1957 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers 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.

1957 Brooklyn Dodgers
League	National League
Ballpark	Ebbets Field Roosevelt Stadium
City	Brooklyn, New York Jersey City, New Jersey
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
← 1956 1958 →

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.^[3]

Danny McDevitt was the last pitcher to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game at Ebbets Field. The game was contested on September 24, 1957, and McDevitt pitched a complete game. He had nine strikeouts while allowing only five hits.^[4]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

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

1957 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BR	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

^[5]

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.^[6]
• May 23, 1957: Don Elston was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Vito Valentinetti and Jackie Collum.^[7]
• May 26, 1957: Tommy Lasorda was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees^[8]
• May 30, 1957: Jim Fridley was purchased by the Dodgers from the New York Yankees.^[9]
• June 14, 1957: Ken Lehman was purchased from the Dodgers by the Baltimore Orioles.^[10]
• June 15, 1957: Babe Birrer was purchased by the Dodgers from the Baltimore Orioles.^[11]
• August 24, 1957: Vito Valentinetti was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cleveland Indians.^[12]

Roster

1957 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Bessent 55 Jackie Collum 40 Roger Craig 53 Don Drysdale 50 Don Elston 17 Carl Erskine 21 Bill Harris 26 Fred Kipp 32 Sandy Koufax 41 Clem Labine 16 Ken Lehman 35 Sal Maglie 16 Danny McDevitt 36 Don Newcombe 45 Johnny Podres 37 Ed Roebuck 49 René Valdez		Catchers 39 Roy Campanella 58 Joe Pignatano  8 John Roseboro 10 Rube Walker Infielders 38 Jim Gentile 19 Jim Gilliam 14 Gil Hodges  2 Randy Jackson 43 Charlie Neal  1 Pee Wee Reese 23 Don Zimmer		Outfielders 15 Sandy Amorós  9 Gino Cimoli  6 Carl Furillo 49 Bob Kennedy  4 Duke Snider  3 Elmer Valo Other batters 50 Rod Miller		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 33 Joe Becker 22 Billy Herman 51 Greg Mulleavy 31 Jake Pitler

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

• Gold Glove Award
  • Gil Hodges

All-Stars

• 1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Gino Cimoli reserve
  • Gil Hodges reserve
  • Clem Labine reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Los Angeles Angels	Pacific Coast League	Clay Bryant
AAA	Montreal Royals	International League	Greg Mulleavy Al Campanis Al Ronning Tommy Holmes
AAA	St. Paul Saints	American Association	Max Macon
A	Macon Dodgers	South Atlantic League	Goldie Holt
A	Pueblo Dodgers	Western League	Ray Hathaway
B	Cedar Rapids Raiders	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Danny Ozark
B	Victoria Rosebuds	Texas League	Lou Rochelli
C	Great Falls Electrics	Pioneer League	Jack Banta
C	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Ray Perry
D	Bluefield Dodgers	Appalachian League	Jim Bragan
D	Kokomo Dodgers	Midwest League	Pete Reiser
D	Shawnee Hawks	Sooner State League	Edward Serrano
D	Thomasville Dodgers	Georgia–Florida League	Rudy Rufer Leon Hamilton Roger Wright

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bluefield