1947 Philadelphia Athletics season

The 1947 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing fifth in the American League with a record of 78 wins and 76 losses.

1947 Philadelphia Athletics
League	American League
Ballpark	Shibe Park
City	Philadelphia
Record	78–76 (.506)
League place	5th
Owners	Connie Mack
Managers	Connie Mack
Television	WPTZ
Radio	WIBG (By Saam, Chuck Thompson)

History

Except for a fifth-place finish in 1944, the A's finished in last or next-to-last place every year from 1935–1946. In 1947, Connie Mack not only got the A's out of last place, but actually finished with a winning record for the first time in 14 years in a season that would be the first to be aired on television, sharing the same station (WPTZ) as their NL counterparts, the Phillies.

Offseason

• December 1946: Lou Brissie was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.
• December 13, 1946: Hal Epps was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Regular season

Season standings

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 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	—

Roster

1947 Philadelphia Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 28 Lou Brissie 17 Russ Christopher 10,20 Joe Coleman 16,18 Bill Dietrich 19 Jesse Flores 25 Dick Fowler 21,23 Phil Marchildon 23,36 Bill McCahan 16,37 Bob Savage 11,24 Carl Scheib		Catchers 14 Herman Franks  9 Mike Guerra  8 Buddy Rosar Infielders 6,41 Dick Adams 15 Pat Cooper  5 Ferris Fain 28 Nellie Fox 2,15 Gene Handley  1 Eddie Joost  3 Hank Majeski 6,14 Don Richmond 31 Mickey Rutner 12 Pete Suder		Outfielders 11,47 George Binks  4 Sam Chapman 15,30,39 Austin Knickerbocker 28 Chet Laabs  7 Barney McCosky 10,21 Elmer Valo Other batters 20,30 Tom Kirk 31,45 Ray Poole		Manager -- Connie Mack Coaches -- Lena Blackburne 26 Earle Brucker, Sr. 29 Dave Keefe 27 Earle Mack 32 Al Simmons

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	Buddy Rosar	102	359	93	.259	1	33
1B	Ferris Fain	136	461	134	.291	7	71
2B	Pete Suder	145	528	127	.241	5	60
3B	Hank Majeski	141	479	134	.280	8	72
SS	Eddie Joost	151	540	111	.206	13	64
OF	Elmer Valo	112	370	111	.300	5	36
OF	Barney McCosky	137	546	179	.328	1	52
OF	Sam Chapman	149	551	139	.252	14	83

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
George Binks	104	333	86	.258	2	34
Mike Guerra	72	209	45	.215	0	18
Gene Handley	36	90	23	.256	0	8
Dick Adams	37	89	18	.202	2	11
Austin Knickerbocker	21	48	12	.250	0	2
Mickey Rutner	12	48	12	.250	1	4
Chet Laabs	15	32	7	.219	1	5
Don Richmond	19	21	4	.190	0	4
Pat Cooper	13	16	4	.250	0	3
Herman Franks	8	15	3	.200	0	1
Ray Poole	13	13	3	.231	0	1
Nellie Fox	7	3	0	.000	0	0
Tom Kirk	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
Phil Marchildon	35	276.2	19	9	3.88	128
Dick Fowler	36	227.1	12	11	2.81	75
Bill McCahan	29	165.1	10	5	3.32	47
Joe Coleman	32	160.1	6	12	4.32	65
Jesse Flores	28	151.1	4	13	3.39	41
Bill Dietrich	11	60.2	5	2	3.12	18
Lou Brissie	1	7.0	0	1	6.43	4

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 Savage	44	146.0	8	10	3.76	56
Carl Scheib	21	116.0	4	6	5.04	26

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
Russ Christopher	44	10	7	12	2.90	33

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern Association	Dick Porter
A	Savannah Indians	Sally League	Tom Oliver and Jimmy Adair
A	Lincoln Athletics	Western League	Ham Schulte and Tom Oliver
B	Lancaster Red Roses	Interstate League	Charlie English and Clayton Sheedy
C	Martinsville Athletics	Carolina League	Joe Glenn and Woody Wheaton
C	Moline A's	Central Association	Woody Wheaton and Joe Glenn
C	Niagara Falls Fronters	Middle Atlantic League	Steve Mizerak
D	Welch Miners	Appalachian League	Walter Youse and Joe Bird
D	Federalsburg A's	Eastern Shore League	Pep Rambert
D	Nyack Rockies	North Atlantic League	Emil Schwab
D	Lexington Indians	North Carolina State League	Homer Lee Cox
D	Red Springs Red Robins	Tobacco State League	Red Norris

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Savannah

External links

• 1947 Philadelphia Athletics team at Baseball-Reference
• 1947 Philadelphia Athletics team page at baseball-almanac.com