# 1953 South Atlantic League season

The 1953 South Atlantic League was a Class A baseball season played between April 14 and September 2. Eight teams played a 140-game schedule, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs.
The Columbia Reds won the South Atlantic League championship, defeating the Jacksonville Braves in the final round of the playoffs.

## Team changes

* The Augusta Tigers are renamed to the Augusta Rams.
* The Jacksonville Tars end their affiliation with the New York Giants and began a new affiliation with the Milwaukee Braves. The club is renamed to the Jacksonville Braves.
* The Montgomery Grays begin an affiliation with the Detroit Tigers.

## Teams

1953 South Atlantic League :
| Team | City | MLB Affiliate | Stadium |
| Augusta Rams | Augusta, Georgia | None | Jennings Stadium |
| Charleston Rebels | Charleston, South Carolina | Pittsburgh Pirates | College Park |
| Columbia Reds | Columbia, South Carolina | Cincinnati Redlegs | Capital City Stadium |
| Columbus Cardinals | Columbus, Georgia | St. Louis Cardinals | Golden Park |
| Jacksonville Braves | Jacksonville, Florida | Milwaukee Braves | Durkee Field |
| Macon Peaches | Macon, Georgia | Chicago Cubs | Luther Williams Field |
| Montgomery Grays | Montgomery, Alabama | Detroit Tigers | Municipal Field |
| Savannah Indians | Savannah, Georgia | Philadelphia Athletics | Grayson Stadium |

## Regular season
### Summary

* The Jacksonville Braves finish the season with the best record for the first time in franchise history.
* The Savannah Indians defeated the Macon Peaches in a tie-breaking game to finish in fourth place in the league standings and qualify for the post-season.

### Standings

South Atlantic League :
| Team | Win | Loss | % | GB |
| Jacksonville Braves | 93 | 44 | .679 | – |
| Columbia Reds | 92 | 48 | .657 | 2.5 |
| Columbus Cardinals | 67 | 70 | .489 | 26 |
| Savannah Indians | 68 | 73 | .482 | 27 |
| Macon Peaches | 67 | 74 | .475 | 28 |
| Augusta Rams | 65 | 74 | .468 | 29 |
| Charleston Rebels | 55 | 84 | .396 | 39 |
| Montgomery Grays | 50 | 90 | .357 | 44.5 |

## League Leaders
### Batting leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Hank Aaron, Jacksonville Braves | .362 |
| H | Hank Aaron, Jacksonville Braves | 208 |
| R | Hank Aaron, Jacksonville Braves | 115 |
| 2B | Hank Aaron, Jacksonville Braves | 36 |
| 3B | Jim Bolger, Columbia Reds | 16 |
| HR | Tommy Giordano, Savannah Indians | 24 |
| RBI | Hank Aaron, Jacksonville Braves | 125 |
| SB | Ev Joyner, Columbus Cardinals Don Morrow, Montgomery Grays | 19 |

### Pitching leaders

| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Ray Crone, Jacksonville Braves Larry Lassalle, Jacksonville Braves | 19 |
| ERA | Corky Valentine, Columbia Reds | 2.11 |
| CG | Joe Kuncl, Macon Peaches | 21 |
| SHO | Barney Martin, Columbia Reds | 7 |
| IP | Alfred Burch, Savannah Indians | 254.0 |
| SO | Larry Lassalle, Jacksonville Braves | 185 |

## Playoffs

* The Columbia Reds won their second South Atlantic League championship, defeating the Jacksonville Braves in seven games.

### Playoff bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Jacksonville | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Savannah | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Savannah | 1 | 1 | Jacksonville | 3 |
| | | | 2 | Columbia | 4 |
| 2 | Columbia | 3 | 2 | Columbia | 4 |
| 3 | Columbus | 0 | | | |