1954 Cleveland Indians season
Major League Baseball team season
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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.
| 1954 Cleveland Indians | |
|---|---|
| American League champions | |
 Team shown in the locker room, 1954 | |
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Owners | Myron H. Wilson |
| General managers | Hank Greenberg |
| Managers | Al López |
| Television | WXEL (Ken Coleman, Jim Britt) |
| Radio | WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Ed Edwards) |
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 or any postseason play of any kind 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: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | 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 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 188.0 | 15 | 7 | 3.35 | 68 |
| Bob Feller | 19 | 140.0 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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]