View source for 1947 Cleveland Indians season

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox baseball team season
| name = Cleveland Indians
| season = 1947
| misc = 
| league = American League
| ballpark = [[Cleveland Stadium|Cleveland Municipal Stadium]]
| city = [[Cleveland, Ohio]]
| owners = [[Bill Veeck]]
| general_managers = [[Bill Veeck]]
| managers = [[Lou Boudreau]]
| television = 
| radio = [[WHKW|WGAR&nbsp;(AM)]]<br>([[Jack Graney]], [[Van Patrick]])
|}}
The '''{{baseball year|1947}} [[Cleveland Indians]] season''' was the 47th in franchise history. On July 5, [[Larry Doby]] broke the [[American League]] [[Baseball color line|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 (baseball)|National League]]. In his rookie season, Doby went 5-for-32 (.156) in 29 games.

== Offseason ==
* November 1, 1946: [[Gus Zernial]] was drafted by the Indians from the [[Atlanta Crackers]] in the 1946 [[rule 5 draft]].<ref name=zernial>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zernigu01.shtml Gus Zernial] at ''Baseball-Reference''</ref>

== Regular season ==
* July 5: In a game against the [[1947 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]], [[Larry Doby]] became the first black player to appear in an [[American League]] game.<ref>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}}</ref> Doby [[pinch hitter|pinch-hit]] for [[pitcher]] [[Bryan Stephens]] in the seventh inning and struck out against [[Earl Harrist]].

=== Season standings ===
{{1947 American League standings}}

=== Record vs. opponents ===
{{1947 AL Record vs. opponents|team=CLE}}

=== Notable transactions ===
* April 2, 1947: [[Catfish Metkovich]] was purchased by the Indians from the [[Boston Red Sox]].<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/metkoca01.shtml Catfish Metkovich] at ''Baseball-Reference''</ref>
* April 23, 1947: [[Gus Zernial]] was purchased from the Indians by the [[Chicago White Sox]].<ref name=zernial/>

=== Roster ===
{| class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! colspan="10" style="background-color: #990000; color: white; text-align: center;" | 1947 Cleveland Indians
|-
| colspan="10" style="background-color: #023456; color: white; text-align: center;" | '''Roster'''
|-
| valign="top" | '''Pitchers'''
{{MLBplayer|17|[[Gene Bearden]]}}
{{MLBplayer|35|[[Don Black (baseball)|Don Black]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;9|[[Cal Dorsett]]}}
{{MLBplayer|22|[[Red Embree]]}}
{{MLBplayer|19|[[Bob Feller]]}}
{{MLBplayer|24|[[Al Gettel]]}}
{{MLBplayer|25|[[Steve Gromek]]}}
{{MLBplayer|29|[[Ernest Groth]]}}
{{MLBplayer|18|[[Mel Harder]]}}
{{MLBplayer|16|[[Ed Klieman]]}}
{{MLBplayer|26|[[Bob Kuzava]]}}
{{MLBplayer|21|[[Bob Lemon]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;3|[[Lyman Linde]]}}
{{MLBplayer|28|[[Bryan Stephens]]}}
{{MLBplayer|29|[[Les Willis]]}}
{{MLBplayer|20|[[Roger Wolff]]}}
| width="25px" | 
| valign="top" | '''Catchers'''
{{MLBplayer|10|[[Jim Hegan]]}}
{{MLBplayer|12|[[Al López]]}}
{{MLBplayer|11|[[Hank Ruszkowski]]}}
'''Infielders'''
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;2|[[Eddie Bockman]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;5|[[Lou Boudreau]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;7|[[Jack Conway (baseball)|Jack Conway]]}}
{{MLBplayer|14|[[Larry Doby]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;8|[[Les Fleming]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;4|[[Joe Gordon]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;6|[[Ken Keltner]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;3|[[Eddie Robinson (baseball)|Eddie Robinson]]}}
{{MLBplayer|17|[[Al Rosen]]}}
| width="25px" | 
| valign="top" | '''Outfielders'''
{{MLBplayer|32|[[Hank Edwards]]}}
{{MLBplayer|36|[[Joe Frazier (baseball)|Joe Frazier]]}}
{{MLBplayer|35|[[Felix Mackiewicz]]}}
{{MLBplayer|31|[[Catfish Metkovich]]}}
{{MLBplayer|33|[[Dale Mitchell (baseball)|Dale Mitchell]]}}
{{MLBplayer|34|[[Hal Peck]]}}
{{MLBplayer|30|[[Pat Seerey]]}}
{{MLBplayer|36|[[Ted Sepkowski]]}}
'''Other batters'''
{{MLBplayer|26|[[Heinz Becker]]}}
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;1|[[Jimmy Wasdell]]}}
| width="25px" | 
| valign="top" | '''Manager'''
{{MLBplayer|&nbsp;5|[[Lou Boudreau]]}}
'''Coaches'''
{{MLBplayer|41|[[Bill McKechnie]]}}
{{MLBplayer|40|[[Ski Melillo]]}}
{{MLBplayer|43|[[Tris Speaker]]}}
{{MLBplayer|42|[[George Susce (catcher)|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''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" | Pos
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | AB
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | H
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | Avg.
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | HR
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | RBI
|-
|- align="center"
|C
|[[Jim Hegan]]
|135
|378
|94
|.249
|4
|42
|-
|- align="center"
|1B
|[[Eddie Robinson (baseball)|Eddie Robinson]]
|95
|318
|78
|.245
|14
|52
|-
|- align="center"
|2B
|[[Joe Gordon]]
|155
|562
|153
|.272
|29
|93
|- align="center"
| SS || {{sortname|Lou|Boudreau}} || 150 || 538 || 165 || .307 || 4 || 67
|-
|- align="center"
|3B
|[[Ken Keltner]]
|151
|541
|139
|.257
|11
|76
|-
|- align="center"
|OF
|[[Hank Edwards]]
|108
|393
|102
|.260
|15
|59
|-
|- align="center"
|OF
|[[Catfish Metkovich|George Metkovich]]
|126
|473
|120
|.254
|5
|40
|-
|- align="center"
|OF
|[[Dale Mitchell (baseball)|Dale Mitchell]]
|123
|493
|156
|.316
|1
|34
|- align="center"
|}

