1956 New York Yankees season

1956 New York Yankees
1956 World Series Champions 1956 American League Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Yankee Stadium (since 1923)
New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s)	Dan Topping and Del Webb
General manager(s)	George Weiss
Manager(s)	Casey Stengel
Local television	WPIX
Local radio	WINS (AM) (Mel Allen, Jim Woods, Red Barber)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1956 New York Yankees season was the 54th season for the team in New York, and its 56th season overall. The team finished with a record of 97–57, winning their 22nd pennant, finishing 9 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in 7 games. The Series featured the only no-hitter in Series play, a perfect game, delivered by the Yankees' Don Larsen in Game 5.

Offseason

• February 8, 1956: Lou Berberet, Bob Wiesler, Herb Plews, Dick Tettelbach, and a player to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Washington Senators for Mickey McDermott and Bobby Kline. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Whitey Herzog to the Senators on April 2.^[1]

Regular season

• April 18, 1956: Umpire Ed Rommell was the first umpire to wear glasses in a major league game. The game was played between the Yankees and the Washington Senators.^[2]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	--
Cleveland Indians	88	66	.571	9
Chicago White Sox	85	69	.552	12
Boston Red Sox	84	70	.545	13
Detroit Tigers	82	72	.532	15
Baltimore Orioles	69	85	.448	28
Washington Senators	59	95	.383	38
Kansas City Athletics	52	102	.338	45

Record vs. opponents

1956 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–16	9–13	5–17	13–9	15–7	9–13	12–10
Boston	16–6	—	14–8	13–9–1	12–10	12–10	8–14	9–13
Chicago	13–9	8–14	—	15–7	13–9	14–8	9–13	13–9
Cleveland	17–5	9–13–1	7–15	—	11–11	17–5	10–12	17–5
Detroit	9–13	10–12	9–13	11–11	—	16–6	12–10	15–7–1
Kansas City	7–15	10–12	8–14	5–17	6–16	—	4–18	12–10
New York	13–9	14–8	13–9	12–10	10–12	18–4	—	17–5
Washington	10–12	13–9	9–13	5–17	7–15–1	10–12	5–17	—

Notable transactions

• May 28, 1956: Gerry Staley was selected off waivers from the Yankees by the Chicago White Sox.^[3]
• June 14, 1956: Lou Skizas and Eddie Robinson were traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics for Moe Burtschy, Bill Renna and cash.^[4]
• July 11, 1956: Wally Burnette was traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics for Tommy Lasorda.^[5]
• August 25, 1956: Enos Slaughter was selected off waivers by the Yankees from the Kansas City Athletics.^[6]

Roster

1956 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 23 Tommy Byrne 52 Jim Coates 30 Rip Coleman 21 Sonny Dixon 16 Whitey Ford 55 Bob Grim 21 Jim Konstanty 53 Johnny Kucks 18 Don Larsen 22 Mickey McDermott 28 Tom Morgan 24 Gerry Staley 47 Tom Sturdivant 21 Ralph Terry 19 Bob Turley		Catchers  8 Yogi Berra 29 Charlie Silvera Infielders  6 Andy Carey 40 Tom Carroll 42 Jerry Coleman 20 Billy Hunter 11 Jerry Lumpe  1 Billy Martin 12 Gil McDougald 17 Bobby Richardson 10 Phil Rizzuto 36 Eddie Robinson 14 Bill Skowron		Outfielders  9 Hank Bauer 41 Bob Cerv 15 Joe Collins 32 Elston Howard  7 Mickey Mantle 25 Irv Noren 36 Norm Siebern 17 Enos Slaughter 39 George Wilson Other batters 45 Lou Skizas		Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches  2 Frankie Crosetti 33 Bill Dickey 31 Jim Turner

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	Berra, YogiYogi Berra	140	521	155	.298	30	105
1B	Skowron, BillBill Skowron	134	464	143	.308	23	90
2B	Martin, BillyBilly Martin	121	458	121	.264	9	49
3B	Carey, AndyAndy Carey	132	422	100	.238	7	50
SS	McDougald, GilGil McDougald	120	438	136	.311	13	56
LF	Howard, ElstonElston Howard	98	290	76	.262	5	34
CF	Mantle, MickeyMickey Mantle	150	533	188	.353	52	130
RF	Bauer, HankHank Bauer	147	539	130	.241	26	84

