1954 New York Giants (MLB) season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1954 New York Giants season was the franchise's 72nd season. The Giants won the National League pennant with a record of 97 wins and 57 losses and then defeated the Cleveland Indians in four games in the World Series. It was the team's final World Series championship until 2010.
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| 1954 New York Giants | |
|---|---|
| World Series champions National League champions | |
| |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Polo Grounds |
| City | New York City |
| Record | 97–57 (.630) |
| League place | 1st |
| Owners | Horace Stoneham |
| General managers | Chub Feeney |
| Managers | Leo Durocher |
| Television | WPIX (Russ Hodges, Bob DeLaney) |
| Radio | WMCA (Russ Hodges, Bob DeLaney) |
Offseason
- October 8, 1953: Chuck Diering, Frank Hiller, Adrián Zabala and $60,000 were traded by the Giants to the San Francisco Seals for Windy McCall.[1]
- December 1, 1953: 1953 minor league draft
- Lee Tate was drafted by the Giants from the Philadelphia Phillies.[2]
- John Anderson was drafted by the Giants from the Philadelphia Phillies.[3]
- February 2, 1954: Joey Amalfitano was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Giants.[4]
- Prior to 1954 season (exact date unknown)
- John Anderson was returned by the Giants to the Phillies.[3]
- Ramón Conde was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[5]
Regular season
- September 22, 1954: In a game against the New York Giants, Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers struck out 15 batters in his first game, setting a Major League record.[6]
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 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
Notable transactions
- April 13, 1954: Tony Taylor was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[7]
- September 8, 1954: Joe Garagiola was selected off waivers by the Giants from the Chicago Cubs.[8]
Roster
| 1954 New York Giants | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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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 | Wes Westrum | 98 | 246 | 46 | .187 | 8 | 27 |
| 1B | Whitey Lockman | 148 | 570 | 143 | .251 | 16 | 60 |
| 2B | Davey Williams | 142 | 544 | 121 | .222 | 9 | 46 |
| SS | Al Dark | 154 | 644 | 189 | .293 | 20 | 70 |
| 3B | Hank Thompson | 136 | 448 | 118 | .263 | 26 | 86 |
| LF | Monte Irvin | 135 | 432 | 113 | .262 | 19 | 64 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 151 | 565 | 195 | .345 | 41 | 110 |
| RF | Don Mueller | 153 | 619 | 212 | .342 | 4 | 71 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Katt | 86 | 200 | 51 | .255 | 9 | 33 |
| Dusty Rhodes | 82 | 164 | 56 | .341 | 15 | 50 |
| Bobby Hofman | 71 | 125 | 28 | .224 | 8 | 30 |
| Billy Gardner | 62 | 108 | 23 | .213 | 1 | 7 |
| Bill Taylor | 55 | 65 | 12 | .185 | 2 | 10 |
| Ebba St. Claire | 20 | 42 | 11 | .262 | 2 | 6 |
| Foster Castleman | 13 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Garagiola | 5 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 1 |
| Hoot Evers | 12 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 1 | 3 |
| Eric Rodin | 5 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Samford | 12 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joey Amalfitano | 9 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Harvey Gentry | 5 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Lennon | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Antonelli | 39 | 258.2 | 21 | 7 | 2.30 | 152 |
| Rubén Gómez | 37 | 221.2 | 17 | 9 | 2.88 | 106 |
| Sal Maglie | 34 | 218.1 | 14 | 6 | 3.26 | 117 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Hearn | 29 | 130.0 | 8 | 8 | 4.15 | 45 |
| Don Liddle | 28 | 126.2 | 9 | 4 | 3.06 | 44 |
| Larry Jansen | 13 | 40.2 | 2 | 2 | 5.98 | 15 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marv Grissom | 56 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 2.35 | 64 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 57 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 2.10 | 64 |
| Windy McCall | 33 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3.25 | 38 |
| Al Corwin | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.02 | 14 |
| Alex Konikowski | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 6 |
| Al Worthington | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.50 | 8 |
| Ramón Monzant | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 5 |
| Paul Giel | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 4 |
| George Spencer | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.65 | 4 |
| Mario Picone | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.27 | 6 |
1954 World Series
The New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in what would be their final World Series win in New York. Their next World Series win would occur in 2010, 52 years after relocating to San Francisco.
It was the first time the Cleveland Indians had been 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 City
| 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 City
| 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: Ruben Gomez (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) | ||||||||||||
Awards and honors
- Willie Mays, Associated Press Athlete of the Year[9]
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Minneapolis Millers | American Association | Bill Rigney |
| AA | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Hugh Poland |
| A | Sioux City Soos | Western League | Dave Garcia |
| B | Danville Leafs | Carolina League | Andy Gilbert |
| C | St. Cloud Rox | Northern League | Charlie Fox |
| C | Muskogee Giants | Western Association | John Davenport |
| D | Mayfield Clothiers | KITTY League | Red Davis |
| D | Danville Dans | Mississippi–Ohio Valley League | Richie Klaus |
| D | Olean Giants | PONY League | Austin Knickerbocker and Frank Genovese |
| D | Shelby Clippers | Tar Heel League | Harold Kollar |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Danville (M-OV)
Tar Heel League disbanded, June 21, 1954[10]