1955 Baltimore Orioles season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Baltimore Orioles 1955 American League Memorial Stadium Baltimore, Maryland 57–97 (.370) 7th Jerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart and Clarence Miles Paul Richards Paul Richards WMAR-TV/WAAM/WBAL-TV(Ernie Harwell, Bailey Goss) WCBM(Ernie Harwell, Chuck Thompson, Bailey Goss) The 1955 Baltimore Orioles season was the second season played in Baltimore. It involved the Orioles finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 57 wins and 97 losses, 39 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees. The team was managed by first-year manager Paul Richards and played their home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The franchise operated at a loss of $86,715 due to a 208,871 decline in home attendance from the previous season and a $400,000 player personnel investment, half of which was paid to bonus babies Wayne Causey, Jim Pyburn, Tom Gastall, Tex Nelson and Bruce Swango."$86,715 Orioles' Loss Changes Richards' Plan," The Associated Press (AP), Sunday 29 April 1956. Retrieved 13 June 2025. Offseason In the fall of 1954, the Orioles further distanced themselves from their Browns past by making a 17-player trade with the New York Yankees that included most former Browns of note still on the Baltimore roster. Indeed, to this day the Orioles make almost no mention of their past as the Browns.September 2010 Though the deal did little to improve the short-term competitiveness of the club, it helped establish a fresh identity for the Oriole franchise. The details of the trade were as follows: Don Larsen, Billy Hunter, Bob Turley, and players to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Gene Woodling, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda and players to be named later. The deal was completed on December 1, when the Yankees sent Bill Miller, Kal Segrist, Don Leppert, and Ted Del Guercio (minors) to the Orioles, and the Orioles sent Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley, and Dick Kryhoski to the Yankees.Don Larsen page at Baseball Reference Unlike other clubs that transferred in the 1950s, retaining their nickname and a sense of continuity with their past (such as the Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers and New York-San Francisco Giants), the St. Louis Browns were renamed upon their transfer, implicitly distancing themselves at least somewhat from their history. Other notable transactions December 6, 1954: Bob Chakales, Jim Brideweser and Clint Courtney were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Don Ferrarese, Don Johnson, Matt Batts, and Fred Marsh.Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference December 13, 1954: Harry Schwegeman (minors), Johnny Jancse (minors) and $50,000 were traded by the Orioles to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Billy Cox and Preacher Roe.Billy Cox page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Baltimore Orioles Record vs. opponents BAL Notable transactions June 15, 1955: Billy Cox and Gene Woodling were traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Dave Pope and Wally Westlake. Billy Cox refused to report to his new team. The Baltimore Orioles sent $15,000 to the Cleveland Indians as compensation. July 2, 1955: Dave Philley was selected off waivers by the Orioles from the Cleveland Indians.Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference July 9, 1955: Wally Westlake was released by the Orioles.Wally Westlake page at Baseball Reference July 30, 1955: Jim McDonald was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Ed Lopat.Ed Lopat page at Baseball Reference Roster 1955 Baltimore Orioles Roster Pitchers 37 Bob Alexander 28 Hal Brown 24 Harry Byrd 35 Joe Coleman 23 Harry Dorish 46 Don Ferrarese 25 Ted Gray 25 Bob Harrison 19 Don Johnson 23 Lou Kretlow 15 Bob Kuzava 13 Chuck Locke 15 Eddie Lopat 25 Jim McDonald 13 Bill Miller 29 Ray Moore 16 Erv Palica 28 Duane Pillette 27 Saul Rogovin 20 Art Schallock 17 Bill Wight 36 Jim Wilson 35 George Zuverink Catchers 10 Tom Gastall 10 Les Moss 22 Hal Smith Infielders 33 Wayne Causey  3 Billy Cox  6 Bob Hale 9,40 Don Leppert  5 Hank Majeski  2 Fred Marsh  7 Willy Miranda  8 Jim Pyburn 40 Brooks Robinson 24 Kal Segrist  4 Vern Stephens 11 Gus Triandos  9 Eddie Waitkus  5 Bobby Young Outfielders 18 Cal Abrams 21 Gil Coan  5 Angelo Dagres 32 Chuck Diering 14 Jim Dyck 17 Hoot Evers 33 Bob Kennedy 24 Roger Marquis 37 Tex Nelson  4 Dave Philley  3 Dave Pope 14 Wally Westlake 14 Gene Woodling Other batters 34 Charlie Maxwell Manager 12 Paul Richards Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 34 Lloyd Brown 26 Lum Harris 30 Al Vincent 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 Hal W. Smith 135 424 115 .271 4 52 1B Gus Triandos 140 481 133 .277 12 65 2B Fred Marsh 89 303 66 .218 2 19 SS Willy Miranda 153 487 124 .255 1 38 3B Wayne Causey 68 175 34 .194 1 9 LF Jim Dyck 61 197 55 .279 2 22 CF Chuck Diering 137 371 95 .256 3 31 RF Dave Philley 83 311 93 .299 6 41 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 Cal Abrams 118 309 75 .243 6 32 Dave Pope 86 222 55 .248 1 30 Billy Cox 53 194 41 .211 3 14 Bobby Young 59 186 37 .199 1 8 Hoot Evers 60 185 44 .238 6 30 Bob Hale 67 182 65 .357 0 29 Gene Woodling 47 145 32 .221 3 18 Gil Coan 61 130 31 .238 1 11 Jim Pyburn 39 98 20 .204 0 7 Eddie Waitkus 38 85 22 .259 0 9 Don Leppert 40 70 8 .114 0 2 Bob Kennedy 26 70 10 .143 0 5 Les Moss 29 56 19 .339 2 6 Hank Majeski 16 41 7 .171 0 2 Tex Nelson 25 31 6 .194 0 1 Tom Gastall 20 27 4 .148 0 0 Wally Westlake 8 24 3 .125 0 0 Brooks Robinson 6 22 2 .091 0 1 Angelo Dagres 8 15 4 .267 0 3 Kal Segrist 7 9 3 .333 0 0 Vern Stephens 3 6 1 .167 0 0 Charlie Maxwell 4 4 0 .000 0 0 Roger Marquis 1 1 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 Jim Wilson 34 235.1 12 18 3.44 96 Erv Palica 33 169.2 5 11 4.14 68 Bill Wight 19 117.1 6 8 2.45 54 Saul Rogovin 14 71.0 1 8 4.56 35 Ed Lopat 10 49.0 3 4 4.22 10 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 Ray Moore 46 151.2 10 10 3.92 80 George Zuverink 28 86.1 4 3 2.19 31 Art Schallock 30 80.1 3 5 4.15 33 Don Johnson 31 68.0 2 4 5.82 27 Harry Byrd Harry Byrd (baseball) 14 65.1 3 2 4.55 25 Hal Brown 15 57.0 0 4 4.11 26 Jim McDonald Jim McDonald (pitcher) 21 51.2 3 5 7.14 20 Lou Kretlow 15 38.1 0 4 8.22 26 Duane Pillette 7 20.2 0 3 6.53 13 Ted Gray 9 15.1 1 2 8.22 8 Bob Kuzava 6 12.1 0 1 3.65 5 Joe Coleman 6 11.2 0 1 10.80 4 Bill Miller 5 4.0 0 1 13.50 4 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 Fritz Dorish 35 3 3 6 3.15 22 Don Ferrarese 6 0 0 0 3.00 5 Bob Alexander 4 1 0 0 13.50 1 Chuck Locke 2 0 0 0 0.00 1 Bob Harrison 1 0 0 0 9.00 0 Awards and honors All-Star Game Jim Wilson, reservehttps://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml 1955 All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AA San Antonio Missions Texas League Don Heffner A Wichita Indians Western League Bud Bates B Fayetteville Highlanders Carolina League Aaron Robinson, Jack McKeon and Jack Sanford B York White Roses Piedmont League George Staller C Pine Bluff Judges/Meridian Millers Cotton States League Bob Knoke and Merrill Smith C Aberdeen Pheasants Northern League Bill Krueger C Thetford Mines Mineurs Provincial League Barney Lutz D Cordele Orioles Georgia–Florida League Lloyd Brown and Max Carey D Paris Orioles Sooner State League Jimmy Adair Pine Bluff franchise transferred to Meridian and renamed, June 16, 1955 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 1955 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference 1955 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Baltimore Orioles seasons Baltimore Orioles season Baltimore Orio