1956 Chicago White Sox season

1956 Chicago White Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Comiskey Park (since 1910)
Chicago (since 1900)
Other information
Owner(s)	Grace Comiskey, Dorothy Comiskey Rigney
General manager(s)	Chuck Comiskey/Johnny Rigney
Manager(s)	Marty Marion
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Local radio	WCFL (Bob Elson, Don Wells)
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The 1956 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 56th season in the major leagues, and its 57th season overall. They finished with a record 85–69, good enough for third place in the American League, 12 games behind the first place New York Yankees.

Offseason

• October 25, 1955: Chico Carrasquel and Jim Busby were traded by the White Sox to the Cleveland Indians for Larry Doby.^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	97	57	.630	--
Cleveland Indians	88	66	.571	9
Chicago White Sox	85	69	.552	12
Boston Red Sox	84	70	.545	13
Detroit Tigers	82	72	.532	15
Baltimore Orioles	69	85	.448	28
Washington Senators	59	95	.383	38
Kansas City Athletics	52	102	.338	45

Record vs. opponents

1956 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–16	9–13	5–17	13–9	15–7	9–13	12–10
Boston	16–6	—	14–8	13–9–1	12–10	12–10	8–14	9–13
Chicago	13–9	8–14	—	15–7	13–9	14–8	9–13	13–9
Cleveland	17–5	9–13–1	7–15	—	11–11	17–5	10–12	17–5
Detroit	9–13	10–12	9–13	11–11	—	16–6	12–10	15–7–1
Kansas City	7–15	10–12	8–14	5–17	6–16	—	4–18	12–10
New York	13–9	14–8	13–9	12–10	10–12	18–4	—	17–5
Washington	10–12	13–9	9–13	5–17	7–15–1	10–12	5–17	—

Opening Day lineup

• Jim Rivera, rf
• Nellie Fox, 2b
• Larry Doby, cf
• Bob Kennedy, 3b
• Minnie Miñoso, lf
• Sherm Lollar, c
• Walt Dropo, 1b
• Luis Aparicio, ss
• Billy Pierce, p

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1956: Carl Sawatski was purchased from the White Sox by the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[2]
• May 15, 1956: Jim Brideweser, Harry Byrd and Bob Kennedy were traded by the White Sox to the Detroit Tigers for Jim Delsing and Fred Hatfield.^[3]
• May 21, 1956: Mike Fornieles, Connie Johnson, George Kell and Bob Nieman were traded by the White Sox to the Baltimore Orioles for Dave Philley and Jim Wilson.^[4]
• May 28, 1956: Gerry Staley was selected off waivers by the White Sox from the New York Yankees.^[5]
• July 13, 1956: Morrie Martin was selected off waivers from the White Sox by the Baltimore Orioles.^[6]

Roster

1956 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 32 Harry Byrd 20 Sandy Consuegra 31 Jerry Dahlke 18 Jim Derrington 22 Dick Donovan 27 Bill Fischer 16 Mike Fornieles 29 Jack Harshman 28 Dixie Howell 44 Connie Johnson 15 Bob Keegan 27 Ellis Kinder 31 Paul LaPalme 24 Dick Marlowe 36 Morrie Martin 36 Jim McDonald 19 Billy Pierce 24 Howie Pollet 66,21 Gerry Staley 30 Jim Wilson		Catchers 26 Earl Battey 10 Sherm Lollar 12 Les Moss Infielders 11 Luis Aparicio  3 Jim Brideweser  8 Walt Dropo 48 Sammy Esposito  2 Nellie Fox  3 Fred Hatfield 42 Ron Jackson  1 George Kell 30 Bob Kennedy  6 Dave Philley		Outfielders 25 Cal Abrams 25 Jim Delsing 14 Larry Doby  9 Minnie Miñoso 18 Bob Nieman 6,32 Ron Northey  5 Bubba Phillips  7 Jim Rivera		Manager  4 Marty Marion Coaches 37 Ray Berres 39 Don Gutteridge 34 George Myatt 33 Del Wilber

