# 1954 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1954 Baltimore Orioles season saw the restoration of Major League Baseball to Baltimore after a 51-year absence, and the debut of the modern edition of the MLB Oriole franchise. Upon the transfer of the moribund St. Louis Browns on September 30, 1953, Baltimore returned to the American League over a half century after the Orioles of 1901–02 departed for New York City, where they eventually became the Yankees. The Baltimore Terrapins of the "outlaw" Federal League filled the void in 1914 and 1915, but the insurgent circuit collapsed without gaining recognition as a "third major league," and, as of 2022, its status remained in dispute. During most of its 51 seasons without a major-league team, Baltimore was represented in Organized Baseball by a top-level minor-league club, the Orioles of the International League.
For the American League franchise itself, its first season in Maryland actually was the 54th in its history: the team was originally founded as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901, then transferred to Missouri as the Browns, who played from 1902 to 1953.
Inheriting the playing personnel of the 1953 Browns, the 1954 Orioles finished seventh in the eight-team American League with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses, 57 games behind the AL champion Cleveland Indians. The team was managed by Jimmy Dykes, and played its home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, where it attracted 1,060,910 fans, fifth in the Junior Circuit but a massive 257 percent improvement over the 1953 Browns' totals. The new Orioles' games were broadcast over television and radio by the trio of Ernie Harwell, Howard Williams and Bailey Goss on WMAR-TV/WAAM (television) and WCBM (radio).

## Offseason

* November 30, 1953: Chuck Diering was purchased by the Orioles from the San Francisco Seals.
* February 2, 1954: Satchel Paige was released by the Orioles.
* February 5, 1954: Johnny Groth and Johnny Lipon were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Neil Berry and Sam Mele.
* April 8, 1954: Dave Koslo was acquired from the New York Giants.

## Regular season

* April 13, 1954: The Orioles opened their first season as the reborn Browns on the road, on April 13, 1954, at Briggs Stadium against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won, 3–0, on three solo home runs (from Ray Boone, Walt Dropo and Frank Bolling). Steve Gromek hurled the complete game shutout and Don Larsen (who would lose 21 of 24 decisions that year) was the hard-luck loser.
* April 15: Thousands of Baltimoreans jammed city streets as the new Orioles paraded from downtown to their new home at Memorial Stadium. During the 90-minute parade, the new Birds signed autographs, handed out pictures and threw styrofoam balls to the crowd as the throng marched down 33rd Street West. Inside, more than 46,000 watched the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–1, to win their home opener and move into first place in the American League. Clint Courtney hit the first home run in modern Orioles history, a solo blow in the third inning. Ironically, the Orioles lost their last home game of the season, 11–0, to the same White Sox, finishing with 100 losses and 57+1⁄2 games out of first place.
* September 12: At Memorial Stadium, Joe Durham hit a solo home run off Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Al Sima in the sixth inning, to become the first African-American position player to belt a homer in Baltimore Orioles history.
* September 14: Paul Richards, manager of the White Sox since 1951, resigns his post to join the Orioles as both field manager and general manager. When Richards' signing was announced, ten games remained in the O's season. Dykes stayed on to finish the 1954 campaign as skipper, and Richards took over in the Baltimore dugout starting in 1955. Richards had compiled a 342–265 (.563) won–lost record as leader of the Pale Hose, turning around the fortunes of the formerly hapless franchise.

### Opening day lineup, April 13, 1954

| 5 | Bobby Young | 2B |
| 3 | Eddie Waitkus | 1B |
| 16 | Gil Coan | CF |
| 20 | Vic Wertz | RF |
| 15 | Sam Mele | LF |
| 4 | Vern Stephens | 3B |
| 6 | Billy Hunter | SS |
| 11 | Clint Courtney | C |
| 27 | Don Larsen | P |

