Brooklyn Dodgers: An Alternate History

[DonnieBaseball]

The Dodgers are at a pivitol point in thier history.

The War is over and all the boys are back home, and, Baseball has never been better !

1946 ended with a first place tie with the Cardinals. the Dodgers put together a big season going 96-60 and finishing tied for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals. The 2 teams played the first-ever playoff series, but it was not a happy one for the Dodgers, as the Cardinals won two straight games for the pennant and earned a trip to the World Series. Once again the Dodgers would have to wait untill next year.

The 1947 season would be a very different year however.

The Dodgers planned on breaking the major league color line on Opening Day and already the behind the scenes trouble was mounting.

Manager Leo Durocher became involved in an unseemly feud with Yankee owner Larry MacPhail. In person, Durocher and MacPhail exchanged a series of accusations and counter-accusations, with each suggesting the other invited gamblers into their clubhouses. The commissioner discovered Durocher may have run a rigged craps game that took an active ballplayer for a large sum of money. Chandler suspended Durocher for the 1947 season for "association with known gamblers".

A behind the scenes issue was also begining to crop up. Branch Rickey who had been a 25 percent owner of the Dodgers had made his move and acquired an additional 25 percent. Walter O'Malley had positioned himself to acquire the other 50 percent of the Dodgers. The two men have 2 very different visions of where the team is headed in the future.

O'Malley thought beloved as it was, Ebbets Field was growning old and was not well-served by infrastructure, to the point where the Dodgers could really benefit from a move West. Going West held oppurtunity on a very large scale. West Coast investors had already spoken with him and "Go West young man" seemed to hold a certain magical ring to it.

Rickey however believed that even with the deficiencies of Ebbets Field, other teams (like the Boston Red Sox) proved successful in facilities that were as old as Ebbets Field. The New York Yankees still drew large crowds to the Bronx, in a neighborhood facing many of the changes and challenges as Brooklyn. The Dodgers were Brooklyn and should stay put.

No Doubt this issue will come to a head in the near future, but for now, The immediate issue was overcoming the loveable loser monicker, and making as sanitary an enviroment as possible for Jackie Robinson to break the color line.

Durocher was fired. His off field distractions , Rickey and O'Malley (who rarely agree now a days) agreed , was way to much of a distraction.

Walter Jacobs was hired to take over the GM and Manager responsibilities so that Rickey and O'Malley could concentrate on the back end of what will be a season unlike any other.

[DonnieBaseball]

I am going to obviously take over the Dodgers in the 1947 season.

Mogul Difficulty.

I am taking a historical based approach.

Leo did get suspended in 47.

Jackie obviously made his debut in 47.

Rickey and O'Malley were both owners at the time as well.

I took these facts and inserted myself and a little Rickey-O'Malley drama as well.

I also am interested in if Brooklyn did stay would the city itself not have suffered in the ways it did.

Would Coney Island have continued to thrive ?
Would the Shipyard have stayed as active ?
Would the neighborhoods have retained some of the magic ?

I would like to hope so....However financial peril or other factors may make me leave Brooklyn sooner or later.

Stay tuned and comments, questions, and/or suggestions are welcome guys

This is my first dynasty so ....really .....feel free !

[DonnieBaseball]

The Dodgers are home today against the Chicago Cubs.

Today is a day that will have historical signifigance for years to come. Today Jackie Robinson, former Kansas City Monarch, and stand out athlete for UCLA will take the field for the Dodgers and break the major leauge color line.

Throughout history, baseball has been in a number of positions to affect social change in dramatic ways. In this year and this day April 1, 1947, baseball will begin something the rest of the nation needs to catch up to -- integration.

It is a nice day 56 degrees and calm winds a great opening day really for this sell out crowd of 32,000 Ladies and Gents.



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The Dodgers win Opening Day 5-4 !!!!!!!

Jackie Robinson goes 1 for 3 with a walk

Temperature: 56F
Wind: Calm
Attendance: 32,000
Time: 2:21

WP: Kirby Higbe (1-0)
LP: Claude Passeau (0-1)
SV: Hugh Casey (1)

The MVP of the game is Gil Hodges. He went 2-4 with 2 RBIs.

An interesting note about Hodges he played 1 game for the Dodgers in 1943 and was 0-2.