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Cal Abrams, OF	4	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	.333	0
Luis Aparicio, SS	152	533	69	142	19	6	3	56	34	63	.266	21
Earl Battey, C	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250	0
Jim Brideweser, SS	10	11	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	3	.182	0
Jim Delsing, OF	55	41	11	5	3	0	0	2	10	13	.122	1
Larry Doby, CF	140	504	89	135	22	3	24	102	102	105	.268	0
Walt Dropo, 1B	125	361	42	96	13	1	8	52	37	51	.266	1
Sammy Esposito, 3B,SS	81	184	30	42	8	2	3	25	41	19	.228	1
Nellie Fox, 2B	154	649	109	192	20	10	4	52	44	14	.296	8
Fred Hatfield, 3B	106	321	46	84	9	1	7	33	37	36	.262	1
Ron Jackson, 1B	22	56	7	12	3	0	1	4	10	13	.214	1
George Kell, 3B,1B	21	80	7	25	5	0	1	11	8	6	.313	0
Bob Kennedy, 3B	8	13	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	.077	0
Sherm Lollar, C	136	450	55	132	28	2	11	75	53	34	.293	2
Minnie Miñoso, LF	151	545	106	172	29	11	21	88	86	40	.316	12
Les Moss, C	56	127	20	31	4	0	10	22	18	15	.244	0
Bob Nieman, RF	14	40	3	12	1	0	2	4	4	4	.300	0
Ron Northey, OF	53	48	4	17	2	0	3	23	8	1	.354	0
Dave Philley, 1B,RF,LF	86	279	44	74	14	2	4	47	28	27	.265	1
Bubba Phillips, OF	67	99	16	27	6	0	2	11	6	12	.273	1
Jim Rivera, RF,CF	139	491	76	125	23	5	12	66	49	75	.255	20

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Harry Byrd, P	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Sandy Consuegra, P	28	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	0
Jim Derrington, P	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.500	0
Dick Donovan, P	44	90	10	20	4	0	3	15	14	30	.222	0
Mike Fornieles, P	6	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.200	0
Jack Harshman, P	36	71	8	12	1	0	6	19	11	21	.169	0
Dixie Howell, P	34	17	4	4	0	0	2	3	2	6	.235	0
Connie Johnson, P	5	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Bob Keegan, P	20	32	2	4	0	0	0	1	4	7	.125	0
Ellis Kinder, P	29	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Paul LaPalme, P	29	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	.000	0
Morrie Martin, P	10	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.200	0
Jim McDonald, P	8	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000	0
Billy Pierce, P	39	102	6	16	0	0	0	3	3	22	.157	0
Howie Pollet, P	12	8	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.375	0
Gerry Staley, P	26	32	2	3	0	0	0	1	2	6	.094	0
Jim Wilson, P	28	62	6	19	2	0	1	8	1	13	.306	0
Team totals	154	5286	776	1412	218	43	128	726	619	658	.267	70

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Harry Byrd	0	1	10.38	3	1	0	4.1	9	6	5	0	4	0
Sandy Consuegra	1	2	5.17	28	1	3	38.1	45	25	22	0	14	7
Jerry Dahlke	0	0	19.29	5	0	0	2.1	5	5	5	0	6	1
Jim Derrington	0	1	7.50	1	1	0	6.0	9	6	5	2	6	3
Dick Donovan	12	10	3.64	34	31	0	234.2	212	99	95	22	95	120
Bill Fischer	0	0	21.60	3	0	0	1.2	6	4	4	0	1	2
Mike Fornieles	0	1	4.60	6	0	0	15.2	22	9	8	1	7	6
Jack Harshman	15	11	3.10	34	30	0	226.2	183	85	78	14	106	143
Dixie Howell	5	6	4.62	34	1	4	64.1	79	39	33	3	46	28
Connie Johnson	0	1	3.65	5	2	0	12.1	11	5	5	1	7	6
Bob Keegan	5	7	3.93	20	16	0	105.1	119	56	46	15	37	32
Ellis Kinder	3	1	2.73	29	0	3	29.2	33	10	9	2	8	19
Paul LaPalme	3	1	2.36	29	0	2	45.2	31	14	12	2	29	23
Dick Marlowe	0	0	9.00	1	0	0	1.0	2	1	1	1	1	0
Morrie Martin	1	0	4.91	10	0	0	18.1	21	10	10	1	7	9
Jim McDonald	0	2	8.68	8	3	0	18.2	29	18	18	2	7	10
Billy Pierce	20	9	3.32	35	33	1	276.1	261	108	102	24	107	192
Howie Pollet	3	1	4.10	11	4	0	26.1	27	15	12	2	11	14
Gerry Staley	8	3	2.92	26	10	0	101.2	98	37	33	11	23	25
Jim Wilson	9	12	4.06	28	21	0	159.2	149	82	72	15	75	82
Team totals	85	69	3.73	154	154	13	1389.0	1351	634	575	118	567	722

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Memphis Chicks	Southern Association	Jack Cassini and Don Griffin
A	Colorado Springs Sky Sox	Western League	Jack Conway
B	Waterloo White Hawks	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Ira Hutchinson
C	Duluth-Superior White Sox	Northern League	Joe Hauser
D	Dubuque Packers	Midwest League	George Noga
D	Holdrege White Sox	Nebraska State League	Skeeter Scalzi

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Duluth-Superior^[7]

Notes

1. Chico Carrasquel page at Baseball Reference
2. Carl Sawatski page at Baseball Reference
3. Jim Brideweser page at Baseball Reference
4. Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
5. Gerry Staley page at Baseball Reference
6. Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References

• 1956 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference