# 1953 Major League Baseball season

The 1953 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1953. The regular season ended on September 27, with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. In a rematch of the previous season, the postseason began with Game 1 of the 50th World Series on September 30 and ended with Game 6 on October 5. In the fifth iteration of this Subway Series World Series matchup (and a rematch of the previous year), the Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to two, capturing their 16th championship in franchise history, concluding their 5-year World Series winning streak, an all-time record.
The 20th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held on July 14 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Cincinnati Reds. The National League won, 5–1.
The Cincinnati Reds changed their name to the Cincinnati Redlegs due to the escalating Cold War and resulting red scare; as Cincinnati's general manager, Gabe Paul, noted later, "We wanted to be certain we weren't confused with the 'Russian Reds'."
The 1953 season would see the first relocation in professional baseball since the Milwaukee Brewers moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to St. Louis, Missouri, as the St. Louis Browns, with the Boston Braves, coincidentally, relocating to Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Braves. It would be the first National League relocation since the St. Louis Maroons moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and became the Indianapolis Hoosiers. This season began a trend of relocation which would occur several times throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The season would also prove to be the last season of the Browns franchise in St. Louis, moving to Baltimore, Maryland, the following season as the Baltimore Orioles.
On September 13, the Philadelphia Athletics became the seventh team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Bob Trice; the Chicago Cubs became the eighth team just four days later when they fielded future Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks.
This was also the first regular season of the televised Major League Baseball Game of the Week, originally broadcast on ABC.

## Schedule

The 1953 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.
National League Opening Day took place on April 13, featuring the newly relocated Milwaukee Braves and Cincinnati Reds, while American League Opening Day took place the following day, featuring six teams. This was the first season since 1951 that both leagues opened on different days. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on September 27, which saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from 1946. The World Series took place between September 30 and October 5.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Red Sox | Boston, Massachusetts | Fenway Park | 34,824 | Lou Boudreau |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | Comiskey Park | 47,400 | Paul Richards |
| 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 | Jimmy Dykes |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Busch Stadium | 30,500 | Marty Marion |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | Griffith Stadium | 29,731 | Bucky Walters |
| National League | Brooklyn Dodgers | New York, New York | Ebbets Field | 32,111 | Chuck Dressen |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | Wrigley Field | 36,755 | Phil Cavarretta |
| National League | Cincinnati Redlegs | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,439 | Rogers Hornsby |
| National League | Cincinnati Redlegs | Cincinnati, Ohio | Crosley Field | 29,439 | Buster Mills |
| National League | Milwaukee Braves | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Milwaukee County Stadium | 36,011 | 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 | 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 |
| New York Yankees | 99 | 52 | .656 | — | 50‍–‍27 | 49‍–‍25 |
| Cleveland Indians | 92 | 62 | .597 | 8½ | 53‍–‍24 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | 65 | .578 | 11½ | 41‍–‍36 | 48‍–‍29 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 69 | .549 | 16 | 38‍–‍38 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Washington Senators | 76 | 76 | .500 | 23½ | 39‍–‍36 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 94 | .390 | 40½ | 30‍–‍47 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 59 | 95 | .383 | 41½ | 27‍–‍50 | 32‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Browns | 54 | 100 | .351 | 46½ | 23‍–‍54 | 31‍–‍46 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 105 | 49 | .682 | — | 60‍–‍17 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | 13 | 45‍–‍31 | 47‍–‍31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 83 | 71 | .539 | 22 | 48‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 71 | .539 | 22 | 48‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 70 | 84 | .455 | 35 | 38‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 68 | 86 | .442 | 37 | 38‍–‍39 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 65 | 89 | .422 | 40 | 43‍–‍34 | 22‍–‍55 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 50 | 104 | .325 | 55 | 26‍–‍51 | 24‍–‍53 |

## Postseason
### Bracket

| World Series | World Series | World Series |
| AL | New York Yankees | 4 |
| NL | Brooklyn Dodgers | 2 |

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Billy Meyer | Fred Haney |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Cincinnati Reds | Rogers Hornsby | Buster Mills |

