1955 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1955 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Redlegs finishing in fifth place in the National League, with a record of 75–79, 23+1⁄2 games behind the NL and World Series Champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The Redlegs were managed by Birdie Tebbetts and played their home games at Crosley Field.

1955 Cincinnati Redlegs
League	National League
Ballpark	Crosley Field
City	Cincinnati
Owners	Powel Crosley Jr.
General managers	Gabe Paul
Managers	Birdie Tebbetts
Television	WCPO-TV (Waite Hoyt, Jack Moran)
Radio	WSAI (Waite Hoyt, Jack Moran)
← 1954 1956 →

Offseason

• October 1, 1954: Jim Bolger, Harry Perkowski and Ted Tappe were traded by the Redlegs to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Klippstein and Jim Willis.^[1]
• December 8, 1954: Frank Smith was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ray Jablonski and Gerry Staley.^[2]
• February 10, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased from the Redlegs by the Chicago White Sox.^[3]
• Prior to 1955 season (exact date unknown)
  • Jesse Gonder was signed as an amateur free agent by the Redlegs.^[4]
  • Ernie Broglio was acquired from the Cincinnati Redlegs by the Stockton Ports.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	98	55	.641	—	56‍–‍21	42‍–‍34
Milwaukee Braves	85	69	.552	13½	46‍–‍31	39‍–‍38
New York Giants	80	74	.519	18½	44‍–‍35	36‍–‍39
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	.500	21½	46‍–‍31	31‍–‍46
Cincinnati Redlegs	75	79	.487	23½	46‍–‍31	29‍–‍48
Chicago Cubs	72	81	.471	26	43‍–‍33	29‍–‍48
St. Louis Cardinals	68	86	.442	30½	41‍–‍36	27‍–‍50
Pittsburgh Pirates	60	94	.390	38½	36‍–‍39	24‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1955 National League record v t e 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

• April 30, 1955: Andy Seminick, Glen Gorbous, and Jim Greengrass were traded by the Redlegs to the Philadelphia Phillies for Smoky Burgess, Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik.^[6]
• September 10, 1955: Gene Hayden was obtained by the Redlegs from the Seattle Rainiers as part of a working agreement.^[7]
• September 14, 1955: Gerry Staley was selected off waivers from the Redlegs by the New York Yankees.^[8]

Roster

1955 Cincinnati Redlegs
Roster
Pitchers 46 Fred Baczewski 49 Joe Black 34 Jackie Collum 43 Maurice Fisher 51 Art Fowler 30 Hersh Freeman 31 Don Gross 37 Bob Hooper 35 Johnny Klippstein 31 Jerry Lane 36 Rudy Minarcin 39 Joe Nuxhall 32 Jim Pearce 38 Bud Podbielan 33 Steve Ridzik 42 Gerry Staley 49 Corky Valentine		Catchers  6 Ed Bailey  6 Matt Batts  7 Smoky Burgess  5 Hobie Landrith  7 Andy Seminick Infielders 12 Bobby Adams 14 Rocky Bridges 10 Chuck Harmon 15 Ray Jablonski 18 Ted Kluszewski 11 Roy McMillan 12 Milt Smith 16 Johnny Temple		Outfielders 25 Gus Bell 24 Bob Borkowski 27 Glen Gorbous 23 Jim Greengrass 26 Bob Hazle 24 Sam Mele 23 Stan Palys 28 Wally Post 27 Al Silvera 22 Bob Thurman Other batters 26 Joe Brovia		Manager  1 Birdie Tebbetts Coaches  2 Dick Bartell  4 Jimmy Dykes  3 Tom Ferrick

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	Smokey Burgess	116	421	129	.306	20	77
1B	Ted Kluszewski	153	612	192	.314	47	113
2B	Johnny Temple	150	588	165	.281	0	50
SS	Roy McMillan	151	470	126	.268	1	37
3B	Rocky Bridges	95	168	48	.286	1	18
LF	Stan Palys	79	222	51	.230	7	30
CF	Gus Bell	154	610	188	.308	27	104
RF	Wally Post	154	601	186	.309	40	109

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
Ray Jablonski	74	221	53	.240	9	28
Chuck Harmon	96	198	50	.253	5	28
Bob Thurman	82	152	33	.217	7	22
Bobby Adams	64	150	41	.273	2	20
Milt Smith	36	102	20	.196	3	8
Hobie Landrith	43	87	22	.253	4	7
Matt Batts	26	71	18	.254	0	13
Sam Mele	35	62	13	.210	2	7
Jim Greengrass	13	39	4	.103	0	1
Ed Bailey	21	39	8	.205	1	4
Glen Gorbous	8	18	6	.333	0	4
Bob Borkowski	25	18	3	.167	0	1
Joe Brovia	21	18	2	.111	0	4
Andy Seminick	6	15	2	.133	1	1
Bob Hazle	6	13	3	.231	0	0
Al Silvera	13	7	1	.143	0	2

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
Joe Nuxhall	50	257.0	17	12	3.47	98
Art Fowler	46	207.2	11	10	3.90	94

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
Johnny Klippstein	39	138.0	9	10	3.39	68
Jackie Collum	32	134.0	9	8	3.63	49
Gerry Staley	30	119.2	5	8	4.66	40
Rudy Minarcin	41	115.2	5	9	4.90	45
Joe Black	32	102.1	5	2	4.22	54
Don Gross	17	67.1	4	5	4.14	33
Steve Ridzik	13	30.0	0	3	4.50	6
Corky Valentine	10	26.2	2	1	7.43	14
Jim Pearce	2	3.1	0	1	10.80	0

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
Hersh Freeman	52	7	4	11	2.16	37
Bud Podbielan	17	1	2	0	3.21	26
Bob Hooper	8	0	2	0	7.62	6
Jerry Lane	8	0	2	1	4.91	5
Maurice Fisher	1	0	0	0	6.75	1
Fred Baczewski	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Havana Sugar Kings	International League	Reggie Otero
AA	Nashville Vols	Southern Association	Joe Schultz
A	Columbia Reds	Sally League	Ernie White
B	High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms	Carolina League	Jimmy Brown
B	Sunbury Redlegs	Piedmont League	Virgil Stallcup and Dutch Dorman
C	Duluth Dukes	Northern League	Red Treadway and Jim Crandall
C	Ogden Reds	Pioneer League	Jim Crandall and Red Treadway
D	Fort Walton Beach Jets	Alabama–Florida League	John Streza and Shovel Hodge
D	Douglas Trojans	Georgia State League	Bob Wellman
D	Moultrie Reds	Georgia–Florida League	Ken Polivka

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Douglas^[9]