1940 Brooklyn Dodgers season

This article is about the baseball team. For the NFL team, see 1940 Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) season.

The 1940 Brooklyn Dodgers finished the season in second place. It was their best finish in 16 years.

1940 Brooklyn Dodgers
League	National League
Ballpark	Ebbets Field
City	Brooklyn, New York
Owners	James & Dearie Mulvey, Brooklyn Trust Company
President	Larry MacPhail
Managers	Leo Durocher
Radio	WOR Red Barber, Al Helfer
← 1939 1941 →

Offseason

• December 8, 1939: Al Todd was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Gus Mancuso and Newt Kimball.^[1]
• December 26, 1939: Boze Berger was purchased by the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox.^[2]
• February 6, 1940: Herman Franks was purchased by the Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[3]
• February 12, 1940: Joe Vosmik was purchased by the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox.^[4]
• Prior to 1940 season: Wally Westlake was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	100	53	.654	—	55‍–‍21	45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers	88	65	.575	12	41‍–‍37	47‍–‍28
St. Louis Cardinals	84	69	.549	16	41‍–‍36	43‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	76	.506	22½	40‍–‍34	38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	75	79	.487	25½	40‍–‍37	35‍–‍42
New York Giants	72	80	.474	27½	33‍–‍43	39‍–‍37
Boston Bees	65	87	.428	34½	35‍–‍40	30‍–‍47
Philadelphia Phillies	50	103	.327	50	24‍–‍55	26‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1940 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	9–13	8–14	9–12	7–15	15–6	9–13	8–14
Brooklyn	13–9	—	10–12	8–14–1	16–5	17–5	15–7–1	9–13–1
Chicago	14–8	12–10	—	6–16	12–10	12–10	11–11	8–14
Cincinnati	12–9	14–8–1	16–6	—	15–7	15–7	16–6	12–10–1
New York	15–7	5–16	10–12	7–15	—	12–10	12–10	11–10
Philadelphia	6–15	5–17	10–12	7–15	10–12	—	6–16	6–16
Pittsburgh	13–9	7–15–1	11–11	6–16	10–12	16–6	—	15–7–1
St. Louis	14–8	13–9–1	14–8	10–12–1	10–11	16–6	7–15–1	—

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1940: Jim Winford was purchased from the Dodgers by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[6]
• April 11, 1940: Tony Giuliani was purchased by the Dodgers from the Washington Senators.^[7]
• April 11, 1940: Al Hollingsworth was purchased from the Dodgers by the Washington Senators.^[8]
• April 28, 1940: Roy Hughes was purchased by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[9]
• May 14, 1940: Goody Rosen was purchased from the Dodgers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[10]
• May 25, 1940: Jimmy Wasdell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Washington Senators.^[11]
• May 27, 1940: Roy Cullenbine was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Browns for Joe Gallagher.^[12]
• May 29, 1940: Gene Moore was purchased from the Dodgers by the Boston Bees.^[13]
• June 12, 1940: Ernie Koy, Carl Doyle, Sam Nahem, Bert Haas and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Medwick and Curt Davis.^[14]
• June 13, 1940: Ira Hutchinson was purchased from the Dodgers by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[15]
• July 30, 1940: Tuck Stainback was purchased from the Dodgers by the Detroit Tigers.^[16]
• August 2, 1940: Wes Flowers was purchased by the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox.^[17]
• August 23, 1940: Jimmy Ripple was selected off waivers from the Dodgers by the Cincinnati Reds.^[18]

Roster

1940 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 28 Tex Carleton 25 Hugh Casey 26 Curt Davis 26 Carl Doyle 21 Wes Ferrell 21 Lou Fette 14 Freddie Fitzsimmons 20 Wes Flowers 21 Lee Grissom 12 Luke Hamlin 23 Ed Head 33 Newt Kimball 36 Max Macon 16 Van Mungo 18 Tot Pressnell 18 Steve Rachunok 15 Vito Tamulis 17 Whit Wyatt		Catchers 19 Herman Franks 27 Tony Giuliani 10 Gus Mancuso  9 Babe Phelps Infielders  4 Dolph Camilli  3 Pete Coscarart  2 Leo Durocher  6 Johnny Hudson  5 Cookie Lavagetto  1 Pee Wee Reese 34 Pete Reiser 33 Don Ross		Outfielders 30 Roy Cullenbine 24 Joe Gallagher 1,34 Charlie Gilbert 20 Ernie Koy 7,77 Joe Medwick 1,31 Gene Moore 32 Jimmy Ripple  8 Joe Vosmik 11 Dixie Walker 29 Jimmy Wasdell		Manager  2 Leo Durocher Coaches 7,77 Charlie Dressen 16 Van Lingle Mungo 22 Ben Tincup

