1956 Milwaukee Braves season

1956 Milwaukee Braves
Ballpark	Milwaukee County Stadium
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Record	92–62 (.597)
Owners	Louis R. Perini
Managers	Charlie Grimm, Fred Haney
Television	none
Radio	WEMP WTMJ (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)

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

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	93	61	.604	—	52‍–‍25	41‍–‍36
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	.597	1	47‍–‍29	45‍–‍33
Cincinnati Redlegs	91	63	.591	2	51‍–‍26	40‍–‍37
St. Louis Cardinals	76	78	.494	17	43‍–‍34	33‍–‍44
Philadelphia Phillies	71	83	.461	22	40‍–‍37	31‍–‍46
New York Giants	67	87	.435	26	37‍–‍40	30‍–‍47
Pittsburgh Pirates	66	88	.429	27	35‍–‍43	31‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs	60	94	.390	33	39‍–‍38	21‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

1956 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	16–6	11–11	10–12	14–8	13–9	13–9	16–6
Chicago	6–16	—	6–16–1	9–13	7–15	13–9	10–12–1	9–13–1
Cincinnati	11–11	16–6–1	—	9–13	14–8	11–11	17–5	13–9
Milwaukee	12–10	13–9	13–9	—	17–5	10–12	14–8–1	13–9
New York	8–14	15–7	8–14	5–17	—	11–11	13–9	7–15
Philadelphia	9–13	9–13	11–11	12–10	11–11	—	7–15	12–10
Pittsburgh	9–13	12–10–1	5–17	8–14–1	9–13	15–7	—	8–14–1
St. Louis	6–16	13–9–1	9–13	9–13	15–7	10–12	14–8–1	—

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	Joe Adcock	137	454	76	132	.328	38	103
3B	Eddie Mathews	151	552	103	150	.328	37	95
SS	Johnny Logan	148	545	153	.281	15	46
LF	Bobby Thomson	142	451	59	106	.235	20	74
CF	Bill Bruton	147	525	73	143	.272	8	56
RF	Hank 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
Félix 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
Warren Spahn	39	281.1	20	11	2.78	111
Lew Burdette	39	256.1	19	10	2.70	110
Bob 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
Gene Conley	35	158.1	8	9	3.13	68
Taylor 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
Ernie Johnson	36	4	3	6	3.71	26
Dave Jolly	29	2	3	7	3.74	20
Chet Nichols	2	0	1	0	6.75	2
Phil 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, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1956 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference