1953 Brooklyn Dodgers
National League Champions
LeagueNational League
BallparkEbbets Field
CityBrooklyn, New York
OwnersWalter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey, Mary Louise Smith
PresidentWalter O'Malley
General managersBuzzie Bavasi
ManagersChuck Dressen
TelevisionWOR-TV
WPIX
WABC-TV
WABD
RadioWMGM
Red Barber, Connie Desmond, Vin Scully
← 1952
1954 →

The 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers repeated as National League champions by posting a 105–49 record. However, Brooklyn again failed to capture the World Series, losing in six games to the American League champion New York Yankees.

The Dodgers' .682 winning percentage in 1953 stood is still the best single-season winning percentage in franchise history for a full season. In 2020, the Dodgers posted a .717 mark (43–17) during a shortened 60-game season.[1]

Offseason

Regular season

Duke Snider had a hitting streak of 27 games.[7]

Season standings

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Dodgers 105 49 0.682 — 60–17 45–32
Milwaukee Braves 92 62 0.597 13 45–31 47–31
Philadelphia Phillies 83 71 0.539 22 48–29 35–42
St. Louis Cardinals 83 71 0.539 22 48–30 35–41
New York Giants 70 84 0.455 35 38–39 32–45
Cincinnati Redlegs 68 86 0.442 37 38–39 30–47
Chicago Cubs 65 89 0.422 40 43–34 22–55
Pittsburgh Pirates 50 104 0.325 55 26–51 24–53

Record vs. opponents

1953 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BR CHC CIN MIL NYG PHI PIT STL
Brooklyn — 13–9–1 15–7 13–9 15–7 14–8 20–2 15–7
Chicago 9–13–1 — 12–10 8–14 9–13 5–17 11–11 11–11
Cincinnati 7–15 10–12 — 8–14 9–13 12–10 15–7 7–15–1
Milwaukee 9–13 14–8 14–8 — 14–8–1 13–9–1 15–7 13–9–1
New York 7–15 13–9 13–9 8–14–1 — 9–13 11–11 9–13
Philadelphia 8–14 17–5 10–12 9–13–1 13–9 — 15–7 11–11–1
Pittsburgh 2–20 11–11 7–15 7–15 11–11 7–15 — 5–17
St. Louis 7–15 11–11 15–7–1 9–13–1 13–9 11–11–1 17–5 —


Opening Day Lineup

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

[8]

Notable transactions

Roster

1953 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 144 519 162 .312 41 142
1B Gil Hodges 141 520 157 .302 31 122
2B Jim Gilliam 151 605 168 .278 6 63
3B Billy Cox 100 327 95 .291 10 44
SS Pee Wee Reese 140 524 142 .271 13 61
OF Duke Snider 153 590 198 .336 42 126
OF Jackie Robinson 136 484 159 .329 12 95
OF Carl Furillo 132 479 165 .344 21 92

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
Bobby Morgan 69 196 51 .260 7 33
George Shuba 74 169 43 .254 5 23
Wayne Belardi 69 163 39 .239 11 34
Don Thompson 96 153 37 .242 1 12
Rube Walker 43 95 23 .242 3 9
Dick Williams 30 55 12 .218 2 5
Bill Antonello 40 43 7 .163 1 4
Carmen Mauro 8 9 0 .000 0 0
Dick Teed 1 1 0 .000 0 0
Dixie Howell 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
Carl Erskine 39 246.2 20 6 3.54 187
Russ Meyer 34 191.1 15 5 4.56 106
Billy Loes 32 162.2 14 8 4.54 75
Preacher Roe 25 157.0 11 3 4.36 85
Ray Moore 1 8.0 0 1 3.38 4

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
Bob Milliken 37 117.2 8 4 3.37 65
Johnny Podres 33 115.0 9 4 4.23 82
Glenn Mickens 4 6.1 0 1 11.37 5

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
Jim Hughes 48 4 3 9 3.47 49
Clem Labine 37 11 6 7 2.77 44
Joe Black 34 6 3 5 5.33 42
Ben Wade 32 7 5 3 3.79 65
Ralph Branca 7 0 0 0 9.82 5
Erv Palica 4 0 0 0 12.00 3

1953 World Series

Main article: 1953 World Series

Game 1

September 30, 1953, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 5 12 2
New York (A) 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 x 9 12 0
W: Johnny Sain (1–0)   L: Clem Labine (0–1)
HR: BRO – Jim Gilliam (1), Gil Hodges (1), George Shuba (1)    NYY – Yogi Berra (1), Joe Collins (1)

Game 2

October 1, 1953, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 1
New York (A) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 x 4 5 0
W: Ed Lopat (1–0)   L: Preacher Roe (0–1)
HR: NYY – Billy Martin (1), Mickey Mantle (1)

Game 3

October 2, 1953, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 0
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 x 3 9 0
W: Carl Erskine (1–0)  L: Vic Raschi (0–1)
HR: BRO – Roy Campanella (1)

Game 4

October 3, 1953, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 9 0
Brooklyn (N) 3 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 x 7 12 0
W: Billy Loes (1–0)  L: Whitey Ford (0–1)   S: Clem Labine (1)
HR: NYY – Gil McDougald (1)    BRO – Duke Snider (1)

Game 5

October 4, 1953, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 1 0 5 0 0 0 3 1 1 11 11 1
Brooklyn (N) 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 7 14 1
W: Jim McDonald (1–0)  L: Johnny Podres (0–1)   S: Allie Reynolds (1)
HR: NYY – Gene Woodling (1), Mickey Mantle (2), Billy Martin (2), Gil McDougald (2)    BRO – Billy Cox (1), Jim Gilliam (1)

Game 6

October 5, 1953, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 8 3
New York (A) 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 13 0
W: Allie Reynolds (1–0)   L: Clem Labine (0–2)
HR: BRO – Carl Furillo (1)

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 Bryant
AA Ft. Worth Cats Texas League Max Macon
AA Mobile Bears Southern Association Ed Head
A Elmira Pioneers Eastern League Al Brancato
A Pueblo Dodgers Western League George Pfister
B Asheville Tourists Tri-State League Ray Hathaway
B Miami Sun Sox Florida International League Doc Alexson
B Newport News Dodgers Piedmont League Stan Wasiak
C Great Falls Electrics Pioneer League Lou Rochelli
C Santa Barbara Dodgers California League George Scherger
D Hornell Dodgers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Mervin Dornburg
Jack Banta
D Shawnee Hawks Sooner State League Boyd Bartley
D Sheboygan Indians Wisconsin State League Joe Hauser
D Thomasville Dodgers Georgia–Florida League John Angelone
D Union City Dodgers Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League Earl Naylor

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal

Notes

  1. ^ Los Angeles Dodgers Team History & Encyclopedia
  2. ^ Dixie Howell at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Clyde King at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Billy Hunter at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Andy Pafko at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Jim Pendleton at Baseball-Reference
  7. ^ Duke Snider at The Baseball Page
  8. ^ 1953 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  9. ^ Bud Byerly at Baseball-Reference

References

External links

National League champions
1953 MLB season by team
Los Angeles Dodgers
Categories