# 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers team won 104 games in the season, but fell two games short of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League pennant race. The Dodgers' 104 wins tied the 1909 Chicago Cubs for the most wins by a team that failed to finish first in its league (or, since 1969, division); this record lasted until 2021, when the Dodgers won 106 games but finished a game behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

## Offseason

* December 9, 1941: Heinie Mueller was purchased by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies.
* December 10, 1941: Mace Brown was purchased from the Dodgers the Boston Red Sox.
* December 10, 1941: Don Padgett was purchased by the Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals.
* December 10, 1941: Johnny Rizzo was purchased by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies.
* December 12, 1941: Pete Coscarart, Luke Hamlin, Babe Phelps and Jimmy Wasdell were traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Arky Vaughan.
* March 13, 1942: Billy Sullivan was purchased by the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers.
* March 23, 1942: Frenchy Bordagaray was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.
* Prior to 1942 season: Steve Nagy was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.

## Regular season

The Dodgers were 73–30 and 10 games ahead on August 4, but the Cardinals went on to win 45 of their last 56 to grab the NL title. To exacerbate the problem, the Dodgers had also dropped several close games to St. Louis in September.
Defending NL batting champ Pete Reiser, hitting .380, was sidelined in mid-season after repeatedly crashing into the unpadded outfield wall in Ebbets Field. While he recovered from a fractured skull, Brooklyn could not keep up their early pace. A healthy Reiser may very well have made up the two-game difference.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 106 | 48 | .688 | — | 60‍–‍17 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 104 | 50 | .675 | 2 | 57‍–‍22 | 47‍–‍28 |
| New York Giants | 85 | 67 | .559 | 20 | 47‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍36 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 76 | .500 | 29 | 38‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 81 | .449 | 36½ | 41‍–‍34 | 25‍–‍47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 68 | 86 | .442 | 38 | 36‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Boston Braves | 59 | 89 | .399 | 44 | 33‍–‍36 | 26‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phils | 42 | 109 | .278 | 62½ | 23‍–‍51 | 19‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1942 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 6–16 | 13–9 | 5–16–1 | 8–12 | 14–8 | 7–12–1 | 6–16 |
| Brooklyn | 16–6 | — | 16–6 | 15–7 | 14–8–1 | 18–4 | 16–6 | 9–13 |
| Chicago | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 13–9 | 9–13–1 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 6–16 |
| Cincinnati | 16–5–1 | 7–15 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 16–6 | 12–9–1 | 7–15 |
| New York | 12–8 | 8–14–1 | 13–9–1 | 13–9 | — | 17–5 | 15–7 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 4–18 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 5–17 | — | 6–13 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–7–1 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 9–12–1 | 7–15 | 13–6 | — | 8–14–2 |
| St. Louis | 16–6 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 17–5 | 14–8–2 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 30, 1942: Schoolboy Rowe was purchased by the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers.
* May 19, 1942: Babe Dahlgren was purchased by the Dodgers from the Chicago Cubs.
* August 30, 1942: Bobo Newsom was purchased by the Dodgers from the Washington Senators.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

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 | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Mickey Owen | 133 | 421 | 53 | 109 | .259 | 0 | 44 | 10 |
| 1B | Dolph Camilli | 150 | 524 | 89 | 132 | .252 | 26 | 109 | 10 |
| 2B | Billy Herman | 155 | 571 | 76 | 146 | .256 | 2 | 65 | 6 |
| 3B | Arky Vaughan | 128 | 495 | 82 | 137 | .277 | 2 | 49 | 8 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 151 | 564 | 87 | 144 | .255 | 3 | 53 | 15 |
| LF | Joe Medwick | 142 | 553 | 69 | 166 | .300 | 4 | 96 | 2 |
| CF | Pete Reiser | 125 | 480 | 89 | 149 | .310 | 10 | 64 | 20 |
| RF | Dixie Walker | 118 | 393 | 57 | 114 | .290 | 6 | 54 | 1 |

