1954 Chicago Cubs season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1954 Chicago Cubs season was the 83rd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 79th in the National League and the 39th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished seventh in the National League with a record of 64–90.
| 1954 Chicago Cubs | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Wrigley Field |
| City | Chicago |
| Record | 64–90 (.416) |
| League place | 7th |
| Owners | Philip K. Wrigley |
| General managers | Wid Matthews |
| Managers | Stan Hack |
| Television | WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton) |
| Radio | WIND (Bert Wilson, Bob Elson) |
Offseason
- November 30, 1953: Carl Sawatski was selected off waivers from the Cubs by the Chicago White Sox.[1]
- December 7, 1953: Catfish Metkovich was purchased from the Cubs by the Milwaukee Braves.[2]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 53–23 | 44–34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 92 | 62 | .597 | 5 | 45–32 | 47–30 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 89 | 65 | .578 | 8 | 43–34 | 46–31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 79 | .487 | 22 | 39–39 | 36–40 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 74 | 80 | .481 | 23 | 41–36 | 33–44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 82 | .468 | 25 | 33–44 | 39–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 33 | 40–37 | 24–53 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 53 | 101 | .344 | 44 | 31–46 | 22–55 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 15–7 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 6–16 | 14–8 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 8–14 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 16–6 | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 7–15 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 6–16 | — | 10–12 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 12–10 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 30, 1954: Steve Bilko was purchased by the Cubs from the St. Louis Cardinals for $12,500.[3]
- June 8, 1954: Billy Muffett was purchased by the Cubs from the Shreveport Sports.[4]
- June 14, 1954: Luis Márquez was traded by the Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Hal Rice.[5]
- September 8, 1954: Joe Garagiola was selected off waivers from the Cubs by the New York Giants.[6]
Roster
| 1954 Chicago Cubs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Joe Garagiola | 63 | 153 | 43 | .281 | 5 | 21 |
| 1B | Dee Fondy | 141 | 568 | 162 | .285 | 9 | 49 |
| 2B | Gene Baker | 135 | 541 | 149 | .275 | 13 | 61 |
| SS | Ernie Banks | 154 | 593 | 163 | .275 | 19 | 79 |
| 3B | Randy Jackson | 126 | 484 | 132 | .273 | 19 | 67 |
| LF | Ralph Kiner | 147 | 557 | 159 | .285 | 22 | 73 |
| CF | Bob Talbot | 114 | 403 | 97 | .241 | 1 | 19 |
| RF | Hank Sauer | 142 | 520 | 150 | .288 | 41 | 103 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Baumholtz | 90 | 303 | 90 | .297 | 4 | 28 |
| Walker Cooper | 57 | 158 | 49 | .310 | 7 | 32 |
| El Tappe | 46 | 119 | 22 | .185 | 0 | 4 |
| Eddie Miksis | 38 | 99 | 20 | .202 | 2 | 3 |
| Steve Bilko | 47 | 92 | 22 | .239 | 4 | 12 |
| Clyde McCullough | 31 | 81 | 21 | .259 | 3 | 17 |
| Hal Rice | 51 | 72 | 11 | .153 | 0 | 5 |
| Vern Morgan | 24 | 64 | 15 | .234 | 0 | 2 |
| Bill Serena | 41 | 63 | 10 | .159 | 4 | 13 |
| Jim Fanning | 11 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 0 | 1 |
| Luis Márquez | 17 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Robertson | 14 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bruce Edwards | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Kitsos | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Rush | 33 | 236.1 | 13 | 15 | 3.77 | 124 |
| Paul Minner | 32 | 218.0 | 11 | 11 | 3.96 | 79 |
| Howie Pollet | 20 | 128.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.58 | 58 |
| Dave Cole | 18 | 84.0 | 3 | 8 | 5.36 | 37 |
| Al Lary | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Hacker | 39 | 158.2 | 6 | 13 | 4.25 | 80 |
| Johnny Klippstein | 36 | 148.0 | 4 | 11 | 5.29 | 69 |
| Jim Davis | 46 | 127.2 | 11 | 7 | 3.52 | 58 |
| Bubba Church | 7 | 14.2 | 1 | 3 | 9.82 | 8 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hal Jeffcoat | 43 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5.19 | 35 |
| Bill Tremel | 33 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4.21 | 21 |
| Jim Brosnan | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.45 | 17 |
| Turk Lown | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.14 | 16 |
| Jim Willis | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.91 | 5 |
| Bob Zick | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.27 | 9 |
| John Pyecha | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.13 | 2 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Des Moines, Blackwell
Tar Heel League disbanded, June 21, 1954