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Ralph Branca
Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca (Hawk)
All-Star Player
Bats: Right , Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3" , Weight: 220 lb.

Born: January 6, 1926 in Mount Vernon, NY
Schools: New York University
Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1943. (All Transactions)
Debut: June 12, 1944
Final Game: September 7, 1956
Relatives: Father-In-Law of Bobby Valentine
    About biographical information

Redesign Note: Due to the increased amount of data available for each player, tables such as postseason stats, all-star stats, neutralized stats, and now much more have been moved to separate pages for batting, pitching and fielding, you can reach these pages by clicking on "Pitching", "Batting" or "Fielding" in the gray navigation bar just above the player's biographical summary at the top of the page or clicking on "More Stats" links just below or beside the table headers below.

Standard Pitching

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · CSV · PRE · Click rows to sum (Clear) · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB Awards
1944 18 BRO NL 0 2 .000 7.05 21 1 10 0 0 1 44.2 46 36 35 2 32 16 5 0 4 214 50 1.746 9.3 0.4 6.4 3.2 0.50
1945 19 BRO NL 5 6 .455 3.04 16 15 1 7 0 1 109.2 73 44 37 4 79 69 0 0 6 476 124 1.386 6.0 0.3 6.5 5.7 0.87
1946 20 BRO NL 3 1 .750 3.88 24 10 7 2 2 3 67.1 62 34 29 4 41 42 0 1 1 297 87 1.530 8.3 0.5 5.5 5.6 1.02
1947 21 BRO NL 21 12 .636 2.67 43 36 5 15 4 1 280.0 251 100 83 22 98 148 6 1 7 1158 155 1.246 8.1 0.7 3.2 4.8 1.51 AS,MVP-11
1948 22 BRO NL 14 9 .609 3.51 36 28 4 11 1 1 215.2 189 93 84 24 80 122 4 0 9 905 114 1.247 7.9 1.0 3.3 5.1 1.53 AS,MVP-21
1949 23 BRO NL 13 5 .722 4.39 34 27 1 9 2 1 186.2 181 100 91 21 91 109 2 0 3 813 94 1.457 8.7 1.0 4.4 5.3 1.20 AS
1950 24 BRO NL 7 9 .438 4.69 43 15 16 5 0 7 142.0 152 80 74 24 55 100 0 4 1 621 87 1.458 9.6 1.5 3.5 6.3 1.82
1951 25 BRO NL 13 12 .520 3.26 42 27 11 13 3 3 204.0 180 81 74 19 85 118 3 0 6 855 120 1.299 7.9 0.8 3.8 5.2 1.39
1952 26 BRO NL 4 2 .667 3.84 16 7 5 2 0 0 61.0 52 29 26 8 21 26 4 0 2 251 94 1.197 7.7 1.2 3.1 3.8 1.24
1953 27 TOT 4 7 .364 4.70 24 14 8 7 0 1 113.0 113 67 59 11 36 55 4 0 5 485 87 1.319 9.0 0.9 2.9 4.4 1.53
1953 27 BRO NL 0 0 9.82 7 0 5 0 0 0 11.0 15 12 12 4 5 5 2 0 0 51 44 1.818 12.3 3.3 4.1 4.1 1.00
1953 27 DET AL 4 7 .364 4.15 17 14 3 7 0 1 102.0 98 55 47 7 31 50 2 0 5 434 98 1.265 8.6 0.6 2.7 4.4 1.61
1954 28 TOT AL 4 3 .571 5.12 22 8 5 0 0 0 58.0 72 38 33 10 43 22 3 0 0 288 71 1.983 11.2 1.6 6.7 3.4 0.51
1954 28 DET AL 3 3 .500 5.76 17 5 4 0 0 0 45.1 63 33 29 10 30 15 2 0 0 227 64 2.051 12.5 2.0 6.0 3.0 0.50
1954 28 NYY AL 1 0 1.000 2.84 5 3 1 0 0 0 12.2 9 5 4 0 13 7 1 0 0 61 121 1.737 6.4 0.0 9.2 5.0 0.54
1956 30 BRO NL 0 0 0.00 1 0 1 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 9 1.500 4.5 0.0 9.0 9.0 1.00
12 Seasons 88 68 .564 3.79 322 188 74 71 12 19 1484.0 1372 702 625 149 663 0 829 31 6 44 6372 104 1.371 8.3 0.9 4.0 5.0 1.25
162 Game Avg. 12 9 .564 3.79 43 25 10 9 2 3 198 183 94 83 20 88 111 4 1 6 850 104 1.371 8.3 0.9 4.0 5.0 1.25
BRO (11 yrs) 80 58 .580 3.70 283 166 66 64 12 18 1324.0 1202 609 545 132 589 0 757 26 6 39 5650 107 1.353 8.2 0.9 4.0 5.1 1.29
DET (2 yrs) 7 10 .412 4.64 34 19 7 7 0 1 147.1 161 88 76 17 61 65 4 0 5 661 85 1.507 9.8 1.0 3.7 4.0 1.07
NYY (1 yr) 1 0 1.000 2.84 5 3 1 0 0 0 12.2 9 5 4 0 13 7 1 0 0 61 121 1.737 6.4 0.0 9.2 5.0 0.54
NL (11 yrs) 80 58 .580 3.70 283 166 66 64 12 18 1324.0 1202 609 545 132 589 0 757 26 6 39 5650 107 1.353 8.2 0.9 4.0 5.1 1.29
AL (2 yrs) 8 10 .444 4.50 39 22 8 7 0 1 160.0 170 93 80 17 74 72 5 0 5 722 87 1.525 9.6 1.0 4.2 4.1 0.97

