1955 New York Yankees season
Season for the Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees
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The 1955 New York Yankees season was the team's 53rd season. The team finished with a record of 96 wins and 58 losses, winning their 21st pennant, finishing 3 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. New York was managed by Casey Stengel. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they were defeated by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 7 games.
| 1955 New York Yankees | |
|---|---|
| American League Champions | |
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Yankee Stadium |
| City | New York City |
| Record | 96–58 (.623) |
| League place | 1st |
| 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 17, 1954: Gene Woodling, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda and players to be named later were traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Don Larsen, Billy Hunter, Bob Turley, and players to be named later. The deal was completed on December 1, when the Yankees sent Bill Miller, Kal Segrist, Don Leppert, and Ted Del Guercio (minors) to the Orioles, and the Orioles sent Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley, and Dick Kryhoski to the Yankees.[1]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 96 | 58 | .623 | — | 52–25 | 44–33 |
| Cleveland Indians | 93 | 61 | .604 | 3 | 49–28 | 44–33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 91 | 63 | .591 | 5 | 49–28 | 42–35 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 12 | 47–31 | 37–39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 75 | .513 | 17 | 46–31 | 33–44 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 63 | 91 | .409 | 33 | 33–43 | 30–48 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 57 | 97 | .370 | 39 | 30–47 | 27–50 |
| Washington Senators | 53 | 101 | .344 | 43 | 28–49 | 25–52 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | 9–13 | 10–12–1 | 3–19 | 14–8 | |||||
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 15–7 | |||||
| Chicago | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 17–5 | |||||
| Cleveland | 19–3 | 11–11 | 12–10 | — | 12–10 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 9–13 | |||||
| Detroit | 13–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 10–12 | 17–5 | |||||
| Kansas City | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 10–12 | — | 7–15 | 13–9 | |||||
| New York | 19–3 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 15–7 | — | 16–6 | |||||
| Washington | 8–14 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 5–17 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- May 11, 1955: Enos Slaughter and Johnny Sain were traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics for Sonny Dixon and cash.[2]
- July 30, 1955: Ed Lopat was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim McDonald.[3]
- September 14, 1955: Jerry Staley was selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from the Cincinnati Redlegs.[4]
Roster
| 1955 New York Yankees roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 147 | 542 | 147 | .272 | 27 | 108 |
| 1B | Bill Skowron | 108 | 288 | 92 | .319 | 12 | 61 |
| 2B | Gil McDougald | 141 | 533 | 152 | .285 | 13 | 53 |
| 3B | Andy Carey | 135 | 510 | 131 | .257 | 7 | 47 |
| SS | Billy Hunter | 98 | 255 | 58 | .227 | 3 | 20 |
| LF | Irv Noren | 132 | 371 | 94 | .253 | 8 | 59 |
| CF | Mickey Mantle | 147 | 517 | 158 | .306 | 37 | 99 |
| RF | Hank Bauer | 139 | 492 | 137 | .278 | 20 | 53 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elston Howard | 97 | 279 | 81 | .290 | 10 | 43 |
| Joe Collins | 105 | 278 | 65 | .234 | 13 | 45 |
| Eddie Robinson | 88 | 173 | 26 | .208 | 16 | 42 |
| Phil Rizzuto | 81 | 143 | 37 | .259 | 1 | 9 |
| Jerry Coleman | 43 | 96 | 22 | .229 | 0 | 8 |
| Bob Cerv | 55 | 85 | 29 | .341 | 3 | 22 |
| Billy Martin | 20 | 70 | 21 | .300 | 1 | 9 |
| Bobby Richardson | 11 | 26 | 4 | .154 | 0 | 3 |
| Charlie Silvera | 14 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 1 |
| Enos Slaughter | 10 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Tom Carroll | 14 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Tettelbach | 2 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Lou Berberet | 2 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 2 |
| Johnny Blanchard | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Marv Throneberry | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 3 |
| Frank Leja | 7 | 2 | 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 | 39 | 253.2 | 18* | 7 | 2.63 | 137 |
| Bob Turley | 36 | 246.2 | 17 | 13 | 3.06 | 210 |
| Tommy Byrne | 27 | 160.0 | 16 | 5 | 3.15 | 76 |
| Don Larsen | 19 | 97.0 | 9 | 2 | 3.06 | 44 |
| Ed Lopat | 16 | 86.2 | 4 | 8 | 3.74 | 24 |
| Ted Gray | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 |
- Tied with Bob Lemon and Frank Sullivan
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Kucks | 29 | 126.2 | 8 | 7 | 3.41 | 49 |
| Bob Grim | 26 | 92.1 | 7 | 5 | 4.19 | 63 |
| Bob Wiesler | 16 | 53.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.91 | 22 |
| Rip Coleman | 10 | 29.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.28 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Konstanty | 45 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 2.32 | 19 |
| Tom Morgan | 40 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 3.25 | 17 |
| Tom Sturdivant | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.16 | 48 |
| Johnny Sain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 5 |
| Art Schallock | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 2 |
| Gerry Staley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |
1955 World Series
In Game One on September 28, Elston Howard became the sixth player in the history of the World Series to hit a home run in his first World Series at bat.
NL Brooklyn Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers – 5, Yankees – 6 | September 28 | Yankee Stadium | 63,869 |
| 2 | Dodgers – 2, Yankees – 4 | September 29 | Yankee Stadium | 64,707 |
| 3 | Yankees – 3, Dodgers – 8 | September 30 | Ebbets Field | 34,209 |
| 4 | Yankees – 5, Dodgers – 8 | October 1 | Ebbets Field | 36,242 |
| 5 | Yankees – 3, Dodgers – 5 | October 2 | Ebbets Field | 36,796 |
| 6 | Dodgers – 1, Yankees – 5 | October 3 | Yankee Stadium | 64,022 |
| 7 | Dodgers – 2, Yankees – 0 | October 4 | Yankee Stadium | 62,465 |
Post-season exhibition
From October 11 to November 21, the Yankees embarked on a 25-game barnstorming exhibition tour. The team played five games in Hawaii, 16 games in Japan, one game in US-controlled Okinawa, two games in the Philippines, and one game in Guam; they won 24 of the 25 games and tied one game against an all-star team in Sendai.[5][6]
Awards and honors
- Yogi Berra, American League MVP
League leaders
- Whitey Ford, league leader, complete games (Ford was the first player to lead the American League in complete games with fewer than 20)[7]
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Monroe
Norfolk club folded, July 14, 1955[8]