# 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers edged out the Milwaukee Braves to win the National League title. The Dodgers again faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. This time they lost the series in seven games, one of which was a perfect game by the Yankees' Don Larsen.

## Offseason

* December 9, 1955: Don Hoak, Russ Meyer and Walt Moryn were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Randy Jackson and Don Elston.
* December 21, 1955: Jack Littrell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Kansas City Athletics.
* December 30, 1955: Pete Wojey was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for Leo Cristante and cash.
* March 2, 1956: Tommy Lasorda was purchased from the Dodgers by the Kansas City Athletics

## Regular season

Don Newcombe won the NL MVP award and the first Cy Young Award. He was the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same season.
During the season, the Dodgers played seven home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of owner Walter O'Malley's continued attempts to pressure Brooklyn to allow him to build a new stadium in his preferred location at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. The first of these games was on April 19.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 93 | 61 | .604 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | 1 | 47‍–‍29 | 45‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 91 | 63 | .591 | 2 | 51‍–‍26 | 40‍–‍37 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 17 | 43‍–‍34 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 83 | .461 | 22 | 40‍–‍37 | 31‍–‍46 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | .435 | 26 | 37‍–‍40 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 88 | .429 | 27 | 35‍–‍43 | 31‍–‍45 |
| Chicago Cubs | 60 | 94 | .390 | 33 | 39‍–‍38 | 21‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1956 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 16–6 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 16–6 |
| Chicago | 6–16 | — | 6–16–1 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 9–13–1 |
| Cincinnati | 11–11 | 16–6–1 | — | 9–13 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 13–9 |
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 | — | 17–5 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | 13–9 |
| New York | 8–14 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 5–17 | — | 11–11 | 13–9 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 7–15 | 12–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–13 | 12–10–1 | 5–17 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | 15–7 | — | 8–14–1 |
| St. Louis | 6–16 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | — |

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Lineup :
| # | Name | Position |
| 19 | Jim Gilliam | LF |
| 1 | Pee Wee Reese | SS |
| 4 | Duke Snider | CF |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | C |
| 14 | Gil Hodges | 1B |
| 42 | Jackie Robinson | 3B |
| 6 | Carl Furillo | RF |
| 43 | Charlie Neal | 2B |
| 36 | Don Newcombe | P |

### Notable transactions

* April 16, 1956: Tim Thompson was traded by the Dodgers to the Kansas City Athletics for Lee Wheat, Tom Saffell and cash.
* May 14, 1956: Billy Loes was purchased from the Dodgers by the Baltimore Orioles.
* May 15, 1956: Jim Hughes was purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago Cubs.
* May 15, 1956: Sal Maglie was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.
* July 4, 1956: Ray Shearer was traded by the Dodgers to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Frey.
* July 29, 1956: Dale Mitchell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.

### 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 | 124 | 388 | 85 | .219 | 20 | 73 |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 153 | 550 | 146 | .265 | 32 | 87 |
| 2B | Jim Gilliam | 153 | 594 | 178 | .300 | 6 | 43 |
| 3B | Randy Jackson | 101 | 307 | 84 | .274 | 8 | 53 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 147 | 572 | 147 | .257 | 9 | 46 |
| LF | Sandy Amorós | 114 | 292 | 76 | .260 | 16 | 58 |
| CF | Duke Snider | 151 | 542 | 158 | .292 | 43 | 101 |
| RF | Carl Furillo | 149 | 523 | 151 | .289 | 21 | 83 |