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
Collins, JoeJoe Collins	100	262	59	.225	7	43
Coleman, JerryJerry Coleman	80	183	47	.257	0	18
Siebern, NormNorm Siebern	54	162	33	.204	4	21
Cerv, BobBob Cerv	54	115	35	.304	3	25
Slaughter, EnosEnos Slaughter	24	83	24	.289	0	4
Hunter, BillyBilly Hunter	39	75	21	.280	0	11
Lumpe, JerryJerry Lumpe	20	62	16	.258	0	4
Rizzuto, PhilPhil Rizzuto	31	52	12	.231	0	6
Noren, IrvIrv Noren	29	37	8	.216	0	6
Robinson, EddieEddie Robinson	26	54	12	.222	5	11
Carroll, TomTom Carroll	36	17	6	.353	0	0
Wilson, GeorgeGeorge Wilson	11	12	2	.167	0	0
Silvera, CharlieCharlie Silvera	7	9	2	.222	0	2
Richardson, BobbyBobby Richardson	5	7	1	.143	0	0
Skizas, LouLou Skizas	6	6	1	.167	0	1

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
Ford, WhiteyWhitey Ford	31	225.2	19	6	2.47	141
Kucks, JohnnyJohnny Kucks	34	224.1	18	9	3.85	67
Turley, BobBob Turley	27	132	8	4	5.05	91
Terry, RalphRalph Terry	3	13.1	1	2	9.45	8

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
Larsen, DonDon Larsen	38	179.2	11	5	3.26	107
Sturdivant, TomTom Sturdivant	32	158.1	16	8	3.30	110
Coleman, RipRip Coleman	29	88.1	3	5	3.67	42
Grim, BobBob Grim	26	74.2	6	1	2.77	48
McDermott, MickeyMickey McDermott	23	87	2	6	4.24	38

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
Morgan, TomTom Morgan	41	6	7	11	4.16	20
Byrne, TommyTommy Byrne	37	7	3	6	3.36	52
Konstanty, JimJim Konstanty	8	0	0	2	4.91	6
Dixon, SonnySonny Dixon	3	0	1	1	2.08	1
Coates, JimJim Coates	2	0	0	0	13.50	0
Staley, GerryGerry Staley	1	0	0	0	108.00	1

1956 World Series

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Yankees – 3, Dodgers – 6	October 3	Ebbets Field	34,479
2	Yankees – 8, Dodgers – 13	October 5	Ebbets Field	36,217
3	Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 5	October 6	Yankee Stadium	73,977
4	Dodgers – 2, Yankees – 6	October 7	Yankee Stadium	69,705
5	Dodgers – 0, Yankees – 2	October 8	Yankee Stadium	64,519
6	Yankees – 0, Dodgers – 1 (10 innings)	October 9	Ebbets Field	33,224
7	Yankees – 9, Dodgers – 0	October 10	Ebbets Field	33,782

Awards and honors

• Don Larsen, Babe Ruth Award
• Mickey Mantle, American League MVP
• Mickey Mantle, Associated Press Athlete of the Year

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Ralph Houk
AAA	Richmond Virginians	International League	Eddie Lopat
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern Association	Phil Page
A	Binghamton Triplets	Eastern League	Freddie Fitzsimmons
B	Winston-Salem Twins	Carolina League	George Hausmann and Lee "Pete" Peterson
B	Quincy Gems	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Vern Hoscheit
C	Modesto Reds	California League	Al Lyons
C	Monroe Sports	Evangeline League	Ed Head
D	St. Petersburg Saints	Florida State League	Ken Silvestri
D	Kearney Yankees	Nebraska State League	Randy Gumpert
D	Bradford Yankees	PONY League	Randy Gumpert
D	McAlester Rockets	Sooner State League	Marvin Crater

Bradford club folded, May 18, 1956^[7]

Notes

1. Whitey Herzog page at Baseball Reference
2. 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
3. Gerry Staley page at Baseball Reference
4. Lou Skizas page at Baseball Reference
5. Tommy Lasorda page at Baseball Reference
6. Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1956 New York Yankees
• 1956 World Series
• 1956 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com