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1954 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 1954 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1954 in baseball.
1954 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 13 – October 2, 1954
Number of games154
Number of teams16
TV partner(s)ABC, NBC
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Yogi Berra (NYY)
NL: Willie Mays (NYG)
AL championsCleveland Indians
  AL runners-upNew York Yankees
NL championsNew York Giants
  NL runners-upBrooklyn Dodgers
World Series
ChampionsNew York Giants
  Runners-upCleveland Indians
Finals MVPDusty Rhodes (NYG)
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1954 American League season
American League
Locations of teams for the 1953–1957 National League seasons
National League

The 1954 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 13 to October 2, 1954. For the second consecutive season, an MLB franchise relocated, as the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Orioles, who played their home games at Memorial Stadium.

Rule changes

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The 1954 season saw the following rule changes:[1]

  • During half innings where a team was batting, all players of that team must remove their gloves from the field. In addition, any equipment not on a player was to be removed from the field.[2]
  • Rules regarding a defensive interference offense expanded to include all fielders on the field, not just changed from a catcher.
  • Fielders who were in the batter's vision could no longer deliberately distract the batter.
  • The sacrifice fly rule was brought back, having been previously used in 1939. This time, the rule was considered when a player scored after the catch only. Sacrifice bunts and flies were listed separately in official averages.[3]

Standings

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American League

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 111 43 .721 — 59‍–‍18 52‍–‍25
New York Yankees 103 51 .669 8 54‍–‍23 49‍–‍28
Chicago White Sox 94 60 .610 17 45‍–‍32 49‍–‍28
Boston Red Sox 69 85 .448 42 38‍–‍39 31‍–‍46
Detroit Tigers 68 86 .442 43 35‍–‍42 33‍–‍44
Washington Senators 66 88 .429 45 37‍–‍41 29‍–‍47
Baltimore Orioles 54 100 .351 57 32‍–‍45 22‍–‍55
Philadelphia Athletics 51 103 .331 60 29‍–‍47 22‍–‍56

National League

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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

Postseason

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Bracket

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World Series
   
AL Cleveland Indians 0
NL New York Giants 4

Awards and honors

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Statistical leaders

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  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
AVG Bobby Ávila CLE .341 Willie Mays NYG .345
HR Larry Doby CLE 32 Ted Kluszewski CIN 49
RBIs Larry Doby CLE 126 Ted Kluszewski CIN 141
Wins Bob Lemon CLE
Early Wynn CLE		 23 Robin Roberts PHP 23
ERA Mike Garcia CLE 2.64 Johnny Antonelli NYG 2.30
SO Bob Turley BAL 185 Robin Roberts PHP 185
SV Johnny Sain NYY 22 Jim Hughes BKN 24
SB Jackie Jensen BOS 22 Bill Bruton MIL 34

All-Star game

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Main article: 1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Records

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  • Umpire Bill McGowan set a Major League record by officiating in his 2,541st consecutive game.[4]

Managers

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American League

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Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Jimmy Dykes
Boston Red Sox Lou Boudreau
Chicago White Sox Paul Richards and Marty Marion Finished 3rd
Cleveland Indians Al López Won Pennant
Detroit Tigers Fred Hutchinson
New York Yankees Casey Stengel Finished 2nd
Philadelphia Athletics Eddie Joost
St. Louis Browns Marty Marion
Washington Senators Bucky Harris

National League

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Team Manager Comments
Brooklyn Dodgers Walter Alston Finished 2nd
Chicago Cubs Stan Hack
Cincinnati Reds Birdie Tebbetts
Milwaukee Braves Charlie Grimm Finished 3rd
New York Giants Leo Durocher Won World Series
Philadelphia Phillies Steve O'Neill and Terry Moore
Pittsburgh Pirates Fred Haney
St. Louis Cardinals Eddie Stanky

Home field attendance

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Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
Milwaukee Braves[5] 89 −3.3% 2,131,388 16.7% 27,680
New York Yankees[6] 103 4.0% 1,475,171 −4.1% 18,912
Cleveland Indians[7] 111 20.7% 1,335,472 24.9% 17,344
Chicago White Sox[8] 94 5.6% 1,231,629 3.4% 15,790
New York Giants[9] 97 38.6% 1,155,067 42.3% 15,198
Detroit Tigers[10] 68 13.3% 1,079,847 22.1% 14,024
Baltimore Orioles[11] 54 0.0% 1,060,910 256.9% 13,778
St. Louis Cardinals[12] 72 −13.3% 1,039,698 18.1% 13,503
Brooklyn Dodgers[13] 92 −12.4% 1,020,531 −12.3% 13,254
Boston Red Sox[14] 69 −17.9% 931,127 −9.3% 11,786
Chicago Cubs[15] 64 −1.5% 748,183 −2.0% 9,717
Philadelphia Phillies[16] 75 −9.6% 738,991 −13.4% 9,474
Cincinnati Redlegs[17] 74 8.8% 704,167 28.5% 9,145
Washington Senators[18] 66 −13.2% 503,542 −15.5% 6,456
Pittsburgh Pirates[19] 53 6.0% 475,494 −17.0% 6,175
Philadelphia Athletics[20] 51 −13.6% 304,666 −15.9% 3,957

Television coverage

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ABC aired the Saturday Game of the Week for the second consecutive year. The All-Star Game and World Series aired exclusively on NBC.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "MLB Rule Changes | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  2. ^ Bass, Mike. "Mike Bass column: Hate MLB's changes? You ain't seen nothing yet ... I hope". The Enquirer. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  3. ^ admin. "The Sacrifice Fly – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  4. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.42, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  5. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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