1956 Brooklyn Dodgers season
| 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers | |
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| 1956 National League Champions | |
| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Walter O'Malley |
| Manager(s) | Walter Alston |
| Local television | WOR-TV |
| Local radio |
WMGM Vin Scully, Connie Desmond, Jerry Doggett, Al Helfer |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers edged out the Milwaukee Braves to win the National League title. The Dodgers again faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. This time they lost the series in seven games, one of which was a perfect game by the Yankees' Don Larsen.
Offseason
- December 9, 1955: Don Hoak, Russ Meyer and Walt Moryn were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Randy Jackson and Don Elston.[1]
- December 21, 1955: Jack Littrell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Kansas City Athletics.[2]
- December 30, 1955: Pete Wojey was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for Leo Cristante and cash.[3]
- March 2, 1956: Tommy Lasorda was purchased from the Dodgers by the Kansas City Athletics[4]
Regular season
Don Newcombe won the NL MVP award and the very first Cy Young Award. He was the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same season.[5]
During the season, the Dodgers played seven home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of owner Walter O'Malley's continued attempts to pressure Brooklyn to allow him to build a new stadium in his preferred location at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. The first of these games was on April 19.[6]
Season standings
| National League | W | L | GB | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 93 | 61 | -- | .604 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | 1 | .597 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 91 | 63 | 2 | .591 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 78 | 17 | .494 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 83 | 22 | .461 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | 26 | .435 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 88 | 27 | .429 |
| Chicago Cubs | 60 | 94 | 33 | .390 |
Opening Day lineup
Notable transactions
- April 16, 1956: Tim Thompson was traded by the Dodgers to the Kansas City Athletics for Lee Wheat, Tom Saffell and cash.[7]
- May 14, 1956: Billy Loes was purchased from the Dodgers by the Baltimore Orioles.[8]
- May 15, 1956: Jim Hughes was purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago Cubs.[9]
- May 15, 1956: Sal Maglie was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.[10]
- July 4, 1956: Ray Shearer was traded by the Dodgers to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Frey.[11]
- July 29, 1956: Dale Mitchell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.[12]
Roster
| 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2B | Gilliam, JimJim Gilliam | 153 | 594 | 178 | .300 | 6 | 43 |
| 3B | Jackson, RandyRandy Jackson | 101 | 307 | 84 | .274 | 8 | 53 |
| SS | Reese, Pee WeePee Wee Reese | 147 | 572 | 147 | .257 | 9 | 46 |
| LF | Amorós, SandySandy Amorós | 114 | 292 | 76 | .260 | 16 | 58 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernández, ChicoChico Fernández | 34 | 66 | 15 | .227 | 1 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcombe, DonDon Newcombe | 38 | 268 | 27 | 7 | 3.06 | 139 |
| Craig, RogerRoger Craig | 35 | 199 | 12 | 11 | 3.71 | 109 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessent, DonDon Bessent | 38 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 2.50 | 52 |
| Branca, RalphRalph Branca | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
1956 World Series
Main article: 1956 World Series
Game 1
October 3, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Sal Maglie (1–0) L: Whitey Ford (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1), Billy Martin (1) BRO – Jackie Robinson (1), Gil Hodges (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
October 5, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | x | 13 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Don Bessent (1–0) L: Tom Morgan (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (1) BRO – Duke Snider (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
October 6, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | x | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Whitey Ford (1–1) L: Roger Craig (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Enos Slaughter (1), Billy Martin (2) | ||||||||||||
Game 4
October 7, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | x | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Tom Sturdivant (1–0) L: Carl Erskine (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (2), Hank Bauer (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 5
October 8, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Don Larsen (1–0) L: Sal Maglie (1–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (3) | ||||||||||||
Game 6
October 9, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Clem Labine (1–0) L: Bob Turley (0–1) | |||||||||||||
Game 7
October 10, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| W: Johnny Kucks (1–0) L: Don Newcombe (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (2, 3), Elston Howard (1), Bill Skowron (1) | ||||||||||||
Awards and honors
- National League Most Valuable Player
- Cy Young Award
- TSN Pitcher of the Year Award
All-Stars
- 1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Roy Campanella reserve
- Jim Gilliam reserve
- Clem Labine reserve
- Duke Snider reserve
- TSN Major League All-Star Team
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Tommy Holmes Bill Sweeney |
| AAA | Montreal Royals | International League | Greg Mulleavy |
| AAA | St. Paul Saints | American Association | Max Macon |
| AA | Ft. Worth Cats | Texas League | Lee Handley |
| A | Macon Dodgers | South Atlantic League | Goldie Holt |
| A | Pueblo Dodgers | Western League | Ray Hathaway |
| B | Cedar Rapids Raiders | Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League | George Scherger |
| B | Wichita Falls Spudders | Big State League | Jack Wilkinson Jodie Beeler |
| C | Great Falls Electrics | Pioneer League | Lou Rochelli |
| C | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Ray Perry |
| D | Hornell Dodgers | Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League | Boyd Bartley Charlie Gelbert |
| D | Kokomo Dodgers | Midwest League | Pete Reiser |
| D | Shawnee Hawks | Sooner State League | Jack Banta |
| D | Thomasville Dodgers | Georgia-Florida League | Rudy Rufer George Pfister |
Notes
- ↑ Randy Jackson page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Jack Littrell page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Pete Wojey page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Tommy Lasorda page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- ↑ Parker, Vernon (August 16, 2011). "On This Day in History: August 16 A Lonely Ebbets Without Dodgers". Brooklyn Eagle. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ↑ Tim Thompson page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Billy Loes page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Jim Hughes page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Sal Maglie page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Ray Shearer page at Baseball Reference
- ↑ Dale Mitchell page at Baseball Reference
References
External links
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