1942 Brooklyn Dodgers

1942 Brooklyn Dodgers / Franchise: Los Angeles Dodgers / BR Team Page

Record: 104-50, Finished 2nd in National League (1942 NL)

Managed by Leo Durocher

Coaches: Red Corriden, Chuck Dressen, Freddie Fitzsimmons, Stew Hofferth and George Pfister

Ballpark: Ebbets Field

History, Comments, Contributions

It is a largely forgotten fact today that the 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers blew one of the largest pennant leads in history - through no fault of their own. On August 5th, they were 10 games ahead of their nearest rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, with a record of 74-30. The third-place Cincinnati Reds were 18 1/2 games behind and already virtually eliminated even if playing well above .500. The Dodgers continued to play well over the last two months and were 10 games above .500 the rest of the way, going 30-20. What happened was that the Cardinals went on a hot streak of historic proportion; starting on August 9th, they won 43 of their last 51 games to catch the Dodgers on September 12th, and then finish two games ahead of them. To put it in perspective, only two teams in the 20th century won 42 games over a 50-game stretch: the 1941 New York Yankees at the time of Joe DiMaggio's historic 56-game hitting streak, and the Cardinals down the stretch in 1942. The next team to win that many over 50 games would be the 2013 edition of the Dodgers. In other words, Brooklyn fully deserved to win a pennant in 1942 and did everything it should have to achieve that goal, but still lost out as their main rivals played out of their minds.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Billy Herman, Joe Medwick, Mickey Owen, Pee Wee Reese, Pete Reiser, Arky Vaughan and Whit Wyatt