# 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers held off the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League title by one game. The Dodgers lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in five games.

## Offseason

* November 24, 1948: Tommy Lasorda was drafted by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1948 minor league draft.
* December 15, 1948: Pete Reiser was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Braves for Mike McCormick and Nanny Fernandez.
* February 26, 1949: Hank Behrman was purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants.

## Regular season

Jackie Robinson led the NL in hitting and stolen bases and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Robinson was the first black player to win the NL MVP.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 49‍–‍28 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 96 | 58 | .623 | 1 | 51‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 81 | 73 | .526 | 16 | 40‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Boston Braves | 75 | 79 | .487 | 22 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| New York Giants | 73 | 81 | .474 | 24 | 43‍–‍34 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 71 | 83 | .461 | 26 | 36‍–‍41 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 62 | 92 | .403 | 35 | 35‍–‍42 | 27‍–‍50 |
| Chicago Cubs | 61 | 93 | .396 | 36 | 33‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1949 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 12–10–1 | 12–10–2 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 6–16 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10 | — | 17–5 | 17–5 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 10–12–1 |
| Chicago | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 9–13 | 12–10 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 8–14 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12–1 | 5–17 | 13–9 | — | 7–15 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 5–17–1 |
| New York | 10–12–2 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 11–11 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 11–11 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 16–6 | 12–10–1 | 14–8 | 17–5–1 | 15–7 | 12–10 | 10–12 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| Name | Position |
| Cal Abrams | Left fielder |
| Pee Wee Reese | Shortstop |
| Duke Snider | Center fielder |
| Jackie Robinson | Second baseman |
| Carl Furillo | Right fielder |
| Billy Cox | Third baseman |
| Gil Hodges | First baseman |
| Roy Campanella | Catcher |
| Joe Hatten | Starting pitcher |

### Notable transactions

* May 16, 1949: Bob Ramazzotti was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Schenz.
* May 18, 1949: Marv Rackley was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Johnny Hopp and cash (trade voided June 7).
* May 19, 1949: Nanny Fernandez was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ed Bahr and Grady Wilson.
* September 28, 1949: Kermit Wahl was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Athletics for Bill McCahan and cash.
* September 30, 1949: Irv Noren was purchased from the Dodgers by the Washington Senators.

### 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 | 130 | 436 | 125 | .287 | 22 | 82 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 156 | 596 | 170 | .285 | 23 | 115 |
| 2B | Jackie Robinson | 156 | 593 | 203 | .342 | 16 | 124 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 155 | 617 | 172 | .279 | 16 | 73 |
| 3B | Billy Cox | 100 | 390 | 91 | .233 | 8 | 40 |
| OF | Duke Snider | 146 | 552 | 161 | .292 | 23 | 92 |
| OF | Gene Hermanski | 87 | 224 | 67 | .299 | 8 | 42 |
| OF | Carl Furillo | 142 | 549 | 177 | .322 | 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 |
| Marv Rackley | 63 | 150 | 45 | .300 | 1 | 15 |
| Bruce Edwards | 64 | 148 | 31 | .209 | 8 | 25 |
| Mike McCormick | 55 | 139 | 29 | .209 | 2 | 14 |
| Spider Jorgensen | 53 | 134 | 36 | .269 | 1 | 14 |
| Eddie Miksis | 50 | 113 | 25 | .221 | 1 | 6 |
| Luis Olmo | 38 | 105 | 32 | .305 | 1 | 14 |
| Tommy Brown | 41 | 89 | 27 | .303 | 3 | 18 |
| Dick Whitman | 23 | 49 | 9 | .184 | 0 | 2 |
| Cal Abrams | 8 | 24 | 2 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Hopp | 8 | 14 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Ramazzotti | 5 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 1 | 3 |
| Chuck Connors | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| George Shuba | 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 Newcombe | 38 | 244.1 | 17 | 8 | 3.17 | 149 |
| Preacher Roe | 30 | 212.2 | 15 | 6 | 2.79 | 109 |
| Joe Hatten | 37 | 187.1 | 12 | 8 | 4.18 | 58 |
| Ralph Branca | 34 | 186.2 | 13 | 5 | 4.39 | 109 |