4 Years later he comes in and makes a big difference on Opening Day for the Dodgers.

So we will see you soon with monthly recaps of the Dodgers progress all season long.

Hope has sprung eternal once again and this year that hope means a bit more, it is the hope of all races and all colors. Hopefully we can all see one color, Dodger Blue.

[DonnieBaseball]

The Dodger are 17-11 for the month of April, putting them in 2nd place, 4 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

The talk of Flatbush is Duke Snider, Batting .360 with 12 Home Runs and 35 RBIs.

Pee Wee Reese had an up and down month as well. He signed a 4 year extension on his contract and is making a cool $30,000 a year. He was injured a few weeks later and is expected to miss 2 weeks of action.

His replacement Arky Vaughn, a 16 year vet, is holding the position down nicely batting .294 .

Jackie Robinson is holding his own as well. He is batting .250 and has an OBP of .388. Despite a really tough month emotionally for the young man he is doing a great job.

That's all for now....The Dodger report will be back soon for a May review. Thanks for joining us on location in Coney Isle.

[DonnieBaseball]

May was an incredible month for the Dodgers going 22-7 to take a lead in first place by 4 games over the Phillies. 39 and 18 on the young season.

Duke Snider continues to be amazing at .348 20 HR and 64 RBIs.

Jackie Robinson is proving his worth as well now batting .292

Gil Hodges pulled a groin this month and will be out for 2 weeks.

Kirby Higbe is the man on the mound getting it done for Brooklyn, at 6-0 with a 3.27 ERA he is anchoring a solid staff.

The Bullpen has combined for 18 saves as well.

Next time a big update....The Draft and June all in one radio broadcast. Stay tuned Dodger fans.

[DonnieBaseball]

June was a busy month Dodger Fans !



June saw the Dodgers stay in first with a 3 game lead on the Phillies.

The Dodgers went 17-9 this month including a 1-2 record against the Phillies in Philly.

Jackie Robinson went down for 3 weeks with a neck injury. He is expected back shortly after the All Star Break.

Again vetern Arky Vaughn is filling in nicely and rumor has it GM Walter Jacobs refused a trade offer for him.

The Draft went well and the Dodgers selected Elston Howard (C) with the first pick



Howard is a young catcher with promise. Rumors of catcher Roy Campanella coming up soon are begining to circulate and Elston Howard will fill the spot of Star Powred Catcher in the minors.

Colored Player Larry Doby made his debut this month as well in the AL and with Campanella and other African-Americans signed, baseball integration is happening on a big scale.

Duke Snider, Kirby Higbe, and Carl Furillo represented the Dodgers in the All Star Game, an affair the AL took 13 - 1. Ralph Kiner took the Home Run Derby.

Looking ahead , 7 big games against the Phillies in the month of July fans. The
Dodgers are going to have a make or break series in both Brooklyn and Philly this coming month. Stay tuned and Enjoy the summer.

[DonnieBaseball]

On a side note......Is anybody reading this or into it ?

Looking for some feedback Positive or Negative

[DonnieBaseball]

The month of July was a bad one for the Dodgers.

A 13-16 month with injuries to Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo slowed the Dodgers down to a crawl.

A 5-2 record against 2nd place Philly was the lone bright spot this month, and the Dodgers hold onto a 3 game lead in the NL.

21 year old Ralph Branca was signed to a 5 year extension worth $ 20,000 a year this month as well. Branca is 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA and has a ton of upside in the future.

August will bring a big challenge to the Dodgers and the dog days of summer are upon us.

Hold tight Dodger fans...this race is heating up !

[DonnieBaseball]

August was a struggle as well for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers went 15 - 13 in the month of August and with 14 games left the Dodgers will have to bear down.

The Pittsburgh Pirates behind the Pitching of Preacher Roe (13-7 3.63 ERA) and the bat of Ralph Kiner (.302 53 104) are a mere 2 games out.



The buzz is huge down the stretch....

Can Kiner hit 7 or 8 home runs in 15 games to tie or break the Babe's record ?

Can the Dodgers hold on ?

To combat the mediocre record the Dodgers have called up Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe the top Pitching and Hitting prospects of the Dodgers minor league system.


See you soon folks with the final results of the 1947 season !!!

