1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season explained

Brooklyn Dodgers
Season:1955
Misc:World Series Champions
National League champions
League:National League
Division:National League
Ballpark:Ebbets Field
City:Brooklyn, New York
Owners:Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey, Mary Louise Smith
President:Walter O'Malley
General Managers:Buzzie Bavasi
Managers:Walter Alston
Television:WOR-TV
Radio:WMGM
Vin Scully, Connie Desmond, Andre Baruch, Al Helfer
WHOM
Buck Canel

In 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers finally fulfilled the promise of many previous Dodger teams. Although the club had won several pennants in the past, and had won as many as 105 games in 1953, it had never won a World Series. This team finished 13.5 games ahead in the National League pennant race, leading the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed. In the World Series, they finally beat their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees. It was the Dodgers' first and only World Series championship won while located in Brooklyn.

Offseason

Regular season

This season was basically a culmination of the careers of many legendary Dodger players. Catcher Roy Campanella won the 1955 National League Most Valuable Player award, his third in five years. Center fielder Duke Snider led the league in runs batted in and was second in the MVP voting. He also hit his 200th career home run on May 10. Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese, both 36 years old, could still play. Gil Hodges, 31, hit 27 home runs (and drove in both Dodger runs in the seventh game of the Series), while Carl Furillo, 33, hit 26 home runs with a .314 batting average.

The pitching staff was anchored by Don Newcombe, who was 20–5. It was the first time a black pitcher had won 20 games in a season. The 22-year-old Johnny Podres was only 9–10 but became the hero of the 1955 World Series by shutting out the Yankees in the seventh game.

MVP controversy

Duke Snider finished second to teammate Campanella in the MVP voting by just five points, 226–221, with each man receiving eight first place votes. The voting then as now was conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Each voting member, one from each major league city, filled out a ballot selecting ten men. A player receiving a first place vote got 14 points, then values of 9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for those in places 2 through 10. A writer from Philadelphia who was sick and who had become hospitalized had turned in a ballot with Campanella listed in position number 1 as well as position number 5. The assumption had been that the writer had meant to write Snider's name into one of those slots. Unable to get a clarification from the ill writer the BBWAA, after considering disallowing the ballot, decided to accept it, count the first place vote for Campanella and count the fifth place vote as though it were left blank. Had the ballot been disallowed, the vote would have been won by Snider by three points. Had Snider gotten the fifth place vote, the final vote would have favored Snider 227–226. Duke did, however, win the Sporting News National League Player of the Year Award for 1955 and the Sid Mercer Award.[4] [5]

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Lineup
Name Position
19 2B
1 SS
4 CF
14 1B
15 LF
42 3B
6 RF
39 C
17 P
[6]

Notable transactions

Roster

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers CatchersInfieldersOutfieldersManagerCoaches

Player stats

= Indicates team 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 123 446 81 142 .318 32 107 2
1B 150 546 75 158 .289 27 102 2
2B 147 538 110 134 .249 7 40 15
SS 145 553 99 156 .282 10 61 8
3B 105 317 51 81 .256 8 36 12
LF 119 388 59 96 .247 10 51 10
CF 148 538 126 166 .309 42 136 9
RF 140 523 83 164 .314 26 95 4

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
88 280 38 67 .239 15 50 5
94 279 50 67 .240 5 19 9
48 103 6 26 .252 2 13 1
39 80 12 26 .325 4 19 0
44 51 8 14 .275 1 8 0
16 42 2 11 .262 0 5 0
11 19 3 5 .263 1 3 0
9 19 2 2 .105 0 0 0
2 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0

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
34 31 17 233.2 20 5 3.20 38 143
31 29 7 194.2 11 8 3.79 64 84
27 24 5 159.1 9 10 3.95 57 114
22 19 6 128.0 10 4 3.59 46 85

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
29 14 2 98.2 8 6 3.65 41 78
21 10 3 90.2 5 3 2.78 43 48
18 11 2 73.0 6 2 5.42 31 26
12 5 2 41.2 2 2 3.02 28 30
4 1 0 4.0 0 0 13.50 6 4

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
60 144.1 13 5 11 3.24 55 67
47 84.0 5 6 12 4.71 24 33
24 63.1 8 1 3 2.70 21 29
24 42.2 0 2 6 4.22 19 20
6 15.1 1 0 0 2.93 5 9
4 4.2 0 1 0 11.57 5 3

1955 World Series

See main article: article and 1955 World Series.