Postseason Pitching

Glossary · Click headers to sort · CSV · PRE · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Age Tm Lg Series Rslt Opp W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
1947 21 BRO NL WS L NYY 1 1 .500 8.64 3 1 0 0 0 0 8.1 12 8 8 1 5 0 8 1 0 0 43 2.040 13.0 1.1 5.4 8.6 1.60
1949 23 BRO NL WS L NYY 0 1 .000 4.15 1 1 0 0 0 0 8.2 4 4 4 0 4 0 6 0 0 0 34 0.923 4.2 0.0 4.2 6.2 1.50
2 Seasons (2 Series) 1 2 .333 6.35 4 2 0 0 0 0 17.0 16 12 12 1 9 0 14 1 0 0 77 1.471 8.5 0.5 4.8 7.4 1.56
2 WS 1 2 .333 6.35 4 2 0 0 0 0 17.0 16 12 12 1 9 0 14 1 0 0 77 1.471 8.5 0.5 4.8 7.4 1.56
Redesign Note: Due to the increased amount of data available for each player, tables such as postseason stats, all-star stats, neutralized stats, and now much more have been moved to separate pages. You can reach these pages by clicking on "Pitching", "Batting" or "Fielding" in the gray navigation bar just above the player's biographical summary at the top of the page or clicking on "More Stats" links just below or beside the table headers below.

