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1947 Major League Baseball season
Sports season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1947 major league baseball season began on April 15, 1947. The regular season ended on September 28, with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 44th World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 7 on October 6. In the second iteration of this Subway Series World Series matchup, the Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to three, capturing their 11th championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1943. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the St. Louis Cardinals from the 1946 season.
The 14th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, home of the Chicago Cubs. The American League won, 2–1.
The 1947 season is most notable as the year that the baseball color line broke, thanks to the Brooklyn Dodgers starting Jackie Robinson on Opening Day.[1]
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Integration: Breaking the color line
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On April 15, Opening Day for the National League's Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson was in the Dodgers' lineup, playing first base against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field.[1] His appearance in a major league game broke the baseball color line, the practice of excluding players of black African descent. Though he endured epithets and death threats, as well as a slow start, his skill would earn him the first ever Rookie of the Year award, named in Robinson's honor 40 years later.[2]
Halfway through the season on July 5, the American League's Cleveland Indians debuted Larry Doby, becoming the first black player in the American League and breaking the AL color line. Doby was a more low-key figure, suffered many of the same indignities that Robinson did, albeit with less press coverage.[3]
Kansas City Monarchs star Willard Brown and teammate Hank Thompson briefly played for the St. Louis Browns, becoming the third and fourth Black players in either the NL or AL, and made the St. Louis Browns the first of either the NL or AL to field two Black players on one roster. Brown was the first black player to hit a home run in the American League.
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Schedule
The 1947 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 15, featuring all sixteen teams, continuing the trend from 1945. The final day of the regular season was on September 28, which also saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from the previous season. This was the first time since 1940 that all sixteen teams played their first and last games on the same days. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 6.
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Rule changes
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The 1947 season saw the following rule changes:
- Regarding salaries and pensions, major-league players would be guaranteed:[4]
- A minimum salary of $5,000 (equivalent to $70,400 in 2024).
- A limitation on pay cuts to a maximum of 25%
- $25 per week (equivalent to $352 in 2024) in living expenses during spring training
- The creation of a pension plan. Said plan was to be funded by each player contributing $250 per year (equivalent to $3,520 in 2024), a sum that would be matched by his owner.
- Proceeds from the World Series broadcasting and the All-Star Game would go to the pension plan.
- A team claiming a player through waiver calls on the third call would get said player. Previously, owners had been able to retain players put on waivers, regardless of whether another team claimed them or not.[4]
- The Commissioner of Baseball could no longer unilaterally rule on items "detrimental" to baseball on minor-leagues, and now followed the major-league rule that was implemented the previous season, that the commissioner had the authority to determine when a rule or act was harmful to baseball and to block the implementation of such a rule.[4]
- A new Major-Minor League Agreement established a classification labeled Bonus Players for both the major and minors. The designation was assigned to newly signed players who were paid bonus money above defined amounts. The fixed minimum amount that would trigger a bonus classification ranged from $600 (equivalent to $8,450 in 2024) in Class D to $6,000 (equivalent to $84,500 in 2024) in the majors. A Bonus Player would retain the label for his career. If he was optioned to a lower classification or playing level, he would be subject to an unrestricted draft.[4]
Teams
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Standings
American League
National League
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Postseason
The postseason began on September 30 and ended on October 6 with the New York Yankees defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1947 World Series in seven games.
Bracket
| World Series | ||||
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 | ||
| NL | Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | ||
Managerial changes
Off-season
In-season
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League leaders
American League
1 American League Triple Crown batting winner
National League
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Awards and honors
Regular season
Other awards
Baseball Hall of Fame
Home field attendance
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Events
April–June
- April 15 – Major League Baseball's color line is officially broken when Jackie Robinson makes his Major League debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field.
- April 27 – It is Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium. Despite having throat cancer, he speaks to the packed house, proclaiming, "The only real game, I think, in the world is baseball."
- June 18 – Ewell Blackwell pitches a no-hitter, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6–0 win over the Boston Braves.
July–September
- July 5 – Larry Doby makes his debut for the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black baseball player in the American League, and fully integrating Major League Baseball.
- July 8 – At Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, the American League defeats the National League, 2–1, in the All-Star Game.
- July 10 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Don Black throws a no-hitter in a 3–0 win over the Philadelphia Athletics.
- July 19 – Hall of Fame Negro leagues player Willard Brown makes his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns. Brown would only appear in 21 games for St. Louis in his only major league season, batting .179 with one home run and six runs batted in.
- July 20 – With both Hank Thompson and Willard Brown in the starting line-up, the St. Louis Browns become the first major league club to field two black players at the same time. Both players play all nine innings of both games of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox.
- August 13 – The St. Louis Browns' Willard Brown clubs a pinch hit a two-run, inside-the-park homer against Detroit Tigers pitcher Hal Newhouser, to become the first African American player to hit a home run in American League history.
- August 20 – Washington Senators relief pitcher Tom Ferrick loses both games of a doubleheader with the Cleveland Indians. While pitching with the St. Louis Browns the previous season, Ferrick won both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics on August 4.
- August 26 – Brooklyn Dodgers' Dan Bankhead became the first black pitcher in the majors. He homered in his first major league plate appearance, but didn't fare well on the mound. In 3 1⁄3 innings of relief, he gave up 10 hits and six earned runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the game, 16–3.
- September 3 – Bill McCahan of the Philadelphia Athletics no-hits the Washington Senators in a 3–0 victory.
October–December
- October 6 – The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 5–2, in Game 7 of the World Series to win their eleventh World Championship, four games to three. This was the first World Series involving a nonwhite player, as Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson had racially integrated Major League Baseball at the beginning of the season. It was also the first Series to be shown on television although coverage was limited to New York City and surrounding environs.
- November 27 – Triple Crown winner Ted Williams (.343 BA, 32 home runs, 114 RBI) is edged out by Joe DiMaggio (.315, 20, 97) for the American League MVP Award by one point. One BBWAA member fails to include Williams anywhere on his ballot.
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See also
References
External links
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