1955 Cleveland Indians season

1955 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
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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Offseason

• October 14, 1954: Owen Friend was purchased from the Indians by the Boston Red Sox.^[1]
• November 16, 1954: Ralph Kiner was acquired by the Indians from the Chicago Cubs for $60,000 as part of an earlier deal (the Cubs sent a player to be named later to the Indians for Sam Jones and players to be named later) made on September 30, 1954. The Indians sent Gale Wade to the Cubs on November 30 to complete the trade.^[2]
• Prior to 1955 season: Joe Ginsberg was sent by the Indians to the San Diego Padres.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	96	58	.623	--
Cleveland Indians	93	61	.604	3
Chicago White Sox	91	63	.591	5
Boston Red Sox	84	70	.545	12
Detroit Tigers	79	75	.513	17
Kansas City Athletics	63	91	.409	33
Baltimore Orioles	57	97	.370	39
Washington Senators	53	101	.344	43

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	8–14	10–12–1	3–19	9–13	10–12–1	3–19	14–8
Boston	14–8	—	9–13	11–11	13–9	14–8	8–14	15–7
Chicago	12–10–1	13–9	—	10–12	14–8	14–8	11–11	17–5
Cleveland	19–3	11–11	12–10	—	12–10	17–5	13–9	9–13
Detroit	13–9	9–13	8–14	10–12	—	12–10	10–12	17–5
Kansas City	12–10–1	8–14	8–14	5–17	10–12	—	7–15	13–9
New York	19–3	14–8	11–11	9–13	12–10	15–7	—	16–6
Washington	8–14	7–15	5–17	13–9	5–17	9–13	6–16	—

Notable transactions

• May 16, 1955: Hal Newhouser was released by the Indians.^[4]
• June 15, 1955: Dave Pope and Wally Westlake were traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Billy Cox and Gene Woodling. Billy Cox refused to report to his new team. The Orioles sent $15,000 to the Indians on June 15 as compensation.^[5]
• July 2, 1955: Dave Philley was selected off waivers from the Indians by the Baltimore Orioles.^[6]

Roster

1955 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 22 Hank Aguirre 28 Bud Daley 19 Bob Feller 25 Mike Garcia 33 Ted Gray 11 Art Houtteman 21 Bob Lemon 26 Sal Maglie 12 Don Mossi 20 Ray Narleski 16 Hal Newhouser 51,34 José Santiago 27 Herb Score 30 Bill Wight 24 Early Wynn		Catchers 15 Hank Foiles  4 Jim Hegan 18 Hal Naragon Infielders 45,6 Joe Altobelli  1 Bobby Ávila 36 Sam Dente 33 Ferris Fain 37 Billy Harrell  8 Kenny Kuhn  5 Hank Majeski  3 Dale Mitchell 35 Stan Pawloski  8 Rudy Regalado  7 Al Rosen  2 George Strickland 23 Vic Wertz  5 Bobby Young		Outfielders 38 Rocky Colavito 14 Larry Doby 30 Hoot Evers  9 Ralph Kiner 32 Stu Locklin 17 Dave Philley 34 Dave Pope 32,16 Al Smith 31 Wally Westlake 31 Gene Woodling Other batters 37 Harry Simpson		Manager 10 Al López Coaches 44 Tony Cuccinello 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Red Kress 40 Bill Lobe

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
LF	Kiner, RalphRalph Kiner	113	321	78	.243	18	54

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
Pope, DaveDave Pope	35	104	31	.298	6	22

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
Aguirre, HankHank Aguirre	4	12.2	2	0	1.42	6

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

All-Star Game

• Bobby Ávila, Second base, Reserve
• Larry Doby, Outfield, Reserve
• Al López, Manager
• Al Rosen, Third base, Reserve
• Herb Score, Pitcher, Reserve
• Al Smith, Outfield, Reserve
• Early Wynn, Pitcher, Reserve

^[7]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Kerby Farrell
AA	Tulsa Oilers	Texas League	L. D. Meyer and Hank Schenz
A	Reading Indians	Eastern League	Jo-Jo White
B	Keokuk Kernels	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Pinky May
B	Spartanburg Peaches	Tri-State League	Spud Chandler
C	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League	Phil Seghi and Paul O'Dea
C	Sherbrooke Indians	Provincial League	Ed Hartness
D	Vidalia Indians	Georgia State League	Ed Levy
D	Lafayette Chiefs	Mississippi–Ohio Valley League	Mark Wylie

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Keokuk, Spartanburg^[8]

Notes

1. Owen Friend at Baseball-Reference
2. Ralph Kiner at Baseball-Reference
3. Joe Ginsberg at Baseball-Reference
4. Hal Newhouser at Baseball-Reference
5. Billy Cox at Baseball-Reference
6. Dave Philley at Baseball-Reference
7. http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1955 Cleveland Indians team at Baseball-Reference
• 1955 Cleveland Indians team at baseball-almanac.com
• 1955 WS at Baseball-Reference