1953 Cleveland Indians season

1953 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Myron H. Wilson
General manager(s)	Hank Greenberg
Manager(s)	Al López
Local television	WXEL
Local radio	WERE (1300)
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The 1953 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 92–62, 8½ games behind the New York Yankees.

Offseason

• December 11, 1952: Earl Averill, Jr. was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.^[1]

Regular season

Al Rosen became the first third baseman in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award.^[2]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	99	52	.656	--
Cleveland Indians	92	62	.604	8.5
Chicago White Sox	89	65	.578	11.5
Boston Red Sox	84	69	.549	16
Washington Senators	76	76	.500	23.5
Detroit Tigers	60	94	.325	40.5
Philadelphia Athletics	59	95	.383	41.5
St. Louis Browns	54	100	.351	46.5

Record vs. opponents

1953 American League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	STL	WSH
Boston	—	6–16	13–9	13–9	10–11	15–7	17–5	10–12
Chicago	16–6	—	11–11–1	14–8–1	9–13	10–12	17–5	12–10
Cleveland	9–13	11–11–1	—	14–8	11–11	19–3	17–5	11–11
Detroit	9–13	8–14–1	8–14	—	6–16	11–11–3	7–15	11–11
New York	11–10	13–9	11–11	16–6	—	17–5	17–5	14–6
Philadelphia	7–15	12–10	3–19	11–11–3	5–17	—	13–9	8–14
St. Louis	5–17	5–17	5–17	15–7	5–17	9–13	—	10–12
Washington	12–10	10–12	11–11	11–11	6–14	14–8	12–10	—

Notable transactions

• May 1953: Brooks Lawrence was acquired from the Indians by the Cincinnati Reds.^[3]
• June 15, 1953: Ray Boone, Al Aber, Steve Gromek, and Dick Weik were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Art Houtteman, Owen Friend, Bill Wight, and Joe Ginsberg.^[4]

Roster

1953 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 29 Al Aber 12 Lou Brissie 20 Bob Chakales 19 Bob Feller 25 Mike Garcia 27 Steve Gromek 26 Bob Hooper 41,29,11 Art Houtteman 21 Bob Lemon 28 Dick Tomanek 18,27 Bill Wight 28 Ted Wilks 24 Early Wynn		Catchers 15 Dick Aylward 16 Hank Foiles 15 Joe Ginsberg  4 Jim Hegan 18 Joe Tipton Infielders  1 Bobby Ávila  8 Ray Boone  9 Luke Easter  8 Owen Friend 14,6 Bill Glynn  5 Hank Majeski  7 Al Rosen  2 George Strickland		Outfielders 6,14 Larry Doby 33 Bob Kennedy 17 Jim Lemon  3 Dale Mitchell 35 Harry Simpson 32 Al Smith 31 Wally Westlake Other batters 32 Barney McCosky 37 Dick Weik		Manager 10 Al López Coaches 44 Tony Cuccinello 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Red Kress 40 Bill Lobe

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
3B	Rosen, AlAl Rosen	155	599	201	.336	43	145

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
Boone, RayRay Boone	34	112	27	.241	4	21

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

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

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
Aber, AlAl Aber	6	1	1	0	7.50	4

Awards and records

• Al Rosen, American League MVP

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Birdie Tebbetts
A	Reading Indians	Eastern League	Kerby Farrell
B	Spartanburg Peaches	Tri-State League	Jimmy Bloodworth
C	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League	Zeke Bonura and Santo Luberto
C	Sherbrooke Indians	Provincial League	Pinky May
D	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	Ed Levy
D	Green Bay Blue Jays	Wisconsin State League	Phil Seghi

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fargo-Moorhead, Daytona Beach, Green Bay^[5]

• On May 6, 1953, the Fargo-Moorhead Twins defeated Sioux Falls in their Opening Day game by a score of 12–3. A record crowd of 10,123 fans came to Barnett Field. In the game, Roger Maris got his first professional baseball hit.^[6] That season, Twins player Frank Gravino would hit 52 home runs.^[7] The Twins would host the Northern League All-Star game and defeat the Northern League All-Stars by a score of 8–4.^[8] The Twins finished with a record of 86–39 (improving from their record of 44–80 in 1952^[8]) and bested Duluth to win the Northern League championship.^[9] Roger Maris was selected as the 1953 Northern League Rookie of the Year.^[9]

Notes

1. Earl Averill, Jr. at Baseball-Reference
2. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
3. Brooks Lawrence at Baseball-Reference
4. Ray Boone at Baseball-Reference
5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
6. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 54, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4165-8928-0
7. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 55
8. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 56
9. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 58

References

• 1953 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference