1947 Cleveland Indians season

The 1947 Cleveland Indians season was the 47th in franchise history. On July 5, Larry Doby broke the American League color barrier. Doby was signed by the Indians by owner and team president Bill Veeck in July, 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson appeared with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League. In his rookie season, Doby went 5-for-32 (.156) in 29 games.

1947 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	Bill Veeck
General managers	Bill Veeck
Managers	Lou Boudreau
Radio	WGAR (AM) (Jack Graney, Van Patrick)
← 1946 Seasons 1948 →

Offseason

• November 1, 1946: Gus Zernial was drafted by the Indians from the Atlanta Crackers in the 1946 rule 5 draft.^[1]

Regular season

• July 5: In a game against the Chicago White Sox, Larry Doby became the first black player to appear in an American League game.^[2] Doby pinch-hit for pitcher Bryan Stephens in the seventh inning and struck out against Earl Harrist.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	—	55‍–‍22	42‍–‍35
Detroit Tigers	85	69	.552	12	46‍–‍31	39‍–‍38
Boston Red Sox	83	71	.539	14	49‍–‍30	34‍–‍41
Cleveland Indians	80	74	.519	17	38‍–‍39	42‍–‍35
Philadelphia Athletics	78	76	.506	19	39‍–‍38	39‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	70	84	.455	27	32‍–‍43	38‍–‍41
Washington Senators	64	90	.416	33	36‍–‍41	28‍–‍49
St. Louis Browns	59	95	.383	38	29‍–‍48	30‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1947 American League record v t e Sources:
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	—

Notable transactions

• April 2, 1947: Catfish Metkovich was purchased by the Indians from the Boston Red Sox.^[3]
• April 23, 1947: Gus Zernial was purchased from the Indians by the Chicago White Sox.^[1]

Roster

1947 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 17 Gene Bearden 35 Don Black  9 Cal Dorsett 22 Red Embree 19 Bob Feller 24 Al Gettel 25 Steve Gromek 29 Ernest Groth 18 Mel Harder 16 Ed Klieman 26 Bob Kuzava 21 Bob Lemon  3 Lyman Linde 28 Bryan Stephens 29 Les Willis 20 Roger Wolff		Catchers 10 Jim Hegan 12 Al López 11 Hank Ruszkowski Infielders  2 Eddie Bockman  5 Lou Boudreau  7 Jack Conway 14 Larry Doby  8 Les Fleming  4 Joe Gordon  6 Ken Keltner  3 Eddie Robinson 17 Al Rosen		Outfielders 32 Hank Edwards 36 Joe Frazier 35 Felix Mackiewicz 31 Catfish Metkovich 33 Dale Mitchell 34 Hal Peck 30 Pat Seerey 36 Ted Sepkowski Other batters 26 Heinz Becker  1 Jimmy Wasdell		Manager  5 Lou Boudreau Coaches 41 Bill McKechnie 40 Ski Melillo 43 Tris Speaker 42 George Susce

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	Jim Hegan	135	378	94	.249	4	42
1B	Eddie Robinson	95	318	78	.245	14	52
2B	Joe Gordon	155	562	153	.272	29	93
SS	Lou Boudreau	150	538	165	.307	4	67
3B	Ken Keltner	151	541	139	.257	11	76
OF	Hank Edwards	108	393	102	.260	15	59
OF	George Metkovich	126	473	120	.254	5	40
OF	Dale Mitchell	123	493	156	.316	1	34

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
Hal Peck	114	392	115	.293	8	44
Les Fleming	103	281	68	.242	4	43
Pat Seerey	82	216	37	.171	11	29
Al López	61	126	33	.262	0	14
Eddie Bockman	46	66	17	.258	1	14
Jack Conway	34	50	9	.180	0	5
Larry Doby	29	32	5	.156	0	2
Hank Ruszkowski	23	27	7	.259	3	4
Joe Frazier	9	14	1	.071	0	0
Al Rosen	7	9	1	.111	0	0
Ted Sepkowski	10	8	1	.125	0	0
Felix Mackiewicz	2	5	0	.000	0	0
Heinz Becker	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Jimmy Wasdell	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
Bob Feller	42	299.0	20	11	2.68	196
Don Black	30	190.2	10	12	3.92	72
Red Embree	27	162.2	8	10	3.15	56
Al Gettel	31	149.0	11	10	3.20	64
Mel Harder	15	80.0	6	4	4.50	17

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
Bob Kuzava	4	21.2	1	1	4.15	9
Roger Wolff	7	16.0	0	0	3.94	5
Ernest Groth	2	1.1	0	0	0.00	1
Cal Dorsett	2	1.1	0	0	27.00	1
Lyman Linde	1	0.2	0	0	27.00	0
Gene Bearden	1	0.1	0	0	81.00	0

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
Ed Klieman	58	5	4	17	3.03	21
Bob Lemon	37	11	5	3	3.44	65
Bryan Stephens	31	5	10	1	4.01	34
Steve Gromek	29	3	5	4	3.74	39
Les Willis	22	0	2	1	3.48	10

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Lou Boudreau, Shortstop, starter

Bob Feller, Pitcher (replaced due to injury)

Joe Gordon, Second baseman, starter

Jim Hegan, Catcher, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Baltimore Orioles	International League	Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas
AA	Oklahoma City Indians	Texas League	Roy Schalk and Pat Ankenman
A	Wilkes-Barre Barons	Eastern League	Bill Norman
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
B	Meridian Peps	Southeastern League	Roxie Lawson
B	Spartanburg Peaches	Tri-State League	Kerby Farrell
C	Tucson Cowboys	Arizona–Texas League	Joe Vosmik
C	Bakersfield Indians	California League	Tony Governor
C	Pittsfield Electrics	Canadian–American League	Tony Rensa
C	Burlington Indians	Central Association	Paul O'Dea
C	Jacksonville Jax	Lone Star League	Linville Watkins
D	Cordele Indians	Georgia–Florida League	Mercer Harris
D	Union City Greyhounds	KITTY League	Stephen Bysco
D	Dayton Indians	Ohio State League	Ival Goodman
D	Batavia Clippers	PONY League	Jack Tighe
D	Ardmore Indians	Sooner State League	Dutch Prather
D	Green Bay Blue Jays	Wisconsin State League	Harry Griswold

^[4]

Notes

1. Gus Zernial at Baseball-Reference
2. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 184, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
3. Catfish Metkovich at Baseball-Reference
4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1947 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Reference
• 1947 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac