1955 St. Louis Cardinals season

1955 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Location
Busch Stadium I (since 1920)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	68–86 (.442)
League place	7th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Richard A. Meyer
Manager(s)	Eddie Stanky, Harry Walker
Local television	KTVI
Local radio	KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1955 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 74th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 64th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 68–86 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, 30½ games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Outfielder Bill Virdon won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .281, with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. This was the second consecutive year a Cardinal won the Rookie of the Year Award, with Wally Moon winning the previous season. The Cardinals would have this occur again in 1985 and 1986, with Vince Coleman and Todd Worrell, respectively.

Offseason

October 19, 1954: Peanuts Lowrey was released by the Cardinals.^[1]
November 22, 1954: Jim King was drafted from the Cardinals by the Chicago Cubs in the 1954 rule 5 draft.^[2]
November 30, 1954: Benny Valenzuela was drafted by the Cardinals from the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings in the 1954 minor league draft.^[3]
December 8, 1954: Ray Jablonski and Gerry Staley were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Frank Smith.^[4]
Prior to 1955 season: Duke Carmel was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	98	55	0.641	—	56–21	42–34
Milwaukee Braves	85	69	0.552	13½	46–31	39–38
New York Giants	80	74	0.519	18½	44–35	36–39
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	0.500	21½	46–31	31–46
Cincinnati Redlegs	75	79	0.487	23½	46–31	29–48
Chicago Cubs	72	81	0.471	26	43–33	29–48
St. Louis Cardinals	68	86	0.442	30½	41–36	27–50
Pittsburgh Pirates	60	94	0.390	38½	36–39	24–55

Record vs. opponents

1955 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	14–7–1	12–10	15–7	13–9	16–6	14–8	14–8
Chicago	7–14–1	—	11–11	7–15	12–10	10–12	11–11	14–8
Cincinnati	10–12	11–11	—	9–13	9–13	11–11	14–8	11–11
Milwaukee	7–15	15–7	13–9	—	14–8	14–8	11–11	11–11
New York	9–13	10–12	13–9	8–14	—	10–12	17–5	13–9
Philadelphia	6–16	12–10	11–11	8–14	12–10	—	15–7	13–9
Pittsburgh	8–14	11–11	8–14	11–11	5–17	7–15	—	10–12
St. Louis	8–14	8–14	11–11	11–11	9–13	9–13	12–10	—

Notable transactions

June 3, 1955: Del Rice was traded by the Cardinals to the Milwaukee Braves for Pete Whisenant.^[6]

Roster

1955 St. Louis Cardinals

Roster

Pitchers

38 Luis Arroyo

37 Ben Flowers

31 Al Gettel

42 Harvey Haddix

39 Larry Jackson

1 Tony Jacobs

45 Gordon Jones

35 Paul LaPalme

31 Brooks Lawrence

28 John Mackinson

41 Lindy McDaniel

40 Herb Moford

23 Tom Poholsky

17 Vic Raschi

44 Willard Schmidt

43 Barney Schultz

25 Frank Smith

34 Bobby Tiefenauer

41 Floyd Wooldridge

17 Mel Wright

Catchers

18 Nelson Burbrink

16 Dick Rand

18 Del Rice

15 Bill Sarni

Infielders

10 Tom Alston

3 Don Blasingame

14 Ken Boyer

4 Alex Grammas

7 Solly Hemus

6 Stan Musial

2 Red Schoendienst

19 Dick Schofield

21 Bob Stephenson

Outfielders

11 Harry Elliott

24 Joe Frazier

20 Wally Moon

8 Rip Repulski

9 Bill Virdon

5 Harry Walker

10 Pete Whisenant

Manager

12 Eddie Stanky

5 Harry Walker

Coaches

27 Lou Kahn

33 Bill Posedel

29 Johnny Riddle

30 Dixie Walker

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
CF	Virdon, BillBill Virdon	144	534	150	.281	17	68
RF	Moon, WallyWally Moon	152	593	175	.295	19	76

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
Walker, HarryHarry Walker	11	14	5	.357	0	1
Rand, DickDick Rand	3	10	3	.300	1	3

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
Arroyo, LuisLuis Arroyo	35	159	11	8	4.19	68
Flowers, BenBen Flowers	4	27.1	1	0	3.62	19

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
Smith, FrankFrank Smith	28	3	1	1	3.23	17
Gettel, AlAl Gettel	8	1	0	0	9.00	7

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Red Schoendienst, second base, starter
Luis Arroyo, reserve
Harvey Haddix, reserve
Stan Musial, reserve^[7]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Cardinals	American Association	Johnny Keane
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Harry Walker, Lou Kahn and Dixie Walker
AA	Houston Buffaloes	Texas League	Mike Ryba
A	Allentown Cardinals	Eastern League	Harold Olt
A	Columbus Cardinals	Sally League	Ferrell Anderson
B	Peoria Chiefs	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Whitey Kurowski
B	Lynchburg Cardinals	Piedmont League	George Kissell
C	Mexicali Eagles	Arizona–Texas League	Art Lilly
C	Fresno Cardinals	California League	Roland LeBlanc
C	Winnipeg Goldeyes	Northern League	Al Kubski
D	Dothan Cardinals	Alabama–Florida League	Chase Riddle
D	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League	Virgil Wallace
D	Sanford Cardinals	Florida State League	Dan Keith and Mario Mauriello
D	Hazlehurst-Baxley Cardinals	Georgia State League	Samuel Goodsoozian
D	Albany Cardinals	Georgia–Florida League	J. C. Dunn
D	Paducah Chiefs	KITTY League	Homer Ray Wilson
D	Decatur Commodores	Mississippi–Ohio Valley League	Al Unser
D	Hamilton Cardinals	PONY League	Ed Lyons
D	Ardmore Cardinals	Sooner State League	Frank Mancuso

Notes

↑ Peanuts Lowrey at Baseball-Reference
↑ Jim King at Baseball-Reference
↑ Benny Valenzuela at Baseball-Reference
↑ Ray Jablonski at Baseball-Reference
↑ Duke Carmel at Baseball-Reference
↑ Del Rice at Baseball-Reference
↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml
↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

1955 MLB season by team

American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City New York Washington

National League	Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

1955 All-Star Game 1955 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals

Based in St. Louis, Missouri

Franchise

History

Ballparks

Robison Field Sportsman's Park Busch Memorial Stadium Busch Stadium

Spring training	Whittington Park Herald Park West End Park McKechnie Field City Island Ball Park Al Lang Stadium Roger Dean Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

Key personnel

Owner: Bill DeWitt, Jr.
General Manager: John Mozeliak
Manager: Mike Matheny

Minors

AAA: Memphis Redbirds
AA: Springfield Cardinals
A Adv.: Palm Beach Cardinals
A: Peoria Chiefs
Short A: State College Spikes
Rookie Adv.: Johnson City Cardinals
Rookie: Gulf Coast League Cardinals; Dominican Summer League Cardinals

World Series
Championships

pre-MLB	1885 1886

MLB	1926 1931 1934 1942 1944 1946 1964 1967 1982 2006 2011

League pennants

American Association	1885 1886 1887 1888

National League	1926 1928 1930 1931 1934 1942 1943 1944 1946 1964 1967 1968 1982 1985 1987 2004 2006 2011 2013

Division titles

National League East: 1982; 1985; 1987
National League Central: 1996; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2009; 2013; 2014; 2015

Wild card titles

All Star Games hosted

Seasons (136)

1880s	1880 · 1881 · 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890s	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

1900s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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