1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
National League Champions
LeagueNational League
BallparkEbbets Field
CityBrooklyn, New York
OwnersJames & Dearie Mulvey, Brooklyn Trust Company
PresidentLarry MacPhail
ManagersLeo Durocher
RadioWOR
Red Barber, Al Helfer

The 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers, led by manager Leo Durocher, won their first pennant in 21 years, edging the St. Louis Cardinals by 2.5 games. They went on to lose to the New York Yankees in the World Series.

In The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, this team was referenced as one of "The Greatest Teams That Never Was", due to the quality of its starting lineup. Dolph Camilli was the slugging star with 34 home runs and 120 RBI. He was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player. Pete Reiser, a 22-year-old rookie, led the league in batting average, slugging percentage, and runs scored. Other regulars included Hall of Famers Billy Herman, Joe Medwick, Pee Wee Reese, and Dixie Walker. Not surprisingly, the Dodgers scored the most runs of any NL team (800).

The pitching staff featured a pair of 22-game winners, Kirby Higbe and Whitlow Wyatt, having their best pro seasons.

On July 1, the Dodgers played the Phillies in Brooklyn; the game was televised by WNBT in New York (now WNBC), making the contest the first program aired by a commercial TV station in the United States. Although the Dodgers would later win the pennant and the Phillies would finish dead last in the NL, Philadelphia won the game 6–4, in 10 innings.[1]

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Dodgers 10054 0.649 — 52–25 48–29
St. Louis Cardinals 9756 0.634 2½ 53–24 44–32
Cincinnati Reds 8866 0.571 12 45–34 43–32
Pittsburgh Pirates 8173 0.526 19 45–32 36–41
New York Giants 7479 0.484 25½ 38–39 36–40
Chicago Cubs 7084 0.455 30 38–39 32–45
Boston Braves 6292 0.403 38 32–44 30–48
Philadelphia Phillies 43111 0.279 57 23–52 20–59

Record vs. opponents

1941 National League record

Sources:
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston —4–18–211–119–136–1614–810–128–14
Brooklyn 18–4–2—13–914–814–818–412–1011–11–1
Chicago 11–119–13—8–149–1314–8–19–1310–12
Cincinnati 13–98–1414–8—15–716–612–1010–12
New York 16–68–1413–97–15—16–68–14–26–15–1
Philadelphia 8–144–188–14–16–166–16—6–165–17
Pittsburgh 12–1010–1213–910–1214–8–216–6—6–16
St. Louis 14–811–11–112–1012–1015–6–117–516–6—

Notable transactions

Roster

1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CMickey Owen1283863289.2311441
1BDolph Camilli14952992151.285341203
2BBilly Herman13353677156.2913411
3BCookie Lavagetto13244175122.2771787
SSPee Wee Reese15259576136.22924610
OFDixie Walker14853188165.3119714
OFPete Reiser137536117184.34314764
OFJoe Medwick133538100171.31818882

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
Jimmy Wasdell942653979.2984482
Lew Riggs771972760.3055361
Herman Franks571391028.2011110
Pete Coscarart4362138.129051
Joe Vosmik2556011.196040
Alex Kampouris1651816.314290
Leo Durocher1842212.286060
Paul Waner113556.171040
Babe Phelps163037.233240
Augie Galan172737.259040
Tommy Tatum81212.167010
Tony Giuliani32000000
George Pfister12000000

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 Higbe483919298.02293.14132121
Whit Wyatt383523288.122102.3482176
Freddie Fitzsimmons1312382.2612.072619
Ed Albosta22013.0026.2385

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
Hugh Casey45184162.014113.895761
Curt Davis281610154.11372.972750
Luke Hamlin30205136.0884.244158
Johnny Allen114257.1302.511221
Newt Kimball155152.0313.632917
Tom Drake102024.2114.381221
Larry French61015.2003.4548
Lee Grissom41011.1002.3885

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
Mace Brown2442.23233.162622
Kemp Wicker1632.01213.66148
Vito Tamulis1222.00013.68108
Bill Swift922.03013.2779
Bob Chipman15.01000.0013
Van Mungo22.00004.5020

1941 World Series

The 1941 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall.

The name "Subway Series" arose for a World Series played between two New York City teams. The series was punctuated by the Dodgers' Mickey Owen's dropped third strike of a sharply breaking curveball (a suspected spitball) pitched by Hugh Casey to Tommy Henrich in the 9th inning of Game 4. The play led to a Yankees rally and brought them one win away from another championship.

