The 1947 St. Louis Browns season was the Major League Baseball franchise's 47th in the American League (AL) and its 46th in St. Louis. The 1947 Browns finished eighth and last in the league with a record of 59 wins and 95 losses, 38 games in arrears of the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees. The Browns were managed by Muddy Ruel in the former catcher's only stint as an MLB pilot, and drew only 320,474 fans to Sportsman's Park, 16th and last in the majors. On July 17, they became the third big-league team to racially integrate its ranks. However, the experiment failed when the two pioneer players, Hank Thompson and Willard Brown, were sent back to the Negro leagues in late August; the Browns would not field another African-American player until all-time great Satchel Paige joined them in July 1951.
| 1947 St. Louis Browns | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Ballpark | Sportsman's Park | |
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Record | 59–95 (.383) | |
| League place | 8th | |
| Owners | Richard Muckerman | |
| General managers | Bill DeWitt | |
| Managers | Muddy Ruel | |
| Radio | WIL (Dizzy Dean, Johnny O'Hara) | |
| ||
Regular season
- July 17: Hank Thompson became the first black player to appear in a game for the Browns.[1]
- July 20: Hank Thompson and Willard Brown of the Browns played against the Boston Red Sox. It was the first time that two black players appear in a major league game together since 1884.[2] In that first game of the double-header, outfielder Paul Lehner hit an inside-the-park grand slam to drive in all four runs in the Browns' 4-3 victory.[3]
- September 28: Broadcaster Dizzy Dean comes out of retirement to pitch for the Browns. He pitches 4 scoreless innings and hits a single.
Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | 0.630 | — | 55–22 | 42–35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 69 | 0.552 | 12 | 46–31 | 39–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 83 | 71 | 0.539 | 14 | 49–30 | 34–41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 80 | 74 | 0.519 | 17 | 38–39 | 42–35 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 78 | 76 | 0.506 | 19 | 39–38 | 39–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 70 | 84 | 0.455 | 27 | 32–43 | 38–41 |
| Washington Senators | 64 | 90 | 0.416 | 33 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
| St. Louis Browns | 59 | 95 | 0.383 | 38 | 29–48 | 30–47 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 16–6–1 | 9–13 | 12–10–1 | 9–13 | 10–12–1 | 15–7 | 12–10 | |||||
| Chicago | 6–16–1 | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 11–11 | — | 8–14–2 | 7–15 | 11–11–1 | 17–5 | 13–9 | |||||
| Detroit | 10–12–1 | 15–7 | 14–8–2 | — | 8–14–1 | 11–11 | 15–7 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 14–8–1 | — | 13–9 | 15–7 | 15–7 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 12–10–1 | 11–11 | 11–11–1 | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 13–9 | 11–11 | |||||
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 9–13 | — | 13–9 | |||||
| Washington | 10–12 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1947 St. Louis Browns | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Les Moss | 96 | 274 | 43 | .157 | 6 | 27 |
| 1B | Wally Judnich | 144 | 500 | 129 | .258 | 18 | 64 |
| 2B | Johnny Berardino | 90 | 306 | 80 | .261 | 1 | 20 |
| 3B | Bob Dillinger | 137 | 571 | 168 | .294 | 3 | 37 |
| SS | Vern Stephens | 150 | 562 | 157 | .279 | 15 | 83 |
| OF | Al Zarilla | 127 | 380 | 85 | .224 | 3 | 38 |
| OF | Paul Lehner | 135 | 483 | 120 | .248 | 7 | 48 |
| OF | Jeff Heath | 141 | 491 | 123 | .251 | 27 | 85 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Coleman | 110 | 343 | 89 | .259 | 2 | 30 |
| Billy Hitchcock | 80 | 275 | 61 | .222 | 1 | 28 |
| Jake Early | 87 | 214 | 48 | .224 | 3 | 19 |
| Jerry Witte | 34 | 99 | 14 | .141 | 2 | 12 |
| Hank Thompson | 27 | 78 | 20 | .256 | 0 | 5 |
| Willard Brown | 21 | 67 | 12 | .179 | 1 | 6 |
| Rusty Peters | 39 | 47 | 16 | .340 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Schultz Jr. | 43 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 1 | 1 |
| Perry Currin | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Glenn McQuillen | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Kramer | 33 | 199.1 | 11 | 16 | 4.97 | 77 |
| Ellis Kinder | 34 | 194.1 | 8 | 15 | 4.49 | 110 |
| Fred Sanford | 34 | 186.2 | 7 | 16 | 3.71 | 62 |
| Bob Muncrief | 31 | 176.1 | 8 | 14 | 4.90 | 74 |
| Cliff Fannin | 26 | 145.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.58 | 77 |
| Dizzy Dean | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Zoldak | 35 | 171.0 | 9 | 10 | 3.47 | 36 |
| Nels Potter | 32 | 122.2 | 4 | 10 | 4.04 | 65 |
| Denny Galehouse | 9 | 32.1 | 1 | 3 | 6.12 | 11 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Moulder | 32 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3.82 | 23 |
| Walter Brown | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.89 | 10 |
| Bud Swartz | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 |
| Hooks Iott | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16.20 | 6 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Belleville
References
External links
- 1947 St. Louis Browns team at Baseball-Reference
- 1947 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com