| 1954 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| TV partner(s) | ABC,NBC |
| Regular season | |
| SeasonMVP | AL:Yogi Berra (NYY) NL:Willie Mays (NYG) |
| AL champions | Cleveland Indians |
| AL runners-up | New York Yankees |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| World Series | |
| Champions | New York Giants |
| Runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
| FinalsMVP | Dusty Rhodes (NYG) |
| MLB seasons | |
The1954 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1954. The regular season ended on September 26, with theNew York Giants andCleveland Indians as the regular season champions of theNational League andAmerican League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the51st World Series on September 29 and ended with Game 4 on October 2. The Giants swept the Indians in four games, capturing their fifth championship in franchise history, since their previous in1933. Going into the season, the defendingWorld Series champions were theNew York Yankees from the1953 season.
The21st Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 13 atCleveland Stadium inCleveland,Ohio, home of theCleveland Indians. TheAmerican League won, 11–9, ending the National League's four-win streak.
In a continuation of therelocation trend that began theprevious season, theSt. Louis Browns moved fromSt. Louis, Missouri toBaltimore, Maryland, leaving St. Louis a one-team city, and seeing the return of American League baseball to Baltimore after 52 seasons. The previous American League relocation involved the same franchise, when theMilwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis as the Browns, 53 seasons earlier. The season would also prove to be the last season of the Athletics franchise in Philadelphia, moving toKansas City, Missouri the following season as theKansas City Athletics.
During the 1953Winter Meetings, theNational League relaxed requirements for relocation, changing the necessary votes from unanimous between the eight teams to 75% (effectively six). This eased the eventual relocation of theGiants andDodgers toCalifornia in1958.[1]
On Opening Day, April 13, thePittsburgh Pirates[a] andSt. Louis Cardinals became the ninth and tenth teams in professional baseball tobreak the color line when they fieldedCurt Roberts andTom Alston, respectively; theCincinnati Redlegs became the 11th team just four days later when they fielded futureNino Escalera andChuck Harmon, while theWashington Senators became the 12th team on September 6 when they fieldedCarlos Paula.[3]
The 1954 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the1904 season (except for1919) and would be used until1961 in the American League and1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 13, featuring all sixteen teams, the first time since1950. The final day of the regular season was on September 26, which saw fourteen teams play, and was the first time since1945 that the scheduled regular season didn't end with all sixteen teams. TheWorld Series took place between September 29 and October 2.
The 1954 season saw the following rule changes:
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 111 | 43 | .721 | — | 59–18 | 52–25 |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 51 | .669 | 8 | 54–23 | 49–28 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | 17 | 45–32 | 49–28 |
| Boston Red Sox | 69 | 85 | .448 | 42 | 38–39 | 31–46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 43 | 35–42 | 33–44 |
| Washington Senators | 66 | 88 | .429 | 45 | 37–41 | 29–47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 100 | .351 | 57 | 32–45 | 22–55 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 51 | 103 | .331 | 60 | 29–47 | 22–56 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 53–23 | 44–34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 92 | 62 | .597 | 5 | 45–32 | 47–30 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 89 | 65 | .578 | 8 | 43–34 | 46–31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 79 | .487 | 22 | 39–39 | 36–40 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 74 | 80 | .481 | 23 | 41–36 | 33–44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 82 | .468 | 25 | 33–44 | 39–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 33 | 40–37 | 24–53 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 53 | 101 | .344 | 44 | 31–46 | 22–55 |
5 tie games (5 in AL, 0 in NL), which are not factored intowinning percentage orgames behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.
