# 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers season was the first season for new manager Walter Alston, who replaced Chuck Dressen, who had been fired during a contract dispute. Alston led the team to a 92–62 record, finishing five games behind the league champion New York Giants.
In addition to Alston, the 1954 Dodgers had two other future Hall of Fame managers on their roster in pitcher Tommy Lasorda and outfielder Dick Williams. First baseman Gil Hodges and reserve infielder Don Zimmer would also go on to successful managerial careers.

## Offseason

* October 1, 1954: Rocky Nelson was traded by the Dodgers to the Cleveland Indians for Bill Abernathie and cash.
* March 28, 1954: Bobby Morgan was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Young and cash.

## Regular season

* On July 31, 1954, Joe Adcock hit four home runs off four different Brooklyn Dodgers pitchers, becoming the seventh player in major league history to hit four home runs in one game. Additionally, Adcock hit a double, setting a major league record of 18 total bases.
* September 22, 1954: In a game against the New York Giants, Karl Spooner struck out 15 batters in his very first game, setting a Major League record. J. R. Richard would tie the record in 1971.

### Season standings

vteNational 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 recordvte Sources: :
| 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 | — |

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Lineup :
| # | Name | Position |
| 19 | Jim Gilliam | 2B |
| 1 | Pee Wee Reese | SS |
| 4 | Duke Snider | CF |
| 42 | Jackie Robinson | LF |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | C |
| 14 | Gil Hodges | 1B |
| 6 | Carl Furillo | RF |
| 3 | Billy Cox | 3B |
| 17 | Carl Erskine | P |

### Notable transactions

* May 4, 1954: Art Ceccarelli was purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Yankees.
* May 11, 1954: Rocky Nelson was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.
* June 9, 1954: Wayne Belardi was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for Ernie Nevel, Johnny Bucha, Chuck Kress and cash.

### 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 | Roy Campanella | 111 | 397 | 82 | .207 | 19 | 51 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 154 | 579 | 176 | .304 | 42 | 130 |
| 2B | Jim Gilliam | 146 | 607 | 171 | .282 | 13 | 52 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 141 | 554 | 171 | .309 | 10 | 69 |
| 3B | Don Hoak | 88 | 261 | 64 | .245 | 7 | 26 |
| LF | Sandy Amorós | 79 | 263 | 72 | .274 | 9 | 34 |
| CF | Duke Snider | 149 | 584 | 199 | .341 | 40 | 130 |
| RF | Carl Furillo | 150 | 547 | 161 | .294 | 19 | 96 |

#### 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 |
| Jackie Robinson | 124 | 386 | 120 | .311 | 15 | 59 |
| Billy Cox | 77 | 226 | 53 | .235 | 2 | 17 |
| Rube Walker | 50 | 155 | 28 | .181 | 5 | 23 |
| Walt Moryn | 48 | 91 | 25 | .275 | 2 | 14 |
| George Shuba | 45 | 65 | 10 | .154 | 2 | 10 |
| Dick Williams | 16 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 1 | 2 |
| Don Zimmer | 24 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Thompson | 34 | 25 | 1 | .040 | 0 | 1 |
| Tim Thompson | 10 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
| Chuck Kress | 13 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 2 |
| Wayne Belardi | 11 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 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 |
| Carl Erskine | 38 | 260.1 | 18 | 15 | 4.15 | 166 |
| Russ Meyer | 36 | 180.1 | 11 | 6 | 3.99 | 70 |
| Johnny Podres | 29 | 151.2 | 11 | 7 | 4.27 | 79 |
| Billy Loes | 28 | 147.2 | 13 | 5 | 4.14 | 97 |
| Don Newcombe | 29 | 144.1 | 9 | 8 | 4.55 | 82 |
| Karl Spooner | 2 | 18.0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 27 |

#### 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 |
| Erv Palica | 25 | 67.2 | 3 | 3 | 5.32 | 25 |
| Preacher Roe | 15 | 63.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.00 | 31 |
| Bob Milliken | 24 | 62.2 | 5 | 2 | 4.02 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Hughes | 60 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 3.22 | 58 |
| Clem Labine | 47 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4.15 | 43 |
| Ben Wade | 23 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8.20 | 25 |
| Pete Wojey | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.25 | 21 |
| Bob Darnell | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.14 | 5 |
| Joe Black | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 3 |
| Tommy Lasorda | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 | 5 |

## Awards and honors

* 1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Roy Campanella starter
** Jackie Robinson starter
** Duke Snider starter
** Carl Erskine reserve
** Gil Hodges reserve
** Pee Wee Reese reserve
* TSN Major League All-Star Team
** Duke Snider

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Montreal Royals | International League | Max Macon |
| AAA | St. Paul Saints | American Association | Clay Bryant |
| AA | Ft. Worth Cats | Texas League | Al Vincent |
| AA | Mobile Bears | Southern Association | Stan Wasiak Greg Mulleavy |
| A | Elmira Pioneers | Eastern League | Tommy Holmes |
| A | Pueblo Dodgers | Western League | Goldie Holt |
| B | Asheville Tourists | Tri-State League | Ray Hathaway |
| B | Miami Sun Sox | Florida International League | Doc Alexson |
| B | Newport News Dodgers | Piedmont League | George Scherger |
| C | Bakersfield Indians | California League | Ray Perry |
| C | Great Falls Electrics | Pioneer League | Lou Rochelli |
| D | Hornell Dodgers | Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League | John Angelone Doc Alexson |
| D | Shawnee Hawks | Sooner State League | Jack Banta |
| D | Thomasville Dodgers | Georgia–Florida League | Boyd Bartley John Angelone |
| D | Union City Dodgers | Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League | Earl Naylor |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Newport News, Great Falls