1955 Baltimore Orioles
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkMemorial Stadium
CityBaltimore, Maryland
Record57–97 (.370)
League place7th
OwnersJerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart and Clarence Miles
General managersPaul Richards
ManagersPaul Richards
TelevisionWMAR-TV/WAAM/WBAL-TV
(Ernie Harwell, Bailey Goss)
RadioWCBM
(Ernie Harwell, Chuck Thompson, Bailey Goss)
← 1954 Seasons 1956 →

The 1955 Baltimore Orioles season was the second season played in Baltimore. It involved the Orioles finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 57 wins and 97 losses, 39 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees. The team was managed by first-year manager Paul Richards and played their home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.

Offseason

In the fall of 1954, the Orioles further distanced themselves from their Browns past by making a 17-player trade with the New York Yankees that included most former Browns of note still on the Baltimore roster. Indeed, to this day the Orioles make almost no mention of their past as the Browns.[citation needed] Though the deal did little to improve the short-term competitiveness of the club, it helped establish a fresh identity for the Oriole franchise.

The details of the trade were as follows: Don Larsen, Billy Hunter, Bob Turley, and players to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Gene Woodling, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda 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]

Unlike other clubs that transferred in the 1950s, retaining their nickname and a sense of continuity with their past (such as the Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers and New York-San Francisco Giants), the St. Louis Browns were renamed upon their transfer, implicitly distancing themselves at least somewhat from their history.

Other notable transactions

Regular season

Season standings

American League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 96 58 0.623 — 52–25 44–33
Cleveland Indians 93 61 0.604 3 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 91 63 0.591 5 49–28 42–35
Boston Red Sox 84 70 0.545 12 47–31 37–39
Detroit Tigers 79 75 0.513 17 46–31 33–44
Kansas City Athletics 63 91 0.409 33 33–43 30–48
Baltimore Orioles 57 97 0.370 39 30–47 27–50
Washington Senators 53 101 0.344 43 28–49 25–52

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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

Roster

1955 Baltimore Orioles
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 Hal W. Smith 135 424 115 .271 4 52
1B Gus Triandos 140 481 133 .277 12 65
2B Fred Marsh 89 303 66 .218 2 19
SS Willy Miranda 153 487 124 .255 1 38
3B Wayne Causey 68 175 34 .194 1 9
LF Jim Dyck 61 197 55 .279 2 22
CF Chuck Diering 137 371 95 .256 3 31
RF Dave Philley 83 311 93 .299 6 41

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
Cal Abrams 118 309 75 .243 6 32
Dave Pope 86 222 55 .248 1 30
Billy Cox 53 194 41 .211 3 14
Bobby Young 59 186 37 .199 1 8
Hoot Evers 60 185 44 .238 6 30
Bob Hale 67 182 65 .357 0 29
Gene Woodling 47 145 32 .221 3 18
Gil Coan 61 130 31 .238 1 11
Jim Pyburn 39 98 20 .204 0 7
Eddie Waitkus 38 85 22 .259 0 9
Don Leppert 40 70 8 .114 0 2
Bob Kennedy 26 70 10 .143 0 5
Les Moss 29 56 19 .339 2 6
Hank Majeski 16 41 7 .171 0 2
Tex Nelson 25 31 6 .194 0 1
Tom Gastall 20 27 4 .148 0 0
Wally Westlake 8 24 3 .125 0 0
Brooks Robinson 6 22 2 .091 0 1
Angelo Dagres 8 15 4 .267 0 3
Kal Segrist 7 9 3 .333 0 0
Vern Stephens 3 6 1 .167 0 0
Charlie Maxwell 4 4 0 .000 0 0
Roger Marquis 1 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
Jim Wilson 34 235.1 12 18 3.44 96
Erv Palica 33 169.2 5 11 4.14 68
Bill Wight 19 117.1 6 8 2.45 54
Saul Rogovin 14 71.0 1 8 4.56 35
Ed Lopat 10 49.0 3 4 4.22 10

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
Ray Moore 46 151.2 10 10 3.92 80
George Zuverink 28 86.1 4 3 2.19 31
Art Schallock 30 80.1 3 5 4.15 33
Don Johnson 31 68.0 2 4 5.82 27
Harry Byrd 14 65.1 3 2 4.55 25
Hal Brown 15 57.0 0 4 4.11 26
Jim McDonald 21 51.2 3 5 7.14 20
Lou Kretlow 15 38.1 0 4 8.22 26
Duane Pillette 7 20.2 0 3 6.53 13
Ted Gray 9 15.1 1 2 8.22 8
Bob Kuzava 6 12.1 0 1 3.65 5
Joe Coleman 6 11.2 0 1 10.80 4
Bill Miller 5 4.0 0 1 13.50 4

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
Fritz Dorish 35 3 3 6 3.15 22
Don Ferrarese 6 0 0 0 3.00 5
Bob Alexander 4 1 0 0 13.50 1
Chuck Locke 2 0 0 0 0.00 1
Bob Harrison 1 0 0 0 9.00 0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AA San Antonio Missions Texas League Don Heffner
A Wichita Indians Western League Bud Bates
B Fayetteville Highlanders Carolina League Aaron Robinson, Jack McKeon
and Jack Sanford
B York White Roses Piedmont League George Staller
C Pine Bluff Judges/Meridian Millers Cotton States League Bob Knoke and Merrill Smith
C Aberdeen Pheasants Northern League Bill Krueger
C Thetford Mines Mineurs Provincial League Barney Lutz
D Cordele Orioles Georgia–Florida League Lloyd Brown and Max Carey
D Paris Orioles Sooner State League Jimmy Adair

Pine Bluff franchise transferred to Meridian and renamed, June 16, 1955

Notes

  1. ^ Don Larsen page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Billy Cox page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Wally Westlake page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Ed Lopat page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ "1955 All-Star Game".

References

Categories