# 1956 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1956 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 75th season in St. Louis, Missouri, and its 65th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 76–78 during the season and finished fourth in the National League.

## Offseason

* October 20, 1955: Harry Walker was released by the Cardinals.
* November 27, 1955: Ed Mayer was drafted by the Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox in the 1955 minor league draft.
* November 27, 1955: Billy Muffett was drafted by the Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs in the 1955 rule 5 draft.
* January 31, 1956: Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Jackie Collum.
* March 30, 1956: Pete Whisenant was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Sauer.

## Regular season
### 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 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 14, 1956: Solly Hemus was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Morgan.
* May 17, 1956: Bill Virdon was traded by the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Dick Littlefield and Bobby Del Greco.
* May 28, 1956: The Cardinals traded cash and a player to be named later to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Toby Atwell. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Dick Rand to the Pirates on October 14.
* June 14, 1956: Red Schoendienst, Jackie Brandt, Dick Littlefield, Bill Sarni, and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the New York Giants for Alvin Dark, Ray Katt, Don Liddle, and Whitey Lockman. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Gordon Jones to the Giants on October 1.

### 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 | Hal Smith | 75 | 227 | 64 | .282 | 5 | 23 |
| 1B | Stan Musial | 156 | 594 | 184 | .310 | 27 | 109 |
| 2B | Don Blasingame | 150 | 587 | 153 | .261 | 0 | 27 |
| SS | Alvin Dark | 100 | 413 | 118 | .286 | 4 | 37 |
| 3B | Ken Boyer | 150 | 595 | 182 | .306 | 26 | 98 |
| LF | Rip Repulski | 112 | 376 | 104 | .277 | 11 | 55 |
| CF | Bobby Del Greco | 102 | 270 | 58 | .215 | 5 | 18 |
| RF | Wally Moon | 149 | 540 | 161 | .298 | 16 | 68 |

#### 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 |
| Whitey Lockman | 70 | 193 | 48 | .249 | 0 | 10 |
| Ray Katt | 47 | 158 | 41 | .259 | 6 | 20 |
| Red Schoendienst | 40 | 153 | 48 | .314 | 0 | 15 |
| Hank Sauer | 75 | 151 | 45 | .298 | 5 | 24 |
| Bill Sarni | 43 | 148 | 43 | .291 | 5 | 22 |
| Bobby Morgan | 61 | 113 | 22 | .195 | 3 | 20 |
| Grady Hatton | 44 | 73 | 18 | .247 | 0 | 7 |
| Bill Virdon | 24 | 71 | 15 | .211 | 2 | 9 |
| Walker Cooper | 40 | 68 | 18 | .265 | 2 | 14 |
| Rocky Nelson | 38 | 56 | 13 | .232 | 3 | 8 |
| Charlie Peete | 23 | 52 | 10 | .192 | 0 | 6 |
| Jackie Brandt | 27 | 42 | 12 | .286 | 1 | 3 |
| Ducky Schofield | 16 | 30 | 3 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Frazier | 14 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 1 | 4 |
| Chuck Harmon | 20 | 15 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Grammas | 6 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Solly Hemus | 8 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Cunningham | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Alston | 3 | 2 | 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 |
| Vinegar Bend Mizell | 33 | 208.2 | 14 | 14 | 3.62 | 153 |
| Tom Poholsky | 33 | 203.0 | 9 | 14 | 3.59 | 95 |
| Murry Dickson | 28 | 196.1 | 13 | 8 | 3.07 | 109 |
| Harvey Haddix | 4 | 23.2 | 1 | 0 | 5.32 | 16 |
| Ben Flowers | 3 | 11.2 | 1 | 1 | 6.94 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Herm Wehmeier | 34 | 170.2 | 12 | 9 | 3.69 | 68 |
| Willard Schmidt | 33 | 147.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.84 | 52 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 39 | 116.1 | 7 | 6 | 3.40 | 59 |
| Bob Blaylock | 14 | 41.0 | 1 | 6 | 6.37 | 39 |
| Gordon Jones | 5 | 11.1 | 0 | 2 | 5.56 | 6 |
| Dick Littlefield | 3 | 9.2 | 0 | 2 | 7.45 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Larry Jackson | 51 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 4.11 | 50 |
| Jackie Collum | 38 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 4.20 | 17 |
| Jim Konstanty | 27 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4.58 | 7 |
| Ellis Kinder | 22 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3.51 | 4 |
| Don Liddle | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.39 | 14 |
| Max Surkont | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.53 | 5 |
| Stu Miller | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.91 | 5 |
| Paul LaPalme | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Cardinals | American Association | Johnny Keane |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Dixie Walker |
| AA | Houston Buffaloes | Texas League | Harry Walker |
| A | Allentown Cardinals | Eastern League | Roland LeBlanc |
| A | Sioux City Soos | Western League | Harold Olt and Bob Clear |
| B | Beaumont Exporters | Big State League | Ford Garrison |
| B | Peoria Chiefs | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | George Kissell |
| C | Mexicali Eagles | Arizona–Texas League | Larry Barton, Sr. and Art Wilson |
| C | Fresno Cardinals | California League | Ed Lyons |
| C | Winnipeg Goldeyes | Northern League | Vern Benson |
| D | Dothan Cardinals | Alabama–Florida League | Whitey Ries |
| D | Gainesville G-Men | Florida State League | Homer Ray Wilson |
| D | Albany Cardinals | Georgia–Florida League | Chase Riddle |
| D | Decatur Commodores | Midwest League | Al Unser |
| D | Ardmore Cardinals | Sooner State League | J. C. Dunn |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Houston, Fresno