# 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers struggled for much of the season, but still wound up pushing the Philadelphia Phillies to the last day of the season before falling two games short. Following the season, Branch Rickey was replaced as majority owner/team president by Walter O'Malley, who promptly fired manager Burt Shotton and replaced him with Chuck Dressen. Buzzie Bavasi was also hired as the team's first independent General Manager.
Vin Scully joined the Dodgers' radio and television crew as a play-by-play announcer in 1950; in 2016, Scully entered his 67th consecutive season with the club, the longest such tenure in the history of sports broadcasting; that season was the first wherein his voice, as well as of Red Barber's, was broadcast on television station WOR-TV, making the Dodgers the last New York City MLB team to introduce regular television broadcasts, 11 years following the first broadcasts of 1939.

## Offseason

* October 1, 1949: Danny O'Connell was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later and cash. The Pirates completed the deal by sending Jack Cassini to the Dodgers on October 11.
* October 4, 1949: Sam Jethroe and Bob Addis were traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Don Thompson, Dee Phillips and Al Epperly.
* October 14, 1949: Marv Rackley was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cincinnati Reds.
* October 14, 1949: Paul Minner and Preston Ward were purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago Cubs.
* November 4, 1949: Hank Schenz was purchased from the Dodgers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* November 14, 1949: Dick Whitman was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.
* December 24, 1949: Luis Olmo was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Jim Russell, Ed Sauer and cash.
* April 10, 1950: Nero Wolfe trains with the Dodgers as shortstop, but fails to make the roster.
* Prior to 1950 season (exact date unknown)
** John Glenn was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.
** Glenn Cox was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.

## Regular season

During the season, Duke Snider had a hitting streak of 22 games Another highlight was on August 31, when Gil Hodges hit four home runs in one game, becoming the first player in the 20th century to do so in his home park.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 63 | .591 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 89 | 65 | .578 | 2 | 48‍–‍30 | 41‍–‍35 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 68 | .558 | 5 | 44‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Boston Braves | 83 | 71 | .539 | 8 | 46‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 78 | 75 | .510 | 12½ | 48‍–‍28 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 87 | .431 | 24½ | 38‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍49 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 89 | .418 | 26½ | 35‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 57 | 96 | .373 | 33½ | 33‍–‍44 | 24‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1950 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 9–13–1 | 15–7–1 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 19–3 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 4–17 | 5–17 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 5–17 | 10–12 | 17–4 | — | 11–11 | 4–18 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 17–5 | 11–11 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9–1 | 11–11–1 | 13–9–1 | 18–4 | 10–12 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–15–1 | 3–19 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 6–16 | 8–14 | — | 12–9 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 10, 1950: Willie Ramsdell was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cincinnati Reds.
* May 17, 1950: Spider Jorgensen was purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants.
* July 30, 1950: Glen Moulder was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Johnny Lindell.
* September 10, 1950: Harry Taylor was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Red Sox.

### Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Lineup :
| # | Name | Position |
| 1 | Pee Wee Reese | SS |
| 8 | George Shuba | LF |
| 4 | Duke Snider | CF |
| 42 | Jackie Robinson | 2B |
| 6 | Carl Furillo | RF |
| 14 | Gil Hodges | 1B |
| 2 | Bobby Morgan | 3B |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | C |
| 36 | Don Newcombe | P |

### Roster
## 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 | Roy Campanella | 126 | 437 | 123 | .281 | 31 | 89 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 153 | 561 | 159 | .283 | 32 | 113 |
| 2B | Jackie Robinson | 144 | 518 | 170 | .328 | 14 | 81 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 141 | 531 | 138 | .260 | 11 | 52 |
| 3B | Billy Cox | 119 | 451 | 116 | .257 | 8 | 44 |
| OF | Duke Snider | 152 | 620 | 199 | .321 | 31 | 107 |
| OF | Gene Hermanski | 94 | 289 | 86 | .298 | 7 | 34 |
| OF | Carl Furillo | 153 | 620 | 189 | .305 | 18 | 106 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Russell | 77 | 214 | 49 | .229 | 10 | 32 |
| Bobby Morgan | 67 | 199 | 45 | .226 | 7 | 21 |
| Bruce Edwards | 50 | 142 | 26 | .183 | 8 | 16 |
| George Shuba | 34 | 111 | 23 | .207 | 3 | 12 |
| Tommy Brown | 48 | 86 | 25 | .291 | 8 | 20 |
| Eddie Miksis | 51 | 76 | 19 | .250 | 2 | 10 |
| Cal Abrams | 38 | 44 | 9 | .205 | 0 | 4 |
| Wayne Belardi | 10 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Lembo | 5 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Spider Jorgensen | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 | 267.1 | 19 | 11 | 3.70 | 130 |
| Preacher Roe | 36 | 250.2 | 19 | 11 | 3.30 | 125 |
| Carl Erskine | 22 | 103.0 | 7 | 6 | 4.72 | 50 |

#### 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 |
| Erv Palica | 43 | 201.1 | 13 | 8 | 3.58 | 131 |
| Ralph Branca | 43 | 142.0 | 7 | 9 | 4.69 | 100 |
| Dan Bankhead | 41 | 129.1 | 9 | 4 | 5.50 | 96 |
| Bud Podbielan | 20 | 72.2 | 5 | 4 | 5.33 | 28 |
| Joe Hatten | 23 | 68.2 | 2 | 2 | 4.59 | 29 |
| Jack Banta | 16 | 41.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.35 | 15 |
| Chris Van Cuyk | 12 | 33.1 | 1 | 3 | 4.86 | 21 |
| Jim Romano | 3 | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 5.68 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Rex Barney | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6.42 | 23 |
| Billy Loes | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.82 | 2 |
| Joe Landrum | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.10 | 5 |
| Al Epperly | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 | 3 |
| Willie Ramsdell | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.84 | 2 |
| Mal Mallette | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Clem Labine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |
| Pat McGlothin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* 1950 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Roy Campanella starter
** Jackie Robinson starter
** Gil Hodges reserve
** Don Newcombe reserve
** Pee Wee Reese reserve
** Preacher Roe reserve
** Duke Snider reserve
* TSN Major League All-Star Team
** Jackie Robinson

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Fred Haney |
| 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 | Greg Mulleavy George Fallon |
| A | Greenville Spinners | South Atlantic League | Oscar Grimes |
| A | Pueblo Dodgers | Western League | Ray Hathaway |
| B | Asheville Tourists | Tri-State League | Clay Bryant |
| B | Danville Dodgers | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | James Bivin |
| B | Lancaster Red Roses | Interstate League | Ed Head |
| B | Miami Sun Sox | Florida International League | Pepper Martin |
| B | Newport News Dodgers | Piedmont League | Al Campanis Bud Metheny |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Larry Shepard |
| C | Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings | Southwest International League | Buck Elliott |
| C | Greenwood Dodgers | Cotton States League | Lou Rochelli |
| C | Santa Barbara Dodgers | California League | Bill Hart |
| D | Trois-Rivières Royals | Canadian–American League | George Scherger |
| 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 | Boyd Bartley |
| D | Sheboygan Indians | Wisconsin State League | Joe Hauser |
| D | Valdosta Dodgers | Georgia–Florida League | Stan Wasiak |
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