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
C	Babe Phelps	118	370	40	109	.295	13	61	2
1B	Dolph Camilli	142	512	92	147	.287	23	96	9
2B	Pete Coscarart	143	506	55	120	.237	9	58	5
3B	Cookie Lavagetto	118	448	56	115	.257	4	43	4
SS	Pee Wee Reese	84	312	58	85	.272	5	28	15
OF	Dixie Walker	143	556	75	171	.308	6	66	3
OF	Joe Medwick	106	423	62	127	.300	14	66	2
OF	Joe Vosmik	116	404	45	114	.282	1	42	0

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 Wasdell	77	230	35	64	.278	3	37	4
Pete Reiser	58	225	34	66	.293	3	20	2
Johnny Hudson	85	179	13	39	.218	0	19	2
Leo Durocher	62	160	10	37	.231	1	14	1
Gus Mancuso	60	144	16	33	.229	0	16	0
Charlie Gilbert	57	142	23	35	.246	2	8	0
Herman Franks	65	131	11	24	.183	1	14	2
Joe Gallagher	57	110	10	29	.264	3	16	1
Roy Cullenbine	22	61	8	11	.180	1	9	2
Ernie Koy	24	48	9	11	.229	1	8	1
Don Ross	10	38	4	11	.289	1	8	1
Gene Moore	10	26	3	7	.269	0	2	0
Jimmy Ripple	7	13	0	3	.231	0	0	0
Tony Giuliani	1	1	0	0	.000	0	0	0

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
Whit Wyatt	37	34	16	239.1	15	14	3.46	62	124
Luke Hamlin	33	25	9	182.1	9	8	3.06	34	91
Curt Davis	22	18	9	137.0	8	7	3.81	19	46
Freddie Fitzsimmons	20	18	11	134.1	16	2	2.81	25	35
Lee Grissom	14	10	3	73.2	2	5	2.81	34	56

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 Casey	44	10	5	154.0	11	8	3.62	51	53
Vito Tamulis	41	12	4	154.1	8	5	3.09	34	55
Tex Carleton	34	17	4	149.0	6	6	3.81	47	88
Tot Pressnell	24	4	1	68.1	6	5	3.69	17	21
Ed Head	13	5	2	39.1	1	2	4.12	18	13
Wes Flowers	5	2	0	21.0	1	1	3.43	10	8
Steve Rachunok	2	1	1	10.0	0	1	4.50	5	10

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
Newt Kimball	21	33.2	3	1	1	3.21	15	21
Van Mungo	7	22.0	1	0	1	2.45	10	9
Carl Doyle	3	5.2	0	0	1	27.00	6	4
Wes Ferrell	1	4.0	0	0	0	6.75	4	4
Lou Fette	2	3.0	0	0	0	0.00	2	0
Max Macon	2	2.0	1	0	0	22.50	0	1

Awards and honors

• 1940 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Cookie Lavagetto starter
  • Joe Medwick starter
  • Leo Durocher reserve
  • Pete Coscarart reserve
  • Babe Phelps reserve
  • Whit Wyatt reserve

League top ten finishers

Dolph Camilli

• #3 in NL in slugging percentage (.529)
• #3 in NL in bases on balls (89)
• #4 in NL in home runs (23)
• #4 in NL in on-base percentage (.397)

Whit Wyatt

• #2 in NL in strikeouts (124)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Montreal Royals	International League	Clyde Sukeforth
A1	Knoxville Smokies	Southern Association	Larry Gilbert
A	Elmira Pioneers	Eastern League	Bill Killefer
B	Durham Bulls	Piedmont League	Oscar Roettger
B	Macon Peaches	South Atlantic League	Milt Stock
B	Anniston Rams	Southeastern League	Bill Rodda
C	Grand Rapids Dodgers	Michigan State League	Burleigh Grimes
C	Dayton Wings	Middle Atlantic League	Andy Cohen
D	Greenville Lions	Alabama State League	Dick Luckey
D	Fayetteville Angels	Arkansas–Missouri League	Howard Holmes
D	Bassett Furnituremakers	Bi-State League	Einar Sorenson
D	Rayne Rice Birds	Evangeline League	Art Bartelli
D	American Pioneers	Georgia–Florida League	Bernie DeViveiros Stew Hofferth
D	Bowling Green Barons	Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League	Ellis Powers
D	Landis Dodgers	North Carolina State League	Otis Carter
D	Newport Dodgers	Northeast Arkansas League	Cliff Green Paul Chervinko
D	Superior Blues	Northern League	James Geygan
D	Johnstown Johnnies	Pennsylvania State Association	George Treadwell
D	Olean Oilers	Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League	Jake Pitler

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Knoxville