# 1955 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1955 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Redlegs finishing in fifth place in the National League, with a record of 75–79, 23+1⁄2 games behind the NL and World Series Champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The Redlegs were managed by Birdie Tebbetts and played their home games at Crosley Field.

## Offseason

* October 1, 1954: Jim Bolger, Harry Perkowski and Ted Tappe were traded by the Redlegs to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Klippstein and Jim Willis.
* December 8, 1954: Frank Smith was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ray Jablonski and Gerry Staley.
* February 10, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased from the Redlegs by the Chicago White Sox.
* Prior to 1955 season (exact date unknown)
** Jesse Gonder was signed as an amateur free agent by the Redlegs.
** Ernie Broglio was acquired from the Cincinnati Redlegs by the Stockton Ports.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 98 | 55 | .641 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 85 | 69 | .552 | 13½ | 46‍–‍31 | 39‍–‍38 |
| New York Giants | 80 | 74 | .519 | 18½ | 44‍–‍35 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 21½ | 46‍–‍31 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 23½ | 46‍–‍31 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Chicago Cubs | 72 | 81 | .471 | 26 | 43‍–‍33 | 29‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 68 | 86 | .442 | 30½ | 41‍–‍36 | 27‍–‍50 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | 94 | .390 | 38½ | 36‍–‍39 | 24‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1955 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 14–7–1 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 14–8 |
| Chicago | 7–14–1 | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 14–8 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 11–11 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 11–11 |
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 17–5 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–14 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 |
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 30, 1955: Andy Seminick, Glen Gorbous, and Jim Greengrass were traded by the Redlegs to the Philadelphia Phillies for Smoky Burgess, Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik.
* September 10, 1955: Gene Hayden was obtained by the Redlegs from the Seattle Rainiers as part of a working agreement.
* September 14, 1955: Gerry Staley was selected off waivers from the Redlegs by the New York Yankees.

### 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 | Smokey Burgess | 116 | 421 | 129 | .306 | 20 | 77 |
| 1B | Ted Kluszewski | 153 | 612 | 192 | .314 | 47 | 113 |
| 2B | Johnny Temple | 150 | 588 | 165 | .281 | 0 | 50 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 151 | 470 | 126 | .268 | 1 | 37 |
| 3B | Rocky Bridges | 95 | 168 | 48 | .286 | 1 | 18 |
| LF | Stan Palys | 79 | 222 | 51 | .230 | 7 | 30 |
| CF | Gus Bell | 154 | 610 | 188 | .308 | 27 | 104 |
| RF | Wally Post | 154 | 601 | 186 | .309 | 40 | 109 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Jablonski | 74 | 221 | 53 | .240 | 9 | 28 |
| Chuck Harmon | 96 | 198 | 50 | .253 | 5 | 28 |
| Bob Thurman | 82 | 152 | 33 | .217 | 7 | 22 |
| Bobby Adams | 64 | 150 | 41 | .273 | 2 | 20 |
| Milt Smith | 36 | 102 | 20 | .196 | 3 | 8 |
| Hobie Landrith | 43 | 87 | 22 | .253 | 4 | 7 |
| Matt Batts | 26 | 71 | 18 | .254 | 0 | 13 |
| Sam Mele | 35 | 62 | 13 | .210 | 2 | 7 |
| Jim Greengrass | 13 | 39 | 4 | .103 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Bailey | 21 | 39 | 8 | .205 | 1 | 4 |
| Glen Gorbous | 8 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 4 |
| Bob Borkowski | 25 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Brovia | 21 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 4 |
| Andy Seminick | 6 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 1 | 1 |
| Bob Hazle | 6 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Silvera | 13 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 50 | 257.0 | 17 | 12 | 3.47 | 98 |
| Art Fowler | 46 | 207.2 | 11 | 10 | 3.90 | 94 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Klippstein | 39 | 138.0 | 9 | 10 | 3.39 | 68 |
| Jackie Collum | 32 | 134.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.63 | 49 |
| Gerry Staley | 30 | 119.2 | 5 | 8 | 4.66 | 40 |
| Rudy Minarcin | 41 | 115.2 | 5 | 9 | 4.90 | 45 |
| Joe Black | 32 | 102.1 | 5 | 2 | 4.22 | 54 |
| Don Gross | 17 | 67.1 | 4 | 5 | 4.14 | 33 |
| Steve Ridzik | 13 | 30.0 | 0 | 3 | 4.50 | 6 |
| Corky Valentine | 10 | 26.2 | 2 | 1 | 7.43 | 14 |
| Jim Pearce | 2 | 3.1 | 0 | 1 | 10.80 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Hersh Freeman | 52 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2.16 | 37 |
| Bud Podbielan | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.21 | 26 |
| Bob Hooper | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7.62 | 6 |
| Jerry Lane | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4.91 | 5 |
| Maurice Fisher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 |
| Fred Baczewski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Havana Sugar Kings | International League | Reggie Otero |
| AA | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Joe Schultz |
| A | Columbia Reds | Sally League | Ernie White |
| B | High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms | Carolina League | Jimmy Brown |
| B | Sunbury Redlegs | Piedmont League | Virgil Stallcup and Dutch Dorman |
| C | Duluth Dukes | Northern League | Red Treadway and Jim Crandall |
| C | Ogden Reds | Pioneer League | Jim Crandall and Red Treadway |
| D | Fort Walton Beach Jets | Alabama–Florida League | John Streza and Shovel Hodge |
| D | Douglas Trojans | Georgia State League | Bob Wellman |
| D | Moultrie Reds | Georgia–Florida League | Ken Polivka |
LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Douglas