1931 Brooklyn Robins season

1931 Brooklyn Robins
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Ebbets Field (since 1913)
Brooklyn, New York (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Stephen McKeever
Manager(s)	Wilbert Robinson
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The 1931 Brooklyn Robins finished in 4th place, after which longtime manager Wilbert Robinson announced his retirement with 1,375 career victories.

Offseason

• October 14, 1930: Clise Dudley, Jumbo Elliott, Hal Lee and cash were traded by the Robins to the Philadelphia Phillies for Lefty O'Doul and Fresco Thompson.^[1]

Regular season

Jack Quinn became the oldest person in baseball history to pitch on Opening Day. He was 47 when he started for Brooklyn on Opening Day in 1931.^[2] It would be Quinn's only start of the season, as he pitched the rest of the year in relief.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	101	53	0.656	—	54–24	47–29
New York Giants	87	65	0.572	13	50–27	37–38
Chicago Cubs	84	70	0.545	17	50–27	34–43
Brooklyn Robins	79	73	0.520	21	46–29	33–44
Pittsburgh Pirates	75	79	0.487	26	44–33	31–46
Philadelphia Phillies	66	88	0.429	35	40–36	26–52
Boston Braves	64	90	0.416	37	36–41	28–49
Cincinnati Reds	58	96	0.377	43	38–39	20–57

Record vs. opponents

1931 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	11–11–1	8–14–1	8–14	6–16	11–11	11–11	9–13
Brooklyn	11–11–1	—	14–8	10–12	10–10	13–9	11–11	10–12
Chicago	14–8–1	8–14	—	14–8	12–10	14–8	14–8–1	8–14
Cincinnati	14–8	12–10	8–14	—	7–15	9–13	6–16	2–20
New York	16–6	10–10	10–12	15–7	—	14–8–1	12–10	10–12
Philadelphia	11–11	9–13	8–14	13–9	8–14–1	—	13–9	4–18
Pittsburgh	11–11	11–11	8–14–1	16–6	10–12	9–13	—	10–12
St. Louis	13–9	12–10	14–8	20–2	12–10	18–4	12–10	—

Notable transactions

• May 7, 1931: Harvey Hendrick was traded by the Robins to the Cincinnati Reds for Mickey Heath.^[3]
• May 23, 1931: Ray Moss was purchased from the Robins by the Boston Braves.^[4]

Roster

1931 Brooklyn Robins
Roster
Pitchers Watty Clark Pea Ridge Day Phil Gallivan Fred Heimach Dolf Luque Earl Mattingly Cy Moore Ray Moss Van Mungo Ray Phelps Jack Quinn Joe Shaute Sloppy Thurston Dazzy Vance		Catchers Ernie Lombardi Al López Val Picinich Infielders Del Bissonette Neal Finn Jake Flowers Wally Gilbert Bobby Reis Gordon Slade Fresco Thompson Jack Warner Glenn Wright		Outfielders Rube Bressler Alta Cohen Johnny Frederick Babe Herman Lefty O'Doul Max Rosenfeld Denny Sothern Other batters Ike Boone Harvey Hendrick		Manager Wilbert Robinson Coaches Jimmy Johnston Otto Miller Ivy Olson

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Lopez, AlAl Lopez	112	360	38	97	.269	0	40	1
1B	Bissonette, DelDel Bissonette	152	587	90	170	.290	12	87	4
2B	Finn, NealNeal Finn	118	413	46	113	.274	0	45	2
3B	Gilbert, WallyWally Gilbert	145	552	60	147	.266	0	46	3
SS	Slade, GordonGordon Slade
LF	O'Doul, LeftyLefty O'Doul	134	512	85	172	.336	7	75	5
CF	Frederick, JohnnyJohnny Frederick
RF	Herman, BabeBabe Herman	151	610	93	191	.313	18	97	17

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Wright, GlennGlenn Wright
Lombardi, ErnieErnie Lombardi
Thompson, FrescoFresco Thompson	74	181	26	48	.265	1	21	5
Bressler, RubeRube Bressler
Picinich, ValVal Picinich
Flowers, JakeJake Flowers
Sothern, DennyDenny Sothern
Reis, BobbyBobby Reis
Rosenfeld, MaxMax Rosenfeld
Boone, IkeIke Boone
Warner, JackJack Warner
Cohen, AltaAlta Cohen
Hendrick, HarveyHarvey Hendrick

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Player	G	GS	CG	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Clark, WattyWatty Clark	34	28	16	233.1	14	10	3.20	52	96
Vance, DazzyDazzy Vance
Phelps, RayRay Phelps
Shaute, JoeJoe Shaute
Thurston, SloppySloppy Thurston
Luque, DolfDolf Luque
Mungo, VanVan Mungo

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Player	G	GS	CG	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Heimach, FredFred Heimach
Moss, RayRay Moss
Gallivan, PhilPhil Gallivan	6	1	0	15.1	0	1	5.28	7	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	BB	SO
Quinn, JackJack Quinn	39	64.1	5	4	15	2.66	24	25
Moore, CyCy Moore
Day, Pea RidgePea Ridge Day	22	57.1	2	2	1	4.55	13	30
Mattingly, EarlEarl Mattingly
Moss, RayRay Moss

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Babe Herman

• #2 in NL in stolen bases (17)

Dazzy Vance

• #3 in NL in strikeouts (150)

Notes

1. Clise Dudley page at Baseball Reference
2. SI.com – Statitudes – Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers – Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM
3. Harvey Hendrick page at Baseball Reference
4. Ray Moss page at Baseball Reference

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1931 Brooklyn Robins uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page
• Retrosheet