# 1947 Boston Braves season

The 1947 Boston Braves season was the 77th season of the franchise. They finished in third place with an 86-68 win-loss record, 8 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1947 season (exact date unknown)
** Jack Daniels was acquired by the Braves from the Bloomingdale Troopers.
** Carl Sawatski was acquired by the Braves from the Philadelphia Phillies.

## Regular season

On April 15, the Braves played against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Jackie Robinson's first game. Johnny Sain threw the first pitch against Robinson. Behind 3–2, Robinson scored the game-winning run against the Braves. The final score was 5–3 for Brooklyn.
Bob Elliott became the first third baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP Award.

### 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 | — |

### 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 | Phil Masi | 126 | 411 | 125 | .304 | 9 | 50 |
| 1B | Earl Torgeson | 128 | 399 | 112 | .281 | 16 | 78 |
| 2B | Connie Ryan | 150 | 544 | 144 | .265 | 5 | 69 |
| 3B | Bob Elliott | 150 | 555 | 176 | .317 | 22 | 113 |
| SS | Dick Culler | 77 | 214 | 53 | .248 | 0 | 19 |
| OF | Bama Rowell | 113 | 384 | 106 | .276 | 5 | 40 |
| OF | Tommy Holmes | 150 | 618 | 191 | .309 | 9 | 53 |
| OF | Johnny Hopp | 134 | 430 | 124 | .288 | 2 | 32 |

#### 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 |
| Mike McCormick | 92 | 284 | 81 | .285 | 3 | 36 |
| Danny Litwhiler | 91 | 226 | 59 | .261 | 7 | 31 |
| Frank McCormick | 81 | 212 | 75 | .354 | 2 | 43 |
| Nanny Fernandez | 83 | 209 | 43 | .288 | 2 | 32 |
| Sibby Sisti | 56 | 153 | 43 | .281 | 2 | 15 |
| Hank Camelli | 52 | 150 | 29 | .193 | 1 | 11 |
| Tommy Neill | 7 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Murtaugh | 3 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Brady | 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 |
| Warren Spahn | 40 | 289.2 | 21 | 10 | 2.33 | 123 |
| Johnny Sain | 38 | 266.0 | 21 | 12 | 3.52 | 132 |
| Red Barrett | 36 | 210.2 | 11 | 12 | 3.55 | 53 |
| Bill Voiselle | 22 | 131.1 | 8 | 7 | 4.32 | 59 |
| Ray Martin | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 2 |
| Ernie White | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Si Johnson | 36 | 112.2 | 6 | 8 | 4.23 | 27 |
| Ed Wright | 23 | 64.2 | 3 | 3 | 6.40 | 14 |
| Mort Cooper | 10 | 46.2 | 2 | 5 | 4.05 | 15 |
| Johnny Beazley | 9 | 28.2 | 2 | 0 | 4.40 | 12 |

#### 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 |
| Andy Karl | 27 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.86 | 5 |
| Walt Lanfranconi | 36 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2.95 | 18 |
| Clyde Shoun | 26 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4.40 | 23 |
| Glenn Elliott | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.74 | 8 |
| Johnny Lanning | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.82 | 0 |
| Dick Mulligan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
| Max Macon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Bob Elliott, National League MVP

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Milwaukee Brewers | American Association | Nick Cullop |
| AA | Little Rock Travelers | Southern Association | Bill Dickey |
| A | Hartford Chiefs | Eastern League | Dutch Dorman |
| B | Evansville Braves | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Bob Coleman |
| B | Pawtucket Slaters | New England League | Pete Fox |
| B | Jackson Senators | Southeastern League | Willis Hudlin |
| C | Fort Lauderdale Braves | Florida International League | Jimmy Zinn and Walter Kopp |
| C | Eau Claire Bears | Northern League | Hughie Wise |
| C | Las Vegas Ramblers | Sunset League | Newell Kimball |
| C | Amarillo Gold Sox | West Texas–New Mexico League | Harry Lamprich |
| C | Leavenworth Braves | Western Association | Joe Bowman |
| D | Bluefield Blue-Grays | Appalachian League | George Lacy |
| D | Mount Vernon Braves | Illinois State League | Otto Huber |
| D | Owensboro Oilers | KITTY League | Earl Browne |
| D | Bloomingdale Troopers | North Atlantic League | Harold Scinski and Stephen Kuk |
| D | Richmond Roses | Ohio State League | Rex Carr |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Milwaukee