The postseason began on September 29 and ended on October 2 with theNew York Giants sweeping theCleveland Indians in the1954 World Series in four games.
| World Series | ||||
| AL | Cleveland Indians | 0 | ||
| NL | New York Giants | 4 | ||
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | Paul Richards | Marty Marion |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Steve O'Neill | Terry Moore |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Bobby Ávila (CLE) | .341 |
| OPS | Ted Williams (BOS) | 1.148 |
| HR | Larry Doby (CLE) | 32 |
| RBI | Larry Doby (CLE) | 126 |
| R | Mickey Mantle (NYY) | 129 |
| H | Nellie Fox (CWS) Harvey Kuenn (DET) | 201 |
| SB | Jackie Jensen (BOS) | 22 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Bob Lemon (CLE) Early Wynn (CLE) | 23 |
| L | Don Larsen (BAL) | 21 |
| ERA | Mike Garcia (CLE) | 2.64 |
| K | Bob Turley (BAL) | 185 |
| IP | Early Wynn (CLE) | 270.2 |
| SV | Johnny Sain (NYY) | 26 |
| WHIP | Mike Garcia (CLE) | 1.125 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Willie Mays (NYG) | .345 |
| OPS | Willie Mays (NYG) | 1.078 |
| HR | Ted Kluszewski (CIN) | 49 |
| RBI | Ted Kluszewski (CIN) | 141 |
| R | Stan Musial (STL) Duke Snider (BRO) | 120 |
| H | Don Mueller (NYG) | 212 |
| SB | Bill Bruton (MIL) | 34 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Robin Roberts (PHI) | 23 |
| L | Murry Dickson (PHI) | 20 |
| ERA | Johnny Antonelli (NYG) | 2.30 |
| K | Robin Roberts (PHI) | 185 |
| IP | Robin Roberts (PHI) | 336.2 |
| SV | Jim Hughes (BRO) | 24 |
| WHIP | Robin Roberts (PHI) | 1.025 |
| Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Rookie of the Year | Wally Moon (STL) | Billy Martin (NYY) |
| Most Valuable Player | Willie Mays (NYG) | Yogi Berra (NYY) |
| Babe Ruth Award (World Series MVP) | Dusty Rhodes (NYG) | — |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Braves[24] | 89 | −3.3% | 2,131,388 | 16.7% | 27,680 |
| New York Yankees[25] | 103 | 4.0% | 1,475,171 | −4.1% | 18,912 |
| Cleveland Indians[26] | 111 | 20.7% | 1,335,472 | 24.9% | 17,344 |
| Chicago White Sox[27] | 94 | 5.6% | 1,231,629 | 3.4% | 15,790 |
| New York Giants[28] | 97 | 38.6% | 1,155,067 | 42.3% | 15,198 |
| Detroit Tigers[29] | 68 | 13.3% | 1,079,847 | 22.1% | 14,024 |
| Baltimore Orioles[30] | 54 | 0.0% | 1,060,910 | 256.9% | 13,778 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[31] | 72 | −13.3% | 1,039,698 | 18.1% | 13,503 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[32] | 92 | −12.4% | 1,020,531 | −12.3% | 13,254 |
| Boston Red Sox[33] | 69 | −17.9% | 931,127 | −9.3% | 11,786 |
| Chicago Cubs[34] | 64 | −1.5% | 748,183 | −2.0% | 9,717 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[35] | 75 | −9.6% | 738,991 | −13.4% | 9,474 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs[36] | 74 | 8.8% | 704,167 | 28.5% | 9,145 |
| Washington Senators[37] | 66 | −13.2% | 503,542 | −15.5% | 6,456 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[38] | 53 | 6.0% | 475,494 | −17.0% | 6,175 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[39] | 51 | −13.6% | 304,666 | −15.9% | 3,957 |
With the relocation of theSt. Louis Browns fromSt. Louis,Missouri toBaltimore,Maryland as theBaltimore Orioles, they leaveBusch Stadium (where they played 52 seasons) and move intoBaltimore Memorial Stadium. They would go on to play there for 38 seasons through1991.
ThePhiladelphia Athletics would play their last game atConnie Mack Stadium on September 19 against theNew York Yankees, relocating toKansas City,Missouri atMunicipal Stadium as theKansas City Athletics for the start of the1955 season.
ABC aired the SaturdayGame of the Week for the second consecutive year. TheAll-Star Game andWorld Series aired exclusively onNBC.