The Yankees were back after a one-year hiatus, having won thirteen (13) of their last fourteen (14) Series games and twenty-eight (28) of their last thirty-one (31) games in the World Series.

This was the first Subway Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, who had already faced the crosstown New York Giants five times, and the Series was now 1–0 in favor of the Bronx Bombers. These two teams would meet a total of seven (7) times from 1941–1956 – the Dodgers' only victory coming in 1955.

Game 1

October 1, 1941, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 000 010 100 260
New York (A) 010 101 00x 361
W: Red Ruffing (1–0)   L: Curt Davis (0–1)
HR: NYY – Joe Gordon (1)

Game 2

October 2, 1941, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Brooklyn (N) 000 021 000 362
New York (A) 011 000 000 291
W: Whit Wyatt (1–0)   L: Spud Chandler (0–1)

Game 3

October 4, 1941, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 000 000 020 280
Brooklyn (N) 000 000 010 140
W: Marius Russo (1–0)  L: Hugh Casey (0–1)

Game 4

October 5, 1941, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 100 200 004 7120
Brooklyn (N) 000 220 000 491
W: Johnny Murphy (1–0)  L: Hugh Casey (0–2)
HR: : BRO – Pete Reiser (1)

Game 5

October 6, 1941, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (A) 020 010 000 360
Brooklyn (N) 001 000 000 141
W: Tiny Bonham (1–0)  L: Whit Wyatt (1–1)
HR: : NYY – Tommy Henrich (1)

Awards and honors

Whit Wyatt had a career season in 1941.

League top ten finishers

Dolph Camilli

  • NL leader in home runs (34)
  • NL leader in RBI (120)
  • #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.556)
  • #2 in NL in bases on balls (104)
  • #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.407)

Kirby Higbe

  • NL leader in wins (22)
  • #4 in NL in strikeouts (121)

Joe Medwick

  • #3 in NL in batting average (.318)
  • #3 in NL in runs scored (100)

Pete Reiser

  • NL leader in batting average (.343)
  • NL leader in slugging percentage (.558)
  • NL leader in runs scored (117)
  • NL leader in triples (17)
  • #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.406)

Whit Wyatt

  • MLB leader in shutouts (7)
  • NL leader in wins (22)
  • #2 in NL in strikeouts (176)
  • #2 in NL in ERA (2.34)
  • #2 in NL in complete games (23)

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AA Montreal Royals International League Clyde Sukeforth
A1 Knoxville Smokies Southern Association Fred Lindstrom
B Reading Brooks Interstate League Fresco Thompson
B Durham Bulls Piedmont League Bruno Betzel
C Santa Barbara Saints California League John Clancy
C Quebec Athletics Canadian–American League Del Bissonette
Roland Gladu
C Grand Rapids Colts Michigan State League Charles Lucas
C Dayton Ducks Middle Atlantic League Paul Chervinko
Howard Holmes
William McWilliams
C Troy Dodgers/Tuskegee Airmen Alabama State League Orace Powers
D Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox Appalachian League Hobe Brummitt
D Valdosta Trojans Georgia–Florida League Stew Hofferth
D Newport Dodgers Northeast Arkansas League Merle Settlemire
D Johnstown Johnnies Pennsylvania State Association George Treadwell
D Olean Oilers Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League Jake Pitler
D Big Spring Bombers West Texas–New Mexico League Joe Tate

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal, Durham, Santa Barbara, Elizebethton, Newport

Notes

  1. ↑ Baseball Reference
  2. 1 2 Vito Tamulis at Baseball-Reference
  3. ↑ Tot Pressnell at Baseball-Reference
  4. ↑ Boze Berger at Baseball-Reference
  5. ↑ Glen Stewart at Baseball-Reference
  6. ↑ Gus Mancuso at Baseball-Reference
  7. ↑ Pep Young at Baseball-Reference
  8. ↑ Pep Rambert at Baseball-Reference
  9. 1 2 Lefty Mills at Baseball-Reference
  10. ↑ Wally Westlake at Baseball-Reference
  11. ↑ Roxie Lawson at Baseball-Reference
  12. ↑ Newt Kimball at Baseball-Reference
  13. 1 2 Mace Brown at Baseball-Reference
  14. ↑ Johnny Hudson at Baseball-Reference
  15. ↑ Joe Becker at Baseball-Reference

References

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