1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
1955 World Series Champions
National League champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey, Mrs. John L. Smith
General manager(s) Buzzie Bavasi
Manager(s) Walter Alston
Local television WOR-TV
Local radio WMGM
Vin Scully, Connie Desmond, Andre Baruch, Al Helfer
WHOM
Buck Canel
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In 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers finally fulfilled the promise of many previous Dodger teams. Although the club had won several pennants in the past, and had won as many as 105 games in 1953, it had never won a World Series. This team finished 13.5 games ahead in the National League pennant race, leading the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed. In the 1955 World Series, they finally beat their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees. It was the Dodgers first and only World Series championship won while located in Brooklyn.

Offseason

Regular season

Sandy Koufax earned his first major league win with the Dodgers on August 27, 1955.

This season was basically a culmination of the careers of many legendary Dodger players. Catcher Roy Campanella won the 1955 National League Most Valuable Player award, his third in five years. Center fielder Duke Snider led the league in runs batted in and was second in the MVP voting. He also hit his 200th career home run on May 10. Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese, both 36 years old, could still play. Gil Hodges, 31, hit 27 home runs (and drove in both Dodger runs in the seventh game of the Series), while Carl Furillo, 33, hit 26 home runs with a .314 batting average.

The pitching staff was anchored by Don Newcombe, who was 20–5. It was the first time a black pitcher had won 20 games in a season. The 22-year-old Johnny Podres was only 9–10 but became the hero of the 1955 World Series by shutting out the Yankees in the seventh game.

MVP controversy

Duke Snider finished second to teammate Campanella in the MVP voting by just five points, 226–221, with each man receiving eight first place votes. The voting then as now was conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Each voting member, one from each major league city, filled out a ballot selecting ten men. A player receiving a first place vote got 14 points, 9 points for second, and then values of 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for those in places 3 through 10. A writer from Philadelphia who was sick and who had become hospitalized had turned in a ballot with Campanella listed in position number 1 as well as position number 5. The assumption had been that the writer had meant to write Snider's name into one of those slots. Unable to get a clarification from the ill writer the BBWAA, after considering disallowing the ballot, decided to accept it, count the first place vote for Campanella and count the fifth place vote as though it were left blank. Had the ballot been disallowed, the vote would have been won by Snider by three points. Had Snider gotten the fifth place vote, the final vote would have favored Snider 227–226. Duke did, however, win the Sporting News National League Player of the Year Award for 1955 and the Sid Mercer Award.[4][5]

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Dodgers 9855 0.641 — 56–21 42–34
Milwaukee Braves 8569 0.552 13½ 46–31 39–38
New York Giants 8074 0.519 18½ 44–35 36–39
Philadelphia Phillies 7777 0.500 21½ 46–31 31–46
Cincinnati Redlegs 7579 0.487 23½ 46–31 29–48
Chicago Cubs 7281 0.471 26 43–33 29–48
St. Louis Cardinals 6886 0.442 30½ 41–36 27–50
Pittsburgh Pirates 6094 0.390 38½ 36–39 24–55

Record vs. opponents

1955 National League Records

Sources:
Team BR CHC CIN MIL NYG PHI PIT STL
Brooklyn —14–7–112–1015–713–916–614–814–8
Chicago7–14–1—11–117–1512–1010–1211–1114–8
Cincinnati10–1211–11—9–139–1311–1114–811–11
Milwaukee7–1515–713–9—14–814–811–1111–11
New York9–1310–1213–98–14—10–1217–513–9
Philadelphia6–1612–1011–118–1412–10—15–713–9
Pittsburgh8–1411–118–1411–115–177–15—10–12
St. Louis8–148–1411–1111–119–139–1312–10—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Jim GilliamSecond baseman
Pee Wee ReeseShortstop
Duke SniderCenter fielder
Gil HodgesFirst baseman
Sandy AmorósLeft fielder
Jackie RobinsonThird baseman
Carl FurilloRight fielder
Roy CampanellaCatcher
Carl ErskineStarting pitcher

Notable transactions

Roster

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
CRoy Campanella12344681142.318321072
1BGil Hodges15054675158.289271022
2BJim Gilliam147538110134.24974015
SSPee Wee Reese14555399156.28210618
3BJackie Robinson1053175181.25683612
LFSandy Amorós1193885996.247105110
CFDuke Snider148538126166.309421369
RFCarl Furillo14052383164.31426954

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
Don Hoak942795067.2405199
Don Zimmer882803867.23915505
Rube Walker48103626.2522131
Frank Kellert39801226.3254190
George Shuba4451814.275180
Dixie Howell1642211.262050
Walt Moryn111935.263130
Bob Borkowski91922.105000
Bert Hamric2100.000000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; CG = Complete games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player G GS CG IP W L ERA BB SO
Don Newcombe343117233.22053.2038143
Carl Erskine31297194.21183.796484
Johnny Podres27245159.19103.9557114
Billy Loes221961281043.594685

