1954 New York Yankees season
Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1954 New York Yankees season was the team's 52nd season. Having won an unprecedented fifth consecutive World Series title the previous year, the team came up short in its bid for a sixth straight world championship as their 103–51 record (the team's best finish in the Stengel era) was only good enough for in second place in the American League. New York finished eight games behind the Cleveland Indians, who broke the Yankees' 1927 AL record by winning 111 games. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.
| 1954 New York Yankees | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Yankee Stadium |
| City | New York City |
| Record | 103–51 (.669) |
| League place | 2nd |
| Owners | Dan Topping and Del Webb |
| General managers | George Weiss |
| Managers | Casey Stengel |
| Television | WPIX |
| Radio | WINS (AM) (Mel Allen, Jim Woods, Red Barber) |
Offseason
- November 19, 1953: Ralph Terry was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees.[1]
Regular season
Bob Grim became the first rookie pitcher to win 20 games in one season but pitch less than 200 innings in the same season.[2]
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 11, 1954: Bill Virdon, Mel Wright, and Emil Tellinger (minors) were traded by the Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for Enos Slaughter.[3]
- May 11, 1954: Jim Brideweser was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Neil Berry, Dick Kokos and Jim Post (minors).[4]
Roster
| 1954 New York Yankees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yogi Berra | 151 | 584 | 179 | .307 | 22 | 125 |
| 1B | Joe Collins | 130 | 343 | 93 | .271 | 12 | 46 |
| 2B | Gil McDougald | 126 | 394 | 102 | .259 | 12 | 48 |
| SS | Phil Rizzuto | 127 | 307 | 60 | .195 | 2 | 15 |
| 3B | Andy Carey | 122 | 411 | 124 | .302 | 8 | 65 |
| LF | Gene Woodling | 97 | 304 | 76 | .250 | 3 | 40 |
| CF | Mickey Mantle | 146 | 543 | 163 | .300 | 27 | 102 |
| RF | Hank Bauer | 114 | 377 | 111 | .294 | 12 | 54 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irv Noren | 125 | 426 | 136 | .319 | 12 | 66 |
| Jerry Coleman | 107 | 300 | 65 | .217 | 3 | 21 |
| Bill Skowron | 87 | 215 | 73 | .340 | 7 | 41 |
| Eddie Robinson | 85 | 142 | 37 | .261 | 3 | 27 |
| Enos Slaughter | 69 | 125 | 31 | .248 | 1 | 19 |
| Willy Miranda | 92 | 116 | 29 | .250 | 1 | 12 |
| Bob Cerv | 56 | 100 | 26 | .260 | 5 | 13 |
| Bobby Brown | 28 | 60 | 13 | .217 | 1 | 7 |
| Charlie Silvera | 20 | 37 | 10 | .270 | 0 | 4 |
| Lou Berberet | 5 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 3 |
| Frank Leja | 12 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodie Held | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph Houk | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Gus Triandos | 2 | 1 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitey Ford | 34 | 210.2 | 16 | 8 | 2.82 | 125 |
| Eddie Lopat | 26 | 170.0 | 12 | 4 | 3.55 | 54 |
| Harry Byrd | 25 | 132.0 | 9 | 7 | 2.99 | 52 |
| Tommy Byrne | 5 | 40.0 | 3 | 2 | 2.70 | 24 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Grim | 37 | 199.0 | 20 | 6 | 3.26 | 108 |
| Allie Reynolds | 36 | 157.1 | 13 | 4 | 3.32 | 100 |
| Tom Morgan | 32 | 143.0 | 11 | 5 | 3.34 | 34 |
| Jim McDonald | 16 | 71.0 | 4 | 1 | 3.17 | 20 |
| Bob Wiesler | 6 | 30.1 | 3 | 2 | 4.15 | 25 |
| Ralph Branca | 5 | 12.2 | 1 | 0 | 2.84 | 7 |
| Bill Miller | 2 | 5.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.35 | 6 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Sain | 45 | 6 | 6 | 26 | 3.16 | 33 |
| Tom Gorman | 23 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.21 | 31 |
| Bob Kuzava | 20 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5.45 | 22 |
| Marlin Stuart | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 2 |
| Jim Konstanty | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.98 | 3 |
| Art Schallock | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 | 9 |
Awards and honors
- Yogi Berra, American League MVP
- Hank Bauer - Starter
- Yogi Berra - Starter
- Whitey Ford - Starter
- Mickey Mantle - Starter
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Kansas City Blues | American Association | Harry Craft |
| AA | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Mayo Smith |
| A | Binghamton Triplets | Eastern League | Phil Page |
| B | Quincy Gems | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Vern Hoscheit |
| B | Norfolk Tars | Piedmont League | Skeeter Scalzi |
| C | Modesto Reds | California League | Jack Graham and Jerry Crosby |
| C | St. Joseph Saints | Western Association | Bill Cope |
| D | Bristol Twins | Appalachian League | Walter Lance |
| D | Owensboro Oilers | KITTY League | Marvin Crater |
| D | McAlester Rockets | Sooner State League | Bunny Mick |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Quincy, Modesto[5]