Standard Batting

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · CSV · PRE · Click rows to sum (Clear) · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1944 18 BRO NL 21 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100 0 0 0 0 1
1945 19 BRO NL 16 42 40 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 .100 .100 .125 .225 -37 5 0 0 2 1
1946 20 BRO NL 24 23 18 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 .111 .304 .111 .415 20 2 1 0 0 1
1947 21 BRO NL 43 113 97 8 12 1 0 0 9 0 7 34 .124 .183 .134 .317 -16 13 2 0 9 1 AS,MVP-11
1948 22 BRO NL 36 82 74 3 15 1 0 0 2 0 5 16 .203 .253 .216 .469 27 16 3 0 3 1 AS,MVP-21
1949 23 BRO NL 34 79 62 5 5 1 0 0 2 0 9 26 .081 .197 .097 .294 -20 6 1 0 8 1 AS
1950 24 BRO NL 43 45 34 3 4 0 0 2 7 0 4 10 .118 .211 .294 .505 30 10 1 0 7 1
1951 25 BRO NL 42 71 63 6 11 1 0 0 4 0 0 2 26 .175 .200 .190 .390 5 12 1 0 6 1
1952 26 BRO NL 16 20 19 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 9 .158 .158 .158 .316 -13 3 0 0 1 1
1953 27 TOT 24 37 34 3 4 0 1 0 4 0 0 2 14 .118 .167 .176 .343 -7 6 2 0 1 0 0 1
1953 27 BRO NL 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 /1
1953 27 DET AL 17 37 34 3 4 0 1 0 4 0 0 2 14 .118 .167 .176 .343 -7 6 2 0 1 1
1954 28 TOT AL 22 19 17 3 6 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 .353 .421 .412 .833 132 7 1 0 0 0 1
1954 28 DET AL 17 15 13 2 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 .308 .400 .385 .785 118 5 1 0 0 0 1
1954 28 NYY AL 5 4 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 179 2 0 0 0 0 /1
1956 30 BRO NL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 /1
12 Seasons 322 537 464 35 66 6 1 2 31 0 0 36 160 .142 .204 .172 .376 2 80 12 0 37 0 0
162 Game Avg. 162 270 233 18 33 3 1 1 16 0 18 80 .142 .204 .172 .376 2 40 6 0 19
BRO (11 yrs) 283 481 413 29 56 5 0 2 26 0 0 32 143 .136 .198 .162 .360 -3 67 9 0 36 0 0
DET (2 yrs) 34 52 47 5 8 1 1 0 5 0 0 4 17 .170 .235 .234 .469 28 11 3 0 1 0
NYY (1 yr) 5 4 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 179 2 0 0 0 0
NL (11 yrs) 283 481 413 29 56 5 0 2 26 0 0 32 143 .136 .198 .162 .360 -3 67 9 0 36 0 0
AL (2 yrs) 39 56 51 6 10 1 1 0 5 0 0 4 17 .196 .255 .255 .509 40 13 3 0 1 0

Postseason Batting

Glossary · Click headers to sort · CSV · PRE · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1947 21 BRO NL WS NYY L 3 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
1949 23 BRO NL WS NYY L 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Seasons (2 Series) 4 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 WS 4 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
Redesign Note: Due to the increased amount of data available for each player, tables such as postseason stats, all-star stats, neutralized stats, and now much more have been moved to separate pages. You can reach these pages by clicking on "Pitching", "Batting" or "Fielding" in the gray navigation bar just above the player's biographical summary at the top of the page or clicking on "More Stats" links just below or beside the table headers below.

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · CSV · PRE · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
1944 BRO NL 18 P 21 10 2 8 0 0 1.000 0.48 .960 1.09
1945 BRO NL 19 P 16 29 7 20 2 1 .931 1.69 .966 1.06
1946 BRO NL 20 P 24 10 3 6 1 1 .900 0.38 .960 1.01
1947 BRO NL 21 P 43 47 9 35 3 0 .936 1.02 .968 0.91 AS,MVP-11
1948 BRO NL 22 P 36 29 10 18 1 0 .966 0.78 .962 0.91 AS,MVP-21
1949 BRO NL 23 P 34 23 6 15 2 0 .913 0.62 .957 0.91 AS
1950 BRO NL 24 P 43 27 8 19 0 0 1.000 0.63 .959 0.97
1951 BRO NL 25 P 42 31 12 19 0 2 1.000 0.74 .961 0.96
1952 BRO NL 26 P 16 13 5 7 1 1 .923 0.75 .954 0.98
1953 TOT 27 P 24 20 7 12 1 1 .950 0.79 .955 0.88
1953 BRO NL 27 P 7 2 0 2 0 1 1.000 0.29 .950 0.87
1953 DET AL 27 P 17 18 7 10 1 0 .944 1.00 .956 0.88
1954 TOT AL 28 P 22 8 58.0 13 3 9 1 1 .923 0.0 0.0 1.86 0.55 .962 2.00 0.93
1954 DET AL 28 P 17 5 45.1 8 2 6 0 1 1.000 0.0 0.0 1.59 0.47 .962 2.01 0.93
1954 NYY AL 28 P 5 3 12.2 5 1 3 1 0 .800 0.0 0.0 2.84 0.80 .960 1.99 0.92
1956 BRO NL 30 P 1 0 2.0 1 0 1 0 0 1.000 0.0 0.0 4.50 1.00 1.000 2.25 0.80
12 Seasons P 322 8 60.0 253 72 169 12 7 .953 0.0 0.0 36.15 0.75 .962 2.01 0.95
12 Seasons TOT 322 8 60.0 253 72 169 12 7 .953 0.0 0.0 36.15 0.75 .914 2.01 0.95

