1956 Cincinnati Redlegs season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs season consisted of the Redlegs finishing in third place in the National League with a record of 91–63, two games behind the NL Champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The Redlegs were managed by Birdie Tebbetts and played their home games at Crosley Field, where they drew 1,125,928 fans, third-most in their league.[1]
| 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Crosley Field |
| City | Cincinnati |
| Owners | Powel Crosley Jr. |
| General managers | Gabe Paul |
| Managers | Birdie Tebbetts |
| Television | WLWT (Mark Scott, George Bryson) |
| Radio | WSAI (Waite Hoyt, Jack Moran) |
Offseason
- November 28, 1955: Hobie Landrith was traded by the Redlegs to the Chicago Cubs for Hal Jeffcoat.[2]
- January 31, 1956: Jackie Collum was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia.[3]
- Prior to 1956 season: Joe Azcue was signed as an amateur free agent by the Redlegs.[4]
Regular season
The Redlegs were in first place at mid-season and stayed in the pennant race until the last day of the season, ending up with a 91–63 record, two games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.[5] For his efforts, the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted Birdie Tebbetts as the 1956 Manager of the Year.[6]
The 1956 Redlegs tied the National League and MLB record for home runs in a season, hitting 221 over 155 regular-season games. (The 1947 Giants also slugged 221 in 155 games played.) Three Redlegs hit more than 35 homers, with Frank Robinson (38) establishing a record for rookies; Wally Post (36) and Ted Kluszewski (35) were the others. Gus Bell (29) and Ed Bailey (28) came within reach of the 30-home-run mark, Bailey in only 383 at bats. The mark stood until 1961, when the New York Yankees hit 240 homers in the first year of the modern 162-game schedule.
On Sunday, June 24, following a doubleheader sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers,[7] eleven Redlegs players appeared on the panel quiz show What's My Line?.[8]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 93 | 61 | .604 | — | 52–25 | 41–36 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | 1 | 47–29 | 45–33 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 91 | 63 | .591 | 2 | 51–26 | 40–37 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 17 | 43–34 | 33–44 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 83 | .461 | 22 | 40–37 | 31–46 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | .435 | 26 | 37–40 | 30–47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 88 | .429 | 27 | 35–43 | 31–45 |
| Chicago Cubs | 60 | 94 | .390 | 33 | 39–38 | 21–56 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 16–6 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 16–6 | |||||
| Chicago | 6–16 | — | 6–16–1 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 9–13–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 11–11 | 16–6–1 | — | 9–13 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 13–9 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 | — | 17–5 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | 13–9 | |||||
| New York | 8–14 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 5–17 | — | 11–11 | 13–9 | 7–15 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 7–15 | 12–10 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 9–13 | 12–10–1 | 5–17 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | 15–7 | — | 8–14–1 | |||||
| St. Louis | 6–16 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 1, 1956: Jim Pearce was assigned by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals.[9]
Roster
| 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Ed Bailey | 118 | 383 | 115 | .300 | 28 | 75 |
| 1B | Ted Kluszewski | 138 | 517 | 156 | .302 | 35 | 102 |
| 2B | Johnny Temple | 154 | 632 | 180 | .285 | 2 | 41 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 150 | 479 | 126 | .263 | 3 | 62 |
| 3B | Ray Jablonski | 130 | 407 | 104 | .256 | 15 | 66 |
| LF | Frank Robinson | 152 | 572 | 166 | .290 | 38 | 83 |
| CF | Gus Bell | 150 | 603 | 176 | .292 | 29 | 84 |
| RF | Wally Post | 143 | 539 | 134 | .249 | 36 | 83 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smokey Burgess | 90 | 229 | 63 | .275 | 12 | 39 |
| George Crowe | 77 | 144 | 36 | .250 | 10 | 23 |
| Alex Grammas | 77 | 140 | 34 | .243 | 0 | 16 |
| Bob Thurman | 80 | 139 | 41 | .295 | 8 | 22 |
| Stan Palys | 40 | 53 | 12 | .226 | 2 | 5 |
| Rocky Bridges | 71 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Frazier | 10 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Dyck | 18 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Art Schult | 5 | 7 | 3 | .429 | 0 | 2 |
| Bruce Edwards | 7 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Harmon | 13 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Batts | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Balcena | 7 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Curt Flood | 5 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Silvera | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
| John Oldham | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Klippstein | 37 | 211.0 | 12 | 11 | 4.09 | 86 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 44 | 200.2 | 13 | 11 | 3.72 | 120 |
| Larry Jansen | 8 | 34.2 | 2 | 3 | 5.19 | 16 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks Lawrence | 49 | 218.2 | 19 | 10 | 3.99 | 96 |
| Art Fowler | 45 | 177.2 | 11 | 11 | 4.05 | 86 |
| Hal Jeffcoat | 38 | 171.0 | 8 | 2 | 3.84 | 55 |
| Tom Acker | 29 | 83.2 | 4 | 3 | 2.37 | 54 |
| Don Gross | 19 | 69.1 | 3 | 0 | 1.95 | 47 |
| Paul LaPalme | 11 | 27.0 | 2 | 4 | 4.67 | 4 |
| Pat Scantlebury | 6 | 19.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.63 | 10 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hersh Freeman | 64 | 14 | 5 | 17 | 3.40 | 17 |
| Joe Black | 32 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4.52 | 27 |
| Frank Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 1 |
| Bill Kennedy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |
| Russ Meyer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
- Ted Kluszewski
- Gus Bell
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Seattle Rainiers | Pacific Coast League | Luke Sewell and Bill Brenner |
| AAA | Havana Sugar Kings | International League | Reggie Otero and Nap Reyes |
| AA | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Ernie White |
| A | Savannah Redlegs | Sally League | Jimmy Brown |
| B | High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms | Carolina League | Bert Haas |
| B | Clovis Pioneers | Southwestern League | Frank Benites, Glenn McQuillen and Roy Parker |
| C | Yuma Sun Sox | Arizona–Mexico League | Whitey Wietelmann and Bill Harris |
| C | Wausau Lumberjacks | Northern League | John Streza |
| D | West Palm Beach Sun Chiefs | Florida State League | Walt Novick |
| D | Douglas Reds | Georgia State League | Johnny Vander Meer |
| D | Moultrie Reds | Georgia–Florida League | Bob Wellman |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Douglas[10]