1954 Cleveland Indians season
1954 Cleveland Indians | ||
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1954 American League Champions | ||
Ballpark | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | |
City | Cleveland, Ohio | |
Owners | Myron H. Wilson | |
Managers | Al López | |
Television | WXEL (Ken Coleman, Jim Britt) | |
Radio | WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Ed Edwards) | |
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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), as this was before 162 games were played in a season.
For more than 60 years, Cleveland 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 got swept in four games by the New York Giants, after which the Indians would not return to the Fall Classic until 1995.
Offseason
- February 19, 1954: Bill Upton and Lee Wheat were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Athletics for Dave Philley.[2]
Regular season
Season standings
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland Indians | 111 | 43 | .721 | — | 59–18 | 52–25 |
New York Yankees | 103 | 51 | .669 | 8 | 54–23 | 49–28 |
Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | 17 | 45–32 | 49–28 |
Boston Red Sox | 69 | 85 | .448 | 42 | 38–39 | 31–46 |
Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 43 | 35–42 | 33–44 |
Washington Senators | 66 | 88 | .429 | 45 | 37–41 | 29–47 |
Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 100 | .351 | 57 | 32–45 | 22–55 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 51 | 103 | .331 | 60 | 29–47 | 22–56 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | 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
- April 12, 1954: Hal Newhouser was signed as a free agent by the Indians.[3]
- June 1, 1954: Bob Chakales was traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Vic Wertz.[4]
Roster
1954 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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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 |
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C | Jim Hegan | 139 | 423 | 99 | .234 | 11 | 40 |
1B | Vic Wertz | 94 | 295 | 81 | .275 | 14 | 48 |
2B | Bobby Ávila | 143 | 555 | 189 | .341 | 15 | 67 |
3B | Al Rosen | 137 | 466 | 140 | .300 | 24 | 102 |
SS | George Strickland | 112 | 361 | 77 | .213 | 6 | 37 |
LF | Al Smith | 131 | 481 | 135 | .281 | 11 | 50 |
CF | Larry Doby | 153 | 577 | 157 | .272 | 32 | 126 |
RF | Dave 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 |
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Wally Westlake | 85 | 240 | 63 | .263 | 11 | 42 |
Rudy Regalado | 65 | 180 | 45 | .250 | 2 | 24 |
Bill Glynn | 111 | 171 | 43 | .251 | 5 | 18 |
Sam Dente | 68 | 169 | 45 | .266 | 1 | 19 |
Hank Majeski | 57 | 121 | 34 | .281 | 3 | 17 |
Dave Pope | 60 | 102 | 30 | .294 | 4 | 13 |
Hal Naragon | 46 | 101 | 24 | .238 | 0 | 12 |
Dale Mitchell | 53 | 60 | 17 | .283 | 1 | 6 |
Mickey Grasso | 4 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 1 | 1 |
Luke Easter | 6 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
Rocky Nelson | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Joe Ginsberg | 3 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
Jim Dyck | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 |
Bob 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 |
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Early Wynn | 40 | 270.2 | 23 | 11 | 2.73 | 155 |
Mike Garcia | 45 | 258.2 | 19 | 8 | 2.64 | 129 |
Bob Lemon | 36 | 258.1 | 23 | 7 | 2.72 | 110 |
Art Houtteman | 32 | 188 | 15 | 7 | 3.35 | 68 |
Bob 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 |
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Ray Narleski | 42 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 2.22 | 52 |
Don Mossi | 40 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 1.94 | 55 |
Hal Newhouser | 26 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 2.51 | 25 |
Bob Hooper | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.72 | 12 |
Dave Hoskins | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.04 | 9 |
Bob Chakales | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.87 | 3 |
José Santiago | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Dick Tomanek | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 |
1954 World Series
This was the first time (and only to date) that 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 |
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Cleveland (A) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
New York (N) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
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 |
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Cleveland (A) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
New York (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 3 | 4 | 0 |
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 |
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New York (N) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
Cleveland (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
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 |
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New York (N) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 3 |
Cleveland (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
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 | |
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New York Giants | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 33 | 7 | |
Cleveland Indians | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 26 | 4 | |
Total Attendance: 251,507 Average Attendance: 62,877 | ||||||||||||||
Winning Player's Share: – $11,118 Losing Player's Share – $6,713 |
Award winners
- Al Rosen, first baseman, starter
- Bobby Ávila, second baseman, starter
- Larry Doby, reserve
- Mike Garcia, reserve
- Bob Lemon, reserve
Farm system
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
- ^ Perry, Dayn (August 13, 2015). "Blue Jays become first team since '54 Indians with two 11-game win streaks". CBSsports.com.
- ^ Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Hal Newhouser page at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Bob Chakales page at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
- ^ 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
- 1954 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
- 1954 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
- 1954 World Series page at Baseball Reference