# 1954 Major League Baseball season

The 1954 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1954. The regular season ended on September 26, with the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 51st World Series on September 29 and ended with Game 4 on October 2. The Giants swept the Indians in four games, capturing their fifth championship in franchise history, since their previous in 1933. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the 1953 season.
The 21st Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 13 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Cleveland Indians. The American League won, 11–9, ending the National League's four-win streak.
In a continuation of the relocation trend that began the previous season, the St. Louis Browns moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Baltimore, Maryland, leaving St. Louis a one-team city, and seeing the return of American League baseball to Baltimore after 52 seasons. The previous American League relocation involved the same franchise, when the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis as the Browns, 53 seasons earlier. The season would also prove to be the last season of the Athletics franchise in Philadelphia, moving to Kansas City, Missouri the following season as the Kansas City Athletics.
On Opening Day, April 13, the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals became the ninth and tenth teams in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Curt Roberts and Tom Alston, respectively; the Cincinnati Redlegs became the 11th team just four days later when they fielded future Nino Escalera and Chuck Harmon, while the Washington Senators became the 12th team on September 6 when they fielded Carlos Paula.

## Schedule

The 1954 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 13, featuring all sixteen teams, the first time since 1950. The final day of the regular season was on September 26, which saw fourteen teams play, and was the first time since 1945 that the scheduled regular season didn't end with all sixteen teams. The World Series took place between September 29 and October 2.

## Rule changes

The 1954 season saw the following rule changes:
* During half innings where a team was batting, all players of that team must remove their gloves from the field. In addition, any equipment not on a player was to be removed from the field.
* Rules regarding a defensive interference offense expanded to include all fielders on the field, not just changed from a catcher.
* Fielders who were in the batter's vision could no longer deliberately distract the batter.
* The sacrifice fly rule was brought back, having been previously used in 1939. This time, the rule was considered when a player scored after the catch only. Sacrifice bunts and flies were listed separately in official averages.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Baltimore Orioles | Baltimore, Maryland | Baltimore Memorial Stadium | 47,866 | Jimmy Dykes |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 34,824 | Lou Boudreau |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 46,550 | Paul Richards |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 46,550 | Marty Marion |
| American League | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Stadium | 73,811 | Al López |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Briggs Stadium | 58,000 | Fred Hutchinson |
| American League | New York Yankees | New York, New York | Yankee Stadium | 67,000 | Casey Stengel |
| American League | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Connie Mack Stadium | 33,166 | Eddie Joost |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 29,023 | Bucky Harris |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 32,111 | Walter Alston |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 36,755 | Stan Hack |
| National League | Cincinnati Redlegs | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,439 | Birdie Tebbetts |
| National League | Milwaukee Braves | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Milwaukee County Stadium | 44,091 | Charlie Grimm |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 54,500 | Leo Durocher |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Connie Mack Stadium | 33,166 | Steve O'Neill |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Connie Mack Stadium | 33,166 | Terry Moore |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Forbes Field | 34,249 | Fred Haney |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | Busch Stadium | 30,500 | Eddie Stanky |

## Standings
### American League

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cleveland Indians | 111 | 43 | .721 | — | 59‍–‍18 | 52‍–‍25 |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 51 | .669 | 8 | 54‍–‍23 | 49‍–‍28 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | 17 | 45‍–‍32 | 49‍–‍28 |
| Boston Red Sox | 69 | 85 | .448 | 42 | 38‍–‍39 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 86 | .442 | 43 | 35‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Washington Senators | 66 | 88 | .429 | 45 | 37‍–‍41 | 29‍–‍47 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 100 | .351 | 57 | 32‍–‍45 | 22‍–‍55 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 51 | 103 | .331 | 60 | 29‍–‍47 | 22‍–‍56 |