==== Other batters ====
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | AB
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | H
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | Avg.
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | HR
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | RBI
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Hal Peck]]
|114
|392
|115
|.293
|8
|44
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Les Fleming]]
|103
|281
|68
|.242
|4
|43
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Pat Seerey]]
|82
|216
|37
|.171
|11
|29
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Al López]]
|61
|126
|33
|.262
|0
|14
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Eddie Bockman]]
|46
|66
|17
|.258
|1
|14
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Jack Conway (baseball)|Jack Conway]]
|34
|50
|9
|.180
|0
|5
|- align="center"
| {{sortname|Larry|Doby}} || 29 || 32 || 5 || .156 || 0 || 2
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Hank Ruszkowski]]
|23
|27
|7
|.259
|3
|4
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Joe Frazier (baseball)|Joe Frazier]]
|9
|14
|1
|.071
|0
|0
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Al Rosen]]
|7
|9
|1
|.111
|0
|0
|- align=center
|[[Ted Sepkowski]]
|10
|8
|1
|.125
|0
|0
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Felix Mackiewicz]]
|2
|5
|0
|.000
|0
|0
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Heinz Becker]]
|2
|2
|0
|.000
|0
|0
|-
|- align="center"
|[[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''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | IP
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | W
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | L
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | ERA
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SO
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Bob Feller]]
|42
|299.0
|20
|11
|2.68
|196
|- align="center"
| {{sortname|Don|Black|Don Black (baseball)}} || 30 || 190.2 || 10 || 12 || 3.92 || 72
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Red Embree]]
|27
|162.2
|8
|10
|3.15
|56
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Al Gettel]]
|31
|149.0
|11
|10
|3.20
|64
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Mel Harder]]
|15
|80.0
|6
|4
|4.50
|17
|- align="center"
|}

