The 1947 card set is now up and available on the Store!
AL MVP Joe DiMaggio led New York (AL) to a championship over Brooklyn with a .315 average and 20 HR, reaching base at a .391 clip.
Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, and Philadelphia were in a tight race for 2nd place, but nobody finished closer than 12 games back in the AL.
In the NL, Brooklyn held off St. Louis by 5 games to take the pennant.
Boston finished just 8 games back and had NL MVP Bob Elliott, who hit .317 with 22 HR and had a .410 OBP.
Here’s a brief look at some of the set highlights.
Let’s dive in to some highlights!
Boston (A) (83-71)
It’s all about Ted Williams of course. He hit .343 with 32 HR, 114 RBI and had a .499 OBP and 1.133 OPS. He’s rewarded with a stellar card – 9 Deep Drives and 31 on-base chances. Second baseman Bobby Doerr stars in the infield with a 2B-5. Joe Dobson (18-8, 2.95) is stellar with just 2 Deep Drives against. Tex Hughson (12-11, 3.33, 5.7 SO/9) picks up 10 strikeout readings.
Boston (N) (86-68)
A strong pitching staff is led by Warren Spahn (21-10, 2.33), whose card has 2 Deep Drives against and surrenders only 12 on-base chances. Red Barrett (11-12, 3.55) also allows just 12 OBC. Johnny Sain won 21 games and struck out 132. Tommy Holmes (.309) led the league in hits and is a RF-5.
Brooklyn (94-60)
Rookie Jackie Robinson (.297, 12 HR, 29 SB) made history, leading the team as a 2A base-stealer. Pete Reiser (14 SB) is a 2B stealer for a team that the league in that category. Vic Lombardi (12-11, 2.99) has 2 Deep Drives against. Ralph Branca won 21 games at age 21 with a 2.67 ERA.
Chicago (A) (70-84)
Eddie Lopat (16-13, 2.81) has 3 Deep Drives against and allows 14 on-base chances. Joe Haynes (14-6, 2.42) took home the ERA title and allows 1 less single than Lopat; he’s helped out by 4 DP outs. Luke Appling hit .306 but is a SS-2. Floyd Baker (.264) is a 3B-5.
Chicago (N) (69-85)
It’s a rough season for the North-siders, whose Pythagorean record suggests they should have been even worse. Bill Nicholson hit 26 HR but has 10 strikeout readings – very high for this set. Pitcher Johnny Schmitz (13-18, 3.22) allowed just 8 HR and has 2 Deep Drives against.
Cincinnati (73-81)
Augie Galan gets 26 on-base chances to get him to a .449 OBP; he had 94 walks against 19 strikeouts that season. Eddie Miller (19 HR, 38 2B) has 8 Deep Drives. Ewell Blackwell (22-8, 2.47, 6.4 SO/9) led the league in wins and strikeouts; his card allows 2 Deep Drives and has a set-best 13 strikeout readings.
Cleveland (80-74)
Bob Feller (20-11, 2.68, 5.9 SO/9) has 2 Deep Drives against and AL-best 11 strikeout readings. The defense is outstanding, led by Lou Boudreau (SS-5) and George Metkovich (CF-5), not to mention available 4s at second base, third base, right field, and catcher. Joe Gordon had 29 HR, while player-manager Boudreau hit .307 with 45 doubles.
Detroit (85-69)
Pat Mullin (15 HR, 28 2B) has 8 Deep Drive readings. Roy Collenbine (.224, 24 HR) will feast when facing pitchers with high DD readings – he homers on 00-52. Hal Newhouser (17-17, 2.87, 5.6 SO/9) has just 2 Deep Drives against and 10 strikeout readings. Detroit was done in by poor defense – reflected by 1s at shortstop and left field.
New York (A) (97-57)
New York finished tops in offense and defense. Spec Shea (14-5, 3.07) is one of four starters who allows just 2 Deep Drives. Allie Reynolds won 19 games. Joe Page made 54 appearances out of the bullpen and struck out 7.4 men per 9 innings to earn 15 strikeout readings. Tommy Henrich (16 HR, 35 2B) has 8 Deep Drives and is a RF-5. Also, MVP Joltin’ Joe.
New York (N) (81-73)
The top offense in the NL is led by Johnny Mize (.302) who hit an astounding 51 home runs and drove in 138 runs. Mize has 9 Deep Drives and homers on 00-60. Other sluggers included Willard Marshall (36 HR, 107 RBI; homers on 00-55), Walker Cooper (35 HR, 122 RBI; 9 Deep Drives), and Bobby Thompson (29 HR). Larry Jansen won 21 games with a 3.16 ERA.
Philadelphia (A) (78-76)
Almost a perfectly average team with a few interesting cards here. Ferris Fain had a .414 OBP, supported by 25 on-base chances. Pete Suder is a 2B-5 and Hank Majeski a 3B-5. Dick Fowler (12-11, 2.81) has 2 Deep Drives against. Phil Marchildron won 19 games with a 3.22 ERA.
Philadelphia (N) (62-92)
Harry Walker hit .371 with a .443 OBP – his 28 on-base chances are second best in the card set. Dutch Leonard went 17-12 with a 2.68 ERA and has just 2 Deep Drives against him. Andy Seminick is the only regular catcher penalized with a +1 arm.
Pittsburgh (62-92)
Ralph Kiner (.313, 51 HR, 127 RBI) and Hank Greenberg (25 HR) provided the fireworks. Kiner has 9 Deep Drives and a set-best 00-61 homer from those Deep Drives, not to mention 25 on-base chances. Greenberg homers on 00-58. The downside is the pitching, where Tiny Bonham and Preacher Roe each allow 7 Deep Drives.
St. Louis (A) (59-95)
In the first of three straight seasons in which he would lead the league in stolen bases, third baseman Bob Dillinger swiped 34 bases in 47 attempts, earning him the top steal rating in the set – 3A. He hit .294 and struck out just 38 times in 635 plate appearances.
St. Louis (N) (89-65)
A speedy team that led the league with 65 triples, including a bakers dozen each for Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter. Slaughter is Very Fast, Musial is Fast, and Red Schoendienst is also Fast. Musial hit .312/.398/.504 with 19 HR. Whitey Kurowski hit .310/.420/.544 with 27 HR and 104 RBI.
Washington (64-90)
Mickey Vernon had 29 doubles and stole 12 bases. Unfortunately he was also caught 12 teams, resulting in a 2C base-stealing rating. Walt Masterson went 12-16 with a 3.13 ERA and allows just 2 Deep Drives. Griffith Stadium is a 0-1 HR park – Washington had the fewest home runs hit of any AL team and also the fewest home runs allowed.
Deep Drive Baseball 