1955 St. Louis Cardinals season

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, 30+1⁄2 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1955 St. Louis Cardinals
League	National League
Ballpark	Busch Stadium I
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	68–86 (.442)
League place	7th
Owners	August "Gussie" Busch
General managers	Richard A. Meyer
Managers	Eddie Stanky, Harry Walker
Television	KTVI
Radio	KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1954 Seasons 1956 →

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

• 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

• 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
C	Bill Sarni	107	325	83	.255	3	34
1B	Stan Musial	154	562	179	.319	33	108
2B	Red Schoendienst	145	553	148	.268	11	51
SS	Alex Grammas	128	366	88	.240	3	25
3B	Ken Boyer	147	530	140	.264	18	62
LF	Rip Repulski	147	512	138	.270	23	73
CF	Bill Virdon	144	534	150	.281	17	68
RF	Wally 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
Solly Hemus	96	206	50	.243	5	21
Nelson Burbrink	58	170	47	.276	0	15
Harry Elliott	68	117	30	.256	1	12
Pete Whisenant	58	115	22	.191	2	9
Bob Stephenson	67	111	27	.243	0	6
Joe Frazier	58	70	14	.200	4	9
Del Rice	20	59	12	.203	1	7
Don Blasingame	5	16	6	.375	0	0
Harry Walker	11	14	5	.357	0	1
Dick Rand	3	10	3	.300	1	3
Tom Alston	13	8	1	.125	0	0
Ducky Schofield	12	4	0	.000	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
Harvey Haddix	37	208.0	12	16	4.46	150
Larry Jackson	37	177.1	9	14	4.31	88
Luis Arroyo	35	159.0	11	8	4.19	68
Tom Poholsky	30	151.0	9	11	3.81	66
Willard Schmidt	20	129.2	7	6	2.78	86
Ben Flowers	4	27.1	1	0	3.62	19
Vic Raschi	1	1.2	0	1	21.60	1

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
Brooks Lawrence	46	96.0	3	8	6.56	52
Floyd Wooldridge	18	57.2	2	4	4.84	14
Gordon Jones	15	57.0	1	4	5.84	46
John Mackinson	8	20.2	0	1	7.84	8
Lindy McDaniel	4	19.0	0	0	4.74	7

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
Paul LaPalme	56	4	3	2	2.75	39
Mel Wright	29	2	2	1	6.19	18
Frank Smith	28	3	1	1	3.23	17
Barney Schultz	19	1	2	4	7.89	19
Bobby Tiefenauer	18	1	4	0	4.41	16
Herb Moford	14	1	1	2	7.88	8
Al Gettel	8	1	0	0	9.00	7
Tony Jacobs	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

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

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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	Wayne 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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Fresno, Paducah, Hamilton; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Johnson City^[8]

References

1. Peanuts Lowrey at Baseball-Reference
2. Jim King at Baseball-Reference
3. Benny Valenzuela at Baseball-Reference
4. Ray Jablonski at Baseball-Reference
5. Duke Carmel at Baseball-Reference
6. Del Rice at Baseball-Reference
7. "1955 All-Star Game".
8. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1955 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1955 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com