| 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers | |
|---|---|
| World Series champion National League champion | |
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| League | National League |
| Division | National League |
| Ballpark | Ebbets Field |
| City | Brooklyn, New York |
| Owners | Walter O'Malley,James &Dearie Mulvey,Mary Louise Smith |
| President | Walter O'Malley |
| General managers | Buzzie Bavasi |
| Managers | Walter Alston |
| Television | WOR-TV |
| Radio | WMGM Vin Scully,Connie Desmond,André Baruch,Al Helfer WHOM Buck Canel |
The1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season was the 66th season for theBrooklyn Dodgers franchise in theMLB. The 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 in1953, it had never won aWorld Series. This team finished 13.5 games ahead in theNational Leaguepennant race, leading the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed. In theWorld Series, they finally beat their crosstown rivals, theNew York Yankees. It was the Dodgers' first and only World Series championship won while located inBrooklyn. With their World Series victory, the '55 Dodgers became only the second wire-to-wire team (a team leading from opening day to season's end) in MLB history after the '27 Yankees.
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This season was basically a culmination of the careers of many legendary Dodger players. CatcherRoy Campanella won the 1955National League Most Valuable Player award, his third in five years.Center fielderDuke Snider led the league inruns batted in and was second in the MVP voting. He also hit his 200th careerhome run on May 10.Jackie Robinson andPee 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), whileCarl Furillo, 33, hit 26 home runs with a .314 batting average.
The pitching staff was anchored byDon Newcombe, who was 20–5. It was the first time a black pitcher had won 20 games in a season. The 22-year-oldJohnny Podres was only 9–10 but became the hero of the1955 World Series by shutting out the Yankees in the seventh game.
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 theBaseball 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, then values of 9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for those in places 2 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]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 98 | 55 | .641 | — | 56–21 | 42–34 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 85 | 69 | .552 | 13½ | 46–31 | 39–38 |
| New York Giants | 80 | 74 | .519 | 18½ | 44–35 | 36–39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 21½ | 46–31 | 31–46 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 23½ | 46–31 | 29–48 |
| Chicago Cubs | 72 | 81 | .471 | 26 | 43–33 | 29–48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 68 | 86 | .442 | 30½ | 41–36 | 27–50 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | 94 | .390 | 38½ | 36–39 | 24–55 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 14–7–1 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–14–1 | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 11–11 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 11–11 | |||||
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 17–5 | 13–9 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–14 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | |||||
| Opening Day Lineup | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Position |
| 19 | Jim Gilliam | 2B |
| 1 | Pee Wee Reese | SS |
| 4 | Duke Snider | CF |
| 14 | Gil Hodges | 1B |
| 15 | Sandy Amorós | LF |
| 42 | Jackie Robinson | 3B |
| 6 | Carl Furillo | RF |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | C |
| 17 | Carl Erskine | P |
| 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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 | GP | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Roy Campanella | 123 | 446 | 81 | 142 | .318 | 32 | 107 | 2 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 150 | 546 | 75 | 158 | .289 | 27 | 102 | 2 |
| 2B | Jim Gilliam | 147 | 538 | 110 | 134 | .249 | 7 | 40 | 15 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 145 | 553 | 99 | 156 | .282 | 10 | 61 | 8 |
| 3B | Jackie Robinson | 105 | 317 | 51 | 81 | .256 | 8 | 36 | 12 |
| LF | Sandy Amorós | 119 | 388 | 59 | 96 | .247 | 10 | 51 | 10 |
| CF | Duke Snider | 148 | 538 | 126 | 166 | .309 | 42 | 136 | 9 |
| RF | Carl Furillo | 140 | 523 | 83 | 164 | .314 | 26 | 95 | 4 |
