1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season

March 2026 November 2013 Brooklyn Dodgers Brooklyn Dodgers Cap Logo (1934 to 1936, 1938 to 1955).svg 1951 National League Ebbets Field Brooklyn, New York 97 60 y 2nd Walter O'Malley (majority owner); James & Dearie Mulvey, Mary Louise Smith Walter O'Malley Buzzie Bavasi Chuck Dressen WOR-TV WMGM Red Barber, Connie Desmond, Vin Scully The 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season was the 62nd season for the Brooklyn Dodgers franchise in the MLB. The Dodgers led the National League for much of the season, holding a 13-game lead as late as August. However, a late season collapse 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 October 10, 1950: Chuck Connors and Dee Fondy were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Edwards and cash.Dee Fondy at Baseball-Reference October 13, 1950: Buddy Hicks was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.Buddy Hicks at Baseball-Reference November 16, 1950: Morrie Martin was drafted from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1950 rule 5 draft.Morrie Martin at Baseball-Reference February 6, 1951: Chico Fernández was signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent.Chico Fernández at Baseball-Reference Regular season Season standings Brooklyn Dodgers Record vs. opponents BRO Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Lineup # Name Position29 Don Thompson LF6 Carl Furillo RF4 Duke Snider CF42 Jackie Robinson 2B14 Gil Hodges 1B39 Roy CampanellaC1 Pee Wee Reese SS9 Rocky Bridges 3B17 Carl Erskine P 1951 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference Notable transactions June 8, 1951: Tommy Brown was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Whitman and cash.Tommy Brown at Baseball-Reference June 15, 1951: Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, Eddie Miksis and Gene Hermanski were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Schmitz, Rube Walker, Andy Pafko and Wayne Terwilliger.Eddie Miksis at Baseball-Reference June 18, 1951: Bob Lillis was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.Bob Lillis at Baseball-Reference July 24, 1951: Ben Taylor was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Browns for Johnny Bero, Joe Lutz and cash.Ben Taylor at Baseball-Reference August 31, 1951: Ross Grimsley was purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago White Sox.Ross Grimsley at Baseball-Reference Roster 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers Roster Pitchers 43 Dan Bankhead 13 Ralph Branca 17 Carl Erskine 19 Joe Hatten 20 Phil Haugstad 23 Clyde King 41 Clem Labine 16 Earl Mossor 36 Don Newcombe 12 Erv Palica 40 Bud Podbielan 28 Preacher Roe 19 Johnny Schmitz 25 Chris Van Cuyk Catchers 39 Roy Campanella 10 Bruce Edwards 11 Mickey Livingston 10 Rube Walker Infielders  9 Rocky Bridges  3 Billy Cox 14 Gil Hodges 34 Eddie Miksis  1 Pee Wee Reese 42 Jackie Robinson 34 Wayne Terwilliger Outfielders 32 Cal Abrams  5 Tommy Brown  6 Carl Furillo 22 Gene Hermanski 22 Andy Pafko 37 Jim Russell  4 Duke Snider 29 Don Thompson 38 Dick Williams Other batters 18 Wayne Belardi 24 Hank Edwards Manager  7 Charlie Dressen Coaches 27 Cookie Lavagetto 31 Jake Pitler 15 Clyde Sukeforth Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 Billy Cox (baseball) 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 Don Thompson (baseball) 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 Bruce Edwards (baseball) 17 36 9 .250 1 8 Hank Edwards 35 31 7 .226 0 3 Tommy Brown Tommy Brown (baseball) 11 25 4 .160 0 1 Jim Russell Jim Russell (baseball) 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 Tied with Warren Spahn (Boston) for league lead 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 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 thirteen and a half 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."https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/2070650?ev=rb The Greatest Moments in Sports (Vinyl, US, 1955) for Sale | Discogs Discogs Awards and honors National League Most Valuable Player Roy Campanella TSN Pitcher of the Year Award Preacher Roe All-Stars 1951 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Roy Campanella starter Gil Hodges starter Jackie Robinson starter Don Newcombe reserve Pee Wee Reese reserve Preacher Roe reserve Duke Snider reserve TSN Major League All-Star Team Preacher Roe Roy Campanella Jackie Robinson Farm system 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 2 References Baseball-Reference season page Baseball Almanac season page External links 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform Brooklyn Dodgers reference site https://web.archive.org/web/20091025002014/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nl/bdodgers/brooklyn.html October 25, 2009 Acme Dodgers page https://web.archive.org/web/20070913213938/http://www.acmewebpages.com/dodgers/ September 13, 2007 Retrosheet Category:Brooklyn Dodgers seasons Brooklyn Dodgers Category:1951 in sports in New York City Category:1950s in Brooklyn Category:Flatbush, Brooklyn