## League leaders
### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Mickey Vernon (WSH) | .337 |
| OPS | Al Rosen (CLE) | 1.034 |
| HR | Al Rosen (CLE) | 43 |
| RBI | Al Rosen (CLE) | 145 |
| R | Al Rosen (CLE) | 115 |
| H | Harvey Kuenn (DET) | 209 |
| SB | Minnie Minoso (CWS) | 25 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Bob Porterfield (WSH) | 22 |
| L | Harry Byrd (PHA) | 20 |
| ERA | Eddie Lopat (NYY) | 2.42 |
| K | Billy Pierce (CWS) | 186 |
| IP | Bob Lemon (CLE) | 286.2 |
| SV | Ellis Kinder (BOS) | 27 |
| WHIP | Eddie Lopat (NYY) | 1.127 |

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Carl Furillo (BKN) | .344 |
| OPS | Duke Snider (BKN) | 1.046 |
| HR | Eddie Mathews (MIL) | 47 |
| RBI | Roy Campanella (BKN) | 142 |
| R | Duke Snider (BKN) | 132 |
| H | Richie Ashburn (PHP) | 205 |
| SB | Bill Bruton (MIL) | 26 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Robin Roberts (PHP) Warren Spahn (MIL) | 23 |
| L | Murry Dickson (PIT) Warren Hacker (CHC) | 19 |
| ERA | Warren Spahn (MIL) | 2.10 |
| K | Robin Roberts (PHP) | 198 |
| IP | Robin Roberts (PHP) | 346.2 |
| SV | Al Brazle (SLC) | 18 |
| WHIP | Warren Spahn (MIL) | 1.058 |

## Awards and honors
### Regular season

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards :
| BBWAA Award | National League | American League |
| Rookie of the Year | Jim Gilliam (BKN) | Harvey Kuenn (DET) |
| Most Valuable Player | Roy Campanella (BKN) | Al Rosen (CLE) |

### Other awards

* Babe Ruth Award (World Series MVP): Billy Martin (NYY)
The Sporting News Awards :
| Award | National League | American League |
| Player of the Year | — | Al Rosen (CLE) |
| Pitcher of the Year | Warren Spahn (MIL) | Bob Porterfield (WSH) |
| Rookie of the Year | Jim Gilliam (BKN) | Harvey Kuenn (DET) |
| Manager of the Year | — | Casey Stengel (NYY) |
| Executive of the Year | Lou Perini (MIL) | — |

### Baseball Hall of Fame

* Chief Bender
* Dizzy Dean
* Al Simmons
* Bobby Wallace
* Ed Barrow (executive)
* Harry Wright (executive)
* Tom Connolly (umpire)
* Bill Klem (umpire)

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 43.8% | 1,826,397 | 549.3% | 23,119 |
| New York Yankees | 99 | 4.2% | 1,537,811 | −5.6% | 19,972 |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | 9.9% | 1,191,353 | −3.3% | 15,274 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 105 | 9.4% | 1,163,419 | 6.9% | 14,916 |
| Cleveland Indians | 92 | −1.1% | 1,069,176 | −26.0% | 13,707 |
| Boston Red Sox | 84 | 10.5% | 1,026,133 | −8.0% | 13,502 |
| Detroit Tigers | 60 | 20.0% | 884,658 | −13.8% | 11,198 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | −5.7% | 880,242 | −3.6% | 11,285 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 83 | −4.6% | 853,644 | 13.0% | 10,944 |
| New York Giants | 70 | −23.9% | 811,518 | −17.6% | 10,539 |
| Chicago Cubs | 65 | −15.6% | 763,658 | −25.5% | 9,918 |
| Washington Senators | 76 | −2.6% | 595,594 | −14.8% | 7,941 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 50 | 19.0% | 572,757 | −16.6% | 7,438 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 68 | −1.4% | 548,086 | −9.3% | 7,027 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 59 | −25.3% | 362,113 | −42.3% | 4,642 |
| St. Louis Browns | 54 | −15.6% | 297,238 | −42.7% | 3,860 |

## Television coverage

ABC executive Edgar J. Scherick approached MLB with a Saturday Game of the Week. With fewer outlets than CBS or NBC, ABC needed paid programming (or "anything for bills" as Scherick put it). At first, ABC hesitated at the idea of a nationally televised regular season baseball program, but gave Scherick the green light to sign up teams. Prior to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, antitrust laws only allowed the networks to make deals with individual teams instead of pooling rights directly from a central league authority. Unfortunately, only three (the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox were interested. To make matters worse, Major League Baseball barred the Game of the Week from airing within fifty miles of any big-league city.
The All-Star Game and World Series aired exclusively on NBC.