1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
LeagueNational League
BallparkEbbets Field
CityBrooklyn, New York
OwnersWalter O'Malley (majority owner); James & Dearie Mulvey, Mary Louise Smith
PresidentWalter O'Malley
General managersBuzzie Bavasi
ManagersChuck Dressen
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWMGM
Red Barber, Connie Desmond, Vin Scully
← 1950
1952 →

The 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers led the National League for much of the season, holding a 13-game lead as late as August. However, a late season swoon and a hot streak by the New York Giants led to a classic three-game playoff series. Bobby Thomson's dramatic ninth-inning home run off Dodger reliever Ralph Branca in the final game of a tie-breaker series won the pennant for the Giants and was immortalized as the Shot Heard 'Round the World.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Giants 98 59 0.624 — 50–28 48–31
Brooklyn Dodgers 97 60 0.618 1 49–29 48–31
St. Louis Cardinals 81 73 0.526 15½ 44–34 37–39
Boston Braves 76 78 0.494 20½ 42–35 34–43
Philadelphia Phillies 73 81 0.474 23½ 38–39 35–42
Cincinnati Reds 68 86 0.442 28½ 35–42 33–44
Pittsburgh Pirates 64 90 0.416 32½ 32–45 32–45
Chicago Cubs 62 92 0.403 34½ 32–45 30–47

Record vs. opponents

1951 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 10–12–1 10–12 10–12 8–14 12–10 13–9 13–9
Brooklyn 12–10–1 — 14–8 14–8 14–11 15–7 10–12 18–4
Chicago 12–10 8–14 — 10–12 7–15 7–15 9–13 9–13–1
Cincinnati 12–10 8–14 12–10 — 5–17 11–11 12–10–1 8–14
New York 14–8 11–14 15–7 17–5 — 16–6 14–8 11–11
Philadelphia 10–12 7–15 15–7 11–11 6–16 — 15–7 9–13
Pittsburgh 9–13 12–10 13–9 10–12–1 8–14 7–15 — 5–17
St. Louis 9–13 4–18 13–9–1 14–8 11–11 13–9 17–5 —


Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Lineup
# Name Position
29 Don Thompson LF
6 Carl Furillo RF
4 Duke Snider CF
42 Jackie Robinson 2B
14 Gil Hodges 1B
39 Roy Campanella C
1 Pee Wee Reese SS
9 Rocky Bridges 3B
17 Carl Erskine P

[5]

Notable transactions

Roster

1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 143 505 164 .325 33 108
1B Gil Hodges 158 582 156 .268 40 103
2B Jackie Robinson 153 548 185 .338 19 88
SS Pee Wee Reese 154 616 176 .286 10 84
3B Billy Cox 142 455 127 .279 9 51
OF Duke Snider 150 606 168 .277 29 101
OF Carl Furillo 158 667 197 .295 16 91
OF Andy Pafko 84 277 69 .249 18 58

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
Cal Abrams 67 150 42 .280 3 19
Rocky Bridges 63 134 34 .254 1 15
Don Thompson 80 118 27 .229 0 6
Gene Hermanski 31 80 20 .250 1 5
Rube Walker 36 74 18 .243 2 9
Dick Williams 23 60 12 .200 1 5
Wayne Terwilliger 37 50 14 .280 0 4
Bruce Edwards 17 36 9 .250 1 8
Hank Edwards 35 31 7 .226 0 3
Tommy Brown 11 25 4 .160 0 1
Jim Russell 16 13 0 .000 0 0
Eddie Miksis 19 10 2 .200 0 0
Mickey Livingston 2 5 2 .400 0 2
Wayne Belardi 3 3 1 .333 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
Don Newcombe 40 272.0 20 9 3.28 164
Preacher Roe 34 257.2 22 3 3.04 113
Ralph Branca 42 204.0 13 12 3.26 118

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
Carl Erskine 46 189.2 16 12 4.46 95
Clem Labine 14 65.1 5 1 2.20 39
Johnny Schmitz 16 55.2 1 4 5.34 20
Joe Hatten 11 49.1 1 0 4.56 22
Chris Van Cuyk 9 29.1 1 2 5.52 16

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
Clyde King 48 14 7 6 4.15 33
Bud Podbielan 27 2 2 0 3.50 26
Erv Palica 19 2 6 0 4.75 15
Phil Haugstad 21 0 1 0 6.46 22
Dan Bankhead 7 0 1 0 15.43 9
Earl Mossor 3 0 0 0 32.40 1

Shot Heard 'Round the World

Main article: Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)

One of the more famous episodes in major league baseball history, and possibly one of the greatest moments in sports history, the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" is the name given to Bobby Thomson's walk-off home run that clinched the National League pennant for the New York Giants over their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. This game was the third of a three-game playoff series resulting from one of baseball's most memorable pennant races. The Giants had been 13+1⁄2 games behind the league-leading Dodgers in August, but under Durocher's guidance and with the aid of a sixteen-game winning streak, caught the Dodgers to tie for the lead on the last day of the season. The radio broadcast of Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run was chronicled on a 1955 Columbia Masterworks vinyl LP record, "The Greatest Moments in Sports."[11]

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Montreal Royals International League Walter Alston
AAA St. Paul Saints American Association Clay Hopper
AA Ft. Worth Cats Texas League Bobby Bragan
AA Mobile Bears Southern Association Paul Chervinko
A Elmira Pioneers Eastern League George Fallon
A Pueblo Dodgers Western League Jim Bivin
B Asheville Tourists Tri-State League Ray Hathaway
B Lancaster Red Roses Interstate League Ed Head
B Miami Sun Sox Florida International League Pepper Martin
B Newport News Dodgers Piedmont League Clay Bryant
C Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Larry Shepard
C Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings Southwest International League Syd Cohen
C Greenwood Dodgers Cotton States League Lou Rochelli
C Santa Barbara Dodgers California League Bill Hart
D Hazard Bombers Mountain States League Max Macon
D Hornell Dodgers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Doc Alexson
D Ponca City Dodgers Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League George Scherger
D Sheboygan Indians Wisconsin State League Joe Hauser
D Valdosta Dodgers Georgia–Florida League Stan Wasiak

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Santa Barbara

Notes

  1. ^ Dee Fondy at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Buddy Hicks at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Morrie Martin at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Chico Fernández at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ 1951 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Tommy Brown at Baseball-Reference
  7. ^ Eddie Miksis at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ Bob Lillis at Baseball-Reference
  9. ^ Ben Taylor at Baseball-Reference
  10. ^ Ross Grimsley at Baseball-Reference
  11. ^ "The Greatest Moments in Sports (Vinyl, US, 1955) for Sale | Discogs". Discogs.

References

External links

1951 MLB season by team
Los Angeles Dodgers
Categories