1954 Cleveland Indians season

March 2026 November 2013 Cleveland Indians Master-pnp-ppmsca-18800-18869u.tif Team shown in the locker room, 1954 1954 American League champions American League Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland, Ohio Myron H. Wilson Hank Greenberg Al López WXEL(Ken Coleman, Jim Britt) WERE(Jimmy Dudley, Ed Edwards) The 1954 Cleveland Indians advanced to the World Series for the first time in six years. It was the team's third American League championship in franchise history. The Indians' 111–43 record is the all-time record for winning percentage by an American League team (.721), as this was before 162 games were played in a season. For more than 60 years, Cleveland had been the only team in Major League Baseball to have compiled two different 11-game winning streaks within the same season, until the Toronto Blue Jays were able to accomplish the rare feat during the 2015 regular season.http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25268853/jays-become-first-team-since-54-indians-with-two-11-game-win-streaks Blue Jays become first team since '54 Indians with two 11-game win streaks Perry Dayn August 13, 2015 CBSsports.com However, their great regular-season record would not be enough to win the World Series, as the Indians got swept in four games by the New York Giants, after which the Indians would not return to the Fall Classic or any postseason play of any kind until 1995. Offseason February 19, 1954: Bill Upton and Lee Wheat were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Athletics for Dave Philley.Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents CLE Notable transactions April 12, 1954: Hal Newhouser was signed as a free agent by the Indians.Hal Newhouser page at Baseball-Reference June 1, 1954: Bob Chakales was traded by the Indians to the Baltimore Orioles for Vic Wertz.Bob Chakales page at Baseball-Reference Roster 1954 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers 23 Bob Chakales 19 Bob Feller 25 Mike Garcia 26 Bob Hooper 22 Dave Hoskins 11 Art Houtteman 21 Bob Lemon 12 Don Mossi 20 Ray Narleski 16 Hal Newhouser 38 José Santiago 28 Dick Tomanek 24 Early Wynn Catchers 15 Joe Ginsberg 15 Mickey Grasso  4 Jim Hegan 18 Hal Naragon Infielders  1 Bobby Ávila 36 Sam Dente  6 Bill Glynn  5 Hank Majeski 37 Rocky Nelson  8 Rudy Regalado  7 Al Rosen  2 George Strickland 23 Vic Wertz Outfielders 14 Larry Doby 33 Bob Kennedy  3 Dale Mitchell 17 Dave Philley 34 Dave Pope 32 Al Smith 31 Wally Westlake Other batters 33 Jim Dyck  9 Luke Easter Manager 10 Al López Coaches 44 Tony Cuccinello (Third base) 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Red Kress (First base) 40 Bill Lobe (Bullpen) Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 Jim Hegan 139 423 99 .234 11 40 1B Vic Wertz 94 295 81 .275 14 48 2B Bobby Ávila 143 555 189 .341 15 67 3B Al Rosen 137 466 140 .300 24 102 SS George Strickland George Strickland (baseball) 112 361 77 .213 6 37 LF Al Smith Al Smith (outfielder) 131 481 135 .281 11 50 CF Larry Doby 153 577 157 .272 32 126 RF Dave Philley 133 452 102 .226 12 60 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 Wally Westlake 85 240 63 .263 11 42 Rudy Regalado baseball 65 180 45 .250 2 24 Bill Glynn Bill Glynn (baseball) 111 171 43 .251 5 18 Sam Dente 68 169 45 .266 1 19 Hank Majeski 57 121 34 .281 3 17 Dave Pope 60 102 30 .294 4 13 Hal Naragon 46 101 24 .238 0 12 Dale Mitchell Dale Mitchell (baseball) 53 60 17 .283 1 6 Mickey Grasso 4 6 2 .333 1 1 Luke Easter Luke Easter (baseball) 6 6 1 .167 0 0 Rocky Nelson 4 4 0 .000 0 0 Joe Ginsberg 3 2 1 .500 0 1 Jim Dyck 2 1 1 1.000 0 1 Bob Kennedy 1 0 0 ---- 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 