1954 Baltimore Orioles season

1954 Baltimore Orioles
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Memorial Stadium (since 1954)
Baltimore, Maryland (since 1954)
Results
Record	54–100 (.351)
League place	7th
Other information
Owner(s)	Jerold Hoffberger, Clarence Miles
General manager(s)	Arthur Ehlers
Manager(s)	Jimmy Dykes
Local television	WMAR-TV/WAAM
Local radio	WCBM (Ernie Harwell, Howard Williams, Bailey Goss)
Previous season     Next season  >

The 1954 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's 54th season (it was founded as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901, then played as the St. Louis Browns from 1902–53) but its first season as the Baltimore Orioles. The season involved the Orioles finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses, 57 games behind the AL champion Cleveland Indians in their first season in Baltimore. The team was managed by Jimmy Dykes, and played its home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.

Offseason

• November 30, 1953: Chuck Diering was purchased by the Orioles from the San Francisco Seals.^[1]
• February 2, 1954: Satchel Paige was released by the Orioles.^[2]
• February 5, 1954: Johnny Groth and Johnny Lipon were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Neil Berry and Sam Mele.^[3]
• April 8, 1954: Dave Koslo was acquired from the New York Giants.^[4]

Regular season

• April 13, 1954: The Orioles opened their first season as the reborn Browns on the road, on April 13, 1954, at Briggs Stadium against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won, 3–0, on three solo home runs (from Ray Boone, Walt Dropo and Frank Bolling). Steve Gromek hurled the complete game shutout and Don Larsen (who would lose 21 of 24 decisions that year) was the hard-luck loser.^[5]
• April 15: Thousands of Baltimoreans jammed city streets as the new Orioles paraded from downtown to their new home at Memorial Stadium. During the 90-minute parade, the new birds signed autographs, handed out pictures and threw styrofoam balls to crowd as the throng marched down 33rd Street West. Inside, more than 46,000 watched the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–1, to win their home opener and move into first place in the American League.^[6] Ironically, the Orioles lost their last home game of the season, 11–0, to the same White Sox, finishing with 100 losses and 57½ games out of first place.^[7]
• September 12: At Memorial Stadium, Joe Durham hit a solo home run off Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Al Sima in the sixth inning, to become the first African-American position player to belt a homer in Baltimore Orioles history.^[8][9]

Opening day lineup, April 13, 1954

5	Bobby Young	2B
3	Eddie Waitkus	1B
16	Gil Coan	CF
20	Vic Wertz	RF
15	Sam Mele	LF
4	Vern Stephens	3B
6	Billy Hunter	SS
11	Clint Courtney	C
27	Don Larsen	P[5]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Cleveland Indians	111	43	.721	--
New York Yankees	103	51	.669	8
Chicago White Sox	94	60	.610	17
Boston Red Sox	69	85	.448	42
Detroit Tigers	68	86	.442	43
Washington Senators	66	88	.429	45
Baltimore Orioles	54	100	.351	57
Philadelphia Athletics	51	103	.331	60

Record vs. opponents

1954 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–11	7–15	3–19	8–14	5–17	10–12	10–12
Boston	11–11	—	5–17	2–20–2	14–8	9–13	15–7	13–9
Chicago	15–7	17–5	—	11–11	12–10–1	7–15	17–5	15–7
Cleveland	19–3	20–2–2	11–11	—	14–8	11–11	18–4	18–4
Detroit	14–8	8–14	10–12–1	8–14	—	6–16	13–9	9–13
New York	17–5	13–9	15–7	11–11	16–6	—	18–4–1	13–9
Philadelphia	12–10	7–15	5–17	4–18	9–13	4–18–1	—	10–12–1
Washington	12–10	9–13	7–15	4–18	13–9	9–13	12–10–1	—

Notable transactions

• May 11, 1954: Neil Berry, Dick Kokos and Jim Post (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Jim Brideweser.^[10]
• May 12, 1954: Don Lenhardt was acquired from the Orioles by the Boston Red Sox.^[11]
• May 25, 1954: Dick Littlefield was traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Cal Abrams.^[12]
• June 1, 1954: Vic Wertz was traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Bob Chakales.^[13]
• July 4, 1954: Marlin Stuart was claimed off waivers from the Orioles by the New York Yankees.^[14]
• August 7, 1954: Bob Kuzava was claimed off waivers by the Orioles from the New York Yankees.^[15]

Roster

1954 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 24 Vern Bickford 34 Mike Blyzka 20 Bob Chakales 35 Joe Coleman 21 Ryne Duren 21,37 Howie Fox 38 Jay Heard 22,24 Dave Koslo 23 Lou Kretlow 15 Bob Kuzava 27 Don Larsen 18 Dick Littlefield 24 Billy O'Dell 28 Duane Pillette 26 Marlin Stuart 33 Bob Turley		Catchers 11 Clint Courtney 10 Les Moss  9 Ray Murray Infielders  2 Neil Berry  2 Jim Brideweser  1 Chico García  6 Billy Hunter  7 Frank Kellert 40 Bob Kennedy  8 Dick Kryhoski  4 Vern Stephens  3 Eddie Waitkus  5 Bobby Young		Outfielders 18 Cal Abrams 16 Gil Coan 32 Chuck Diering 43 Joe Durham 17 Jim Fridley 19 Dick Kokos 14 Don Lenhardt 15 Sam Mele 20 Vic Wertz		Manager 25 Jimmy Dykes Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 29 Tom Oliver 30 Frank Skaff

