1954 Baltimore Orioles season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Baltimore Orioles 1954 American League Memorial Stadium Baltimore, Maryland 54–100 (.351) 7th Jerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart and Clarence Miles Arthur Ehlers, Paul Richards Jimmy Dykes WMAR-TV/WAAM WCBM(Ernie Harwell, Howard Williams, Bailey Goss) 1953 St. Louis Browns season The 1954 Baltimore Orioles season saw the restoration of Major League Baseball to Baltimore after a 51-year absence, and the debut of the modern edition of the MLB Oriole franchise. Upon the transfer of the moribund St. Louis Browns on September 30, 1953, Baltimore returned to the American League over a half century after the Orioles of 1901–02 departed for New York City, where they eventually became the Yankees. The Baltimore Terrapins of the "outlaw" Federal League filled the void in 1914 and 1915, but the insurgent circuit collapsed without gaining recognition as a "third major league," and, as of 2022, its status remained in dispute.http://research.sabr.org/journals/federal-league-a-major-league Was the Federal League a Major League? Rothe Emil Burtt Richard 2005 Society for American Baseball Research 6 September 2022 During most of its 51 seasons without a major-league team, Baltimore was represented in Organized Baseball by a top-level minor-league club, the Orioles of the International League. For the American League franchise itself, its first season in Maryland actually was the 54th in its history: the team was originally founded as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901, then transferred to Missouri as the Browns, who played from 1902 to 1953. Inheriting the playing personnel of the 1953 Browns, the 1954 Orioles finished seventh in the eight-team American League with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses, 57 games behind the AL champion Cleveland Indians. The team was managed by Jimmy Dykes, and played its home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, where it attracted 1,060,910 fans, fifth in the Junior Circuit but a massive 257 percent improvement over the 1953 Browns' totals.Baseball Reference: 1954 MLB Attendance The franchise made a net profit of about $430,000."$86,715 Orioles' Loss Changes Richards' Plan," The Associated Press (AP), Sunday 29 April 1956. Retrieved 13 June 2025. The new Orioles' games were broadcast over television and radio by the trio of Ernie Harwell, Howard Williams and Bailey Goss on WMAR-TV/WAAM (television) and WCBM (radio). Offseason November 30, 1953: Chuck Diering was purchased by the Orioles from the San Francisco Seals.Chuck Diering at Baseball-Reference February 2, 1954: Satchel Paige was released by the Orioles.Satchel Paige at Baseball-Reference February 5, 1954: Johnny Groth and Johnny Lipon were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Neil Berry and Sam Mele.Johnny Groth at Baseball-Reference April 8, 1954: Dave Koslo was acquired from the New York Giants.Dave Koslo transactions at Baseball Reference Regular season April 13, 1954: The Orioles opened their first season as the reborn Browns on the road, on April 13, 1954, at Briggs Stadium against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won, 3–0, on three solo home runs (from Ray Boone, Walt Dropo and Frank Bolling). Steve Gromek hurled the complete game shutout and Don Larsen (who would lose 21 of 24 decisions that year) was the hard-luck loser.Retrosheet box score: 1954-04-13 April 15: Thousands of Baltimoreans jammed city streets as the new Orioles paraded from downtown to their new home at Memorial Stadium. During the 90-minute parade, the new Birds signed autographs, handed out pictures and threw styrofoam balls to the crowd as the throng marched down 33rd Street West. Inside, more than 46,000 watched the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–1, to win their home opener and move into first place in the American League. Clint Courtney hit the first home run in modern Orioles history, a solo blow in the third inning.http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/chronology/1954APRIL.stm APRIL, 1954 | BaseballLibrary.com January 28, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20071223112712/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/chronology/1954APRIL.stm December 23, 2007 dead Ironically, the Orioles lost their last home game of the season, 11–0, to the same White Sox, finishing with 100 losses and 57 1 2 games out of first place.1954 Orioles https://web.archive.org/web/20071020030309/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/teams/1954orioles.stm October 20, 2007 at Baseball Library September 12: At Memorial Stadium, Joe Durham hit a solo home run off Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Al Sima in the sixth inning, to become the first African-American position player to belt a homer in Baltimore Orioles history.Joe Durham, first African-American player to homer for Orioles, dies at 84. