# 1945 Brooklyn Dodgers season

As World War II was drawing to a close, the 1945 Brooklyn Dodgers finished 11 games back in third place in the National League race.

## Offseason

* February 24, 1945: Carden Gillenwater was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Braves.
* March 28, 1945: Whit Wyatt was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Phillies.

## Regular season

Eddie Stanky led the NL in runs scored with 128 in 1945, when he drew a then-record 148 walks.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 98 | 56 | .636 | — | 49‍–‍26 | 49‍–‍30 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 95 | 59 | .617 | 3 | 48‍–‍29 | 47‍–‍30 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 87 | 67 | .565 | 11 | 48‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 82 | 72 | .532 | 16 | 45‍–‍34 | 37‍–‍38 |
| New York Giants | 78 | 74 | .513 | 19 | 47‍–‍30 | 31‍–‍44 |
| Boston Braves | 67 | 85 | .441 | 30 | 36‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 61 | 93 | .396 | 37 | 36‍–‍41 | 25‍–‍52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 46 | 108 | .299 | 52 | 22‍–‍55 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1945 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13–1 | 7–15 | 10–12 | 10–10–2 | 14–8 | 7–15 | 10–12 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9–1 | — | 8–14–1 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 19–3 | 12–10 | 9–13 |
| Chicago | 15–7 | 14–8–1 | — | 21–1 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 14–8 | 6–16 |
| Cincinnati | 12–10 | 11–11 | 1–21 | — | 6–16 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 9–13 |
| New York | 10–10–2 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 16–6 | — | 17–5 | 11–11 | 6–16 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 3–19 | 5–17 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 6–16 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 15–7 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 16–6 | — | 10–12–1 |
| St. Louis | 12–10 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

Opening Day lineup :
| Name | Position |
| Frenchy Bordagaray | Left fielder |
| Luis Olmo | Center fielder |
| Augie Galan | First baseman |
| Dixie Walker | Right fielder |
| Bill Hart | Third baseman |
| Mickey Owen | Catcher |
| Mike Sandlock | Shortstop |
| Leo Durocher | Second baseman |
| Curt Davis | Starting pitcher |

### Notable transactions

* June 15, 1945: Ben Chapman was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Johnny Peacock.

### 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 | Mike Sandlock | 80 | 195 | 55 | .282 | 2 | 17 |
| 1B | Augie Galan | 152 | 576 | 177 | .307 | 9 | 92 |
| 2B | Eddie Stanky | 153 | 555 | 143 | .258 | 1 | 39 |
| 3B | Frenchy Bordagaray | 113 | 273 | 70 | .256 | 2 | 49 |
| SS | Eddie Basinski | 108 | 336 | 88 | .262 | 0 | 33 |
| OF | Dixie Walker | 154 | 607 | 182 | .300 | 8 | 124 |
| OF | Goody Rosen | 145 | 606 | 197 | .325 | 12 | 75 |
| OF | Luis Olmo | 141 | 556 | 174 | .313 | 10 | 110 |

#### 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 |
| Ed Stevens | 55 | 201 | 55 | .274 | 4 | 29 |
| Tommy Brown | 57 | 196 | 48 | .245 | 2 | 19 |
| Bill Hart | 58 | 161 | 37 | .230 | 3 | 27 |
| Howie Schultz | 39 | 142 | 34 | .239 | 1 | 19 |
| Fats Dantonio | 47 | 128 | 32 | .250 | 0 | 12 |
| Johnny Peacock | 48 | 110 | 28 | .255 | 0 | 14 |
| Mickey Owen | 24 | 84 | 24 | .286 | 0 | 11 |
| Morrie Aderholt | 39 | 60 | 13 | .217 | 0 | 6 |
| Clyde Sukeforth | 18 | 51 | 15 | .294 | 0 | 1 |
| Stan Andrews | 21 | 49 | 8 | .163 | 0 | 2 |
| Babe Herman | 37 | 34 | 9 | .265 | 1 | 9 |
| Red Durrett | 8 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| John Douglas | 5 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Leo Durocher | 2 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Claude Corbitt | 2 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Lund | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Hayworth | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Barney White | 4 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Erv Palica | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Hal Gregg | 42 | 254.1 | 18 | 13 | 3.47 | 139 |
| Curt Davis | 24 | 149.2 | 10 | 10 | 3.25 | 39 |
| Art Herring | 22 | 124.0 | 7 | 4 | 3.48 | 34 |
| Ralph Branca | 16 | 109.2 | 5 | 6 | 3.04 | 69 |

#### 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 |
| Vic Lombardi | 38 | 203.2 | 10 | 11 | 3.31 | 64 |
| Tom Seats | 31 | 121.2 | 10 | 7 | 4.36 | 44 |
| Les Webber | 17 | 75.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.58 | 30 |
| Lee Pfund | 15 | 62.1 | 3 | 2 | 5.20 | 27 |
| Ben Chapman | 10 | 53.2 | 3 | 3 | 5.53 | 23 |
| Ray Hathaway | 4 | 9.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Cy Buker | 42 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3.30 | 48 |
| Clyde King | 42 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4.09 | 29 |
| Otho Nitcholas | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.30 | 4 |
| Ernie Rudolph | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.19 | 3 |
| Claude Crocker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* 1945 Major League Baseball All-Star Game – Unofficial rosters, the game was not played due to the war
** Hal Gregg starter
** Goody Rosen reserve
** Dixie Walker reserve
* TSN Major League All-Star Team
** Goody Rosen

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Montreal Royals | International League | Bruno Betzel |
| AA | St. Paul Saints | American Association | Ray Blades |
| A1 | Mobile Bears | Southern Association | Clay Hopper |
| B | Newport News Dodgers | Piedmont League | Jake Pitler |
| B | Trenton Packers | Interstate League | Walter Alston |
| D | Olean Oilers | Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League | John Fitzpatrick |
| D | Zanesville Dodgers | Ohio–Indiana League | Jack Knight Morris Mikesell Ray Hayworth Eric McNair Clay Bryant |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Mobile, Zanesville