#### 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 |
| Jack Banta | 48 | 152.1 | 10 | 6 | 3.37 | 97 |
| Rex Barney | 38 | 140.2 | 9 | 8 | 4.41 | 80 |
| Morrie Martin | 10 | 30.2 | 1 | 3 | 7.04 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Erv Palica | 49 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 3.62 | 44 |
| Paul Minner | 27 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.80 | 17 |
| Carl Erskine | 22 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4.63 | 49 |
| Pat McGlothin | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.60 | 11 |
| Bud Podbielan | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.65 | 5 |
| Johnny Van Cuyk | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |

## 1949 World Series
### Game 1

October 5, 1949, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| WP: Allie Reynolds (1–0) LP: Don Newcombe (0–1) Home runs: BRK: None NY: Tommy Henrich (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 6, 1949, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| WP: Preacher Roe (1–0) LP: Vic Raschi (0–1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 7, 1949, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| WP: Joe Page (1–0) LP: Ralph Branca (0–1) Home runs: NY: None BRK: Pee Wee Reese (1), Luis Olmo (1), Roy Campanella (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 8, 1949, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| WP: Eddie Lopat (1–0) LP: Don Newcombe (0–2) |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 9, 1949, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 1 |
| Brooklyn | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| WP: Vic Raschi (1–1) LP: Rex Barney (0–1) Home runs: NY: Joe DiMaggio (1) BRK: Gil Hodges (1) |||||||||||||

## Awards and honors

* National League Most Valuable Player
** Jackie Robinson
* National League Rookie of the Year
** Don Newcombe

### National League All-Stars

* 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Jackie Robinson starter
** Pee Wee Reese starter
** Ralph Branca reserve
** Roy Campanella reserve
** Gil Hodges reserve
** Don Newcombe reserve
** Preacher Roe reserve

### The Sporting News awards

* TSN Major League All-Star Team
** Roy Campanella
** Jackie Robinson
* TSN NL Rookie of the Year Award
** Don Newcombe

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Fred Haney |
| AAA | Montreal Royals | International League | Clay Hopper |
| AAA | St. Paul Saints | American Association | Walter Alston |
| AA | Ft. Worth Cats | Texas League | Bobby Bragan |
| AA | Mobile Bears | Southern Association | Paul Chervinko |
| A | Greenville Spinners | South Atlantic League | Clay Bryant |
| A | Pueblo Dodgers | Western League | Ray Hathaway |
| B | Asheville Tourists | Tri-State League | Ed Head |
| B | Danville Dodgers | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Lou Rochelli |
| B | Lancaster Red Roses | Interstate League | Al Campanis |
| B | Miami Sun Sox | Florida International League | Pepper Martin |
| B | Nashua Dodgers | New England League | Greg Mulleavy |
| B | Newport News Dodgers | Piedmont League | Roy Schalk |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Larry Shepard |
| C | Geneva Robins | Border League | Charles Small |
| C | Greenwood Dodgers | Cotton States League | Jim Bivin |
| C | Johnstown Johnnies | Middle Atlantic League | Roy Nichols |
| C | Santa Barbara Dodgers | California League | Chester Kehn |
| D | Trois-Rivières Royals | Canadian–American League | George Scherger |
| D | Cairo Dodgers | Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League | William Hart |
| D | Cambridge Dodgers | Eastern Shore League | Mearl Strachan |
| D | Ponca City Dodgers | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Boyd Bartley |
| D | Sheboygan Indians | Wisconsin State League | Joe Hauser |
| D | Valdosta Dodgers | Georgia–Florida League | Doc Alexson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hollywood, Montreal, Pueblo, Geneva