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on April 29, 2016.Philadelphia Athletics 5, Baltimore Orioles 4 (2). Game Played on Sunday, September 12, 1954 (D) at Memorial Stadium. Box Score and Play by Play. Retrosheet. Retrieved on April 29, 2016. September 14: Paul Richards, manager of the White Sox since 1951, resigns his post to join the Orioles as both field manager and general manager. When Richards' signing was announced, ten games remained in the O's season. Dykes stayed on to finish the 1954 campaign as skipper, and Richards took over in the Baltimore dugout starting in 1955. Richards had compiled a 342–265 (.563) won–lost record as leader of the Pale Hose, turning around the fortunes of the formerly hapless franchise. Opening day lineup, April 13, 1954   5 Bobby Young 2B  3 Eddie Waitkus    1B16 Gil Coan CF20 Vic Wertz RF15 Sam Mele LF  4 Vern Stephens 3B  6 Billy Hunter SS11 Clint Courtney    C 27 Don Larsen P Season standings Baltimore Orioles Record vs. opponents BAL Notable transactions May 11, 1954: Neil Berry, Dick Kokos and Jim Post (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Jim Brideweser.Neil Berry at Baseball-Reference May 12, 1954: Don Lenhardt was acquired from the Orioles by the Boston Red Sox.Don Lenhardt transactions at Baseball-Reference May 25, 1954: Dick Littlefield was traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Cal Abrams.Dick Littlefield transactions at Baseball-Reference June 1, 1954: Vic Wertz was traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Bob Chakales.Bob Chakales at Baseball-Reference July 4, 1954: Marlin Stuart was claimed off waivers from the Orioles by the New York Yankees.Marlin Stuart transactions at Baseball-Reference August 7, 1954: Bob Kuzava was claimed off waivers by the Orioles from the New York Yankees.Bob Kuzava transactions at Baseball-Reference Roster 1954 Baltimore Orioles Roster Pitchers 24 Vern Bickford 34 Mike Blyzka 20 Bob Chakales 35 Joe Coleman 21 Ryne Duren 21,37 Howie Fox 38 Jay Heard 22,24 Dave Koslo 23 Lou Kretlow 15 Bob Kuzava 27 Don Larsen 18 Dick Littlefield 24 Billy O'Dell 28 Duane Pillette 26 Marlin Stuart 33 Bob Turley Catchers 11 Clint Courtney 10 Les Moss  9 Ray Murray Infielders  2 Neil Berry  2 Jim Brideweser  1 Chico García  6 Billy Hunter  7 Frank Kellert 40 Bob Kennedy  8 Dick Kryhoski  4 Vern Stephens  3 Eddie Waitkus  5 Bobby Young Outfielders 18 Cal Abrams 16 Gil Coan 32 Chuck Diering 43 Joe Durham 17 Jim Fridley 19 Dick Kokos 14 Don Lenhardt 15 Sam Mele 20 Vic Wertz Manager 25 Jimmy Dykes Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 29 Tom Oliver 30 Frank Skaff 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 Clint Courtney 122 397 107 .270 4 37 1B Eddie Waitkus 95 311 88 .283 2 33 2B Bobby Young 130 432 106 .245 4 24 3B Vern Stephens 101 365 104 .285 8 46 SS Billy Hunter Billy Hunter (baseball) 125 411 100 .243 2 27 LF Jim Fridley 85 240 59 .246 4 36 CF Chuck Diering 128 418 108 .258 2 29 RF Cal Abrams 115 423 124 .293 6 25 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 Bob Kennedy 106 323 81 .251 6 45 Dick Kryhoski 100 300 78 .260 1 34 Gil Coan 94 265 74 .279 2 20 Sam Mele 72 230 55 .239 5 32 Jim Brideweser 73 204 54 .265 0 12 Les Moss 50 126 31 .246 0 5 Vic Wertz 29 94 19 .202 1 13 Chico García 39 62 7 .113 0 5 Ray Murray 22 61 15 .246 0 2 Joe Durham 10 40 9 .225 1 3 Frank Kellert 10 34 7 .206 0 1 Don Lenhardt 13 33 5 .152 0 1 Dick Kokos 11 10 2 .200 1 1 Neil Berry baseball 5 9 1 .111 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 Bob Turley 35 247.1 14 15 3.46 185 Joe Coleman Joe Coleman (1950s pitcher) 33 221.1 13 17 3.50 103 Don Larsen 29 201.2 3 21 4.37 80 Duane Pillette 25 179.0 10 14 3.12 66 Bob Kuzava 4 23.2 1 3 4.18 15 Vern Bickford 1 4.0 0 1 9.00 0 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 Lou Kretlow 32 166.2 6 11 4.37 82 Billy O'Dell 7 16.1 1 1 2.76 6 Dave Koslo 3 14.1 0 1 3.14 3 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 Bob Chakales 38 3 7 4 3.73 44 Howie Fox 38 1 2 2 3.67 27 Mike Blyzka 37 1 5 1 4.69 35 Marlin Stuart 22 1 2 2 4.46 13 Dick Littlefield 3 0 0 0 10.50 5 Jay Heard 2 0 0 0 13.50 2 Ryne Duren 1 0 0 0 9.00 2 Awards and honors 1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Bob Turley Farm system Minor League Baseball AA San Antonio Missions Texas League Don Heffner A Wichita Indians Western League Herb Brett and Les Layton A Lewiston Broncs Western International League Larry Barton, Sr. B York White Roses Piedmont League George Staller B Anderson Rebels Tri-State League Virgil Stallcup, Fred Boiko and Bob Knoke C Pine Bluff Judges Cotton States League Frank Lucchesi and Bill Enos C Aberdeen Pheasants Northern League Barney Lutz C Thetford Mines Mineurs Provincial League Bill Krueger D Wytheville Statesmen Appalachian League Joe Murray, Bill Enos and Jim Cisternelli D Americus-Cordele Orioles Georgia–Florida League Cliff Melton and Jack Landis D Ada Herefords/Cementers Sooner State League Louis Brower and John Densmore D Marion Marauders Tar Heel League Bob Knoke Tar Heel League disbanded, June 21, 1954 Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1954 Baltimore Orioles team at Baseball-Reference 1954 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Baltimore Orioles seasons Balt Baltimore Orioles