1954 St. Louis Cardinals season

1954 St. Louis Cardinals
League	National League
Ballpark	Busch Stadium I
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Record	72–82 (.468)
League place	6th
Owners	August "Gussie" Busch
General managers	Richard A. Meyer
Managers	Eddie Stanky
Television	WTVI
Radio	KXOK (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Milo Hamilton)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
Seasons

The 1954 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 73rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 63rd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 72–82 during the season and finished sixth in the National League.

Offseason

• December 1, 1953: 1953 minor league draft
  • Brooks Lawrence was drafted by the Cardinals from the Cincinnati Reds.[1]
• December 1, 1953: Sonny Senerchia was drafted by the Cardinals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[2]
• January 26, 1954: Dick Sisler, Eddie Erautt and $100,000 were traded by the Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Tom Alston.[3]

Regular season

In his first four major league games, first baseman Joe Cunningham became the first Cardinals player to hit at least two home runs. On April 6, 2016, Jeremy Hazelbaker matched him for this feat.[4]

Outfielder Wally Moon won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .304, with 12 home runs and 76 RBIs. Along the way, on April 13 Moon hit a home run in his first major league at-bat.[5]

During the season, Tom Alston became the first black player in the history of the Cardinals.[6]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	97	57	.630	—	53‍–‍23	44‍–‍34
Brooklyn Dodgers	92	62	.597	5	45‍–‍32	47‍–‍30
Milwaukee Braves	89	65	.578	8	43‍–‍34	46‍–‍31
Philadelphia Phillies	75	79	.487	22	39‍–‍39	36‍–‍40
Cincinnati Redlegs	74	80	.481	23	41‍–‍36	33‍–‍44
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	.468	25	33‍–‍44	39‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs	64	90	.416	33	40‍–‍37	24‍–‍53
Pittsburgh Pirates	53	101	.344	44	31‍–‍46	22‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1954 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BKN	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHP	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	15–7	16–6	10–12	9–13	13–9	15–7	14–8
Chicago	7–15	—	8–14	6–16	7–15	7–15	15–7	14–8
Cincinnati	6–16	14–8	—	10–12	7–15	14–8	15–7	8–14
Milwaukee	12–10	16–6	12–10	—	10–12	13–9	14–8	12–10
New York	13–9	15–7	15–7	12–10	—	16–6	14–8	12–10
Philadelphia	9–13	15–7	8–14	9–13	6–16	—	16–6	12–10
Pittsburgh	7–15	7–15	7–15	8–14	8–14	6–16	—	10–12
St. Louis	8–14	8–14	14–8	10–12	10–12	10–12	12–10	—

Notable transactions

• April 11, 1954: Enos Slaughter was traded by the Cardinals to the New York Yankees for Bill Virdon, Mel Wright, and Emil Tellinger (minors).[7]
• April 30, 1954: Steve Bilko was purchased from the Cardinals by the Chicago Cubs for $12,500.[8]

Roster

1954 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 39 Ralph Beard 27 Al Brazle 22 Cot Deal 34 Bill Greason 42 Harvey Haddix 45 Gordon Jones 31 Brooks Lawrence 25 Royce Lint 40 Memo Luna 36 Stu Miller 23 Tom Poholsky 32 Joe Presko 17 Vic Raschi 31 Carl Scheib 14 Gerry Staley 10 Ben Wade 26 Hal White 39 Mel Wright		Catchers 18 Del Rice 15 Bill Sarni 21 Sal Yvars Infielders 10 Tom Alston  5 Steve Bilko  1 Pete Castiglione 28 Joe Cunningham  4 Alex Grammas  7 Solly Hemus 11 Ray Jablonski  2 Red Schoendienst 19 Dick Schofield		Outfielders 28 Tom Burgess 24 Joe Frazier 37 Peanuts Lowrey 20 Wally Moon  6 Stan Musial  8 Rip Repulski		Manager 12 Eddie Stanky Coaches -- Lou Kahn 33 Bill Posedel 29 Johnny Riddle 35 Mike Ryba

