An Unspectacular Debut
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by user LouGehrig
by Harold Friend April 14, 1947
The New York Times reported today that St. Louis gambler James J. Carroll, the self proclaimed "Betting Commissioner," has made the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals 3-5 favorites to win the National League pennant. For the uninitiated, the Times explained that to win $3, one must put up $5. Brooklyn's Dodgers were listed at 3-1, while the Giants were the longest shot to win at 30-1. In the junior circuit, Carroll had the defending champion Red Sox at 3-4 and the Yankees, like the Dodgers, at 3-1.
April 15, 1947
Acting manager Clyde Sukeforth will lead the Brooklyn Dodgers against Johnny Sain and the Boston Braves as the Dodgers open the season without suspended manager Leo Durocher. A crowd of about 34,000 is expected to see the first of 22 games between the two teams predicted to give the defending World Champion Cardinals the greatest challenge. Brooklyn will send lefty Joe Hatten to the mound. A highlight of the game will be the debut of 28 year old rookie Jackie Robinson, who will play first base. Brooklyn's batting order will have Eddie Stanky leading off and playing second base, Jackie Robinson batting second and playing first base, the often injured Pete Reiser will hit third and play center field, and Dixie Walker, who won the 1944 batting title, will bat clean up and play right field. Left fielder Gene Hermanski will bat fifth and play left field, Bruce Edwards, the catcher, will bat sixth, Cookie Lavagetto will be at third base and bat seventh, shortstop PeeWee Reese will bat eighth, and pitcher Hatten will bat ninth. Brooklyn hit 55 home runs in 1946.
April 15, 1947
An opening day throng of 26,623 fans saw interim Brooklyn manager Clyde Sukeforth use eighteen players as the Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3. Starters Johnny Sain and Joe Hatten matched zeros for the first three innings, and then, in the home half of the fourth, Pete Reiser led off for Brooklyn with a walk. Sukeforth ordered the hit and run, but all Dixie Walker could manage was a ground out, moving Reiser to second. Gene Hermanski followed with an infield single, advancing Reiser to third. Bruce Edwards knocked in Reiser with a ground out to give the Brooks a 1-0 lead, but the Braves tied the game in the fifth on two singles and two sacrifices. Yes, it was a different game.
Boston took the lead with a two run sixth inning, but Brooklyn got one run back in their half of the inning and then took the lead for good in the seventh. Eddie Stanky led off the inning with a walk. Rookie Jackie Robinson then bunted toward first base. Boston rookie first baseman Earl Torgeson, a fine defensive player, fielded the bunt and, possibly intimidated by Robinson's speed, fired the ball wildly into Robinson's shoulder. The ball caromed into right field, allowing Stanky to get to third and Robinson to wind up at second with the potential lead run. Pete Reiser took advantage of the situation when he blistered a line drive off the right field wall, just inside the foul pole, for a two run double that was the game winner. Jackie Robinson went hitless in three at bats but was credited with a sacrifice on his bunt and he handled eleven chances flawlessly at first base.
April 16, 1947
Jackie Robinson's debut yesterday was uneventful. His bunt in the seventh inning helped Brooklyn overcome Boston's lead, but his dribbler through the box in the fifth inning was turned into a spectacular double play. Robinson told reporters after the game that "I was nervous in the first play of my first game at Ebbets Field, but nothing has bothered me since."
Jackie Robinson did not get a hit in his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger, but he showed why he is a force to be reckoned with. In the seventh inning, his speed forced the opposition to make a key error that set up the winning run. Robinson bunted in an attempt to move the game tying run, in the person of Eddie Stanky, into scoring position at second base. If Braves' first sacker Earl Torgeson had thrown out Robinson instead of making a poor throw that hit Robinson's forearm and ricocheted into right field, Brooklyn would have had a runner on second and one out, instead of runners on second and third with no outs. Great players win games in different ways. Jackie Robinson can beat the other team with his bat, with his arm, with his legs, and with his head.
References:
"It's the Ticker, Doc." http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,805718,00.html
"Cards, Red Sox Favored; Dodgers, Yankees, Tigers All 3-1 in Baseball Betting Odds." New York Times 15 April 1947:31
Daley, Arthur. "Opening Day at Ebbets Field." New York Times 16 April 1947: 32.
Effratt, Louis. "Chandler to Hurl for Harris' Crew; 50,000 Fans Expected to See Right Hander in Inaugural Against the Mackmen; Hatten Choice of Brooks; Southpaw Slated as Rival of Boston's John Sain; Giants Open in Philadelphia. New York Times 15 April 1947: 31.
McGowen, Roscoe. "Double by Reiser Beats Boston, 5-3; Dodger Star Bats in Two Runs, Scores One in Seventh Inning of Ebbets Field Opener." New York Times 16 April 1947: 32.
