1955 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1955 Baltimore Orioles season 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.

1955 Baltimore Orioles
Brooks Robinson's MLB debut
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record57–97 (.370)
League place7th
Other information
Owner(s)Jerold Hoffberger, Clarence Miles
General manager(s)Paul Richards
Manager(s)Paul Richards
Local televisionWMAR-TV/WAAM/WBAL-TV
(Ernie Harwell, Bailey Goss)
Local radioWCBM
(Ernie Harwell, Chuck Thompson, Bailey Goss)
< Previous season     Next season >

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. 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.[1]

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

Regular season

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9658 0.623 — 52–25 44–33
Cleveland Indians 9361 0.604 3 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 9163 0.591 5 49–28 42–35
Boston Red Sox 8470 0.545 12 47–31 37–39
Detroit Tigers 7975 0.513 17 46–31 33–44
Kansas City Athletics 6391 0.409 33 33–43 30–48
Baltimore Orioles 5797 0.370 39 30–47 27–50
Washington Senators 53101 0.344 43 28–49 25–52

Record vs. opponents
1955 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC NYY WSH
Baltimore —8–1410–12–13–199–1310–12–13–1914–8
Boston 14–8—9–1311–1113–914–88–1415–7
Chicago 12–10–113–9—10–1214–814–811–1117–5
Cleveland 19–311–1112–10—12–1017–513–99–13
Detroit 13–99–138–1410–12—12–1010–1217–5
Kansas City 12–10–18–148–145–1710–12—7–1513–9
New York 19–314–811–119–1312–1015–7—16–6
Washington 8–147–155–1713–95–179–136–16—

Notable transactions

Roster
1955 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CFChuck Diering13737195.256331

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
Gene Woodling4714532.221318

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

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
Harry Byrd1465.1324.5525
Hal Brown1557044.1126
Jim McDonald2151.2357.1420

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 Alexander410013.501

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
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
  1. Don Larsen page at Baseball Reference
  2. Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
  3. Billy Cox page at Baseball Reference
  4. Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
  5. Wally Westlake page at Baseball Reference
  6. Ed Lopat page at Baseball Reference
  7. http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml

References
  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1955 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
  • 1955 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com
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