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank, Glossary

All-Star Games
1947
1948 (P)
1949

MVP (yr-lg-rk-shr)
1947-NL-11-12%
1948-NL-21-2%
0.14 Career Shares (805th)

Earned Run Average s c a p y
1947 NL--2.668--3rd
1951 NL--3.265--10th

Wins s c a p y
1947 NL--21--2nd
1948 NL--14--9th

Win-Loss % s c a p y
1947 NL--.636--6th
1948 NL--.609--9th
1949 NL--.722--1st

Walks & Hits per IP s c a p y
1947 NL--1.246--6th
1948 NL--1.247--9th

Hits per 9 IP s c a p y
1947 NL--8.068--5th
1948 NL--7.887--4th
1951 NL--7.941--4th
Career--8.321--233rd

Strikeouts per 9 IP s c a p y
1947 NL--4.757--3rd
1948 NL--5.091--2nd
1949 NL--5.255--2nd
1951 NL--5.206--4th

Games Played s c a p y
1947 NL--43--9th
1950 NL--43--6th

Saves s c a p y
1950 NL--7--3rd

Innings Pitched s c a p y
1947 NL--280.0--2nd
1948 NL--215.7--10th

Strikeouts s c a p y
1947 NL--148--2nd
1948 NL--122--5th
1949 NL--109--4th
1951 NL--118--9th

Games Started s c a p y
1947 NL--36--1st

Complete Games s c a p y
1947 NL--15--7th

Shutouts s c a p y
1947 NL--4--4th
1951 NL--3--7th

Home Runs s c a p y
1947 NL--22--3rd
1948 NL--24--3rd
1949 NL--21--6th
1950 NL--24--10th

Bases on Balls s c a p y
1945 NL--79--10th
1947 NL--98--3rd
1949 NL--91--6th

Hits s c a p y
1947 NL--251--2nd

Strikeouts / Base On Balls s c a p y
1947 NL--1.510--8th
1948 NL--1.525--7th
1951 NL--1.388--10th

Losses s c a p y
1947 NL--12--8th

Wild Pitches s c a p y
1945 NL--6--4th
1947 NL--7--2nd
1948 NL--9--2nd
1951 NL--6--10th

Hit By Pitch s c a p y
1944 NL--5--5th
1947 NL--6--1st
1948 NL--4--7th

Batters Faced s c a p y
1947 NL--1158--2nd

Adjusted ERA+ s c a p y
1947 NL--155--3rd
1951 NL--120--9th

Sacrifice Flies s c a p y
1953 NL--0--1st

Intentional Bases on Balls s c a p y
1953 NL--0--1st

Youngest s c a p y
1945 NL--born 1926-01-06--9th
1946 NL--born 1926-01-06--9th

             

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Black InkPitching - 1 (822), Average HOFer ≈ 40
Gray InkPitching - 63 (398), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame MonitorPitching - 26 (484), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsPitching - 11 (708), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Pitchers 
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 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Pete Vuckovich (958)
  2. Paul Foytack (951)
  3. Russ Meyer (950)
  4. Tex Carleton (948)
  5. Tom Brewer (946)
  6. Tom Underwood (941)
  7. Blue Moon Odom (941)
  8. Vinegar Bend Mizell (940)
  9. Steve Blass (939)
  10. A.J. Burnett (936)
Most Similar by Ages 
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 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Catfish Hunter (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Jose Rijo (978)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Waite Hoyt (970) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Milt Pappas (969)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Denny McLain (956)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Bob Harmon (953)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Greg Maddux (950)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. Curt Simmons (949)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. Tony Cloninger (949)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. Tom Brewer (953)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. Rick Sutcliffe (967)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

Transactions

Before 1943 Season: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent.

July 10, 1953: Selected off waivers by the Detroit Tigers from the Brooklyn Dodgers.

July 11, 1954: Released by the Detroit Tigers.

July 22, 1954: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

October 19, 1954: Released by the New York Yankees.

September 3, 1956: Signed as a Free Agent with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Last transaction is September 30, 2008.

Other Resources & Links

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Viewed 54,058 times through July 5, 2009.
Name and misspellings: ralf Ralph Theodore Hawk Joseph ralf Ralph Branca

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