1955 Chicago Cubs season
Major League Baseball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1955 Chicago Cubs season was the 84th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 80th in the National League and the 40th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished sixth in the National League with a record of 72–81.
| 1955 Chicago Cubs | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Wrigley Field |
| City | Chicago |
| Record | 72–81 (.471) |
| League place | 6th |
| Owners | Philip K. Wrigley |
| General managers | Wid Matthews |
| Managers | Stan Hack |
| Television | WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton) |
| Radio | WIND (Bert Wilson, Jack Quinlan, Gene Elston, Vince Lloyd) |
Offseason
- October 1, 1954: Johnny Klippstein and Jim Willis were traded by the Cubs to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Jim Bolger, Harry Perkowski and Ted Tappe.[1]
- November 16, 1954: Ralph Kiner was sent by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for $60,000 as part of an earlier deal (the Cubs sent a player to be named later to the Indians for Sam Jones and players to be named later) made on September 30, 1954. The Indians sent Gale Wade to the Cubs on November 30 to complete the trade.[2]
- November 22, 1954: Jim King was drafted by the Cubs from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1954 rule 5 draft.[3]
Regular season
- May 10, 1955: Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit the 200th HR of his career against the Cubs. The opposing pitcher was Warren Hacker and the home run was hit at Wrigley Field.[4]
- May 12, 1955: Sam Jones of the Cubs became the first black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the major leagues.[5] It was against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 98 | 55 | .641 | — | 56–21 | 42–34 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 85 | 69 | .552 | 13½ | 46–31 | 39–38 |
| New York Giants | 80 | 74 | .519 | 18½ | 44–35 | 36–39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 21½ | 46–31 | 31–46 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 23½ | 46–31 | 29–48 |
| Chicago Cubs | 72 | 81 | .471 | 26 | 43–33 | 29–48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 68 | 86 | .442 | 30½ | 41–36 | 27–50 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | 94 | .390 | 38½ | 36–39 | 24–55 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 14–7–1 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–14–1 | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 11–11 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 11–11 | |||||
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 17–5 | 13–9 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–14 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 16, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased by the Cubs from the Chicago White Sox.[6]
- June 12, 1955: Owen Friend was purchased by the Cubs from the Boston Red Sox.[7]
- August 19, 1955: George Altman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.[8]
- August 19, 1955: J. C. Hartman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.[9]
Roster
| 1955 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 | Harry Chiti | 113 | 338 | 78 | .231 | 11 | 41 |
| 1B | Dee Fondy | 150 | 574 | 152 | .265 | 17 | 65 |
| 2B | Gene Baker | 154 | 609 | 163 | .268 | 11 | 52 |
| SS | Ernie Banks | 154 | 596 | 176 | .295 | 44 | 117 |
| 3B | Randy Jackson | 138 | 499 | 132 | .265 | 21 | 70 |
| LF | Hank Sauer | 79 | 261 | 55 | .211 | 12 | 28 |
| CF | Eddie Miksis | 131 | 481 | 113 | .235 | 9 | 41 |
| RF | Jim King | 113 | 301 | 77 | .256 | 11 | 45 |
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 | 105 | 280 | 81 | .289 | 1 | 27 |
| Bob Speake | 95 | 261 | 57 | .218 | 12 | 43 |
| Jim Bolger | 64 | 160 | 33 | .206 | 0 | 7 |
| Lloyd Merriman | 72 | 145 | 31 | .214 | 1 | 8 |
| Walker Cooper | 54 | 111 | 31 | .279 | 7 | 15 |
| Clyde McCullough | 44 | 81 | 16 | .198 | 0 | 10 |
| Ted Tappe | 23 | 50 | 13 | .260 | 4 | 10 |
| Gale Wade | 9 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 1 | 1 |
| Jim Fanning | 5 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Owen Friend | 6 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Vern Morgan | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| El Tappe | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
| Al Lary | 4 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Jones | 36 | 241.2 | 14 | 20 | 4.10 | 198 |
| Bob Rush | 33 | 234.0 | 13 | 11 | 3.50 | 130 |
| Warren Hacker | 35 | 213.0 | 11 | 15 | 4.27 | 80 |
| Paul Minner | 22 | 157.2 | 9 | 9 | 3.48 | 53 |
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 Davis | 42 | 133.2 | 7 | 11 | 4.44 | 62 |
| Howie Pollet | 24 | 61.0 | 4 | 3 | 5.61 | 27 |
| Hy Cohen | 7 | 17.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.94 | 4 |
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 | 50 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2.95 | 32 |
| Dave Hillman | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.31 | 23 |
| Harry Perkowski | 25 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5.29 | 28 |
| Bill Tremel | 23 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3.72 | 13 |
| John André | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.80 | 19 |
| Don Kaiser | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 11 |
| Vicente Amor | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 3 |
| Bubba Church | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 3 |
| Bob Thorpe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 0 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Bill Sweeney, Jack Warner and Bob Scheffing |
| A | Macon Peaches | Sally League | Pepper Martin and Ivy Griffin |
| A | Des Moines Bruins | Western League | Les Peden and Pepper Martin |
| B | Burlington Bees | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Hal Meek |
| C | Vicksburg Hill Billies | Cotton States League | Fred Williams |
| C | Lafayette Oilers | Evangeline League | Lou Klein |
| C | Magic Valley Cowboys | Pioneer League | Ed McDade |
| D | Paris Lakers | Mississippi–Ohio Valley League | Dick Rigazio |
| D | Gainesville Owls/Ponca City Cubs | Sooner State League | Ed Carnett |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lafayette, Magic Valley
Gainesville franchise transferred to Ponca City and renamed, May 19, 1955