### National League

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 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | Cleveland Indians | 0 |
| NL | New York Giants | 4 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Baltimore Orioles | Marty Marion (St. Louis Browns) | Jimmy Dykes |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Chuck Dressen | Walter Alston |
| Chicago Cubs | Phil Cavarretta | Stan Hack |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | Buster Mills | Birdie Tebbetts |
| Philadelphia Athletics | Jimmy Dykes | Eddie Joost |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Chicago White Sox | Paul Richards | Marty Marion |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Steve O'Neill | Terry Moore |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Bobby Ávila (CLE) | .341 |
| OPS | Ted Williams (BOS) | 1.148 |
| HR | Larry Doby (CLE) | 32 |
| RBI | Larry Doby (CLE) | 126 |
| R | Mickey Mantle (NYY) | 129 |
| H | Nellie Fox (CWS) Harvey Kuenn (DET) | 201 |
| SB | Jackie Jensen (BOS) | 22 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Bob Lemon (CLE) Early Wynn (CLE) | 23 |
| L | Don Larsen (BAL) | 21 |
| ERA | Mike Garcia (CLE) | 2.64 |
| K | Bob Turley (BAL) | 185 |
| IP | Early Wynn (CLE) | 270.2 |
| SV | Johnny Sain (NYY) | 26 |
| WHIP | Mike Garcia (CLE) | 1.125 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Willie Mays (NYG) | .345 |
| OPS | Willie Mays (NYG) | 1.078 |
| HR | Ted Kluszewski (CIN) | 49 |
| RBI | Ted Kluszewski (CIN) | 141 |
| R | Stan Musial (STL) Duke Snider (BKN) | 120 |
| H | Don Mueller (NYG) | 212 |
| SB | Bill Bruton (MIL) | 34 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Robin Roberts (PHP) | 23 |
| L | Murry Dickson (PHP) | 20 |
| ERA | Johnny Antonelli (NYG) | 2.30 |
| K | Robin Roberts (PHP) | 185 |
| IP | Robin Roberts (PHP) | 336.2 |
| SV | Jim Hughes (BKN) | 24 |
| WHIP | Robin Roberts (PHP) | 1.025 |

## Milestones

* Umpire Bill McGowan set a Major League record by officiating in his 2,541st consecutive game.

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Rookie of the Year | Wally Moon (STL) | Billy Martin (NYY) |
| Most Valuable Player | Willie Mays (NYG) | Yogi Berra (NYY) |

### Other awards

* Babe Ruth Award (World Series MVP): Dusty Rhodes (NYG)
The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Player of the Year | Willie Mays (NYG) | — |
| Pitcher of the Year | Johnny Antonelli (NYG) | Bob Lemon (CLE) |
| Rookie of the Year | Wally Moon (STL) | Bob Grim (NYY) |
| Manager of the Year | Leo Durocher (NYG) | — |
| Executive of the Year | Horace Stoneham (NYG) | — |

### Baseball Hall of Fame

* Rabbit Maranville
* Bill Dickey
* Bill Terry

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Milwaukee Braves | 89 | −3.3% | 2,131,388 | 16.7% | 27,680 |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 4.0% | 1,475,171 | −4.1% | 18,912 |
| Cleveland Indians | 111 | 20.7% | 1,335,472 | 24.9% | 17,344 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 5.6% | 1,231,629 | 3.4% | 15,790 |
| New York Giants | 97 | 38.6% | 1,155,067 | 42.3% | 15,198 |
| Detroit Tigers | 68 | 13.3% | 1,079,847 | 22.1% | 14,024 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 54 | 0.0% | 1,060,910 | 256.9% | 13,778 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | −13.3% | 1,039,698 | 18.1% | 13,503 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 92 | −12.4% | 1,020,531 | −12.3% | 13,254 |
| Boston Red Sox | 69 | −17.9% | 931,127 | −9.3% | 11,786 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | −1.5% | 748,183 | −2.0% | 9,717 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | −9.6% | 738,991 | −13.4% | 9,474 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 74 | 8.8% | 704,167 | 28.5% | 9,145 |
| Washington Senators | 66 | −13.2% | 503,542 | −15.5% | 6,456 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 53 | 6.0% | 475,494 | −17.0% | 6,175 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 51 | −13.6% | 304,666 | −15.9% | 3,957 |

## Television coverage

ABC aired the Saturday Game of the Week for the second consecutive year. The All-Star Game and World Series aired exclusively on NBC.

## Retired numbers

* Billy Meyer had his No. 1 retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates. This was the second number retired by the team.