1957 Brooklyn Dodgers season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers season was the 68th season for the Brooklyn Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball's National League (NL). The season was overshadowed by Walter O'Malley's threat to move the Dodgers out of Brooklyn if the city did not build him a new stadium in that borough. When the best the mayor could promise was a stadium in Queens, O'Malley made good on his threats and moved the team to Los Angeles after the season ended. The Dodgers final game at Ebbets Field was on September 24 as they finished their 68th and last NL season, and their 75th overall, in Brooklyn in third place with an 84–70 record, 11 games behind the NL and World Series champion Milwaukee Braves.
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| 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Ebbets Field Roosevelt Stadium |
| City | Brooklyn, New York Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Record | 84–70 (.545) |
| Divisional place | 3rd |
| Owners | Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey, Mary Louise Smith |
| President | Walter O'Malley |
| General managers | Buzzie Bavasi |
| Managers | Walter Alston |
| Television | WOR-TV |
| Radio | WMGM Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Al Helfer WHOM Buck Canel |
Offseason
- October 14, 1956: Connie Grob was purchased by the Dodgers from the Washington Senators.[1]
Regular season
During the season, the Dodgers played eight home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of owner Walter O'Malley's continued attempts to pressure Brooklyn to allow him to build a new stadium in his preferred location at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues.[2]
On July 20, 1957: Duke Snider hit the 300th home run of his career. The opposing pitcher was Dick Drott of the Chicago Cubs.[3][4]
Danny McDevitt was the last pitcher to pitch for the Dodgers in a game at Ebbets Field. The game was contested on September 24, and McDevitt pitched a complete game. He had nine strikeouts while allowing only five hits.[5]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Braves | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 45–32 | 50–27 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | .565 | 8 | 42–35 | 45–32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 11 | 43–34 | 41–36 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 80 | 74 | .519 | 15 | 45–32 | 35–42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 18 | 38–39 | 39–38 |
| New York Giants | 69 | 85 | .448 | 26 | 37–40 | 32–45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 36–41 | 26–51 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 31–46 | 31–46 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 17–5 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 12–10 | |||||
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 9–13 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 18–4 | — | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 16–6 | 11–11 | |||||
| New York | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 9–13 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — | 6–16 | |||||
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 16–6 | — | |||||
Opening Day Lineup
| Opening Day Lineup | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Position |
| 19 | Jim Gilliam | 2B |
| 9 | Gino Cimoli | LF |
| 4 | Duke Snider | CF |
| 6 | Carl Furillo | RF |
| 14 | Gil Hodges | 1B |
| 2 | Randy Jackson | 3B |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | C |
| 23 | Don Zimmer | SS |
| 36 | Don Newcombe | P |
Notable transactions
- April 5, 1957: Chico Fernández was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ron Negray, Tim Harkness, Elmer Valo, Mel Geho (minors), cash and a player to be named later. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Ben Flowers to the Dodgers on April 8.[7]
- May 23: Don Elston was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Vito Valentinetti and Jackie Collum.[8]
- May 26: Tommy Lasorda was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees[9]
- May 30: Jim Fridley was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.[10]
- June 14: Ken Lehman was purchased from the Dodgers by the Baltimore Orioles.[11]
- June 15: Babe Birrer was purchased by the Dodgers from the Baltimore Orioles.[12]
- August 24: Vito Valentinetti was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cleveland Indians.[13]
Roster
| 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Roy Campanella | 103 | 330 | 80 | .242 | 13 | 62 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 150 | 579 | 173 | .299 | 27 | 98 |
| 2B | Jim Gilliam | 149 | 617 | 154 | .250 | 2 | 37 |
| SS | Charlie Neal | 128 | 448 | 121 | .270 | 12 | 62 |
| 3B | Pee Wee Reese | 103 | 330 | 74 | .224 | 1 | 29 |
| LF | Gino Cimoli | 142 | 532 | 156 | .293 | 10 | 57 |
| CF | Duke Snider | 139 | 508 | 139 | .274 | 40 | 92 |
| RF | Carl Furillo | 119 | 395 | 121 | .306 | 12 | 66 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Zimmer | 84 | 269 | 59 | .219 | 6 | 19 |
| Sandy Amoros | 106 | 238 | 66 | .277 | 7 | 26 |
| Rube Walker | 60 | 166 | 30 | .181 | 2 | 23 |
| Elmer Valo | 81 | 161 | 44 | .273 | 4 | 26 |
| Randy Jackson | 48 | 131 | 26 | .198 | 2 | 16 |
| John Roseboro | 35 | 69 | 10 | .145 | 2 | 6 |
| Bob Kennedy | 19 | 31 | 4 | .129 | 1 | 4 |
| Joe Pignatano | 8 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Gentile | 4 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 1 | 1 |
| Rod Miller | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Drysdale | 34 | 221.0 | 17 | 9 | 2.69 | 148 |
| Don Newcombe | 28 | 198.2 | 11 | 12 | 3.49 | 90 |
| Johnny Podres | 31 | 196.0 | 12 | 9 | 2.66 | 109 |
| Danny McDevitt | 22 | 119.0 | 7 | 4 | 3.25 | 90 |
| Sal Maglie | 9 | 101.1 | 6 | 6 | 2.93 | 50 |
| Bill Harris | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Craig | 32 | 111.1 | 6 | 9 | 4.61 | 69 |
| Sandy Koufax | 34 | 104.1 | 5 | 4 | 3.88 | 122 |
| Carl Erskine | 15 | 66.0 | 5 | 3 | 3.55 | 26 |
| René Valdés | 5 | 13.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.54 | 10 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clem Labine | 58 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 3.44 | 67 |
| Ed Roebuck | 44 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2.71 | 73 |
| Don Bessent | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.73 | 24 |
| Ken Lehman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Jackie Collum | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 3 |
| Fred Kipp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |
| Don Elston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
All-Stars
- 1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Gino Cimoli reserve
- Gil Hodges reserve
- Clem Labine reserve
Farm system
League champions: Bluefield