1947 Boston Braves season

The 1947 Boston Braves season was the 77th season of the franchise. They finished in third place with an 86-68 won-loss record, 8 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1947 Boston Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Braves Field (since 1915) Boston, Massachusetts (since 1871)
Results
Record	86–68 (.558)
League place	3rd
Other information
Owner(s)	Louis R. Perini
General manager(s)	John J. Quinn
Manager(s)	Billy Southworth
Local radio	WHDH (Jim Britt, Tom Hussey)
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Offseason

• Prior to 1947 season (exact date unknown)
  • Jack Daniels was acquired by the Braves from the Bloomingdale Troopers.[1]
  • Carl Sawatski was acquired by the Braves from the Philadelphia Phillies.[2]

Regular season

On April 15, the Braves played against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Jackie Robinson's first game. Johnny Sain threw the first pitch against Robinson.[3] Behind 3–2, Robinson scored the game-winning run against the Braves.[4] The final score was 5–3 for Brooklyn.

Bob Elliott became the first third baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP Award.[5]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	94	60	0.610	—	52–25	42–35
St. Louis Cardinals	89	65	0.578	5	46–31	43–34
Boston Braves	86	68	0.558	8	50–27	36–41
New York Giants	81	73	0.526	13	45–31	36–42
Cincinnati Reds	73	81	0.474	21	42–35	31–46
Chicago Cubs	69	85	0.448	25	36–43	33–42
Philadelphia Phillies	62	92	0.403	32	38–38	24–54
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	0.403	32	32–45	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1947 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	12–10	13–9	13–9	13–9	14–8	12–10	9–13
Brooklyn	10–12	—	15–7	15–7	14–8	14–8	15–7	11–11–1
Chicago	9–13	7–15	—	12–10	7–15	16–6–1	8–14	10–12
Cincinnati	9–13	7–15	10–12	—	13–9	13–9	13–9	8–14
New York	9–13	8–14	15–7	9–13	—	12–10	15–7–1	13–9
Philadelphia	8–14	8–14	6–16–1	9–13	10–12	—	13–9	8–14
Pittsburgh	10–12	7–15	14–8	9–13	7–15–1	9–13	—	6–16–1
St. Louis	13–9	11–11–1	12–10	14–8	9–13	14–8	16–6–1	—

Roster

1947 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers 25 Red Barrett 27 Johnny Beazley 13 Mort Cooper 37 Glenn Elliott 36 Si Johnson 18,24 Andy Karl 34 Walt Lanfranconi 24 Johnny Lanning 20 Max Macon 24 Ray Martin 32 Dick Mulligan 33 Johnny Sain 26 Clyde Shoun 21 Warren Spahn 96 Bill Voiselle 29 Ernie White 16 Ed Wright		Catchers 22 Hank Camelli 10 Phil Masi Infielders 14 Dick Culler  3 Bob Elliott 11 Nanny Fernandez  6 Frank McCormick 15 Danny Murtaugh  8 Connie Ryan  7 Sibby Sisti  9 Earl Torgeson		Outfielders  1 Tommy Holmes 12 Johnny Hopp  7 Danny Litwhiler 31 Mike McCormick  2 Tommy Neill  5 Bama Rowell Other batters 23 Bob Brady		Manager 30 Billy Southworth Coaches 20 Ray Berres 28 Johnny Cooney 35 Bob Keely 29 Ernie White

Player stats

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	Phil Masi	126	411	125	.304	9	50
1B	Earl Torgeson	128	399	112	.281	16	78
2B	Connie Ryan	150	544	144	.265	5	69
3B	Bob Elliott	150	555	176	.317	22	113
SS	Dick Culler	77	214	53	.248	0	19
OF	Bama Rowell	113	384	106	.276	5	40
OF	Tommy Holmes	150	618	191	.309	9	53
OF	Johnny Hopp	134	430	124	.288	2	32

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
Mike McCormick	92	284	81	.285	3	36
Danny Litwhiler	91	226	59	.261	7	31
Frank McCormick	81	212	75	.354	2	43
Nanny Fernandez	83	209	43	.288	2	32
Sibby Sisti	56	153	43	.281	2	15
Hank Camelli	52	150	29	.193	1	11
Tommy Neill	7	10	2	.200	0	0
Danny Murtaugh	3	8	1	.125	0	0
Bob Brady	1	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Warren Spahn	40	289.2	21	10	2.33	123
Johnny Sain	38	266	21	12	3.52	132
Red Barrett	36	210.2	11	12	3.55	53
Bill Voiselle	22	131.1	8	7	4.32	59
Ray Martin	1	9	1	0	1.00	2
Ernie White	1	4	0	0	0.00	1

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
Si Johnson	36	112.2	6	8	4.23	27
Ed Wright	23	64.2	3	3	6.40	14
Mort Cooper	10	46.2	2	5	4.05	15
Johnny Beazley	9	28.2	2	0	4.40	12

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
Walt Lanfranconi	36	4	4	1	2.95	18
Andy Karl	27	2	3	3	3.86	5
Clyde Shoun	26	5	3	1	4.40	23
Glenn Elliott	11	0	1	1	4.74	8
Johnny Lanning	3	0	0	0	9.82	0
Dick Mulligan	1	0	0	0	9.00	1
Max Macon	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Awards and honors

• Bob Elliott, National League MVP

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Milwaukee Brewers	American Association	Nick Cullop
AA	Little Rock Travelers	Southern Association	Bill Dickey
A	Hartford Chiefs	Eastern League	Dutch Dorman
B	Evansville Braves	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Bob Coleman
B	Pawtucket Slaters	New England League	Pete Fox
B	Jackson Senators	Southeastern League	Willis Hudlin
C	Fort Lauderdale Braves	Florida International League	Jimmy Zinn and Walter Kopp
C	Eau Claire Bears	Northern League	Hughie Wise
C	Las Vegas Ramblers	Sunset League	Newell Kimball
C	Amarillo Gold Sox	West Texas–New Mexico League	Harry Lamprich
C	Leavenworth Braves	Western Association	Joe Bowman
D	Bluefield Blue-Grays	Appalachian League	George Lacy
D	Mount Vernon Braves	Illinois State League	Otto Huber
D	Owensboro Oilers	KITTY League	Earl Browne
D	Bloomingdale Troopers	North Atlantic League	Harold Scinski and Stephen Kuk
D	Richmond Roses	Ohio State League	Rex Carr

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Milwaukee

Notes

1. Jack Daniels at Baseball-Reference
2. Carl Sawatski at Baseball-Reference
3. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 57, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
4. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p.58, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1947 Boston Braves season at Baseball Reference