Game 1

September 28, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
Brooklyn (N)0210000205100
New York (A)02110200x691
W: Whitey Ford (1–0)   L: Don Newcombe (0–1)   S: Bob Grim (1)
HR: BRO – Carl Furillo (1), Duke Snider (1)    NYY – Elston Howard (1), Joe Collins (1, 2)

Game 2

September 29, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
Brooklyn (N)000110000252
New York (A)00040000x480
W: Tommy Byrne (1–0)   L: Billy Loes (0–1)

Game 3

September 30, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
New York (A)020000100370
Brooklyn (N)22020020x8111
W: Johnny Podres (1–0)  L: Bob Turley (0–1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1)    BRO – Roy Campanella (1)

Game 4

October 1, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
New York (A)110102000590
Brooklyn (N)00133010x8140
W: Clem Labine (1–0)  L: Don Larsen (0–1)
HR: NYY – Gil McDougald (1)    BRO – Roy Campanella (2), Gil Hodges (1), Duke Snider (2)

Game 5

October 2, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
New York (A)000100110360
Brooklyn (N)02101001x592
W: Roger Craig (1–0)  L: Bob Grim (0–1)   S: Clem Labine (1)
HR: NYY – Bob Cerv (1), Yogi Berra (1)    BRO – Sandy Amorós (1), Duke Snider (3, 4)

Game 6

October 3, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
Brooklyn (N)000100000141
New York (A)50000000x580
W: Whitey Ford (2–0)   L: Karl Spooner (0–1)
HR: NYY – Bill Skowron (1)

Game 7

October 4, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

align=left width=125Teamwidth=251width=252width=253width=254width=255width=256width=257width=258width=259width=25Rwidth=25Hwidth=25E
Brooklyn (N)000101000250
New York (A)000000000081
W: Johnny Podres (2–0)   L: Tommy Byrne (1–1)

Awards and honors

All-Stars

League top five finishers

Roy Campanella

Jim Gilliam

Clem Labine

Don Newcombe

Ed Roebuck

Duke Snider

Aftermath and legacy

The 1955 World Series proved to the only title the Dodgers won in Brooklyn. After losing the 1956 World Series to the Yankees, the team would move to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.[10]

With the death of Carl Erskine in April 2024, Sandy Koufax became the last surviving player from the 1955 team.[11]

50th Anniversary

In August 2005, the Los Angeles Dodgers commemorated the 50th anniversary of the franchise winning its first World Series, and only one while in Brooklyn. The eleven surviving members of the 1955 team all attended the weekend celebration.[12]

No official commemorative event, however, took place in Brooklyn on October 4, 2005 (the actual anniversary of the Dodgers' triumph), prompting author Thomas Oliphant to argue that "on both coasts, we could have done a little bit better, especially for such an important memory."[12]

That being said, a small gathering of ten people took place at the site of Ebbets Field on October 4, 2005 "at 3:43 pm, 50 years to the minute from when the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series."[12] Brooklyn Paper journalist Ed Shakespeare reported that "[a]ll of the attendees came alone or in pairs, unaware of who else might attend", describing the event as "a sharing of memories from those who remembered."[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moorera02.shtml Ray Moore
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxbi02.shtml Billy Cox
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/palicer01.shtml Erv Palica
  4. The Duke of Flatbush by Duke Snider and Bill Gilbert
  5. Web site: MLB Stats, Scores, History, & Records. Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195504130.shtml 1955 Opening Day Lineup
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/negraro01.shtml Ron Negray
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/blackjo02.shtml Joe Black
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxgl01.shtml Glenn Cox
  10. News: Perlmutter . Emanuel . Dodgers Accept Los Angeles Bid to Move to Coast . . October 9, 1957.
  11. News: Carl Erskine, longtime Dodgers pitcher and one of the "Boys of Summer," dies at 97 . . Associated Press . April 16, 2024.
  12. Shakespeare, Ed. "Dodgers Celebrated 50 Years Later" Brooklyn Paper, October 14, 2005. Retrieved October 4, 2020.

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