1953 St. Louis Browns season

1953 St. Louis Browns
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Sportsman's Park (since 1902)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1902)
Results
Record	54–100 (.351)
League place	8th
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Veeck
General manager(s)	Bill Veeck
Manager(s)	Marty Marion
Local television	none
Local radio	KMOX (Buddy Blattner, Bill Durney, Milo Hamilton)
< Previous season     Next season

The 1953 St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses, 46½ games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees in their 52nd and final season in the Gateway City. After the season, the Browns moved to Baltimore, where they play today, and became the Baltimore Orioles.

Offseason

• October 14, 1952: Ray Coleman, Bob Mahoney, Stan Rojek and $95,000 were traded by the Browns to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Billy Hunter.^[1]
• October 16, 1952: Joe DeMaestri and Tommy Byrne were traded by the Browns to the White Sox for Hank Edwards and Willy Miranda.^[2]
• October 27, 1952: Jake Crawford was traded by the Browns to the Detroit Tigers for Neil Berry, Cliff Mapes and $25,000.^[3]
• December 4, 1952: Jay Porter, Owen Friend and Bob Nieman were traded by the Browns to the Detroit Tigers for Johnny Groth, Virgil Trucks and Hal White.^[4]

Regular season

• May 6, 1953: In his first major league start, the Browns' Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics. The twenty-seven-year-old Holloman struck out three, walked five, and helped himself offensively by batting in three of the Browns' runs with a pair of singles in the Browns' 6–0 victory. (Holloman finished the season with a 3–7 record and did not pitch in the major leagues after 1953.)
• September 27, 1953: The Browns ended their 51-year residence in St. Louis, losing to the Chicago White Sox at home 2–1 in 11 innings^[5] to complete a sweep by the White Sox, giving the Browns 100 losses for the year.^[6] Official attendance on the unusually-warm day^[7][8] was 3,174.^[5]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	99	52	.656	--
Cleveland Indians	92	62	.604	8.5
Chicago White Sox	89	65	.578	11.5
Boston Red Sox	84	69	.549	16
Washington Senators	76	76	.500	23.5
Detroit Tigers	60	94	.325	40.5
Philadelphia Athletics	59	95	.383	41.5
St. Louis Browns	54	100	.351	46.5

Record vs. opponents

1953 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	6–16	13–9	13–9	10–11	15–7	17–5	10–12
Chicago	16–6	—	11–11–1	14–8–1	9–13	10–12	17–5	12–10
Cleveland	9–13	11–11–1	—	14–8	11–11	19–3	17–5	11–11
Detroit	9–13	8–14–1	8–14	—	6–16	11–11–3	7–15	11–11
New York	11–10	13–9	11–11	16–6	—	17–5	17–5	14–6
Philadelphia	7–15	12–10	3–19	11–11–3	5–17	—	13–9	8–14
St. Louis	5–17	5–17	5–17	15–7	5–17	9–13	—	10–12
Washington	12–10	10–12	11–11	11–11	6–14	14–8	12–10	—

Notable transactions

• July 23, 1953: Bobo Holloman was purchased from the Browns by the Toronto Maple Leafs for $7,500.^[9]
• September 1, 1953: Neil Berry was selected off waivers from the Browns by the Chicago White Sox.^[3]

Roster

1953 St. Louis Browns
Roster
Pitchers 23 Mike Blyzka 31 Harry Brecheen 33 Bob Cain 35,39 Bob Habenicht 24 Bobo Holloman 22 Lou Kretlow  5 Max Lanier 27 Don Larsen 18 Dick Littlefield 29 Satchel Paige 12,21 Duane Pillette 26 Marlin Stuart 23 Virgil Trucks 24 Bob Turley 25 Hal White		Catchers 11 Clint Courtney 32 Babe Martin 10 Les Moss Infielders 34 Neil Berry 40 Bob Elliott  6 Billy Hunter  2 Frank Kellert 16 Dick Kryhoski 34 Johnny Lipon  4 Marty Marion  9 Ed Mickelson  1 Willy Miranda  7 Roy Sievers 40 Vern Stephens  5 Bobby Young		Outfielders  8 Jim Dyck 15 Hank Edwards  3 Johnny Groth 19 Dick Kokos 14 Don Lenhardt -- Jim Pisoni 20 Vic Wertz Other batters 36 Dixie Upright		Manager  4 Marty Marion Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 32 Jim Crandall 47 Bill Norman 44 Bob Scheffing

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	Hunter, BillyBilly Hunter	154	567	124	.219	1	37

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
Edwards, HankHank Edwards	65	106	21	.198	0	9
Marion, MartyMarty Marion	3	7	0	.000	0	0
Miranda, WillyWilly Miranda	17	6	1	.167	0	0

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
Larsen, DonDon Larsen	38	192.2	7	12	4.16	96

^[10]

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
Brecheen, HarryHarry Brecheen	26	117.1	5	13	3.07	44
Cain, BobBob Cain	32	99.2	4	10	6.23	36
Blyzka, MikeMike Blyzka	33	94.1	2	6	6.39	23
Holloman, BoboBobo Holloman	22	65.1	3	7	5.23	25

^[10]

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

Awards and honors

1953 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Satchel Paige, reserve

Casey Stengel kept to his word and named Paige to the 1953 All-Star team despite Paige not having a very good year. He got in the game in the eighth inning. First Paige got Gil Hodges to line out, then after Roy Campanella singled up the middle, Eddie Mathews popped out. He then walked Duke Snider and Enos Slaughter lined a hit to center to score Campanella. National League pitcher Murry Dickson drove in Snider, but was thrown out at second base trying to stretch the hit into a double. Paige ended the year with a disappointing 3–9 record, but a respectable 3.53 ERA. Paige was released after the season when Veeck once again had to sell the team.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Jim Crandall and Bill Norman
A	Wichita Indians	Western League	George Hausmann and Mark Christman
A	Lewiston Broncs	Western International League	Bill Brenner
B	York White Roses	Piedmont League	Mark Christman, Bill Enos and George Hausmann
B	Anderson Rebels	Tri-State League	Hillis Layne
C	Pine Bluff Judges	Cotton States League	Frank Lucchesi
C	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	Barney Lutz
C	Pocatello Bannocks	Pioneer League	Hersh Martin and Butch Moran
C	Thetford Mines Mineurs	Provincial League	Bill Krueger
D	Wytheville Statesmen	Appalachian League	John O'Donnell
D	Valdosta Browns	Georgia–Florida League	Rollie Stuckney and Gil Torres
D	Ada Herefords	Sooner State League	Louis Brower

Notes

1. Ray Coleman at Baseball-Reference
2. Joe DeMaestri at Baseball-Reference
3. Neil Berry at Baseball-Reference
4. Jay Porter at Baseball-Reference
5. "Sep 27, 1953, White Sox at Browns Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
6. "1953 St. Louis Browns Schedule". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
7. "Historical Weather For 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA". WeatherSpark. Retrieved October 23, 2014. Note "Temperature" chart: temperature two days later would be 101°F; on September 27 it was climbing toward that peak with a high of about 85°F
8. "Average Weather On September 27 For St. Louis, Missouri, USA". WeatherSpark. Retrieved October 23, 2014. The temperature typically varies from 54°F to 74°F and is rarely... above 85°F.
9. Bobo Holloman at Baseball-Reference
10. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SLB/1953.shtml

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.
• 1953 St. Louis Browns team at Baseball-Reference
• 1953 St. Louis Browns season at baseball-almanac.com