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	123	380	114	.300	9	70
1B	Joe Cunningham	85	310	88	.284	11	50
2B	Red Schoendienst	148	610	192	.315	5	79
SS	Alex Grammas	142	401	106	.264	2	29
3B	Ray Jablonski	152	611	181	.296	12	104
LF	Rip Repulski	152	619	175	.283	19	79
CF	Wally Moon	151	635	193	.304	12	76
RF	Stan Musial	153	591	195	.330	35	126

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
Tom Alston	66	244	60	.246	4	34
Solly Hemus	124	214	65	.304	2	27
Del Rice	56	147	37	.252	2	16
Joe Frazier	81	88	26	.295	3	18
Peanuts Lowrey	74	61	7	.115	0	5
Sal Yvars	38	57	14	.246	2	8
Tom Burgess	17	21	1	.048	0	1
Steve Bilko	8	14	2	.143	0	1
Ducky Schofield	43	7	1	.143	0	1
Pete Castiglione	5	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
Harvey Haddix	43	259.2	18	13	3.57	184
Vic Raschi	30	179.0	8	9	4.73	73
Gordon Jones	11	81.0	4	4	2.00	48
Ralph Beard	13	58.0	0	4	3.72	17
Memo Luna	1	0.2	0	1	27.00	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
Brooks Lawrence	35	158.2	15	6	3.74	72
Gerry Staley	48	155.2	7	13	5.26	50
Tom Poholsky	25	106.0	5	7	3.06	55
Stu Miller	19	46.2	2	3	5.79	22
Carl Scheib	3	4.2	0	1	11.57	5
Bill Greason	3	4.0	0	1	13.50	2

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
Al Brazle	58	5	4	8	4.16	30
Joe Presko	37	4	9	0	6.91	36
Cot Deal	33	2	3	1	6.28	25
Royce Lint	30	2	3	0	4.86	36
Ben Wade	13	0	0	0	5.48	19
Mel Wright	9	0	0	0	10.45	4
Hal White	4	0	0	0	19.80	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level Team League Manager AAA Columbus Red Birds American Association Johnny Keane AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Harry Walker AA Houston Buffaloes Texas League Dixie Walker A Allentown Cardinals Eastern League Dutch Dorman and Harold Olt A Columbus Cardinals Sally League George Kissell A Omaha Cardinals Western League Ferrell Anderson B Peoria Chiefs Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Whitey Kurowski B Lynchburg Cardinals Piedmont League Roland LeBlanc C Mexicali Eagles Arizona–Texas League Art Lilly C Fresno Cardinals California League Jim Hercinger C Hot Springs Bathers Cotton States League Paul Dean, Jackie Bales and Lou Lucas C Winnipeg Goldeyes Northern League Mickey O'Neil C Joplin Cardinals Western Association Bill Kelly D Dothan Rebels Alabama–Florida League Homer Ray Wilson D Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Lee "Pete" Peterson and Harold Contini

Level Team League Manager D Daytona Beach Islanders Florida State League Ed Levy D Hazlehurst-Baxley Cardinals Georgia State League Arnie Riesgo and Bill McGhee D Albany Cardinals Georgia–Florida League Russ McGovern D Paducah Chiefs KITTY League Harold Contini and Lee "Pete" Peterson D Hannibal Cardinals Mississippi–Ohio Valley League J. C. Dunn D Hamilton Cardinals PONY League Jimmy Brown D Ardmore Cardinals Sooner State League Bennie Warren and Frank Mancuso LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Houston[9]

References

1. Brooks Lawrence at Baseball-Reference
2. Sonny Senerchia at Baseball-Reference
3. Dick Sisler at Baseball-Reference
4. "Diaz's pinch-hit HR blasts Cards over Braves". MLB.com. April 9, 2016. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
5. Home Run During First At-Bat by Baseball Almanac
6. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
7. Enos Slaughter at Baseball-Reference
8. Steve Bilko at Baseball-Reference
9. 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

• 1954 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference
• 1954 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com