==== Other pitchers ====
''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | IP
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | W
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | L
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | ERA
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SO
|- align="center"
|- align="center"
|[[Bob Kuzava]]
|4
|21.2
|1
|1
|4.15
|9
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Roger Wolff]]
|7
|16.0
|0
|0
|3.94
|5
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Ernest Groth]]
|2
|1.1
|0
|0
|0.00
|1
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Cal Dorsett]]
|2
|1.1
|0
|0
|27.00
|1
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Lyman Linde]]
|1
|0.2
|0
|0
|27.00
|0
|-
|- align="center"
|[[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''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" | Player
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | G
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | W
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | L
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SV
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | ERA
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" | SO
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Ed Klieman]]
|58
|5
|4
|17
|3.03
|21
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Bob Lemon]]
|37
|11
|5
|3
|3.44
|65
|- align="center"
| {{sortname|Bryan|Stephens}} || 31 || 5 || 10 || 1 || 4.01 || 34
|- align="center"
| [[Steve Gromek]] || 29 || 3 || 5 || 4 || 3.74 || 39
|-
|- align="center"
|[[Les Willis]]
|22
|0
|2
|1
|3.48
|10
|}

== Awards and honors ==

'''[[1947 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|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}}

{{MLB Farm System
|level4=[[Triple-A (baseball)|AAA]]|team4=[[Baltimore Orioles (minor league)|Baltimore Orioles]]|league4=[[International League]]|manager4=[[Tommy Thomas (pitcher)|Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas]]
|level5=[[Double-A (baseball)|AA]]|team5=[[Oklahoma City Indians]]|league5=[[Texas League]]|manager5=[[Roy Schalk]] and [[Pat Ankenman]]
|level6=[[Class A (baseball, 1946–62)|A]]|team6=[[Wilkes-Barre Barons (1905–47)|Wilkes-Barre Barons]]|league6=[[Eastern League (1938–2020)|Eastern League]]|manager6=[[Bill Norman (baseball)|Bill Norman]]
|level7=[[Class B (baseball)|B]]|team7=[[Harrisburg Senators]]|league7=[[Interstate League]]|manager7=[[Les Bell]]
|level8=[[Class B (baseball)|B]]|team8=[[Meridian Peps]]|league8=[[Southeastern League]]|manager8=[[Roxie Lawson]]
|level9=[[Class B (baseball)|B]]|team9=[[Spartanburg Peaches]]|league9=[[Tri-State League]]|manager9=[[Kerby Farrell]]
|level10=[[Class C (baseball)|C]]|team10=[[Tucson Cowboys]]|league10=[[Arizona–Texas League]]|manager10=[[Joe Vosmik]]
|level11=[[Class C (baseball)|C]]|team11=[[Bakersfield Indians]]|league11=[[California League]]|manager11=[[Tony Governor]]
|level12=[[Class C (baseball)|C]]|team12=[[Pittsfield Electrics (Canadian–American League)|Pittsfield Electrics]]|league12=[[Canadian–American League]]|manager12=[[Tony Rensa]]
|level13=[[Class C (baseball)|C]]|team13=[[Burlington Bees|Burlington Indians]]|league13=[[Central Association]]|manager13=[[Paul O'Dea]]
|level14=[[Class C (baseball)|C]]|team14=[[Jacksonville Jax]]|league14=[[Lone Star League]]|manager14=[[Linville Watkins]]
|level15=[[Class D (baseball)|D]]|team15=[[Cordele Indians]]|league15=[[Georgia–Florida League]]|manager15=[[Mercer Harris]]
|level16=[[Class D (baseball)|D]]|team16=[[Union City Greyhounds]]|league16=[[KITTY League]]|manager16=[[Stephen Bysco]]
|level17=[[Class D (baseball)|D]]|team17=[[Dayton Indians]]|league17=[[Ohio State League]]|manager17=[[Ival Goodman]]
|level18=[[Class D (baseball)|D]]|team18=[[Batavia Clippers]]|league18=[[Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League|PONY League]]|manager18=[[Jack Tighe]]
|level19=[[Class D (baseball)|D]]|team19=[[Ardmore Indians]]|league19=[[Sooner State League]]|manager19=[[Dutch Prather]]
|level20=[[Class D (baseball)|D]]|team20=[[Green Bay Blue Jays]]|league20=[[Wisconsin State League]]|manager20=[[Harry Griswold (baseball)|Harry Griswold]]
}}<ref>Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
*[https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/1947.shtml 1947 Cleveland Indians] at ''Baseball Reference''
*[http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1947&t=CLE 1947 Cleveland Indians] at ''Baseball Almanac''

{{1947 MLB season by team}}
{{Cleveland Indians}}

[[Category:Cleveland Guardians seasons]]
[[Category:1947 Major League Baseball season|Cleveland Indians season]]
[[Category:1947 in sports in Ohio|Cleveland Indians]]
[[Category:1940s in Cleveland]]