1956 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs season consisted of the Redlegs finishing in third place in the National League with a record of 91–63, two games behind the NL Champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The Redlegs were managed by Birdie Tebbetts and played their home games at Crosley Field, where they drew 1,125,928 fans, third-most in their league.[1]

1956 Cincinnati Redlegs
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Powel Crosley, Jr.
General manager(s)Gabe Paul
Manager(s)Birdie Tebbetts
Local televisionWLWT
(Mark Scott, George Bryson)
Local radioWSAI
(Waite Hoyt, Jack Moran)
< Previous season     Next season >

Offseason

Regular season

The Redlegs were in first place at mid-season and stayed in the pennant race until the last day of the season, ending up with a 91–63 record, two games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.[5] For his efforts, the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted Birdie Tebbetts as the 1956 Manager of the Year.[6]

The 1956 Redlegs tied the National League and MLB record for home runs in a season, hitting 221 over 155 regular-season games. (The 1947 Giants also slugged 221 in 155 games played.) Three Redlegs hit more than 35 homers, with Frank Robinson (38) establishing a record for rookies; Wally Post (36) and Ted Kluszewski (35) were the others. Gus Bell (29) and Ed Bailey (28) came within reach of the 30-home-run mark, Bailey in only 383 at bats. The mark stood until 1961, when the New York Yankees hit 240 homers in the first year of the modern 162-game schedule.

On Sunday, June 24, following a doubleheader sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers,[7] eleven Redlegs players appeared on the panel quiz show What's My Line?.[8]

Season standings
National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Dodgers 9361 0.604 — 52–25 41–36
Milwaukee Braves 9262 0.597 1 47–29 45–33
Cincinnati Redlegs 9163 0.591 2 51–26 40–37
St. Louis Cardinals 7678 0.494 17 43–34 33–44
Philadelphia Phillies 7183 0.461 22 40–37 31–46
New York Giants 6787 0.435 26 37–40 30–47
Pittsburgh Pirates 6688 0.429 27 35–43 31–45
Chicago Cubs 6094 0.390 33 39–38 21–56

Record vs. opponents
1956 National League Records

Sources:
Team BR CHC CIN MIL NYG PHI PIT STL
Brooklyn —16–611–1110–1214–813–913–916–6
Chicago 6–16—6–16–19–137–1513–910–12–19–13–1
Cincinnati 11–1116–6–1—9–1314–811–1117–513–9
Milwaukee 12–1013–913–9—17–510–1214–8–113–9
New York 8–1415–78–145–17—11–1113–97–15
Philadelphia 9–139–1311–1112–1011–11—7–1512–10
Pittsburgh 9–1312–10–15–178–14–19–1315–7—8–14–1
St. Louis 6–1613–9–19–139–1315–710–1214–8–1—

Notable transactions

Roster
1956 Cincinnati Redlegs
Roster
Pitchers
  • 43 Bill Kennedy
 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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
CEd Bailey118383115.3002875
1BTed Kluszewski138517156.30235102
2BJohnny Temple154632180.285241
SSRoy McMillan150479126.263362
3BRay Jablonski130407104.2561566
LFFrank Robinson152572166.2903883
CFGus Bell150603176.2922984
RFWally Post143539134.2493683

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
Smokey Burgess9022963.2751239
Alex Grammas7714034.243016
George Crowe7714436.2501023
Bob Thurman8013941.295822
Stan Palys405312.22625
Rocky Bridges71194.21101
Joe Frazier10174.23512
Jim Dyck18111.09100
Art Schult573.42902
Bruce Edwards751.20000
Chuck Harmon1340.00000
Matt Batts320.00000
Bobby Balcena720.00000
Curt Flood510.00000
Al Silvera100---00
John Oldham100---00

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
Johnny Klippstein3721112114.0986
Joe Nuxhall44200.213113.72120
Larry Jansen834.2235.1916

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
Brooks Lawrence49218.219103.9996
Art Fowler45177.211114.0586
Hal Jeffcoat38171823.8455
Tom Acker2983.2432.3754
Don Gross1969.1301.9547
Paul LaPalme1127244.674
Pat Scantlebury619016.6310

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
Hersh Freeman64145173.4017
Joe Black323224.5227
Frank Smith200012.001
Bill Kennedy100018.000
Russ Meyer10000.001

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
Open Seattle Rainiers Pacific Coast League Luke Sewell and Bill Brenner
AAA Havana Sugar Kings International League Reggie Otero and Nap Reyes
AA Nashville Vols Southern Association Ernie White
A Savannah Redlegs Sally League Jimmy Brown
B High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms Carolina League Bert Haas
B Clovis Pioneers Southwestern League Frank Benites, Glenn McQuillen
and Roy Parker
C Yuma Sun Sox Arizona–Mexico League Whitey Wietelmann and Bill Harris
C Wausau Lumberjacks Northern League John Streza
D West Palm Beach Sun Chiefs Florida State League Walt Novick
D Douglas Reds Georgia State League Johnny Vander Meer
D Moultrie Reds Georgia–Florida League Bob Wellman

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Douglas[10]

References
  1. Baseball Reference: 1956 MLB Attendance
  2. Hobie Landrith at Baseball-Reference
  3. Jackie Collum at Baseball-Reference
  4. Joe Azcue at Baseball-Reference
  5. "1956 Cincinnati Redlegs Schedule, Box Scores and Splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  6. "Birdie Tebbetts Manager Of Year". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. October 24, 1956. p. 16. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  7. "1956 Cincinnati Redlegs: Schedule and Results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  8. "Cincinnati Reds, Bob and Linda Hope, Paul Winchell". What's My Line?. Series 316. June 24, 1956. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  9. Jim Pearce at Baseball-Reference
  10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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