### Season standings

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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1954 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 3–19 | 8–14 | 5–17 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
| Boston | 11–11 | — | 5–17 | 2–20–2 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 13–9 |
| Chicago | 15–7 | 17–5 | — | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 7–15 | 17–5 | 15–7 |
| Cleveland | 19–3 | 20–2–2 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 11–11 | 18–4 | 18–4 |
| Detroit | 14–8 | 8–14 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | — | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| New York | 17–5 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 16–6 | — | 18–4–1 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 12–10 | 7–15 | 5–17 | 4–18 | 9–13 | 4–18–1 | — | 10–12–1 |
| Washington | 12–10 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 4–18 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 12–10–1 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 11, 1954: Neil Berry, Dick Kokos and Jim Post (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Jim Brideweser.
* May 12, 1954: Don Lenhardt was acquired from the Orioles by the Boston Red Sox.
* May 25, 1954: Dick Littlefield was traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Cal Abrams.
* June 1, 1954: Vic Wertz was traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Bob Chakales.
* July 4, 1954: Marlin Stuart was claimed off waivers from the Orioles by the New York Yankees.
* August 7, 1954: Bob Kuzava was claimed off waivers by the Orioles from 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 | Clint Courtney | 122 | 397 | 107 | .270 | 4 | 37 |
| 1B | Eddie Waitkus | 95 | 311 | 88 | .283 | 2 | 33 |
| 2B | Bobby Young | 130 | 432 | 106 | .245 | 4 | 24 |
| 3B | Vern Stephens | 101 | 365 | 104 | .285 | 8 | 46 |
| SS | Billy Hunter | 125 | 411 | 100 | .243 | 2 | 27 |
| LF | Jim Fridley | 85 | 240 | 59 | .246 | 4 | 36 |
| CF | Chuck Diering | 128 | 418 | 108 | .258 | 2 | 29 |
| RF | Cal Abrams | 115 | 423 | 124 | .293 | 6 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Kennedy | 106 | 323 | 81 | .251 | 6 | 45 |
| Dick Kryhoski | 100 | 300 | 78 | .260 | 1 | 34 |
| Gil Coan | 94 | 265 | 74 | .279 | 2 | 20 |
| Sam Mele | 72 | 230 | 55 | .239 | 5 | 32 |
| Jim Brideweser | 73 | 204 | 54 | .265 | 0 | 12 |
| Les Moss | 50 | 126 | 31 | .246 | 0 | 5 |
| Vic Wertz | 29 | 94 | 19 | .202 | 1 | 13 |
| Chico García | 39 | 62 | 7 | .113 | 0 | 5 |
| Ray Murray | 22 | 61 | 15 | .246 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Durham | 10 | 40 | 9 | .225 | 1 | 3 |
| Frank Kellert | 10 | 34 | 7 | .206 | 0 | 1 |
| Don Lenhardt | 13 | 33 | 5 | .152 | 0 | 1 |
| Dick Kokos | 11 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 1 | 1 |
| Neil Berry | 5 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 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 |
| Bob Turley | 35 | 247.1 | 14 | 15 | 3.46 | 185 |
| Joe Coleman | 33 | 221.1 | 13 | 17 | 3.50 | 103 |
| Don Larsen | 29 | 201.2 | 3 | 21 | 4.37 | 80 |
| Duane Pillette | 25 | 179.0 | 10 | 14 | 3.12 | 66 |
| Bob Kuzava | 4 | 23.2 | 1 | 3 | 4.18 | 15 |
| Vern Bickford | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Lou Kretlow | 32 | 166.2 | 6 | 11 | 4.37 | 82 |
| Billy O'Dell | 7 | 16.1 | 1 | 1 | 2.76 | 6 |
| Dave Koslo | 3 | 14.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.14 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Chakales | 38 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3.73 | 44 |
| Howie Fox | 38 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3.67 | 27 |
| Mike Blyzka | 37 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4.69 | 35 |
| Marlin Stuart | 22 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.46 | 13 |
| Dick Littlefield | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.50 | 5 |
| Jay Heard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 |
| Ryne Duren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Bob Turley

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | San Antonio Missions | Texas League | Don Heffner |
| A | Wichita Indians | Western League | Herb Brett and Les Layton |
| A | Lewiston Broncs | Western International League | Larry Barton, Sr. |
| B | York White Roses | Piedmont League | George Staller |
| B | Anderson Rebels | Tri-State League | Virgil Stallcup, Fred Boiko and Bob Knoke |
| C | Pine Bluff Judges | Cotton States League | Frank Lucchesi and Bill Enos |
| C | Aberdeen Pheasants | Northern League | Barney Lutz |
| C | Thetford Mines Mineurs | Provincial League | Bill Krueger |
| D | Wytheville Statesmen | Appalachian League | Joe Murray, Bill Enos and Jim Cisternelli |
| D | Americus-Cordele Orioles | Georgia–Florida League | Cliff Melton and Jack Landis |
| D | Ada Herefords/Cementers | Sooner State League | Louis Brower and John Densmore |
| D | Marion Marauders | Tar Heel League | Bob Knoke |
Tar Heel League disbanded, June 21, 1954