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	Courtney, ClintClint Courtney	122	397	107	.270	4	37
1B	Waitkus, EddieEddie Waitkus	95	311	88	.283	2	33
2B	Young, BobbyBobby Young	130	432	106	.245	4	24
3B	Stephens, VernVern Stephens	101	365	104	.285	8	46
SS	Hunter, BillyBilly Hunter	125	411	100	.243	2	27
LF	Fridley, JimJim Fridley	85	240	59	.246	4	36
CF	Diering, ChuckChuck Diering	128	418	108	.258	2	29
RF	Abrams, CalCal Abrams	115	423	124	.293	6	25

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
Kennedy, BobBob Kennedy	106	323	81	.251	6	45
Kryhoski, DickDick Kryhoski	100	300	78	.260	1	34
Coan, GilGil Coan	94	265	74	.279	2	20
Brideweser, JimJim Brideweser	73	204	54	.265	0	12
Mele, SamSam Mele	72	230	55	.239	5	32
Moss, LesLes Moss	50	126	31	.246	0	5
García, ChicoChico García	39	62	7	.113	0	5
Wertz, VicVic Wertz	29	94	19	.202	1	13
Murray, RayRay Murray	22	61	15	.246	0	2
Lenhardt, DonDon Lenhardt	13	33	5	.152	0	1
Kokos, DickDick Kokos	11	10	2	.200	1	1
Durham, JoeJoe Durham	10	40	9	.225	1	3
Kellert, FrankFrank Kellert	10	34	7	.206	0	1
Berry, NeilNeil Berry	5	9	1	.111	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
Turley, BobBob Turley	35	247.1	14	15	3.46	185
Coleman, JoeJoe Coleman	33	221.1	13	17	3.50	103
Larsen, DonDon Larsen	29	201.2	3	21	4.37	80
Pillette, DuaneDuane Pillette	25	179	10	14	3.12	66
Kuzava, BobBob Kuzava	4	23.2	1	3	4.18	15
Bickford, VernVern Bickford	1	4	0	1	9.00	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
Kretlow, LouLou Kretlow	32	166.2	6	11	4.37	82
O'Dell, BillyBilly O'Dell	7	16.1	1	1	2.76	6
Koslo, DaveDave Koslo	3	14.1	0	1	3.14	3

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
Chakales, BobBob Chakales	38	3	7	3	3.73	44
Fox, HowieHowie Fox	38	1	2	2	3.67	27
Blyzka, MikeMike Blyzka	37	1	5	1	4.69	35
Stuart, MarlinMarlin Stuart	22	1	2	2	4.46	13
Littlefield, DickDick Littlefield	3	0	0	0	10.50	5
Heard, JayJay Heard	2	0	0	0	13.50	2
Duren, RyneRyne Duren	1	0	0	0	9.00	2

Awards and honors

1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Bob Turley

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Don Heffner
A	Wichita Indians	Western League	Herb Brett and Les Layton
A	Lewiston Broncs	Western International League	Larry Barton, Sr.
B	York White Roses	Piedmont League	George Staller
B	Anderson Rebels	Tri-State League	Virgil Stallcup, Fred Boiko and Bob Knoke
C	Pine Bluff Judges	Cotton States League	Frank Lucchesi and Bill Enos
C	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	Barney Lutz
C	Thetford Mines Mineurs	Provincial League	Bill Krueger
D	Wytheville Statesmen	Appalachian League	Joe Murray, Bill Enos and Jim Cisternelli
D	Americus-Cordele Orioles	Georgia–Florida League	Cliff Melton and Jack Landis
D	Ada Herefords/Cementers	Sooner State League	Louis Brower and John Densmore
D	Marion Marauders	Tar Heel League	Bob Knoke

Tar Heel League disbanded, June 21, 1954

Notes

1. Chuck Diering at Baseball-Reference
2. Satchel Paige at Baseball-Reference
3. Johnny Groth at Baseball-Reference
4. Dave Koslo transactions at Baseball Reference
5. Retrosheet box score: 1954-04-13
6. Baseball Library Chronology, April 1954
7. 1954 Orioles at Baseball Library
8. Joe Durham, first African-American player to homer for Orioles, dies at 84. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on April 29, 2016.
9. Philadelphia Athletics 5, Baltimore Orioles 4 (2). Game Played on Sunday, September 12, 1954 (D) at Memorial Stadium. Box Score and Play by Play. Retrosheet. Retrieved on April 29, 2016.
10. Neil Berry at Baseball-Reference
11. Don Lenhardt transactions at Baseball-Reference
12. Dick Littlefield transactions at Baseball-Reference
13. Bob Chakales at Baseball-Reference
14. Marlin Stuart transactions at Baseball-Reference
15. Bob Kuzava transactions at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1954 Baltimore Orioles team at Baseball-Reference
• 1954 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com