5 games up by the end of June. They went 21-7 in July and increased their lead to 9.5 games. On August 11th, they were 13 games in front of the Giants. Dressen had his team poised for the stretch run. But by August 30 they had lost 6 games off of the lead. They lost the first two September games to the Giants to drop to 5 in front. They then won 5 straight to go back up by 6.5. They never won more than 2 in a row the rest of the way as the Giants kept keeping pace and picking up a game here and there. They also never lost more than 2 in a row.   They went 9-11 over their last 20 games, having to beat the Phillies the last two games to keep pace with the Giants.

     On Monday, Oct 1, the Playoffs began at Ebbets Field with the Giants earning a 3-1 win. Labine started game 2 at the Polo Grounds and the Dodgers  pummeled Giants pitching for 10 runs on 4 homers and 13 hits. Robinson, Pafko, Hodges and Walker hit HR’s Walker and Robinson had 3 hits apiece.

     The next day, Brooklyn Ace, Don Newcombe started against Sal the Barber Maglie. They both pitched brilliantly through 7, only giving up 1 run apiece. In the top of the 8th, the Dodgers finally got to Maglie for 3 runs.

     Newcombe went into the 9th with a 3 run lead. Al Dark singled, and Mueller followed with another. Monte Irvin popped out. Then Whitey Lockman hit a double, scoring Dark. Mueller sprained his ankle on the play, and while he was being replaced Dressen went out and replaced the obviously tiring Newcombe with Ralph Branca who was out there on one days rest, Bobby Thompson, who’s misplaying of a couple of ground balls to the outfield in the 8th had allowed the Dodgers to score a couple of runs came up.

   He had hit a HR off of Branca in game 1.  On Branca’s second pitch he homered into the left field stands in what was called The Shot Heard Round the World, and the Dodgers lost a heartbreaker again.

       1951 had some outstanding performances. Campy hit .325 with 33 HR’s and 108 driven in to earn his first MVP award. Hodges hit 40, drove in 103. Robinson 19, 88 and hit .338. Reese, 1o, 84, .286 Snider 29, 101, .277. Cox was the only regular in single digits with 9. Pafko added 18 in 84 games and Furillo 16 while driving in 91.  Don Thompson and Abrams were the main players off of the bench. Walker was the backup catcher after his trade. Dick Williams, who would later manage the A’s made his debut.

       There were 5 pitchers with double digit wins, Newk, 20, Roe, 22 while losing only 3. Branca, 12, King the closer won 12, and Erskine won 16. Labine went 5-1 out of the pen. 1951 was a true crusher. And it would be felt for years. But better times were coming.

                                                                  1952

       Again no major player changes over the winter. But they signed a few players who would later make the big club, Sandy Amoros, Jim Gentile, Dick Gray, John Roseboro and Danny McDevitt.

     After a 8-2 start in April, and 18-8 May, the 26-10 Dodgers went into 1st place on the 1st of June and were never headed again. They clinched the pennant on the 24th of September.

      Campanella dropped off from his MVP year with 22 HR’s and 97 RBI’s and a .269 avg. Hodges dipped also to 32, 102, and a .254 avg. Robinson was 19, 75 and .306. Cox, 6, 34 .259. Snider, 21, 92, .303, Furillo, 8, 59,.247, Pafko, 19, 85, 287. Shuba was 9,40, .305 off of the bench. Walker was Campy’s caddy again. Williams hit .309 in 36 games, Morgan was the main infield sub. Amoros saw his first action in 20 games.

       The pitching was solid with Erskine going 14-6, Loes, 13-8, Wade was 11-9, Roe, 11-2 giving him a 33-5 record over 2 seasons. VanCuyk won 5.  But Joe Black went 15-4 out of the pen, and also saved 15 games and earned the ROY in 1951. Brooklyn’s third since the award was started. Labine added 8 wins out of the pen.

        They started the 52 Series in Ebbets Field. Joe Black, the ROY for the NL started the game against Allie Reynolds.

        Robinson homered off Reynolds in the second giving Brooklyn the lead. McDougald returned the favor in the 3rd tying the game.

       They traded zeros until the bottom of the 6th when Snider hit a 2 run shot. Woodling hit a PH triple in the top of the 8th, and Bauer drove him in with an infield out.

       Scarborough came in to pitch the 8th for NY and Reese hit a solo shot. Black shut them down in the 9th and the Dodgers had a 4-2 win.

      In game 2, Raschi started for NY against Erskine. Dodgers got a run in the 3rd on a Campy single driving in Reese. The Yanks scored 1 in the 4th, 1 in the 5th, and knocked Erskine out of the game in the 6th with a 5 run inning. Raschi gave up 3 hits winning 7-1.

    Game 3 at Yankee Stadium featured Roe against Lopat. Yanks scored first on a Berra HR. Dodgers scored 1 in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th to go up 3-1. Lopat drove in Bauer with a single in the bottom of the 8th. But the Dodgers scored 2 in the 9th off of Lopat. Mize hit a PH HR off Roe in the 9th, but Roe got 3 outs for the Dodger win, 5-3.

     Game 4,   Reynolds vs Black again. But Reynolds was in control all the way. Dodgers never threatened and NY beat Black 2-0.

      Game 5.  Erskine against Blackwell. Dodgers scored 1 in the 2nd and then on the strength of Snider’s 2nd series HR, 3 more in the 5th to go up 4-0. Yanks came back with 5 in the bottom of the inning. But Dressen left  Erskine in, and the Dodgers came back to tie it in the 7th.  Sain had replaced Blackwell and they got the run when Snider knocked in Cox with a single.

     They traded zeros until the 11th inning when Cox got his 3rd hit of the game and Snider drove in his 4th run of the game with a booming double. Erskine shut down the Yankees in the 9th and the Dodgers were up 3 games to 2 heading home to Ebbets Field.

     Game 6 was Raschi against Loes. Dodgers went up 1-0 on Snider’s 3rd HR of the series in the 6th. Berra matched that in the 7th, and Raschi hit a single off of Loes, literally, it bounced off of him and into right field, scoring Woodling who had singled and been balked to second.

    In the 8th, Mantle hit the first of what would be 18 World Series HR’s for a 3-1 lead. Snider hit his second of the game in the bottom of the inning, his 4th, setting at the time a World Series record for the most HR’s in a series. Reynolds relieved and shut them down in the 9th for the win.

      Game 7. Lopat vs Black. The Yanks scored single runs in 4 straight innings off of Black, while the Dodgers managed 2. Yankees scored the 4th run off of Roe who had replaced Black in the 6th.

    In the 7th, the Dodgers loaded the bases. Stengel replaced Raschi with Bob Kuzva. With 2 outs, and the runners going, Robinson popped up to the right of the mound, Kuzva hesitated and Billy Martin running hard from his position at deep 2nd base caught the ball at his fingertips saving 3 runs.

    Kuzva shut them down the rest of the way and the Yanks had beaten the Dodgers again.

        A couple of notes about this series. Newcombe was in the Army at the time, serving two years, he would not return until the 1954 season. Hodges went 0-21 in the series. There was a much talked about incident in which a Catholic priest said before Sunday mass, it is too hot for a sermon today, so please, everyone go home and pray for Gil Hodges. Snider and Reese were the batting stars, both getting 10 hits and hitting.345.

    For the series, the Yanks hit .216, and the Dodgers .215.

     Simply because of the depth of the last few years in Brooklyn, I will have to make this a 2 part story. The last 5 years, 53-57 were very tumultuous years for the city and the team.