# 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the National League with a record of 68–86, 37 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team changed its name from "Reds" to "Redlegs" prior to this season in response to rampant American anti-communist sentiment during this time period.

## Offseason

* October 13, 1952: Jim Bolger was purchased by the Redlegs from the Buffalo Bisons.
* October 14, 1952: Cal Abrams, Joe Rossi, and Gail Henley were traded by the Redlegs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gus Bell.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 105 | 49 | .682 | — | 60‍–‍17 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | 13 | 45‍–‍31 | 47‍–‍31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 83 | 71 | .539 | 22 | 48‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 71 | .539 | 22 | 48‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 70 | 84 | .455 | 35 | 38‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 68 | 86 | .442 | 37 | 38‍–‍39 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 65 | 89 | .422 | 40 | 43‍–‍34 | 22‍–‍55 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 50 | 104 | .325 | 55 | 26‍–‍51 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1953 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 20–2 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 9–13–1 | — | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 11–11 | 11–11 |
| Cincinnati | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 8–14 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 7–15–1 |
| Milwaukee | 9–13 | 14–8 | 14–8 | — | 14–8–1 | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 |
| New York | 7–15 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 8–14–1 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | — | 15–7 | 11–11–1 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–20 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 11–11 | 15–7–1 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 17–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 1953: Brooks Lawrence was acquired by the Redlegs from the Cleveland Indians.
* May 23, 1953: Eddie Erautt was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jackie Collum.

### Roster
## 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 | Andy Seminick | 119 | 387 | 91 | .235 | 19 | 64 |
| 1B | Ted Kluszewski | 149 | 570 | 180 | .316 | 40 | 108 |
| 2B | Rocky Bridges | 122 | 432 | 98 | .227 | 1 | 21 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 155 | 557 | 130 | .233 | 5 | 43 |
| 3B | Bobby Adams | 150 | 607 | 167 | .275 | 8 | 49 |
| OF | Jim Greengrass | 154 | 606 | 173 | .285 | 20 | 100 |
| OF | Gus Bell | 151 | 610 | 183 | .300 | 30 | 105 |
| OF | Willard Marshall | 122 | 357 | 95 | .266 | 17 | 62 |

#### 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 Borkowski | 94 | 249 | 67 | .269 | 7 | 29 |
| Grady Hatton | 83 | 159 | 37 | .233 | 7 | 22 |
| Hobie Landrith | 52 | 154 | 37 | .240 | 3 | 16 |
| Johnny Temple | 63 | 110 | 29 | .264 | 1 | 9 |
| Bob Marquis | 40 | 44 | 12 | .273 | 2 | 3 |
| Wally Post | 11 | 33 | 8 | .242 | 1 | 4 |
| Frank Baldwin | 16 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| George Lerchen | 22 | 17 | 5 | .294 | 0 | 2 |
| Hank Foiles | 5 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Szekely | 5 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Bailey | 2 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Harry Perkowski | 33 | 193.0 | 12 | 11 | 4.52 | 70 |
| Bud Podbielan | 36 | 186.1 | 6 | 16 | 4.73 | 74 |
| Ken Raffensberger | 26 | 174.0 | 7 | 14 | 3.93 | 47 |
| Fred Baczewski | 24 | 138.1 | 11 | 4 | 3.45 | 58 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 30 | 141.2 | 9 | 11 | 4.32 | 52 |
| Jackie Collum | 30 | 124.2 | 7 | 11 | 3.75 | 51 |
| Herm Wehmeier | 28 | 81.2 | 1 | 6 | 7.16 | 32 |
| Clyde King | 35 | 76.0 | 3 | 6 | 5.21 | 21 |
| Bob Kelly | 28 | 66.1 | 1 | 2 | 4.34 | 29 |
| Bubba Church | 11 | 43.2 | 3 | 3 | 5.98 | 12 |
| Howie Judson | 10 | 38.2 | 0 | 1 | 5.59 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Frank Smith | 50 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5.49 | 42 |
| Ernie Nevel | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.10 | 5 |
| Eddie Erautt | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.79 | 1 |
| Barney Martin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |
| Ed Blake | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Tulsa Oilers | Texas League | Joe Schultz |
| A | Columbia Reds | Sally League | Ernie White |
| B | Burlington Flints | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Johnny Vander Meer |
| C | Ogden Reds | Pioneer League | Earle Brucker Sr. |
| D | Fitzgerald Pioneers | Georgia–Florida League | Bob Carson, Charlie Ridgeway and Bull Hamons |
| D | Jackson Generals | KITTY League | Mickey O'Neil |
| D | Lawton Reds | Sooner State League | Tuck McWilliams |