# 1947 New York Giants (MLB) season

The 1947 New York Giants season was the franchise's 65th season. The team finished in fourth place in the National League with an 81–73 record, 13 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the first season to be broadcast on television, with WNBT acting as the official team television broadcast partner.

## Offseason

* December 19, 1946: Harry Danning was released by the Giants.
* Prior to 1947 season: Nick Testa was acquired by the Giants from the Walden Hummingbirds.

## Regular season

* April 18: In the third inning of a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Dave Koslo gave up Jackie Robinson's first major league home run.
* April 19: 32,355 paying fans and 736 servicemen set the record for the biggest Saturday attendance at the Polo Grounds. Jackie Robinson had three at bats and had two singles and one double. The Giants still managed to win the game by a score of 4–3.
Between September 5 and 23, the Giants hit at least one home run in each of 19 games, the longest such streak in franchise history (considering records from 1914 onwards).

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 94 | 60 | .610 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 42‍–‍35 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 89 | 65 | .578 | 5 | 46‍–‍31 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Boston Braves | 86 | 68 | .558 | 8 | 50‍–‍27 | 36‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 81 | 73 | .526 | 13 | 45‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 73 | 81 | .474 | 21 | 42‍–‍35 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 69 | 85 | .448 | 25 | 36‍–‍43 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | 92 | .403 | 32 | 38‍–‍38 | 24‍–‍54 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | .403 | 32 | 32‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1947 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 10–12 | — | 15–7 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11–1 |
| Chicago | 9–13 | 7–15 | — | 12–10 | 7–15 | 16–6–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 9–13 | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 8–14 |
| New York | 9–13 | 8–14 | 15–7 | 9–13 | — | 12–10 | 15–7–1 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 8–14 | 6–16–1 | 9–13 | 10–12 | — | 13–9 | 8–14 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 7–15–1 | 9–13 | — | 6–16–1 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 14–8 | 16–6–1 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

* Centerfield: Fuzz White
* Shortstop: Bill Rigney
* Leftfield: Clint Hartung
* First base: Johnny Mize
* Rightfield: Willard Marshall
* Catcher: Walker Cooper
* Third base: Sid Gordon
* Second base: Bobby Thomson
* Pitcher: Bill Voiselle

### Notable transactions

* April 12, 1947: Jess Pike was released by the Giants.

### 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 | Walker Cooper | 140 | 515 | 157 | .305 | 35 | 122 |
| 1B | Johnny Mize | 154 | 586 | 177 | .302 | 51 | 138 |
| 2B | Bill Rigney | 130 | 531 | 142 | .267 | 17 | 59 |
| 3B | Jack Lohrke | 112 | 329 | 79 | .240 | 11 | 35 |
| SS | Buddy Kerr | 138 | 547 | 157 | .287 | 7 | 49 |
| OF | Sid Gordon | 130 | 437 | 119 | .272 | 13 | 57 |
| OF | Willard Marshall | 155 | 587 | 171 | .291 | 36 | 107 |
| OF | Bobby Thomson | 138 | 545 | 154 | .283 | 29 | 85 |

#### 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 |
| Gary Gearhart | 73 | 179 | 44 | .246 | 6 | 17 |
| Mickey Witek | 51 | 160 | 35 | .219 | 3 | 17 |
| Buddy Blattner | 55 | 153 | 40 | .261 | 0 | 13 |
| Ernie Lombardi | 48 | 110 | 31 | .282 | 4 | 21 |
| Joe Lafata | 62 | 95 | 21 | .221 | 2 | 18 |
| Bobby Rhawn | 13 | 45 | 14 | .311 | 1 | 3 |
| Babe Young | 14 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuzz White | 7 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
| Wes Westrum | 6 | 12 | 5 | .417 | 0 | 2 |
| Mickey Livingston | 5 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Bennie Warren | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Sal Yvars | 1 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Mel Ott | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Whitey Lockman | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Larry Jansen | 42 | 248.0 | 21 | 5 | 3.16 | 104 |
| Dave Koslo | 39 | 217.1 | 15 | 10 | 4.39 | 86 |
| Clint Hartung | 23 | 138.0 | 9 | 7 | 4.57 | 54 |
| Ray Poat | 7 | 60.0 | 4 | 3 | 2.55 | 25 |
| Mort Cooper | 8 | 36.2 | 1 | 5 | 7.12 | 12 |

#### 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 |
| Monte Kennedy | 34 | 148.1 | 9 | 12 | 4.85 | 60 |
| Andy Hansen | 27 | 82.1 | 1 | 5 | 4.37 | 18 |
| Hooks Iott | 20 | 71.1 | 3 | 8 | 5.93 | 46 |
| Sheldon Jones | 15 | 55.2 | 2 | 2 | 3.88 | 24 |
| Bill Voiselle | 11 | 42.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.64 | 20 |
| Bill Ayers | 13 | 35.1 | 0 | 3 | 8.15 | 22 |
| Mike Budnick | 7 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 10.50 | 6 |
| Mario Picone | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Trinkle | 62 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 3.75 | 37 |
| Joe Beggs | 32 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4.23 | 23 |
| Gene Thompson | 15 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4.29 | 13 |
| Hub Andrews | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 2 |
| Bob Carpenter | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 0 |
| Woody Abernathy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Minneapolis Millers | American Association | Tom Sheehan |
| AAA | Jersey City Giants | International League | Bruno Betzel |
| A | Jacksonville Tars | Sally League | Johnny Hudson |
| A | Sioux City Soos | Western League | Joe Becker |
| B | Trenton Giants | Interstate League | Tommy Heath |
| B | Manchester Giants | New England League | Hal Gruber |
| B | Richmond Colts | Piedmont League | Bob Latshaw |
| C | Danville Leafs | Carolina League | Herb Brett and Gene Petty |
| C | Erie Sailors | Middle Atlantic League | Donald Cross |
| C | Reno Silver Sox | Sunset League | Tom Lloyd |
| C | Fort Smith Giants | Western Association | Earl Wolgamot |
| D | Bristol Twins | Appalachian League | Charlie Fox |
| D | Seaford Eagles | Eastern Shore League | Robert Westfall |
| D | Peekskill Highlanders | North Atlantic League | Al Gardella |
| D | Hickory Rebels | North Carolina State League | Sammy Bell |
| D | Springfield Giants | Ohio State League | Donald Ramsay |
| D | Oshkosh Giants | Wisconsin State League | Ray Lucas |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Seaford