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 Zimmer | 88 | 280 | 38 | 67 | .239 | 15 | 50 | 5 |
| Don Hoak | 94 | 279 | 50 | 67 | .240 | 5 | 19 | 9 |
| Rube Walker | 48 | 103 | 6 | 26 | .252 | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| Frank Kellert | 39 | 80 | 12 | 26 | .325 | 4 | 19 | 0 |
| George Shuba | 44 | 51 | 8 | 14 | .275 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Dixie Howell | 16 | 42 | 2 | 11 | .262 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Walt Moryn | 11 | 19 | 3 | 5 | .263 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Bob Borkowski | 9 | 19 | 2 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bert Hamric | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 Newcombe | 34 | 31 | 17 | 233.2 | 20 | 5 | 3.20 | 38 | 143 |
| Carl Erskine | 31 | 29 | 7 | 194.2 | 11 | 8 | 3.79 | 64 | 84 |
| Johnny Podres | 27 | 24 | 5 | 159.1 | 9 | 10 | 3.95 | 57 | 114 |
| Billy Loes | 22 | 19 | 6 | 128.0 | 10 | 4 | 3.59 | 46 | 85 |
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 Spooner | 29 | 14 | 2 | 98.2 | 8 | 6 | 3.65 | 41 | 78 |
| Roger Craig | 21 | 10 | 3 | 90.2 | 5 | 3 | 2.78 | 43 | 48 |
| Russ Meyer | 18 | 11 | 2 | 73.0 | 6 | 2 | 5.42 | 31 | 26 |
| Sandy Koufax | 12 | 5 | 2 | 41.2 | 2 | 2 | 3.02 | 28 | 30 |
| Tommy Lasorda | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 6 | 4 |
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 Labine | 60 | 144.1 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 3.24 | 55 | 67 |
| Ed Roebuck | 47 | 84.0 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 4.71 | 24 | 33 |
| Don Bessent | 24 | 63.1 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2.70 | 21 | 29 |
| Jim Hughes | 24 | 42.2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4.22 | 19 | 20 |
| Joe Black | 6 | 15.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.93 | 5 | 9 |
| Chuck Templeton | 4 | 4.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.57 | 5 | 3 |
September 28, 1955, atYankee Stadium in New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| 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) | ||||||||||||
September 29, 1955, atYankee Stadium in New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| W:Tommy Byrne (1–0) L:Billy Loes (0–1) | ||||||||||||
September 30, 1955, atEbbets Field inBrooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| W:Johnny Podres (1–0) L:Bob Turley (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Mickey Mantle (1) BRO –Roy Campanella (1) | ||||||||||||
October 1, 1955, atEbbets Field inBrooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 8 | 14 | 0 |
| 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) | ||||||||||||
October 2, 1955, atEbbets Field inBrooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | x | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| 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) | ||||||||||||
October 3, 1955, atYankee Stadium in New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| W:Whitey Ford (2–0) L:Karl Spooner (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Bill Skowron (1) | ||||||||||||
October 4, 1955, atYankee Stadium in New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| W:Johnny Podres (2–0) L:Tommy Byrne (1–1) | ||||||||||||
The 1955 World Series proved to the only title the Dodgers won in Brooklyn. After losing the1956 World Series to the Yankees, the team would move toLos Angeles after the1957 season.[10]
With the death ofCarl Erskine in April 2024,Sandy Koufax became the last surviving player from the 1955 team.[11]
In August 2005, theLos Angeles Dodgers commemorated the 50th anniversary of the franchise winning its first World Series, and only one while in Brooklyn. The eleven surviving members of the 1955 team all attended the weekend celebration.[12]
No official commemorative event, however, took place in Brooklyn on October 4, 2005 (the actual anniversary of the Dodgers' triumph), prompting authorThomas Oliphant to argue that "on both coasts, we could have done a little bit better, especially for such an important memory."[12]
That being said, a small gathering of ten people took place at the site ofEbbets Field on October 4, 2005 "at 3:43 pm, 50 years to the minute from when the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series."[12]Brooklyn Paper journalist Ed Shakespeare reported that "[a]ll of the attendees came alone or in pairs, unaware of who else might attend", describing the event as "a sharing of memories from those who remembered."[12]
