1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season explained

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

• October 10, 1950: Chuck Connors and Dee Fondy were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Edwards and cash.^[1]
• October 13, 1950: Buddy Hicks was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.^[2]
• November 16, 1950: Morrie Martin was drafted from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1950 rule 5 draft.^[3]
• February 6, 1951: Chico Fernández was signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent.^[4]

Regular season

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Lineup

	Name	Position
29		LF
6		RF
4		CF
42		2B
14		1B
39	Roy Campanella	C
1		SS
9		3B
17		P

^[5]

Notable transactions

• June 8, 1951: Tommy Brown was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Whitman and cash.^[6]
• 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.^[7]
• June 18, 1951: Bob Lillis was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.^[8]
• July 24, 1951: Ben Taylor was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Browns for Johnny Bero, Joe Lutz and cash.^[9]
• August 31, 1951: Ross Grimsley was purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago White Sox.^[10]

Roster

1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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		143	505	164	.325	33	108
1B		158	582	156	.268	40	103
2B		153	548	185	.338	19	88
SS		154	616	176	.286	10	84
3B		142	455	127	.279	9	51
OF		150	606	168	.277	29	101
OF		158	667	197	.295	16	91
OF		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
	67	150	42	.280	3	19
	63	134	34	.254	1	15
	80	118	27	.229	0	6
	31	80	20	.250	1	5
	36	74	18	.243	2	9
	23	60	12	.200	1	5
	37	50	14	.280	0	4
	17	36	9	.250	1	8
	35	31	7	.226	0	3
	11	25	4	.160	0	1
	16	13	0	.000	0	0
	19	10	2	.200	0	0
	2	5	2	.400	0	2
	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
	40	272.0	20	9	3.28	164
	34	257.2	22	3	3.04	113
	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
	46	189.2	16	12	4.46	95
	14	65.1	5	1	2.20	39
	16	55.2	1	4	5.34	20
	11	49.1	1	0	4.56	22
	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
	48	14	7	6	4.15	33
	27	2	2	0	3.50	26
	19	2	6	0	4.75	15
	21	0	1	0	6.46	22
	7	0	1	0	15.43	9
	3	0	0	0	32.40	1

Shot Heard 'Round the World

See 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 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."^[11]

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Santa Barbara

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page
• Retrosheet

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fondyde01.shtml Dee Fondy
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hicksbu01.shtml Buddy Hicks
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martimo01.shtml Morrie Martin
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fernach01.shtml Chico Fernández
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195104170.shtml 1951 Opening Day Lineup
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownto02.shtml Tommy Brown
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/miksied01.shtml Eddie Miksis
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lillibo01.shtml Bob Lillis
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/taylobe02.shtml Ben Taylor
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grimsro01.shtml Ross Grimsley
11. Web site: The Greatest Moments in Sports (Vinyl, US, 1955) for Sale | Discogs. Discogs.