1954_St._Louis_Cardinals_season
1954 St. Louis Cardinals season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1954 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 73rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 63rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 72–82 during the season and finished sixth in the National League.
| 1954 St. Louis Cardinals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Busch Stadium I | |||
| City | St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Record | 72–82 (.468) | |||
| League place | 6th | |||
| Owners | August "Gussie" Busch | |||
| General managers | Richard A. Meyer | |||
| Managers | Eddie Stanky | |||
| Television | WTVI | |||
| Radio | KXOK (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Milo Hamilton) | |||
| Stats | ESPN.com BB-reference | |||
| ||||
- December 1, 1953: 1953 minor league draft
- Brooks Lawrence was drafted by the Cardinals from the Cincinnati Reds.[1]
- December 1, 1953: Sonny Senerchia was drafted by the Cardinals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[2]
- January 26, 1954: Dick Sisler, Eddie Erautt and $100,000 were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Tom Alston.[3]
In his first four major league games, first baseman Joe Cunningham became the first Cardinals player to hit at least two home runs. On April 6, 2016, Jeremy Hazelbaker matched him for this feat.[4]
Outfielder Wally Moon won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .304, with 12 home runs and 76 RBIs. Along the way, on April 13 Moon hit a home run in his first major league at-bat.[5]
During the season, Tom Alston became the first black player in the history of the Cardinals.[6]
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 97 | 57 | 0.630 | — | 53–23 | 44–34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 92 | 62 | 0.597 | 5 | 45–32 | 47–30 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 89 | 65 | 0.578 | 8 | 43–34 | 46–31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 22 | 39–39 | 36–40 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 74 | 80 | 0.481 | 23 | 41–36 | 33–44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 82 | 0.468 | 25 | 33–44 | 39–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | 0.416 | 33 | 40–37 | 24–53 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 53 | 101 | 0.344 | 44 | 31–46 | 22–55 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BKN | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHP | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 15–7 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 14–8 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 6–16 | 14–8 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 8–14 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 16–6 | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 13–9 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 7–15 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 6–16 | — | 10–12 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 12–10 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 11, 1954: Enos Slaughter was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Yankees for Bill Virdon, Mel Wright, and Emil Tellinger (minors).[7]
- April 30, 1954: Steve Bilko was purchased from the Cardinals by the Chicago Cubs for $12,500.[8]
Roster
| 1954 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Bill Sarni | 123 | 380 | 114 | .300 | 9 | 70 |
| 1B | Joe Cunningham | 85 | 310 | 88 | .284 | 11 | 50 |
| 2B | Red Schoendienst | 148 | 610 | 192 | .315 | 5 | 79 |
| SS | Alex Grammas | 142 | 401 | 106 | .264 | 2 | 29 |
| 3B | Ray Jablonski | 152 | 611 | 181 | .296 | 12 | 104 |
| LF | Rip Repulski | 152 | 619 | 175 | .283 | 19 | 79 |
| CF | Wally Moon | 151 | 635 | 193 | .304 | 12 | 76 |
| RF | Stan Musial | 153 | 591 | 195 | .330 | 35 | 126 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Alston | 66 | 244 | 60 | .246 | 4 | 34 |
| Solly Hemus | 124 | 214 | 65 | .304 | 2 | 27 |
| Del Rice | 56 | 147 | 37 | .252 | 2 | 16 |
| Joe Frazier | 81 | 88 | 26 | .295 | 3 | 18 |
| Peanuts Lowrey | 74 | 61 | 7 | .115 | 0 | 5 |
| Sal Yvars | 38 | 57 | 14 | .246 | 2 | 8 |
| Tom Burgess | 17 | 21 | 1 | .048 | 0 | 1 |
| Steve Bilko | 8 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Ducky Schofield | 43 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Pete Castiglione | 5 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvey Haddix | 43 | 259.2 | 18 | 13 | 3.57 | 184 |
| Vic Raschi | 30 | 179.0 | 8 | 9 | 4.73 | 73 |
| Gordon Jones | 11 | 81.0 | 4 | 4 | 2.00 | 48 |
| Ralph Beard | 13 | 58.0 | 0 | 4 | 3.72 | 17 |
| Memo Luna | 1 | 0.2 | 0 | 1 | 27.00 | 0 |
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 | 35 | 158.2 | 15 | 6 | 3.74 | 72 |
| Gerry Staley | 48 | 155.2 | 7 | 13 | 5.26 | 50 |
| Tom Poholsky | 25 | 106.0 | 5 | 7 | 3.06 | 55 |
| Stu Miller | 19 | 46.2 | 2 | 3 | 5.79 | 22 |
| Carl Scheib | 3 | 4.2 | 0 | 1 | 11.57 | 5 |
| Bill Greason | 3 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Brazle | 58 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4.16 | 30 |
| Joe Presko | 37 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 6.91 | 36 |
| Cot Deal | 33 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6.28 | 25 |
| Royce Lint | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.86 | 36 |
| Ben Wade | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.48 | 19 |
| Mel Wright | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.45 | 4 |
| Hal White | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.80 | 2 |
- Brooks Lawrence at Baseball-Reference
- Sonny Senerchia at Baseball-Reference
- Dick Sisler at Baseball-Reference
- "Diaz's pinch-hit HR blasts Cards over Braves". MLB.com. April 9, 2016. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- Enos Slaughter at Baseball-Reference
- Steve Bilko at Baseball-Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007