Early Wynn 40 270.2 23 11 2.73 155 Mike Garcia Mike Garcia (AL pitcher) 45 258.2 19 8 2.64 129 Bob Lemon 36 258.1 23 7 2.72 110 Art Houtteman 32 188.0 15 7 3.35 68 Bob Feller 19 140.0 13 3 3.09 59 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 Ray Narleski 42 3 3 13 2.22 52 Don Mossi 40 6 1 7 1.94 55 Hal Newhouser 26 7 2 7 2.51 25 Bob Hooper 17 0 0 2 2.72 12 Dave Hoskins 14 0 1 0 3.04 9 Bob Chakales 3 2 0 0 0.87 3 José Santiago José Santiago (1950s pitcher) 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 Dick Tomanek 1 0 0 0 5.40 0 1954 World Series 1954 World Series This was the first time (and only to date) that the Cleveland Indians were swept in a World Series. The only highlight for the Indians was that they kept the Yankees from winning their sixth straight series. The last time the Yankees had not won the series or pennant beforehand was 1948, when, again, the Indians kept them out (although that year, they won the Series). It was also the only World Series from 1949 to 1958 which did not feature the Yankees. Game 1 September 29, 1954, at the Polo Grounds in New York Team12345678910RHECleveland (A)2000000000280New York (N)0020000003593W: Marv Grissom (1–0)   L: Bob Lemon (0–1)HR: NYG – Dusty Rhodes (1) Game 2 September 30, 1954, at the Polo Grounds in New York Team123456789RHECleveland (A)100000000180New York (N)00002010x340W: Johnny Antonelli (1–0)   L: Early Wynn (0–1)HR: CLE – Al Smith (1)    NYG – Dusty Rhodes (2) Game 3 October 1, 1954, at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio Team123456789RHENew York (N)1030110006101Cleveland (A)000000110242W: Rubén Gómez (1–0)  L: Mike Garcia (0–1)   S: Hoyt Wilhelm (1)HR: CLE – Vic Wertz (1) Game 4 October 2, 1954, at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio Team123456789RHENew York (N)0210400007103Cleveland (A)000030100462W: Don Liddle (1–0)  L: Bob Lemon (0–2)   S: Johnny Antonelli (1)HR: CLE – Hank Majeski (1) Composite Box 1954 World Series (4–0): New York Giants (N.L.) over Cleveland Indians (A.L.) Team12345678910RHENew York Giants126071100321337Cleveland Indians30003021009264Total Attendance: 251,507   Average Attendance: 62,877Winning Player's Share: – $11,118   Losing Player's Share – $6,713 Award winners All-Star Game Al Rosen, first baseman, starter Bobby Ávila, second baseman, starter Larry Doby, reserve Mike Garcia, reserve Bob Lemon, reserve Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Kerby Farrell A Reading Indians Eastern League Pinky May B Keokuk Kernels Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Jo-Jo White B Spartanburg Peaches Tri-State League Jimmy Bloodworth C Fargo-Moorhead Twins Northern League Phil Seghi C Sherbrooke Indians Provincial League Mark Wylie D Jacksonville Beach Sea Birds Florida State League Spud Chandler D Tifton Indians Georgia–Florida League Ed Hartness D Pauls Valley Raiders Sooner State League Lloyd Pearson and Bennie Warren LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fargo-MoorheadJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 The 1954 Indianapolis Indians featured Herb Score and Rocky Colavito. Colavito hit 38 home runs and accumulated 116 RBIs.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p.68, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, 978-1-4165-8928-0 Notes 2 References 1954 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1954 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com 1954 World Series page at Baseball Reference External links 1954 Cleveland Indians at BaseballLibrary.com Category:American League champion seasons Category:Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cleveland Indians