1956 Milwaukee Braves season

1956 Milwaukee Braves
Major league affiliations
National League (Since 1876)
Location
Milwaukee County Stadium (Since 1953) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Since 1953)
1956 Information
Owner(s)	Louis R. Perini
General manager(s)	John Quinn
Manager(s)	Charlie Grimm, Fred Haney
Local television	none
Local radio	WEMP WTMJ (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
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The 1956 Milwaukee Braves season was a season in American baseball. The Braves finished in second place in the National League, just one game behind the Brooklyn Dodgers in the league standings, and one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.

Regular season

Season summary

For the 1956 baseball season, the Braves' first manager was Charlie Grimm but the team got off to a mediocre start with a 24-22 record. At that point, the owners of the Braves dismissed Haney and replaced him with Fred Haney, who led the Braves to a 68-40 record for the rest of the baseball season. Finishing with an overall 92-62 record, the Braves nearly caught up with the Dodgers, who finished the season at 93-61. Haney went on to manage the Braves to the World Series in 1957 and 1958, and then to a tie atop the National League standings in 1959, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In individual performance statistics, outfielder Hank Aaron led the league in hits with 200, in batting average at .328, and in doubles with 34. His 106 runs scored led the Braves. First baseman Joe Adcock led the Braves with 38 home runs and 103 runs batted in. The Braves' other hitting star was their third baseman, Eddie Mathews, who played in 151 games, hit 37 home runs, scored 103 runs, and batted in 95 runs.

The pitching leaders for the Braves were their "big three" starting pitchers (listed with their won-loss records): Warren Spahn (20-11), Lew Burdette (19-10), and Bob Buhl (18-8). Spahn also recorded three saves among the four games in which he was used as a relief pitcher.

Outfielder Bobby Thomson also had his best season, out of three, with the Braves, with 142 games played, 20 home runs, and 74 runs batted in, but just a .235 batting average. Then, the next season, Thomson was traded back to the New York Giants.

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Brooklyn Dodgers	93	61	--	.604
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	1	.597
Cincinnati Redlegs	91	63	2	.591
St. Louis Cardinals	76	78	17	.494
Philadelphia Phillies	71	83	22	.461
New York Giants	67	87	26	.435
Pittsburgh Pirates	66	88	27	.429
Chicago Cubs	60	94	33	.390

Roster

1956 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers 10 Bob Buhl 33 Lew Burdette 22 Gene Conley 20 Ray Crone 32 Ernie Johnson 16 Dave Jolly 19 Red Murff 17 Chet Nichols 11 Phil Paine 17 Taylor Phillips 49 Humberto Robinson 36 Lou Sleater 21 Warren Spahn 12,30 Bob Trowbridge		Catchers 39 Toby Atwell  1 Del Crandall  7 Del Rice 24 Bob Roselli Infielders  9 Joe Adcock  6 Jack Dittmer 23 Johnny Logan  5 Félix Mantilla 41 Eddie Mathews  4 Danny O'Connell  3 Jim Pendleton 14,37 Frank Torre		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 38 Bill Bruton 43 Wes Covington 28 Earl Hersh 48 Andy Pafko 18 Chuck Tanner 25,34 Bobby Thomson		Manager 40 Charlie Grimm  2 Fred Haney Coaches  2 Fred Haney 35 Bob Keely 28,8 Johnny Riddle 31 Charlie Root

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; R = Runs; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
1B	Adcock, JoeJoe Adcock	137	454	76	132	.328	38	103
3B	Mathews, EddieEddie Mathews	151	552	103	150	.328	37	95
SS	Logan, JohnnyJohnny Logan	148	545	153	.281	15	46
LF	Thomson, BobbyBobby Thomson	142	451	59	106	.235	20	74
CF	Bruton, BillBill Bruton	147	525	73	143	.272	8	56
RF	Aaron, HankHank Aaron	153	609	106	200	.328	26	92

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
Mantilla, FélixFélix Mantilla	35	53	15	.283	0	3

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
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	39	281.1	20	11	2.78	111
Burdette, LewLew Burdette	39	256.1	19	10	2.70	110
Buhl, BobBob Buhl	38	216.2	18	8	3.32	86

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
Conley, GeneGene Conley	35	158.1	8	9	3.13	68
Phillips, TaylorTaylor Phillips	23	87.2	5	3	2.26	36

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
Johnson, ErnieErnie Johnson	36	4	3	6	3.71	26
Jolly, DaveDave Jolly	29	2	3	7	3.74	20
Nichols, ChetChet Nichols	2	0	1	0	6.75	2
Paine, PhilPhil Paine	1	0	0	0	∞	0

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Wichita Braves	American Association	George Selkirk
AA	Atlanta Crackers	Southern Association	Clyde King
AA	Austin Senators	Texas League	Connie Ryan
A	Jacksonville Braves	Sally League	Ben Geraghty
A	Topeka Hawks	Western League	Bud Bates
B	Corpus Christi Clippers	Big State League	Sibby Sisti
B	Evansville Braves	Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League	Bob Coleman
C	Salinas Packers	California League	Eddie Lake
C	Eau Claire Braves	Northern League	Joe Just
C	Boise Braves	Pioneer League	Mickey Livingston and George McQuinn
D	Leesburg Braves	Florida State League	Tommy Giordano
D	Waycross Braves	Georgia-Florida League	Jim Deery
D	McCook Braves	Nebraska State League	Bill Steinecke
D	Wellsville Braves	PONY League	Alex Monchak
D	Lawton Braves	Sooner State League	Travis Jackson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Evansville, Boise, Wellsville

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3. 
• 1956 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference