1947 Cleveland Indians season

1947 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
	American League (since 1901);
Location
	Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932); Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901);
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Veeck
General manager(s)	Bill Veeck
Manager(s)	Lou Boudreau
Local radio	WGAR (AM); (Jack Graney, Van Patrick)
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The 1947 Cleveland Indians season was the 47th in franchise history. On July 5, Larry Doby broke the American League color barrier. Doby was signed by the Indians by owner and team president Bill Veeck in July, 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson appeared with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League. In his rookie season, Doby hit 5-for-32 in 29 games.

Offseason

November 1, 1946: Gus Zernial was drafted by the Indians from the Atlanta Crackers in the 1946 rule 5 draft.[1]

Regular season

July 5: In a game against the Chicago White Sox, Larry Doby became the first black player to appear in an American League game.[2] Doby pinch-hit for pitcher Bryan Stephens in the seventh inning and struck out against Earl Harrist.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	55–22	42–35
Detroit Tigers	85	69	0.552	12	46–31	39–38
Boston Red Sox	83	71	0.539	14	49–30	34–41
Cleveland Indians	80	74	0.519	17	38–39	42–35
Philadelphia Athletics	78	76	0.506	19	39–38	39–38
Chicago White Sox	70	84	0.455	27	32–43	38–41
Washington Senators	64	90	0.416	33	36–41	28–49
St. Louis Browns	59	95	0.383	38	29–48	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1947 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	16–6–1	9–13	12–10–1	9–13	10–12–1	15–7	12–10
Chicago	6–16–1	—	11–11	7–15	10–12	11–11	11–11	14–8
Cleveland	13–9	11–11	—	8–14–2	7–15	11–11–1	17–5	13–9
Detroit	10–12–1	15–7	14–8–2	—	8–14–1	11–11	15–7	12–10
New York	13–9	12–10	15–7	14–8–1	—	13–9	15–7	15–7
Philadelphia	12–10–1	11–11	11–11–1	11–11	9–13	—	13–9	11–11
St. Louis	7–15	11–11	5–17	7–15	7–15	9–13	—	13–9
Washington	10–12	8–14	9–13	10–12	7–15	11–11	9–13	—

Notable transactions

April 2, 1947: Catfish Metkovich was purchased by the Indians from the Boston Red Sox.[3]
April 23, 1947: Gus Zernial was purchased from the Indians by the Chicago White Sox.[1]

Roster

1947 Cleveland Indians

Roster

Pitchers

17 Gene Bearden

35 Don Black

9 Cal Dorsett

22 Red Embree

19 Bob Feller

24 Al Gettel

25 Steve Gromek

29 Ernest Groth

18 Mel Harder

16 Ed Klieman

26 Bob Kuzava

21 Bob Lemon

3 Lyman Linde

28 Bryan Stephens

29 Les Willis

20 Roger Wolff

Catchers

10 Jim Hegan

12 Al López

11 Hank Ruszkowski

Infielders

2 Eddie Bockman

5 Lou Boudreau

7 Jack Conway

14 Larry Doby

8 Les Fleming

4 Joe Gordon

6 Ken Keltner

3 Eddie Robinson

17 Al Rosen

Outfielders

32 Hank Edwards

36 Joe Frazier

35 Felix Mackiewicz

31 Catfish Metkovich

33 Dale Mitchell

34 Hal Peck

30 Pat Seerey

36 Ted Sepkowski

Other batters

26 Heinz Becker

1 Jimmy Wasdell

Manager

5 Lou Boudreau

Coaches

41 Bill McKechnie

40 Ski Melillo

43 Tris Speaker

42 George Susce

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	Jim Hegan	135	378	94	.249	4	42
1B	Eddie Robinson	95	318	78	.245	14	52
2B	Joe Gordon	155	562	153	.272	29	93
SS	Lou Boudreau	150	538	165	.307	4	67
3B	Ken Keltner	151	541	139	.257	11	76
OF	Hank Edwards	108	393	102	.260	15	59
OF	George Metkovich	126	473	120	.254	5	40
OF	Dale Mitchell	123	493	156	.316	1	34

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
Hal Peck	114	392	115	.293	8	44
Les Fleming	103	281	68	.242	4	43
Pat Seerey	82	216	37	.171	11	29
Al López	61	126	33	.262	0	14
Eddie Bockman	46	66	17	.258	1	14
Jack Conway	34	50	9	.180	0	5
Larry Doby	29	32	5	.156	0	2
Hank Ruszkowski	23	27	7	.259	3	4
Joe Frazier	9	14	1	.071	0	0
Ted Sepkowski	10	8	1	.125	0	0
Al Rosen	7	9	1	.111	0	0
Felix Mackiewicz	2	5	0	.000	0	0
Heinz Becker	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Jimmy Wasdell	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
Bob Feller	42	299.0	20	11	2.68	196
Don Black	30	190.2	10	12	3.92	72
Red Embree	27	162.2	8	10	3.15	56
Al Gettel	31	149.0	11	10	3.20	64
Mel Harder	15	80.0	6	4	4.50	17

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 Kuzava	4	21.2	1	1	4.15	9
Roger Wolff	7	16.0	0	0	3.94	5
Ernest Groth	2	1.1	0	0	0.00	1
Cal Dorsett	2	1.1	0	0	27.00	1
Lyman Linde	1	0.2	0	0	27.00	0
Gene Bearden	1	0.1	0	0	81.00	0

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
Ed Klieman	58	5	4	17	3.03	21
Bob Lemon	37	11	5	3	3.44	65
Bryan Stephens	31	5	10	1	4.01	34
Steve Gromek	29	3	5	4	3.74	39
Les Willis	22	0	2	1	3.48	10

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Lou Boudreau, Shortstop, starter

Bob Feller, Pitcher (replaced due to injury)

Joe Gordon, Second baseman, starter

Jim Hegan, Catcher, reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Baltimore Orioles	International League	Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas
AA	Oklahoma City Indians	Texas League	Roy Schalk and Pat Ankenman
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Bill Norman
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
B	Meridian Peps	Southeastern League	Roxie Lawson
B	Spartanburg Peaches	Tri-State League	Kerby Farrell
C	Tucson Cowboys	Arizona–Texas League	Joe Vosmik
C	Bakersfield Indians	California League	Tony Governor
C	Pittsfield Electrics	Canadian–American League	Tony Rensa
C	Burlington Indians	Central Association	Paul O'Dea
C	Jacksonville Jax	Lone Star League	Linville Watkins
D	Cordele Indians	Georgia–Florida League	Mercer Harris
D	Union City Greyhounds	KITTY League	Stephen Bysco
D	Dayton Indians	Ohio State League	Ival Goodman
D	Batavia Clippers	PONY League	Jack Tighe
D	Ardmore Indians	Sooner State League	Dutch Prather
D	Green Bay Blue Jays	Wisconsin State League	Harry Griswold

[4]

Notes

Gus Zernial at Baseball-Reference
Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 184, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
Catfish Metkovich at Baseball-Reference
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

1947 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Reference
1947 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac

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[zernial-1] Gus Zernial at Baseball-Reference

[2] Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 184, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4

[3] Catfish Metkovich at Baseball-Reference

[4] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

1947 MLB season by team
American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1947 All-Star Game 1947 World Series