1956 Washington Senators season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1956 Washington Senators won 59 games, lost 95, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Chuck Dressen and played home games at Griffith Stadium, where they attracted 431,647 spectators, eighth and last in AL attendance.[1]
LeagueAmerican League
Record59–95 (.383)
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
| 1956 Washington Senators | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Griffith Stadium |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Record | 59–95 (.383) |
| League place | 7th |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith |
| Managers | Chuck Dressen |
| Television | WTTG |
| Radio | WWDC (FM) (Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff) |
Offseason
- November 8, 1955: Mickey Vernon, Bob Porterfield, Johnny Schmitz, and Tom Umphlett were traded by the Senators to the Boston Red Sox for Karl Olson, Dick Brodowski, Tex Clevenger, Neil Chrisley, and Al Curtis (minors).[2]
- February 8, 1956: Mickey McDermott and Bobby Kline were traded by the Senators to the New York Yankees for Lou Berberet, Bob Wiesler, Herb Plews, Dick Tettelbach, and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Whitey Herzog to the Senators on April 2.[3]
Regular season
- April 18, 1956: Umpire Ed Rommell was the first umpire to wear glasses in a major league game. The game was played between the Senators and the New York Yankees.[4]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 49–28 | 48–29 |
| Cleveland Indians | 88 | 66 | .571 | 9 | 46–31 | 42–35 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 69 | .552 | 12 | 46–31 | 39–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 43–34 | 41–36 |
| Detroit Tigers | 82 | 72 | .532 | 15 | 37–40 | 45–32 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 69 | 85 | .448 | 28 | 41–36 | 28–49 |
| Washington Senators | 59 | 95 | .383 | 38 | 32–45 | 27–50 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 52 | 102 | .338 | 45 | 22–55 | 30–47 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 6–16 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 | |||||
| Boston | 16–6 | — | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | |||||
| Chicago | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 13–9 | |||||
| Cleveland | 17–5 | 9–13–1 | 7–15 | — | 11–11 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 17–5 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–13 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 11–11 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | 15–7–1 | |||||
| Kansas City | 7–15 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 6–16 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 18–4 | — | 17–5 | |||||
| Washington | 10–12 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup
| 1 | Eddie Yost | 3B |
| 32 | Dick Tettelbach | LF |
| 30 | Whitey Herzog | RF |
| 2 | Roy Sievers | 1B |
| 5 | Pete Runnels | 2B |
| 10 | Lou Berberet | C |
| 3 | Karl Olson | CF |
| 36 | José Valdivielso | SS |
| 27 | Camilo Pascual | P |
Roster
| 1956 Washington Senators | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Clint Courtney | 101 | 283 | 85 | .300 | 5 | 44 |
| 1B | Pete Runnels | 147 | 578 | 179 | .310 | 8 | 76 |
| 2B | Herb Plews | 91 | 256 | 69 | .270 | 1 | 25 |
| SS | José Valdivielso | 90 | 246 | 58 | .236 | 4 | 29 |
| 3B | Eddie Yost | 152 | 515 | 119 | .231 | 11 | 53 |
| LF | Roy Sievers | 152 | 550 | 139 | .253 | 29 | 95 |
| CF | Whitey Herzog | 117 | 421 | 103 | .245 | 4 | 35 |
| RF | Jim Lemon | 146 | 538 | 146 | .271 | 27 | 96 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karl Olson | 106 | 313 | 77 | .246 | 4 | 22 |
| Lou Berberet | 95 | 207 | 54 | .261 | 4 | 27 |
| Ed Fitz Gerald | 64 | 148 | 45 | .304 | 2 | 12 |
| Jerry Snyder | 43 | 148 | 40 | .270 | 2 | 14 |
| Ernie Oravetz | 88 | 137 | 34 | .248 | 0 | 11 |
| Lyle Luttrell | 38 | 122 | 23 | .189 | 2 | 9 |
| Tony Roig | 44 | 119 | 25 | .210 | 0 | 7 |
| Harmon Killebrew | 44 | 99 | 22 | .222 | 5 | 13 |
| Carlos Paula | 33 | 82 | 15 | .183 | 3 | 13 |
| Dick Tettelbach | 18 | 64 | 10 | .156 | 1 | 9 |
| Tom Wright | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Stobbs | 37 | 240.0 | 15 | 15 | 3.60 | 97 |
| Camilo Pascual | 39 | 188.2 | 6 | 18 | 5.87 | 162 |
| Ted Abernathy | 5 | 30.1 | 1 | 3 | 4.15 | 18 |
| Evelio Hernández | 4 | 22.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.76 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Ramos | 37 | 152.0 | 12 | 10 | 5.27 | 54 |
| Dean Stone | 41 | 132.0 | 5 | 7 | 6.27 | 86 |
| Bob Wiesler | 37 | 123.0 | 3 | 12 | 6.44 | 49 |
| Bunky Stewart | 33 | 105.0 | 5 | 7 | 5.57 | 36 |
| Hal Griggs | 34 | 98.2 | 1 | 6 | 6.02 | 48 |
| Dick Brodowski | 7 | 17.2 | 0 | 3 | 9.17 | 8 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Chakales | 43 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.03 | 33 |
| Connie Grob | 37 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7.83 | 27 |
| Bud Byerly | 25 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2.96 | 19 |
| Tex Clevenger | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 17 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Thibodaux[5]