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Ralph Branca

Birthdate:

1/6/1926

Height / Weight:

6' 3" / 220 lbs.

Place of Birth:

Mount Vernon, NY, USA

Bats / Throws:

R / R

Baseball Historian Biography

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One of the star pitchers in the era following World War II, in 1947 Ralph Branca had a breakout season for the pennant winning Brooklyn Dodgers. He had a 21-12 record, with the third best NL ERA of 2.67, and posted the second highest total of strikeouts with 148. A fastball hurler Ralph Branca started a league leading 36 games, completed 15, and relieved in 7 others, worked 280 innings, second in the NL, trailing only Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn who registered 290 innings. In the 1947 World Series against the NY Yankees, Ralph Branca started and was the losing pitcher in Game 1 and in Game 3 was the winning pitcher in two innings of relief work.

Ralph Branca, Brooklyn Dodgers Pitcher RH Nicknamed the Hawk

Ralph Branca compiled an outstanding 13-5 record in '49... pitched in 34 games, struck out 109 in 187 innings and posted a 4.39 ERA to help Brooklyn win another pennant. In the World Serieshe started and pitched 8.2 innings only to lose 4-3 to a Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra led New York Yankees, who swept Dodgers in 4 games. Baseball History

Pitching Statistics

Year	Team	G	GS	W	L	SV	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	WP	HBP	BK	ERA
1944	BRO (NL)	21	1	0	2	1	0	0	44.2	46	36	35	2	32	0	16	4	5	0	7.05
1945	BRO (NL)	16	15	5	6	1	7	0	109.2	73	44	37	4	79	0	69	6	0	0	3.04
1946	BRO (NL)	24	10	3	1	3	2	2	67.1	62	34	29	4	41	0	42	1	0	1	3.88
1947	BRO (NL)	43	36	21	12	1	15	4	280.0	251	100	83	22	98	0	148	7	6	1	2.67
1948	BRO (NL)	36	28	14	9	1	11	1	215.2	189	93	84	24	80	0	122	9	4	0	3.51
1949	BRO (NL)	34	27	13	5	1	9	2	186.2	181	100	91	21	91	0	109	3	2	0	4.39
1950	BRO (NL)	43	15	7	9	7	5	0	142.0	152	80	74	24	55	0	100	1	0	4	4.69
1951	BRO (NL)	42	27	13	12	3	13	3	204.0	180	81	74	19	85	0	118	6	3	0	3.26
1952	BRO (NL)	16	7	4	2	0	2	0	61.0	52	29	26	8	21	0	26	2	4	0	3.84
1953	DET (AL)	17	14	4	7	1	7	0	102.0	98	55	47	7	31	0	50	5	2	0	4.15
1953	BRO (NL)	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.0	15	12	12	4	5	0	5	0	2	0	9.82
1954	DET (AL)	17	5	3	3	0	0	0	45.1	63	33	29	10	30	0	15	0	2	0	5.76
1954	NYY (AL)	5	3	1	0	0	0	0	12.2	9	5	4	0	13	0	7	0	1	0	2.84
1956	BRO (NL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0.00
14 years		322	188	88	68	19	71	12	1484.0	1372	702	625	149	663	0	829	44	31	6	3.79

Batting Statistics

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	AVG	OBP	SLG
1944	BRO (NL)	21	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.0	.0	SLG
1945	BRO (NL)	16	40	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	0	2	0	.100	.100	SLG
1946	BRO (NL)	24	18	3	2	0	0	0	0	5	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	.111	.304	SLG
1947	BRO (NL)	43	97	8	12	1	0	0	9	7	34	0	0	0	0	9	0	.124	.183	SLG
1948	BRO (NL)	36	74	3	15	1	0	0	2	5	16	0	0	0	0	3	0	.203	.253	SLG
1949	BRO (NL)	34	62	5	5	1	0	0	2	9	26	0	0	0	0	8	0	.81	.197	SLG
1950	BRO (NL)	43	34	3	4	0	0	2	7	4	10	0	0	0	0	7	0	.118	.211	SLG
1951	BRO (NL)	42	63	6	11	1	0	0	4	2	26	0	0	0	0	6	0	.175	.200	SLG
1952	BRO (NL)	16	19	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	9	0	0	0	0	1	0	.158	.158	SLG
1953	BRO (NL)	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.0	.0	SLG
1953	DET (AL)	17	34	3	4	0	1	0	4	2	14	0	0	0	0	1	0	.118	.167	SLG
1954	DET (AL)	17	13	2	4	1	0	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.308	.400	SLG
1954	NYY (AL)	5	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	SLG
1956	BRO (NL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.0	.0	SLG
14 years		322	464	35	66	6	1	2	31	36	160	0	0	0	0	37	0	.142	.204	.SLG

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