1947 St. Louis Browns season explained

St. Louis Browns
Season:	1947
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Sportsman's Park
City:	St. Louis, Missouri
Record:	59–95 (.383)
League Place:	8th
Owners:	Richard Muckerman
General Managers:	Bill DeWitt
Managers:	Muddy Ruel
Radio:	WIL (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara)

The 1947 St. Louis Browns season was the Major League Baseball franchise's 47th in the American League (AL) and its 46th in St. Louis. The 1947 Browns finished eighth and last in the league with a record of 59 wins and 95 losses, 38 games in arrears of the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees. The Browns were managed by Muddy Ruel in the former catcher's only stint as an MLB pilot, and drew only 320,474 fans to Sportsman's Park, 16th and last in the majors. On July 17, they became the third big-league team to racially integrate its ranks. However, the experiment failed when the two pioneer players, Hank Thompson and Willard Brown, were sent back to the Negro leagues in late August; the Browns would not field another African-American player until all-time great Satchel Paige joined them in July 1951.

Regular season

• July 17: Hank Thompson became the first black player to appear in a game for the Browns.^[1]
• July 20: Hank Thompson and Willard Brown of the Browns played against the Boston Red Sox. It was the first time that two black players appear in a major league game together since 1884.^[2] In that first game of the double-header, outfielder Paul Lehner hit an inside-the-park grand slam to drive in all four runs in the Browns' 4-3 victory.^[3]
• September 28: Broadcaster Dizzy Dean comes out of retirement to pitch for the Browns. He pitches 4 scoreless innings and hits a single.

Roster

1947 St. Louis Browns
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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		96	274	43	.157	6	27
1B		144	500	129	.258	18	64
2B		90	306	80	.261	1	20
3B		137	571	168	.294	3	37
SS		150	562	157	.279	15	83
OF		127	380	85	.224	3	38
OF		135	483	120	.248	7	48
OF		141	491	123	.251	27	85

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
	110	343	89	.259	2	30
	80	275	61	.222	1	28
	87	214	48	.224	3	19
	34	99	14	.141	2	12
	27	78	20	.256	0	5
	21	67	12	.179	1	6
	39	47	16	.340	0	2
	43	38	7	.184	1	1
	3	2	0	.000	0	0
	1	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
	33	199.1	11	16	4.97	77
	34	194.1	8	15	4.49	110
	34	186.2	7	16	3.71	62
	31	176.1	8	14	4.90	74
	26	145.2	6	8	3.58	77
	1	4.0	0	0	0.00	0

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
	35	171.0	9	10	3.47	36
	32	122.2	4	10	4.04	65
	9	32.1	1	3	6.12	11

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
	32	4	2	2	3.82	23
	19	1	0	0	4.89	10
	5	0	0	0	6.75	1
	4	0	1	0	16.20	6

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Belleville

External links

• 1947 St. Louis Browns team at Baseball-Reference
• 1947 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 187, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York,
2. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 188
3. Web site: Paul Lehner . Baseballbiography.com . July 1, 2015 . mdy-all .