# 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers started the year with a new manager, Leo Durocher, who became both the team's manager and starting shortstop. They also became the first New York NL team to have a regular radio broadcast, with Red Barber handling the announcers job, and the first team to have a television broadcast (during their August 26 home game doubleheaders against the Reds, both of which WNBT covered for the NBC network). The team finished in third place, showing some improvement over the previous seasons.

## Offseason

* December 13, 1938: Fred Frankhouse was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Bees for Joe Stripp.
* December 13, 1938: Lew Krausse and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jimmy Outlaw.
* December 13, 1938: Jimmy Outlaw and Buddy Hassett were traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Bees for Gene Moore and Ira Hutchinson.
* December 19, 1938: Luke Sewell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Chicago White Sox.
* February 2, 1939: Tom Lanning was purchased by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies.
* February 6, 1939: Kemp Wicker and Chris Hartje were purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.
* February 23, 1939: Woody English was purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago Cubs.
* March 31, 1939: Bill Posedel was traded by the Dodgers to the Boston Bees for Al Todd.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 55‍–‍25 | 42‍–‍32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 61 | .601 | 4½ | 51‍–‍27 | 41‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 69 | .549 | 12½ | 51‍–‍27 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 44‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍36 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 74 | .510 | 18½ | 41‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 85 | .444 | 28½ | 35‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Boston Bees | 63 | 88 | .417 | 32½ | 37‍–‍35 | 26‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 106 | .298 | 50½ | 29‍–‍44 | 16‍–‍62 |

### Record vs. opponents

1939 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–11 | 13–8 | 9–12 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–2 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 17–4–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Chicago | 16–6 | 11–11–2 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 16–6 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 19–3 | 16–6 | 11–11–2 |
| New York | 11–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 11–11 | — | 14–7 | 11–11 | 9–12 |
| Philadelphia | 8–13 | 4–17–1 | 10–12 | 3–19 | 7–14 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 11–11–2 | 12–9 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 3, 1939: Lyn Lary was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.
* June 15, 1939: Mel Almada was purchased by the Dodgers from the St. Louis Browns.
* July 18, 1939: Pee Wee Reese was purchased by the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox.
* August 12, 1939: Herman Besse was purchased from the Dodgers by the Philadelphia Athletics.
* August 12, 1939: Al Hollingsworth was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.
* August 17, 1939: Rae Blaemire was purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Giants.
* August 23, 1939: Ray Hayworth was traded by the Dodgers to the New York Giants for Jimmy Ripple

### 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 | Babe Phelps | 98 | 323 | 92 | .285 | 6 | 42 |
| 1B | Dolph Camilli | 157 | 565 | 164 | .290 | 26 | 104 |
| 2B | Pete Coscarart | 115 | 419 | 116 | .277 | 4 | 43 |
| 3B | Cookie Lavagetto | 153 | 587 | 176 | .300 | 10 | 87 |
| SS | Leo Durocher | 116 | 390 | 108 | .277 | 1 | 34 |
| OF | Gene Moore | 107 | 306 | 69 | .225 | 3 | 39 |
| OF | Art Parks | 71 | 239 | 65 | .272 | 1 | 19 |
| OF | Ernie Koy | 125 | 425 | 118 | .278 | 8 | 67 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Hudson | 109 | 343 | 87 | .254 | 2 | 32 |
| Al Todd | 86 | 245 | 68 | .278 | 5 | 32 |
| Dixie Walker | 61 | 225 | 63 | .280 | 2 | 38 |
| Tuck Stainback | 68 | 201 | 54 | .269 | 3 | 19 |
| Goody Rosen | 54 | 183 | 46 | .251 | 1 | 12 |
| Mel Almada | 39 | 112 | 24 | .214 | 0 | 3 |
| Jimmy Ripple | 28 | 106 | 35 | .330 | 0 | 22 |
| Fred Sington | 32 | 84 | 23 | .274 | 1 | 7 |
| Tony Lazzeri | 14 | 39 | 11 | .282 | 3 | 6 |
| Lyn Lary | 29 | 31 | 5 | .161 | 0 | 1 |
| Ray Hayworth | 21 | 26 | 4 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Hartje | 9 | 16 | 5 | .313 | 0 | 5 |
| Oris Hockett | 9 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Lindsay Deal | 4 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Gene Schott | 1 | 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 |
| Luke Hamlin | 40 | 269.2 | 20 | 13 | 3.64 | 88 |
| Freddie Fitzsimmons | 27 | 151.1 | 7 | 9 | 3.87 | 44 |
| Whit Wyatt | 16 | 109.0 | 8 | 3 | 2.31 | 52 |
| Van Mungo | 14 | 77.1 | 4 | 5 | 3.26 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Hugh Casey | 40 | 227.1 | 15 | 10 | 2.93 | 79 |
| Vito Tamulis | 39 | 158.2 | 9 | 8 | 4.37 | 83 |
| Tot Pressnell | 31 | 156.2 | 9 | 7 | 4.02 | 43 |
| Red Evans | 24 | 64.1 | 1 | 8 | 5.18 | 28 |
| Bill Crouch | 6 | 38.1 | 4 | 0 | 2.58 | 10 |
| Al Hollingsworth | 8 | 27.1 | 1 | 2 | 5.27 | 11 |
| Carl Doyle | 5 | 17.2 | 1 | 2 | 1.02 | 7 |
| Boots Poffenberger | 3 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Ira Hutchinson | 41 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4.34 | 46 |
| George Jeffcoat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* 1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Dolph Camilli reserve
** Cookie Lavagetto reserve
** Babe Phelps reserve
** Whit Wyatt reserve
* TSN Manager of the Year Award
** Leo Durocher
* TSN Major League Executive of the Year Award
** Larry MacPhail

### League top five finishers

Dolph Camilli
* #3 in NL in home runs (26)
* #4 in NL in runs batted in (104)
* #4 in NL in runs scored (105)
* #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.409)
* #4 in NL in slugging percentage (.524)
Hugh Casey
* #4 in NL in earned run average (2.93)
Luke Hamlin
* #4 in NL in wins (20)
Cookie Lavagetto
* #4 in NL in stolen bases (14)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Montreal Royals | International League | Burleigh Grimes |
| A1 | Memphis Chicks | Southern Association | Frank Brazil |
| A1 | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Larry Gilbert |
| A | Elmira Pioneers | Eastern League | Clyde Sukeforth |
| B | Macon Peaches | South Atlantic League | Milt Stock |
| C | Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers | Canadian–American League | Elmer Yoter |
| C | Greenwood Crackers | Cotton States League | Cecil Rhodes |
| C | Pine Bluff Judges | Cotton States League | Jimmy Sherlin Andy Cohen |
| C | Dayton Wings | Middle Atlantic League | Dudley Lee Andy Cohen |
| D | Reidsville Luckies | Bi-State League | William Clark |
| D | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Tommy West |
| D | Americus Pioneers | Georgia–Florida League | Joe Sims |
| D | Paducah Indians | Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League | Ben Tincup |
| D | Huntington Boosters | Mountain State League | Ellis Powers |
| D | Superior Blues | Northern League | George Treadwell |
| D | Olean Oilers | Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League | Jake Pitler |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood, Pine Bluff