1954 Cleveland Indians season

1954 Cleveland Indians
1954 American League Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Myron H. Wilson
General manager(s) Hank Greenberg
Manager(s) Al López
Local television WXEL
Local radio WERE (1300)
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The 1954 Cleveland Indians advanced to the World Series for the first time in six years. It was the team's third American League championship in franchise history. The Indians' 111-43 record is the all-time record for winning percentage by an American League team (.721.)

For more than 60 years, the Tribe had been the only team in Major League Baseball to have compiled two different 11-game winning streaks within the same season, until the Toronto Blue Jays were able to accomplish the rare feat during the 2015 regular season.[1]

However, their great regular-season record would not be enough to win the World Series, as the Indians lost in four games to the New York Giants, after which the Indians would not return to the Fall Classic until 1995.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 111 43 .721 --
New York Yankees 103 51 .669 8
Chicago White Sox 94 60 .610 17
Boston Red Sox 69 85 .448 42
Detroit Tigers 68 86 .442 43
Washington Senators 66 88 .429 45
Baltimore Orioles 54 100 .351 57
Philadelphia Athletics 51 103 .331 60

Record vs. opponents

1954 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHI WSH
Baltimore — 11–11 7–15 3–19 8–14 5–17 10–12 10–12
Boston 11–11 — 5–17 2–20–2 14–8 9–13 15–7 13–9
Chicago 15–7 17–5 — 11–11 12–10–1 7–15 17–5 15–7
Cleveland 19–3 20–2–2 11–11 — 14–8 11–11 18–4 18–4
Detroit 14–8 8–14 10–12–1 8–14 — 6–16 13–9 9–13
New York 17–5 13–9 15–7 11–11 16–6 — 18–4–1 13–9
Philadelphia 12–10 7–15 5–17 4–18 9–13 4–18–1 — 10–12–1
Washington 12–10 9–13 7–15 4–18 13–9 9–13 12–10–1 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1954 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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
C Hegan, JimJim Hegan 139 423 99 .234 11 40
1B Wertz, VicVic Wertz 94 295 81 .275 14 48
2B Ávila, BobbyBobby Ávila 143 555 189 .341 15 67
3B Rosen, AlAl Rosen 137 466 140 .300 24 102
SS Strickland, GeorgeGeorge Strickland 112 361 77 .213 6 37
LF Smith, AlAl Smith 131 481 135 .281 11 50
CF Doby, LarryLarry Doby 153 577 157 .272 32 126
RF Philley, DaveDave Philley 133 452 102 .226 12 60

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
Westlake, WallyWally Westlake 85 240 63 .263 11 42
Regalado, RudyRudy Regalado 65 180 45 .250 2 24
Glynn, BillBill Glynn 111 171 43 .251 5 18
Dente, SamSam Dente 68 169 45 .266 1 19
Majeski, HankHank Majeski 57 121 34 .281 3 17
Pope, DaveDave Pope 60 102 30 .294 4 13
Naragon, HalHal Naragon 46 101 24 .238 0 12
Mitchell, DaleDale Mitchell 53 60 17 .283 1 6
Grasso, MickeyMickey Grasso 4 6 2 .333 1 1
Easter, LukeLuke Easter 6 6 1 .167 0 0
Nelson, RockyRocky Nelson 4 4 0 .000 0 0
Ginsberg, JoeJoe Ginsberg 3 2 1 .500 0 1
Dyck, JimJim Dyck 2 1 1 1.000 0 1
Kennedy, BobBob Kennedy 1 0 0 ---- 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
Wynn, EarlyEarly Wynn 40 270.2 23 11 2.73 155
Garcia, MikeMike Garcia 45 258.2 19 8 2.64 129
Lemon, BobBob Lemon 36 258.1 23 7 2.72 110
Houtteman, ArtArt Houtteman 32 188 15 7 3.35 68
Feller, BobBob Feller 19 140 13 3 3.09 59

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
Narleski, RayRay Narleski 42 3 3 13 2.22 52
Mossi, DonDon Mossi 40 6 1 7 1.94 55
Newhouser, HalHal Newhouser 26 7 2 7 2.51 25
Hooper, BobBob Hooper 17 0 0 2 2.72 12
Hoskins, DaveDave Hoskins 14 0 1 0 3.04 9
Chakales, BobBob Chakales 3 2 0 0 0.87 3
Santiago, JoséJosé Santiago 1 0 0 0 0.00 1
Tomanek, DickDick Tomanek 1 0 0 0 5.40 0

1954 World Series

Main article: 1954 World Series

This was the first time the Cleveland Indians were swept in a World Series. The only highlight for the Indians was that they kept the Yankees from winning their sixth straight series. The last time the Yankees had not won the series or pennant beforehand was 1948, when, again, the Indians kept them out (although that year, they won the Series). It was also the only World Series from 1949 to 1958 which did not feature the Yankees.

Game 1

September 29, 1954 at the Polo Grounds in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Cleveland (A) 200 000 000 0 280
New York (N) 002 000 000 3 593
W: Marv Grissom (1–0)   L: Bob Lemon (0–1)
HR: NYG – Dusty Rhodes (1)

Game 2

September 30, 1954 at the Polo Grounds in New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland (A) 100 000 000 180
New York (N) 000 020 10x 340
W: Johnny Antonelli (1–0)   L: Early Wynn (0–1)
HR: CLE – Al Smith (1)    NYG – Dusty Rhodes (2)

Game 3

October 1, 1954 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (N) 103 011 000 6101
Cleveland (A) 000 000 110 242
W: Rubén Gómez (1–0)  L: Mike Garcia (0–1)   S: Hoyt Wilhelm (1)
HR: CLE – Vic Wertz (1)

Game 4

October 2, 1954 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York (N) 021 040 000 7103
Cleveland (A) 000 030 100 462
W: Don Liddle (1–0)  L: Bob Lemon (0–2)   S: Johnny Antonelli (1)
HR: CLE – Hank Majeski (1)

Composite Box

1954 World Series (4–0): New York Giants (N.L.) over Cleveland Indians (A.L.)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
New York Giants 126 071 100 3 21337
Cleveland Indians 300 030 210 0 9264
Total Attendance: 251,507   Average Attendance: 62,877
Winning Player's Share: – $11,118   Losing Player's Share – $6,713

Award winners

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Kerby Farrell
A Reading Indians Eastern League Pinky May
B Keokuk Kernels Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Jo-Jo White
B Spartanburg Peaches Tri-State League Jimmy Bloodworth
C Fargo-Moorhead Twins Northern League Phil Seghi
C Sherbrooke Indians Provincial League Mark Wylie
D Jacksonville Beach Sea Birds Florida State League Spud Chandler
D Tifton Indians Georgia–Florida League Ed Hartness
D Pauls Valley Raiders Sooner State League Lloyd Pearson and Bennie Warren

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fargo-Moorhead[5]

The 1954 Indianapolis Indians featured Herb Score and Rocky Colavito. Colavito hit 38 home runs and accumulated 116 RBIs.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Perry, Dayn (August 13, 2015). "Blue Jays become first team since '54 Indians with two 11-game win streaks". CBSsports.com.
  2. ↑ Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Hal Newhouser page at Baseball-Reference
  4. ↑ Bob Chakales page at Baseball-Reference
  5. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  6. ↑ Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p.68, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4165-8928-0

References

External links

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