#### 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 | 117 | 357 | 98 | .275 | 10 | 43 |
| Rube Walker | 54 | 146 | 31 | .212 | 3 | 20 |
| Charlie Neal | 62 | 136 | 39 | .287 | 2 | 14 |
| Rocky Nelson | 31 | 96 | 20 | .208 | 4 | 15 |
| Chico Fernández | 34 | 66 | 15 | .227 | 1 | 9 |
| Gino Cimoli | 73 | 36 | 4 | .111 | 0 | 4 |
| Dale Mitchell | 19 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 0 | 1 |
| Don Zimmer | 17 | 20 | 6 | .300 | 0 | 2 |
| Dixie Howell | 7 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Dick Williams | 7 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Demeter | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 1 | 1 |
| Bob Aspromonte | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Don Newcombe | 38 | 268.0 | 27 | 7 | 3.06 | 139 |
| Roger Craig | 35 | 199.0 | 12 | 11 | 3.71 | 109 |
| Sal Maglie | 28 | 191.0 | 13 | 5 | 2.87 | 108 |
| Carl Erskine | 31 | 186.1 | 13 | 11 | 4.25 | 95 |
| Sandy Koufax | 16 | 58.2 | 2 | 4 | 4.91 | 30 |
| Billy Loes | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 1 | 40.50 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Don Drysdale | 25 | 99.0 | 5 | 5 | 2.64 | 55 |
| Ken Lehman | 25 | 49.1 | 2 | 3 | 5.66 | 29 |
| Chuck Templeton | 6 | 16.1 | 0 | 1 | 6.61 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Clem Labine | 62 | 10 | 6 | 19 | 3.35 | 75 |
| Don Bessent | 38 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 2.50 | 52 |
| Ed Roebuck | 43 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3.93 | 60 |
| Jim Hughes | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.25 | 8 |
| Ralph Branca | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Bob Darnell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## 1956 World Series
### Game 1

October 3, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (A) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Sal Maglie (1–0) L: Whitey Ford (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1), Billy Martin (1) BRO – Jackie Robinson (1), Gil Hodges (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 5, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (A) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | x | 13 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Don Bessent (1–0) L: Tom Morgan (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (1) BRO – Duke Snider (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 6, 1956, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | x | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Whitey Ford (1–1) L: Roger Craig (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Enos Slaughter (1), Billy Martin (2) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 7, 1956, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | x | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Tom Sturdivant (1–0) L: Carl Erskine (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (2), Hank Bauer (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 8, 1956, at Yankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Don Larsen (1–0) L: Sal Maglie (1–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (3) |||||||||||||

### Game 6

October 9, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Clem Labine (1–0) L: Bob Turley (0–1) ||||||||||||||

### Game 7

October 10, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York (A) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Brooklyn (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| W: Johnny Kucks (1–0) L: Don Newcombe (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (2, 3), Elston Howard (1), Bill Skowron (1) |||||||||||||

## Awards and honors

* National League Most Valuable Player
** Don Newcombe
* Cy Young Award
** Don Newcombe
* TSN Pitcher of the Year Award
** Don Newcombe

### All-Stars

* 1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Roy Campanella reserve
** Jim Gilliam reserve
** Clem Labine reserve
** Duke Snider reserve
* TSN Major League All-Star Team
** Don Newcombe

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Open | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Tommy Holmes Bill Sweeney |
| AAA | Montreal Royals | International League | Greg Mulleavy |
| AAA | St. Paul Saints | American Association | Max Macon |
| AA | Ft. Worth Cats | Texas League | Lee Handley |
| A | Macon Dodgers | South Atlantic League | Goldie Holt |
| A | Pueblo Dodgers | Western League | Ray Hathaway |
| B | Cedar Rapids Raiders | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | George Scherger |
| B | Wichita Falls Spudders | Big State League | Jack Wilkinson Jodie Beeler |
| C | Great Falls Electrics | Pioneer League | Lou Rochelli |
| C | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Ray Perry |
| D | Hornell Dodgers | Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League | Boyd Bartley Charlie Gelbert |
| D | Kokomo Dodgers | Midwest League | Pete Reiser |
| D | Shawnee Hawks | Sooner State League | Jack Banta |
| D | Thomasville Dodgers | Georgia–Florida League | Rudy Rufer George Pfister |