1956 Major League Baseball season

The 1956 Major League Baseball season was contested from April to October 1956, featuring eight teams in the National League and eight teams in the American League. The 1956 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's series series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The series is notable for Yankees pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5.

Regular season standings

American League Rank Club Wins Losses Win %   GB 1st New York Yankees 97 57 .630 – 2nd Cleveland Indians 88 66 .571 9 3rd Chicago White Sox 85 69 .552 12 4th Boston Red Sox 84 70 .545 13 5th Detroit Tigers 82 72 .532 15 6th Baltimore Orioles 69 85 .448 28 7th Washington Senators 59 95 .383 38 8th Kansas City A's 52 102 .338 45

National League Rank Club Wins Losses Win %   GB 1st Brooklyn Dodgers 93 61 .604 – 2nd Milwaukee Braves 92 62 .597 1 3rd Cincinnati Redlegs 91 63 .591 2 4th St. Louis Cardinals 76 78 .494 17 5th Philadelphia Phillies 71 83 .461 22 6th New York Giants 67 87 .435 26 7th Pittsburgh Pirates 66 88 .429 27 8th Chicago Cubs 60 94 .390 33

World Series

1956 World Series New York Yankees (4) vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (3) MVP Award: Don Larsen, P, New York Game Date Score Series (NYY-BRO) Location Attendance Time 1 October 3 Dodgers 6, Yankees 3 0–1 Ebbets Field 34,479 2:32 2 October 5 Dodgers 13, Yankees 8 0–2 Ebbets Field 36,217 3:26 3 October 6 Yankees 5, Dodgers 3 1–2 Yankee Stadium 73,977 2:17 4 October 7 Yankees 6, Dodgers 2 2–2 Yankee Stadium 69.705 2:43 5 October 8 Yankees 2, Dodgers 0 3–2 Yankee Stadium 64,519 2:06 6 October 9 Dodgers 1, Yankees 0 (10 innings) 3–3 Ebbets Field 33,224 2:37 7 October 10 Yankees 9, Dodgers 0 4–3 Ebbets Field 33,782 2:19

Awards and honors

1956 Award Winners   American League National League Award Player Position Team Player Position Team Triple Crown Mickey Mantle CF NYY None Most Valuable Player Mickey Mantle CF NYY Don Newcombe P BRO Cy Young Award None Don Newcombe P BRO Rookie of the Year Luis Aparicio SS CHW Frank Robinson LF CIN

Statistical leaders

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat AVG Mickey Mantle, NYY .353 Hank Aaron, MLN .328 HR Mickey Mantle, NYY 52 Duke Snider, BRO 43 RBI Mickey Mantle, NYY 130 Stan Musial, STL 109 SB Luis Aparicio, CHW 21 Willie Mays, NYG 40 Wins Frank Lary, DET 21 Don Newcombe, BRO 27 ERA Whitey Ford, NYY 2.47 Lew Burdette, MLN 2.70 SO Herb Score, CLE 263 Sam Jones, CHC 176

All-Star game

July 10, 1956
Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
National League	0	0	1	2	1	1	2	0	0	7	11	0
American League	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	11	0
Starting pitchers: NL: Bob Friend AL: Billy Pierce WP: Bob Friend (1–0)   LP: Billy Pierce (0–1) Home runs: NL: Willie Mays (1), Stan Musial (1) AL: Ted Williams (1), Mickey Mantle (1)

Feats

Triple Crown

• Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees – Mantle won the Major League Triple Crown by leading both leagues in batting average (.353), home runs (52), and runs batted in (130). Mantle became the first player to win a Triple Crown since Ted Williams in 1947.

Milestones

• On April 18, 1956, umpire Ed Rommel was the first umpire to wear glasses in a Major League game. The game was played between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.^[1]

Notable events

July–September

• September 21 – The New York Yankees set a Major League record by leaving 20 players on base against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.^[2]

October–December

• December 6–8 – Major League owners meet in Chicago. Cleveland general manager and minority-owner Hank Greenberg proposed implementing limited Interleague play beginning in 1958. Under Greenberg's proposal, each team would continue to play 154-games in the season, 126 of which would be within the league, and 28 against the eight clubs. The interleague games would all be played during a period immediately following the All-Star Game. The proposal was not adopted.^[3]

Notes

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.43, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
2. "Left on Base – Team Records in a Game". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
3. Drebinger, John (December 6, 1956). "Player limit, Interleague Games Top Issues on Majors' Agenda". New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2009.

External links

• 1956 season at Baseball-Reference.com