[DonnieBaseball]

The Dodgers Win the Pennant !!!



The Dodgers will face the Cleveland Indians in the World Series !!

The Dodgers held off the Pirates behind the 1-2 punch of Greenberg and Kiner.
Kiner finished the year with 57 homeruns in all 154 games played.

Cleveland had an unbelievable race as well. They won a one game playoff against the Tigers and the Yankees finished a mere 1.5 games behind.

The stage is set for the Dodgers to square off against Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Al Rosen, Lou Boudreau, and Larry Doby.

The first two teams to integrate this season will play in the World Series !!

Duke Snider was the Dodgers MVP this season



He hit .306 with 42 homeruns and 133 RBIs.

Vic Lombardi was the Pitching ace for Brooklyn this year at 15 - 2 with a 3.22 ERA.

Looking ahead the Dodger bats against the Cleveland Pitching is the match-up the world waits for......who will prevail ?




-vs-


and


Stay tuned for game by game World Series wrap ups !!!!!!!!

[DonnieBaseball]

Game 1 of the World Series :

Temperature: 58F
Wind: 5 MPH (out to center)
Attendance: 32,000 ** Sell Out **

Kirby Higbe (13-5 3.25) takes the hill for Brooklyn in the top of the first.

Lou Boudreau doubled to left-centerand the Brooklyn crowd gets nervous but Higbe settles down with 2 strike outs and a pop up to the next 3 batters.

With Feller and Lemon still not ready from the last day of the season and 1 game playoff, Cleveland starter Roger Wolff (12-10 4.45) faces immediate problems.

Jackie Robinson reaches first on an error by Boudreau.
Gil Hodges doubled down the left field line, scoring Robinson
Carl Furillo homered around the foul pole in right for two RBIs.

And the Dodgers took a 3-0 lead just like that !

Al Rosen drove in a run in the fourth to make it 3-1

Bottom of the Fifth Carl Furillo singled to center, scoring Pete Reiser 4-1 Dodgers.

Top of the Seventh and Joe Gordon homered to deep right-centerof a tiring Higbe.

Johnny Van Cuyk came in to pitch for the Dodgers and along with closer Hank Behrman closed the door on Cleveland with a 4-2 Dodger win in Game 1.

MVP for Game 1 :



Carl Furillo RF 2-4 with a Home Run, a run scored, and 3 RBIs

Also of note :



Arky Vaughn (who will play SS for the injured Pee Wee Reese)
was 2 for 2 with 2 walks and played flawless defense starting key double plays 3 times !!

[DonnieBaseball]

Cleveland Takes Game 2 score 4-0 !!

Series Tied at 1-1 !!

Temperature: 49F
Wind: 4 MPH (out to right)
Attendance: 32,000 ** Sell Out **


The Dodger bats fell silent and Bob Feller went all 9 innings !!



Feller held Brooklyn to 7 hits over 9 innings and 0 walks.

Lou Boudreau had a first pitch Home Run and behind Feller that was all the Indians needed !

Series shifts to Cleveland for the next 3....

[CatKnight]

Hey Donnie:

Just found your dynasty tonight. Looks good! Congratulations on the pennant!

[DonnieBaseball]

Thanks CatKnight !!

[DonnieBaseball]

Game 3 goes 10 innings .............Dodgers lose 3 - 2 !!!

Indians up 2 - 1 in Series !!

Temperature: 57F
Wind: 4 MPH (out to right)
Attendance: 55,260


The game was a heartbreaker for the Dodgers....

A pitchers duel almost all the way , It wasnt untill the bottom of the fourth when Ralph Branca gave up a double to RF Tommy Holmes and then 3B Al Rosen scored him on a double of his own to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

Dodger LF Pete Rieser hit a solo homerun in the top of the 6th to tie it 1-1

Larry Doby doubled in Al Rosen in the bottom of the 6th and Cleveland took a 2-1 lead.

Mel Harder pitched great for Cleveland and pitchd 8 2/3 of 1 run 5 hit baseball until with 2 out in the top of the ninth Dodger 3B Spider Jorgensen homered over the center field fence and made it 2-2.

Brooklyn held in the bottm of the ninth but didnt score in the 10th.

Cleveland did.....Tommy Holmes got a base hit to score Eddie Robinson and the Indians won a game 3.