1947 National League

It was an historic year, and the beginning of an era. 1947 was Jackie Robinson's rookie year with Brooklyn. It meant the breaking of the color line, the start of a Dodger dynasty, and the beginning of a tidal turn from the AL being the better league to NL dominance, all things that would continue for years to come. Brooklyn won the pennant with their controversial rookie 1B (who would switch to 2B the next year) while St. Louis finished 5 games back, with Boston 3rd at 8 games behind and New York 4th, 13 off the pace. Cincinnati, Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh made up the second division.

Harry (The Hat) Walker won the batting title with a .363 average, Johnny Mize and Ralph Kiner were the big sluggers with 51 HR each, and around the league it was a year of transition. Hank Greenberg played his only NL season this year, with Pittsburgh. Mize led with 138 RBI and 137 runs. Walker led in on-base, Kiner in slugging and OPS. Tommy Holmes led with 191 hits. Eddie Miller led with 38 doubles, Walker with 13 triples. Jackie Robinson stole 29 bases.

Warren Spahn established himself as a star pitcher, and was the ERA leader at 2.33. Ewell Blackwell, the sidearming "Whip," had a terrific year, leading the league with 22 wins and 193 strikeouts, and Hugh Casey came up big out of the bullpen for Brooklyn as relief pitching continued to evolve. Casey had 18 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players: Johnny Mize (New York) 32, Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh) 30, Bob Elliott (Boston) 29, Pee Wee Reese (Brooklyn) and Whitey Kurowski (St. Louis) 26, Stan Musial (St. Louis) 25, Willard Marshall (New York) and Harry Walker (St. Louis/Philadelphia) 24, Dixie Walker (Brooklyn) and Walker Cooper (New York) 23, Grady Hatton and Eddie Miller (Cincinnati) 22, Tommy Holmes (Boston), Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn) and Augie Galan (Cincinnati) 21.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers; Warren Spahn (Boston) 32, Ewell Blackwell (Cincinnati) 28, Ralph Branca (Brooklyn) 26, Johnny Sain (Boston) 24, Dutch Leonard (Philadelphia) 23, Larry Jansen (New York) 20, Harry Brecheen (St. Louis) 19, Johnny Schmitz (Chicago) and Murry Dickson and George Munger (St. Louis) 18.

WAR scores: Kiner 7.9, Mize 7.3, Elliott and Kurowski (last good year) 6.2, Reese 6.0, H. Walker 5.9, Marshall 5.4 (career year), Cooper 5.3, Musial 4.8 (an off-year for Stan the Man), Galan 3.9 (last good year), Enos Slaughter (St. Louis) 3.8, D. Walker, Earl Torgeson (Boston) and Bobby Thomson (New York) 3.5, Robinson (rookie) and Eddie Stanky (Brooklyn) 3.4.

Pitchers, Spahn 8.5, Blackwell 8.3 (career year), Branca 6.6 (career year), Leonard 5.8, Jansen 4.8 (rookie), Brecheen 4.5, Munger 4.4, Dickson 4.1, Sain, and Joe Hatten (Brooklyn) 3.9, Al Brazle (St. Louis) 3.8, Kirby Higbe (Brooklyn/Pittsburgh) 3.5.

Actual award voting:
1947 National League Most Valuable Player (top 21)
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+-----+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Bob Elliott BSN 9 205 336 0.61 | 555 176 22 .317 .927 3
2 Ewell Blackwell CIN 2 175 336 0.52 | 106 13 0 .123 .272 0| 22-8 273 2.47 1.179 193
3 Johnny Mize NYG 2 144 336 0.43 | 586 177 51 .302 .998 2
4 Bruce Edwards BRO 3 140 336 0.42 | 471 139 9 .295 .782 2
5 Jackie Robinson BRO 1 106 336 0.32 | 590 175 12 .297 .810 29
6 Ralph Kiner PIT 0 101 336 0.30 | 565 177 51 .313 1.055 1
7 Larry Jansen NYG 1 91 336 0.27 | 86 16 0 .186 .423 0| 21-5 248 3.16 1.202 104 1
8 Pee Wee Reese BRO 2 80 336 0.24 | 476 135 12 .284 .841 7
9 Whitey Kurowski STL 0 45 336 0.13 | 513 159 27 .310 .964 4
9 Harry Walker TOT 0 45 336 0.13 | +513 186 1 .363 .924 13
11 Ralph Branca BRO 0 40 336 0.12 | 97 12 0 .124 .317 0| 21-12 280 2.67 1.246 148 1
12 Hugh Casey BRO 0 37 336 0.11 | 18 1 0 .056 .161 0| 10-4 77 3.99 1.356 40 18
13 Dutch Leonard PHI 1 32 336 0.10 | 80 14 0 .175 .392 0| 17-12 235 2.68 1.196 103
13 Eddie Stanky BRO 0 32 336 0.10 | 559 141 3 .252 .702 3
15 Warren Spahn BSN 0 26 336 0.08 | 98 16 0 .163 .416 0| 21-10 290 2.33 1.136 123 3
16 Willard Marshall NYG 1 20 336 0.06 | 587 171 36 .291 .894 3
16 Johnny Sain BSN 0 20 336 0.06 | 107 37 0 .346 .775 0| 21-12 266 3.52 1.293 132 1
18 Walker Cooper NYG 0 19 336 0.06 | 515 157 35 .305 .926 2
19 Dixie Walker BRO 1 14 336 0.04 | 529 162 9 .306 .842 6
20 Stan Musial STL 0 12 336 0.04 | 587 183 19 .312 .902 4
20 Enos Slaughter STL 0 12 336 0.04 | 551 162 10 .294 .818 4


1947 Major League Rookie of the Year (both leagues)
| Season Results
Rk Name Team 1st Place Points Max Points Share| AB H HR BA OPS SB| W-L IP ERA WHIP SO SV
+--+----------------+----+-----+------+------+-----+----+---+-----+-----+---+--+
1 Jackie Robinson BRO 0 129 165 0.78 | 590 175 12 .297 .810 29
2 Larry Jansen NYG 0 105 165 0.64 | 86 16 0 .186 .423 0| 21-5 248 3.16 1.202 104 1
3 Spec Shea NYY 0 67 165 0.41 | 56 11 0 .196 .530 0| 14-5 179 3.07 1.209 89 1
4 Ferris Fain PHA 0 43 165 0.26 | 461 134 7 .291 .837 4
5 Frank Baumholtz CIN 0 42 165 0.25 | 643 182 5 .283 .726 6

Top player: Ralph Kiner. Elliot won the award as a sort of career achievement trophy, but Kiner had the most impressive year, even is it was for a last-place team.
#1 Ralph Kiner, #2 Bob Elliott, #3 Johnny Mize, #4 Whitey Kurowski, #5 Pee Wee Reese, #6 Harry Walker.

Top pitcher: Warren Spahn in his breakout season, a tough choice over The Whip's lead in wins and strikeouts. Spahnie led in ERA.
#1 Warren Spahn, #2 Ewell Blackwell, #3 Ralph Branca, #4 Dutch Leonard, #5 Larry Jansen.

Top rookie: Jackie Robinson. Larry Jansen may have had a better season superficially, but he wasn't carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders while doing it.

Top manager: Burt Shotton, thrust into the Dodgers job when Leo Durocher was suspended for the year, and dealing with the Robinson debut, and winning the pennant all at the same time.