1952 Brooklyn Dodgers season

1952 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
RadioWMGM
Red Barber, Connie Desmond, Vin Scully
← 1951
1953 →

The 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers rebounded from the heartbreaking ending of 1951 to win the National League pennant by four games over the New York Giants. However, they dropped the World Series in seven games to the New York Yankees. Led by Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, and Duke Snider, the high-powered Brooklyn offense scored the most runs in the majors.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Dodgers 96 57 .627 — 45‍–‍33 51‍–‍24
New York Giants 92 62 .597 4½ 50‍–‍27 42‍–‍35
St. Louis Cardinals 88 66 .571 8½ 48‍–‍29 40‍–‍37
Philadelphia Phillies 87 67 .565 9½ 47‍–‍29 40‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs 77 77 .500 19½ 42‍–‍35 35‍–‍42
Cincinnati Reds 69 85 .448 27½ 38‍–‍39 31‍–‍46
Boston Braves 64 89 .418 32 31‍–‍45 33‍–‍44
Pittsburgh Pirates 42 112 .273 54½ 23‍–‍54 19‍–‍58

Record vs. opponents

1952 National League record

Sources:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 3–18–1 12–10 9–13 9–13 9–13 15–7–1 7–15
Brooklyn 18–3–1 — 13–9–1 17–5 8–14 10–12 19–3 11–11
Chicago 10–12 9–13–1 — 13–9 10–12 10–12 14–8 11–11
Cincinnati 13–9 5–17 9–13 — 6–16 10–12 16–6 10–12
New York 13–9 14–8 12–10 16–6 — 10–12 15–7 12–10
Philadelphia 13–9 12–10 12–10 12–10 12–10 — 16–6 10–12
Pittsburgh 7–15–1 3–19 8–14 6–16 7–15 6–16 — 5–17
St. Louis 15–7 11–11 11–11 12–10 10–12 12–10 17–5 —


Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Lineup
# Name Position
1 Pee Wee Reese SS
3 Billy Cox 3B
42 Jackie Robinson 2B
39 Roy Campanella C
48 Andy Pafko LF
4 Duke Snider CF
14 Gil Hodges 1B
6 Carl Furillo RF
28 Preacher Roe P

[5]

Notable transactions

Roster

1952 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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 128 468 126 .269 22 97
1B Gil Hodges 153 508 129 .254 32 102
2B Jackie Robinson 149 510 157 .308 19 75
3B Billy Cox 116 455 118 .259 6 34
SS Pee Wee Reese 149 559 152 .272 6 58
LF Andy Pafko 150 551 158 .287 19 85
CF Duke Snider 144 534 162 .303 21 92
RF Carl Furillo 134 425 105 .247 8 59

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
George Shuba 94 256 78 .305 9 40
Bobby Morgan 67 191 45 .236 7 16
Rube Walker 46 139 36 .259 1 19
Dick Williams 36 68 21 .309 0 11
Rocky Bridges 51 56 11 .196 0 2
Sandy Amorós 20 44 11 .250 0 3
Rocky Nelson 37 39 10 .256 0 3
Tommy Holmes 31 36 4 .111 0 1
Cal Abrams 10 10 2 .200 0 0
Steve Lembo 2 5 1 .200 0 1

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 33 206.2 14 6 2.70 131
Billy Loes 39 187.1 13 8 2.69 115
Ben Wade 37 180.0 11 9 3.60 118
Preacher Roe 27 158.2 11 2 3.12 83

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
Chris Van Cuyk 23 97.2 5 6 5.16 66
Johnny Rutherford 22 97.1 7 7 4.25 29
Clem Labine 25 77.0 8 4 5.14 43
Ralph Branca 16 61.0 4 2 3.84 26
Joe Landrum 9 38.0 1 3 5.21 17
Johnny Schmitz 10 33.1 1 1 4.32 11
Ray Moore 14 28.1 1 2 4.76 11
Ken Lehman 4 15.1 1 2 5.28 7
Ron Negray 4 13.0 0 0 3.46 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
Joe Black 56 15 4 15 2.15 85
Clyde King 23 2 0 0 5.06 17
Jim Hughes 6 2 1 0 1.45 8
Bud Podbielan 3 0 0 0 18.00 1

1952 World Series

Main article: 1952 World Series

Game 1

October 1, 1952, 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 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 2
Brooklyn (N) 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 x 4 6 0
W: Joe Black (1–0)  L: Allie Reynolds (0–1)
HR: NYY – Gil McDougald (1)    BRO – Jackie Robinson (1), Duke Snider (1), Pee Wee Reese (1)

Game 2

October 2, 1952, 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 1 1 5 0 0 0 7 10 0
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
W: Vic Raschi (1–0)  L: Carl Erskine (0–1)
HR: NYY – Billy Martin (1)

Game 3

October 3, 1952, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 5 11 0
New York (A) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 6 2
W: Preacher Roe (1–0)   L: Ed Lopat (0–1)
HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (1), Johnny Mize (1)

Game 4

October 4, 1952, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
New York (A) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 x 2 4 1
W: Allie Reynolds (1–1)   L: Joe Black (1–1)
HR: NYY – Johnny Mize (2)

Game 5

October 5, 1952, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 10 0
New York (A) 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 1
W: Carl Erskine (1–1)   L: Johnny Sain (0–1)
HR: BRO – Duke Snider (2)    NYY – Johnny Mize (3)

Game 6

October 6, 1952, 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 0 0 2 1 0 3 9 0
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 8 1
W: Vic Raschi (2–0)  L: Billy Loes (0–1)   S: Allie Reynolds (1)
HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (2), Mickey Mantle (1)    BRO – Duke Snider (3, 4)

Game 7

October 7, 1952, 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 1 1 1 1 0 0 4 10 4
Brooklyn (N) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 1
W: Allie Reynolds (2–1)  L: Joe Black (1–2)   S: Bob Kuzava (1)
HR: NYY – Gene Woodling (1), Mickey Mantle (2)

Awards and honors

All-Stars

League top five finishers

Gil Hodges

  • #2 in NL in walks (107)
  • #3 in NL in home runs (32)
  • #4 in NL in RBI (102)

Billy Loes

  • #4 in NL in ERA (2.69)

Pee Wee Reese

  • MLB leader in stolen bases (30)

Jackie Robinson

  • MLB leader in on-base percentage (.440)
  • #3 in NL in runs scored (104)
  • #3 in NL in stolen bases (24)
  • #3 in NL in walks (106)
  • #4 in NL in batting average (.308)

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 Bobby Bragan
AA Mobile Bears Southern Association Ed Head
A Elmira Pioneers Eastern League George Fallon
A Pueblo Dodgers Western League Bill McCahan
B Lancaster Red Roses Interstate League James Bivin
B Miami Sun Sox Florida International League Max Macon
B Newport News Dodgers Piedmont League Ray Hathaway
C Great Falls Electrics Pioneer League Lou Rochelli
C Greenwood Dodgers Cotton States League Stan Wasiak
C Santa Barbara Dodgers California League George Scherger
D Hazard Bombers Mountain States League Mervin Dornburg
D Hornell Dodgers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Doc Alexson
D Ponca City Dodgers Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League Boyd Bartley
D Sheboygan Indians Wisconsin State League Joe Hauser
D Valdosta Dodgers Georgia–Florida League John Angelone

Notes

  1. ^ Don Nicholas page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Toby Atwell page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Héctor Rodríguez page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Duke Snider at The Baseball Page
  5. ^ 1952 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Marion Fricano page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Cal Abrams page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Bud Podbielan page at Baseball Reference

References