#### Other batters

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 |
| Johnny Rizzo | 78 | 217 | 31 | 50 | .230 | 4 | 27 | 2 |
| Augie Galan | 69 | 209 | 24 | 55 | .263 | 0 | 22 | 2 |
| Lew Riggs | 70 | 199 | 20 | 50 | .278 | 3 | 22 | 0 |
| Billy Sullivan | 43 | 101 | 11 | 27 | .267 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Frenchy Bordagaray | 48 | 58 | 11 | 14 | .241 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Alex Kampouris | 10 | 21 | 3 | 5 | .238 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Babe Dahlgren | 17 | 19 | 2 | 1 | .053 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cliff Dapper | 8 | 17 | 2 | 8 | .471 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Stan Rojek | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

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 |
| Kirby Higbe | 38 | 32 | 13 | 221.2 | 16 | 11 | 3.25 | 106 | 115 |
| Whit Wyatt | 31 | 30 | 16 | 217.1 | 19 | 7 | 2.73 | 63 | 104 |
| Curt Davis | 32 | 26 | 13 | 206.0 | 15 | 6 | 2.36 | 51 | 60 |
| Bobo Newsom | 6 | 5 | 2 | 32.0 | 2 | 2 | 3.38 | 14 | 21 |
| Freddie Fitzsimmons | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 1 | 0 |

#### Other pitchers

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 |
| Larry French | 38 | 14 | 5 | 147.2 | 15 | 4 | 1.83 | 36 | 62 |
| Ed Head | 36 | 15 | 5 | 136.2 | 10 | 6 | 3.56 | 47 | 78 |
| Johnny Allen | 27 | 15 | 5 | 118.0 | 10 | 6 | 3.20 | 39 | 50 |
| Max Macon | 14 | 8 | 4 | 84.0 | 5 | 3 | 1.93 | 33 | 27 |
| Les Webber | 19 | 3 | 1 | 51.2 | 3 | 2 | 2.96 | 22 | 23 |
| Schoolboy Rowe | 9 | 2 | 0 | 30.1 | 1 | 0 | 5.34 | 12 | 6 |
| Chet Kehn | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 7.04 | 4 | 3 |

#### Relief pitchers

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 |
| Hugh Casey | 50 | 112.0 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 2.25 | 44 | 54 |
| Newt Kimball | 14 | 29.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.68 | 19 | 8 |
| Bob Chipman | 2 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* 1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Arky Vaughan starter
** Joe Medwick starter
** Pete Reiser starter
** Billy Herman reserve
** Mickey Owen reserve
** Pee Wee Reese reserve
** Whit Wyatt reserve
* TSN Major League All-Star Team
** Mickey Owen

### League top five finishers

Dolph Camilli
* #2 in NL in home runs (26)
* #2 in NL in RBI (109)
* #3 in NL in walks (97)
Hugh Casey
* MLB leader in saves (13)
Curt Davis
* #3 in NL in ERA (2.36)
Kirby Higbe
* #3 in NL in strikeouts (115)
Ducky Medwick
* #2 in NL in doubles (37)
* #4 in NL in RBI (96)
Pistol Pete Reiser
* NL leader in stolen bases (20)
* #4 in NL in batting average (.310)

## Farm System

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Montreal Royals | International League | Clyde Sukeforth |
| AA | San Francisco Seals | Pacific Coast League | Lefty O'Doul |
| B | Durham Bulls | Piedmont League | Bruno Betzel |
| C | Santa Barbara Saints | California League | John Clancy |
| C | Dayton Ducks | Middle Atlantic League | Paul Chervinko Howard Holmes William McWilliams |
| D | Kingsport Dodgers | Appalachian League | Merle Settlemire |
| D | Valdosta Trojans | Georgia–Florida League | Stew Hofferth Clancy Odell |
| D | Johnstown Johnnies | Pennsylvania State Association | Jay Kirke, Jr. |
| D | Olean Oilers | Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League | Jake Pitler |
| D | Lamesa Dodgers | West Texas–New Mexico League | Joe Tate |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Santa Barbara