# 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers season was overshadowed by Walter O'Malley's threat to move the Dodgers out of Brooklyn if the city did not build him a new stadium in that borough. When the best the mayor could promise was a stadium in Queens, O'Malley made good on his threats and moved the team to Los Angeles after the season ended. The Dodgers final game at Ebbets Field was on September 24 as they finished their 68th and last NL season, and their 75th overall, in Brooklyn in third place with an 84–70 record, 11 games behind the NL and World Series Champion Milwaukee Braves.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1956: Connie Grob was purchased by the Dodgers from the Washington Senators.

## Regular season

During the season, the Dodgers played eight home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of owner Walter O'Malley's continued attempts to pressure Brooklyn to allow him to build a new stadium in his preferred location at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues.
On July 20, 1957: Duke Snider hit the 300th home run of his career. The opposing pitcher was Dick Drott.
Danny McDevitt was the last pitcher to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game at Ebbets Field. The game was contested on September 24, 1957, and McDevitt pitched a complete game. He had nine strikeouts while allowing only five hits.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Milwaukee Braves | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 45‍–‍32 | 50‍–‍27 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | .565 | 8 | 42‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 11 | 43‍–‍34 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 80 | 74 | .519 | 15 | 45‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 18 | 38‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍38 |
| New York Giants | 69 | 85 | .448 | 26 | 37‍–‍40 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 36‍–‍41 | 26‍–‍51 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 31‍–‍46 | 31‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1957 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 17–5 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 12–10–1 | 12–10 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 9–13 |
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 18–4 | — | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 16–6 | 11–11 |
| New York | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 16–6 | — |

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Lineup :
| # | Name | Position |
| 19 | Jim Gilliam | 2B |
| 9 | Gino Cimoli | LF |
| 4 | Duke Snider | CF |
| 6 | Carl Furillo | RF |
| 14 | Gil Hodges | 1B |
| 2 | Randy Jackson | 3B |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | C |
| 23 | Don Zimmer | SS |
| 36 | Don Newcombe | P |

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1957: Chico Fernández was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ron Negray, Tim Harkness, Elmer Valo, Mel Geho (minors), cash and a player to be named later. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Ben Flowers to the Dodgers on April 8.
* May 23, 1957: Don Elston was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Vito Valentinetti and Jackie Collum.
* May 26, 1957: Tommy Lasorda was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees
* May 30, 1957: Jim Fridley was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.
* June 14, 1957: Ken Lehman was purchased from the Dodgers by the Baltimore Orioles.
* June 15, 1957: Babe Birrer was purchased by the Dodgers from the Baltimore Orioles.
* August 24, 1957: Vito Valentinetti was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cleveland Indians.

### 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 | 103 | 330 | 80 | .242 | 13 | 62 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 150 | 579 | 173 | .299 | 27 | 98 |
| 2B | Jim Gilliam | 149 | 617 | 154 | .250 | 2 | 37 |
| SS | Charlie Neal | 128 | 448 | 121 | .270 | 12 | 62 |
| 3B | Pee Wee Reese | 103 | 330 | 74 | .224 | 1 | 29 |
| LF | Gino Cimoli | 142 | 532 | 156 | .293 | 10 | 57 |
| CF | Duke Snider | 139 | 508 | 139 | .274 | 40 | 92 |
| RF | Carl Furillo | 119 | 395 | 121 | .306 | 12 | 66 |

#### 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 |
| Don Zimmer | 84 | 269 | 59 | .219 | 6 | 19 |
| Sandy Amoros | 106 | 238 | 66 | .277 | 7 | 26 |
| Rube Walker | 60 | 166 | 30 | .181 | 2 | 23 |
| Elmer Valo | 81 | 161 | 44 | .273 | 4 | 26 |
| Randy Jackson | 48 | 131 | 26 | .198 | 2 | 16 |
| John Roseboro | 35 | 69 | 10 | .145 | 2 | 6 |
| Bob Kennedy | 19 | 31 | 4 | .129 | 1 | 4 |
| Joe Pignatano | 8 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Gentile | 4 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 1 | 1 |
| Rod Miller | 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 |
| Don Drysdale | 34 | 221.0 | 17 | 9 | 2.69 | 148 |
| Don Newcombe | 28 | 198.2 | 11 | 12 | 3.49 | 90 |
| Johnny Podres | 31 | 196.0 | 12 | 9 | 2.66 | 109 |
| Danny McDevitt | 22 | 119.0 | 7 | 4 | 3.25 | 90 |
| Sal Maglie | 9 | 101.1 | 6 | 6 | 2.93 | 50 |
| Bill Harris | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Roger Craig | 32 | 111.1 | 6 | 9 | 4.61 | 69 |
| Sandy Koufax | 34 | 104.1 | 5 | 4 | 3.88 | 122 |
| Carl Erskine | 15 | 66.0 | 5 | 3 | 3.55 | 26 |
| René Valdés | 5 | 13.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.54 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Clem Labine | 58 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 3.44 | 67 |
| Ed Roebuck | 44 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2.71 | 73 |
| Don Bessent | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.73 | 24 |
| Ken Lehman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Jackie Collum | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 3 |
| Fred Kipp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |
| Don Elston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Gold Glove Award
** Gil Hodges

### All-Stars

* 1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Gino Cimoli reserve
** Gil Hodges reserve
** Clem Labine reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Open | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Clay Bryant |
| AAA | Montreal Royals | International League | Greg Mulleavy Al Campanis Al Ronning Tommy Holmes |
| AAA | St. Paul Saints | American Association | Max Macon |
| A | Macon Dodgers | South Atlantic League | Goldie Holt |
| A | Pueblo Dodgers | Western League | Ray Hathaway |
| B | Cedar Rapids Raiders | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Danny Ozark |
| B | Victoria Rosebuds | Texas League | Lou Rochelli |
| C | Great Falls Electrics | Pioneer League | Jack Banta |
| C | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Ray Perry |
| D | Bluefield Dodgers | Appalachian League | Jim Bragan |
| D | Kokomo Dodgers | Midwest League | Pete Reiser |
| D | Shawnee Hawks | Sooner State League | Edward Serrano |
| D | Thomasville Dodgers | Georgia–Florida League | Rudy Rufer Leon Hamilton Roger Wright |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bluefield