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; CG = Complete games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player G GS CG IP W L ERA BB SO
Karl Spooner2914298.2863.654178
Roger Craig2110390.2532.784348
Russ Meyer1811273625.423126
Sandy Koufax125241.2223.022830
Tommy Lasorda41040013.5064

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA BB SO
Clem Labine60144.1135113.245567
Ed Roebuck478456124.712433
Don Bessent2463.18132.702129
Jim Hughes2442.20264.221920
Joe Black615.11002.9359
Chuck Templeton44.201011.5753

1955 World Series

Game 1

September 28, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 021 000 020 5100
New York (A) 021 102 00x 691
W: Whitey Ford (1–0)   L: Don Newcombe (0–1)   S: Bob Grim (1)
HR: BRO – Carl Furillo (1), Duke Snider (1)    NYY – Elston Howard (1), Joe Collins (1, 2)

Game 2

September 29, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 000 110 000 252
New York (A) 000 400 00x 480
W: Tommy Byrne (1–0)   L: Billy Loes (0–1)

Game 3

September 30, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 020 000 100 370
Brooklyn (N) 220 200 20x 8111
W: Johnny Podres (1–0)  L: Bob Turley (0–1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1)    BRO – Roy Campanella (1)

Game 4

October 1, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 110 102 000 590
Brooklyn (N) 001 330 10x 8140
W: Clem Labine (1–0)  L: Don Larsen (0–1)
HR: NYY – Gil McDougald (1)    BRO – Roy Campanella (2), Gil Hodges (1), Duke Snider (2)

Game 5

October 2, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 000 100 110 360
Brooklyn (N) 021 010 01x 592
W: Roger Craig (1–0)  L: Bob Grim (0–1)   S: Clem Labine (1)
HR: NYY – Bob Cerv (1), Yogi Berra (1)    BRO – Sandy Amorós (1), Duke Snider (3, 4)

Game 6

October 3, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 000 100 000 141
New York (A) 500 000 00x 580
W: Whitey Ford (2–0)   L: Karl Spooner (0–1)
HR: NYY – Bill Skowron (1)

Game 7

October 4, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 000 101 000 250
New York (A) 000 000 000 081
W: Johnny Podres (2–0)   L: Tommy Byrne (1–1)

Awards and honors

All-Stars

League top five finishers

Roy Campanella

  • #4 in NL in batting average (.318)

Jim Gilliam

  • #5 in NL in runs scored (110)
  • #5 in NL in stolen bases (15)

Clem Labine

  • #3 in NL in saves (11)

Don Newcombe

  • #2 in NL in wins (20)
  • #2 in NL in ERA (3.20)
  • #2 in NL in complete games (17)
  • #5 in NL in strikeouts (143)

Ed Roebuck

  • #2 in NL in saves (12)

Duke Snider

  • MLB leader in RBI (136)
  • MLB leader in runs scored (126)
  • #2 in NL in on-base percentage (.418)
  • #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.628)
  • #3 in NL in doubles (34)
  • #3 in NL in bases on balls (104)
  • #4 in NL in home runs (42)

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Montreal Royals International League Greg Mulleavy
AAA St. Paul Saints American Association Max Macon
AA Ft. Worth Cats Texas League Tommy Holmes
AA Mobile Bears Southern Association Clay Bryant
A Elmira Pioneers Eastern League Ray Hathaway
A Pueblo Dodgers Western League Goldie Holt
B Asheville Tourists Tri-State League Earl Naylor
B Cedar Rapids Raiders Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Ray Perry
B Newport News Dodgers Piedmont League George Scherger
C Bakersfield Indians California League Doc Alexson
C Great Falls Electrics Pioneer League Lou Rochelli
D Hornell Dodgers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Boyd Bartley
D Shawnee Hawks Sooner State League Jack Banta
D Thomasville Dodgers Georgia–Florida League Pete Reiser
D Union City Dodgers Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League Joe Hauser

Notes

  1. ↑ Ray Moore at Baseball-Reference
  2. ↑ Billy Cox at Baseball-Reference
  3. ↑ Erv Palica at Baseball-Reference
  4. ↑ The Duke of Flatbush by Duke Snider and Bill Gilbert
  5. ↑ https://www.baseball-reference.com
  6. ↑ Ron Negray at Baseball-Reference
  7. ↑ Joe Black at Baseball-Reference
  8. ↑ Glenn Cox at Baseball-Reference

References

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