1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season

Offseason

• October 8, 1954: Ray Moore was traded by the Dodgers to the Baltimore Orioles for Chico García.
• December 13, 1954: Billy Cox and Preacher Roe were traded by the Dodgers to the Baltimore Orioles for Johnny Jancse, Harry Schwegeman and cash.
• March 17, 1955: Erv Palica was traded by the Dodgers to the Baltimore Orioles for Frank Kellert and cash.

Regular season

This season was basically a culmination of the careers of many legendary Dodger players. Catcher Roy Campanella won the 1955 National League Most Valuable Player award, his third in five years. Center fielder Duke Snider led the league in runs batted in and was second in the MVP voting. He also hit his 200th career home run on May 10. Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese, both 36 years old, could still play. Gil Hodges, 31, hit 27 home runs (and drove in both Dodger runs in the seventh game of the Series), while Carl Furillo, 33, hit 26 home runs with a .314 batting average.

The pitching staff was anchored by Don Newcombe, who was 20–5. It was the first time a black pitcher had won 20 games in a season. The 22-year-old Johnny Podres was only 9–10 but became the hero of the 1955 World Series by shutting out the Yankees in the seventh game.

MVP controversy

Duke Snider finished second to teammate Campanella in the MVP voting by just five points, 226–221, with each man receiving eight first place votes. The voting then as now was conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Each voting member, one from each major league city, filled out a ballot selecting ten men. A player receiving a first place vote got 14 points, then values of 9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for those in places 2 through 10. A writer from Philadelphia who was sick and who had become hospitalized had turned in a ballot with Campanella listed in position number 1 as well as position number 5. The assumption had been that the writer had meant to write Snider's name into one of those slots. Unable to get a clarification from the ill writer the BBWAA, after considering disallowing the ballot, decided to accept it, count the first place vote for Campanella and count the fifth place vote as though it were left blank. Had the ballot been disallowed, the vote would have been won by Snider by three points. Had Snider gotten the fifth place vote, the final vote would have favored Snider 227–226. Duke did, however, win the Sporting News National League Player of the Year Award for 1955 and the Sid Mercer Award.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day Lineup

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1955: Ron Negray was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dave Cole and cash.
• June 9, 1955: Joe Black was traded by the Dodgers to the Cincinnati Reds for Bob Borkowski and cash.
• September 12, 1955: Glenn Cox was purchased from the Dodgers by the Kansas City Athletics.

Roster

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

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

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

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

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

1955 World Series

Main article: 1955 World Series

Game 1

September 28, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Game 2

September 29, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Game 3

September 30, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 4

October 1, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 5

October 2, 1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 6

October 3, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Game 7

October 4, 1955, at Yankee Stadium in New York

Awards and honors

• National League Most Valuable Player
  • Roy Campanella
• World Series Most Valuable Player
  • Johnny Podres
• TSN Manager of the Year Award
  • Walter Alston
• TSN Executive of the Year Award
  • Walter O'Malley
• TSN Major League Player of the Year Award
  • Duke Snider
• TSN National League Player of the Year Award
  • Duke Snider

All-Stars

• 1955 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Duke Snider starter
  • Roy Campanella reserve
  • Gil Hodges reserve
  • Don Newcombe reserve
• TSN Major League All-Star Team
  • Don Newcombe
  • Roy Campanella
  • Duke Snider

League top five finishers

Roy Campanella

• #4 in NL in batting average (.318)

Jim Gilliam

• #5 in NL in runs scored (110)
• #5 in NL in stolen bases (15)

Clem Labine

• #3 in NL in saves (11)

Don Newcombe

• #2 in NL in wins (20)
• #2 in NL in ERA (3.20)
• #2 in NL in complete games (17)
• #5 in NL in strikeouts (143)

Ed Roebuck

• #2 in NL in saves (12)

Duke Snider

• MLB leader in RBI (136)
• MLB leader in runs scored (126)
• #2 in NL in on-base percentage (.418)
• #2 in NL in slugging percentage (.628)
• #3 in NL in doubles (34)
• #3 in NL in bases on balls (104)
• #4 in NL in home runs (42)

Farm system

Aftermath and legacy

The 1955 World Series proved to the only title the Dodgers won in Brooklyn. After losing the 1956 World Series to the Yankees, the team would move to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.

With the death of Carl Erskine in April 2024, Sandy Koufax became the last surviving player from the 1955 team.

50th Anniversary

In August 2005, the Los Angeles Dodgers commemorated the 50th anniversary of the franchise winning its first World Series, and only one while in Brooklyn. The eleven surviving members of the 1955 team all attended the weekend celebration.

No official commemorative event, however, took place in Brooklyn on October 4, 2005 (the actual anniversary of the Dodgers' triumph), prompting author Thomas Oliphant to argue that "on both coasts, we could have done a little bit better, especially for such an important memory."

That being said, a small gathering of ten people took place at the site of Ebbets Field on October 4, 2005 "at 3:43 pm, 50 years to the minute from when the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series." Brooklyn Paper journalist Ed Shakespeare reported that "[a]ll of the attendees came alone or in pairs, unaware of who else might attend", describing the event as "a sharing of memories from those who remembered."

References

References

1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moorera02.shtml Ray Moore] at ''Baseball-Reference''
2. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxbi02.shtml Billy Cox] at ''Baseball-Reference''
3. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/palicer01.shtml Erv Palica] at ''Baseball-Reference''
4. ''The Duke of Flatbush'' by Duke Snider and Bill Gilbert
5. "MLB Stats, Scores, History, & Records".
6. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195504130.shtml 1955 Opening Day Lineup] at ''Baseball-Reference''
7. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/negraro01.shtml Ron Negray] at ''Baseball-Reference''
8. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/blackjo02.shtml Joe Black] at ''Baseball-Reference''
9. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxgl01.shtml Glenn Cox] at ''Baseball-Reference''
10. (October 9, 1957). "Dodgers Accept Los Angeles Bid to Move to Coast". [[The New York Times]].
11. (April 16, 2024). "Carl Erskine, longtime Dodgers pitcher and one of the "Boys of Summer," dies at 97". [[CBS Sports]].
12. Shakespeare, Ed. (2005-10-14). "Dodgers celebrated 50 years later".