1953 Chicago Cubs season

1953 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916)
Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Philip K. Wrigley
General manager(s)	Wid Matthews
Manager(s)	Phil Cavarretta
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton)
Local radio	WIND (Bert Wilson, Bud Campbell)
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The 1953 Chicago Cubs season was the 82nd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 78th in the National League and the 38th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished seventh in the National League with a record of 65–89.

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Brooklyn Dodgers	105	49	--	.682
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	13	.597
Philadelphia Phillies	83	71	22	.539
St. Louis Cardinals	83	71	22	.439
New York Giants	70	84	35	.455
Cincinnati Redlegs	68	86	37	.442
Chicago Cubs	65	89	40	.422
Pittsburgh Pirates	50	104	55	.325

Record vs. opponents

1953 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	13–9–1	15–7	13–9	15–7	14–8	20–2	15–7
Chicago	9–13–1	—	12–10	8–14	9–13	5–17	11–11	11–11
Cincinnati	7–15	10–12	—	8–14	9–13	12–10	15–7	7–15–1
Milwaukee	9–13	14–8	14–8	—	14–8–1	13–9–1	15–7	13–9–1
New York	7–15	13–9	13–9	8–14–1	—	9–13	11–11	9–13
Philadelphia	8–14	17–5	10–12	9–13–1	13–9	—	15–7	11–11–1
Pittsburgh	2–20	11–11	7–15	7–15	11–11	7–15	—	5–17
St. Louis	7–15	11–11	15–7–1	9–13–1	13–9	11–11–1	17–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 4, 1953: Toby Atwell, Bob Schultz, Preston Ward, George Freese, Bob Addis, Gene Hermanski, and $150,000 were traded by the Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ralph Kiner, Joe Garagiola, Catfish Metkovich, and Howie Pollet.^[1]
• September 8, 1953: Ernie Banks was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.^[2]

Roster

1953 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 31 Fred Baczewski 33 Bubba Church 36 Don Elston 18 Warren Hacker 26 Sheldon Jones 33 Bob Kelly 36 Johnny Klippstein 20 Dutch Leonard 35 Turk Lown 24 Paul Minner 26 Bill Moisan 16 Howie Pollet 17 Bob Rush 34 Bob Schultz 30 Duke Simpson 28 Jim Willis		Catchers 11 Toby Atwell 11 Joe Garagiola  8 Clyde McCullough 15 Carl Sawatski Infielders 37 Gene Baker 14 Ernie Banks 12 Tommy Brown 40 Dee Fondy  2 Randy Jackson 21 Eddie Miksis  5 Bob Ramazzotti  6 Bill Serena 39 Roy Smalley		Outfielders 16 Bob Addis  7 Frank Baumholtz 22 Gene Hermanski 3,4 Hal Jeffcoat  4 Ralph Kiner 22 Catfish Metkovich  9 Hank Sauer 14 Paul Schramka 10 Bob Talbot 29 Preston Ward Other batters 44 Phil Cavarretta		Manager 44 Phil Cavarretta Coaches 29 Ray Blades 47 Spud Davis 42 Roy Johnson 49 Charlie Root

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
SS	Smalley, RoyRoy Smalley	82	253	63	.249	6	25

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
Atwell, TobyToby Atwell	24	74	17	.230	1	8
Cavarretta, PhilPhil Cavarretta	27	21	6	.286	0	3

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

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
Church, BubbaBubba Church	27	104.1	4	5	5.00	47
Schultz, BobBob Schultz	7	11.2	0	2	5.40	4

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
Baczewski, FredFred Baczewski	9	0	0	0	6.30	3

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Los Angeles Angels	Pacific Coast League	Stan Hack
AAA	Springfield Cubs	International League	Bruce Edwards and Jack Sheehan
A	Macon Peaches	Sally League	Frank Kerr
A	Des Moines Bruins	Western League	Kemp Wicker and Bruce Edwards
B	Cedar Rapids Indians	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Al Kubski and Bill Prince
C	Stockton Ports	California League	Bill Salkeld
C	Sioux Falls Canaries	Northern League	Dale Lynch
D	Gainesville Owls	Sooner State League	Jimmy Grigg, Ernie Shadid and Jesse Landrum
D	Hickory Rebels	Tar Heel League	Bill Parker
D	Janesville Cubs	Wisconsin State League	Bob Dant

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Des Moines

Notes

1. Ralph Kiner at Baseball Reference
2. Ernie Banks at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1953 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference