1956 Major League Baseball season

The 1956 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 17 to October 10, 1956, featuring eight teams in the National League and eight teams in the American League. The 1956 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The series is notable for Yankees pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5.

This article is about the 1956 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1956 in baseball.
1956 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 17 – October 10, 1956
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Mickey Mantle (NYY)
NL: Don Newcombe (BKN)
Postseason
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upCleveland Indians
NL championsBrooklyn Dodgers
  NL runners-upMilwaukee Braves
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upBrooklyn Dodgers
Finals MVPDon Larsen (NYY)

Regular season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9757 0.630 — 49–28 48–29
Cleveland Indians 8866 0.571 9 46–31 42–35
Chicago White Sox 8569 0.552 12 46–31 39–38
Boston Red Sox 8470 0.545 13 43–34 41–36
Detroit Tigers 8272 0.532 15 37–40 45–32
Baltimore Orioles 6985 0.448 28 41–36 28–49
Washington Senators 5995 0.383 38 32–45 27–50
Kansas City Athletics 52102 0.338 45 22–55 30–47
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

World Series

Main article: 1956 World Series
1956 World Series
New York Yankees (4) vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (3)
MVP Award: Don Larsen, P, New York
GameDateScoreSeries
(NYY-BKN)		LocationAttendanceTime
1October 3Dodgers 6, Yankees 30–1Ebbets Field34,4792:32
2October 5Dodgers 13, Yankees 80–2Ebbets Field36,2173:26
3October 6Yankees 5, Dodgers 31–2Yankee Stadium73,9772:17
4October 7Yankees 6, Dodgers 22–2Yankee Stadium69.7052:43
5October 8Yankees 2, Dodgers 03–2Yankee Stadium64,5192:06
6October 9Dodgers 1, Yankees 0
(10 innings)		3–3Ebbets Field33,2242:37
7October 10Yankees 9, Dodgers 04–3Ebbets Field33,7822:19

Awards and honors

1956 Award Winners
 American LeagueNational League
AwardPlayerPositionTeamPlayerPositionTeam
Triple CrownMickey MantleCFNYYNone
Most Valuable PlayerMickey MantleCFNYYDon NewcombePBKN
Cy Young AwardNoneDon NewcombePBKN
Rookie of the YearLuis AparicioSSCHWFrank RobinsonLFCIN

Statistical leaders

 American LeagueNational League
TypeNameStatNameStat
AVGMickey Mantle, NYY.353Hank Aaron, MIL.328
HRMickey Mantle, NYY52Duke Snider, BKN43
RBIMickey Mantle, NYY130Stan Musial, STL109
SBLuis Aparicio, CHW21Willie Mays, NYG40
WinsFrank Lary, DET21Don Newcombe, BKN27
ERAWhitey Ford, NYY2.47Lew Burdette, MIL2.70
SOHerb Score, CLE263Sam Jones, CHC176

All-Star game

Main article: 1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
July 10, 1956
Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Team123456789RHE
National League0012112007110
American League0000030003110
Starting pitchers:
NL: Bob Friend
AL: Billy Pierce
WP: Bob Friend (1–0)   LP: Billy Pierce (0–1)
Home runs:
NL: Willie Mays (1), Stan Musial (1)
AL: Ted Williams (1), Mickey Mantle (1)

Feats

Triple Crown

Milestones

  • On April 18, 1956, umpire Ed Rommel was the first umpire to wear glasses in a Major League game. The game was played between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.[1]

Notable events

July–September

October–December

  • December 6–8 – Major League owners meet in Chicago. Cleveland general manager and minority-owner Hank Greenberg proposed implementing limited Interleague play beginning in 1958. Under Greenberg's proposal, each team would continue to play 154-games in the season, 126 of which would be within the league, and 28 against the eight clubs. The interleague games would all be played during a period immediately following the All-Star Game. The proposal was not adopted.[3]

Managers

American League

Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Paul Richards
Boston Red Sox Pinky Higgins
Chicago White Sox Marty Marion
Cleveland Indians Al López
Detroit Tigers Bucky Harris
Kansas City Athletics Lou Boudreau
New York Yankees Casey Stengel
Washington Senators Chuck Dressen

National League

Team Manager Comments
Brooklyn Dodgers Walter Alston
Chicago Cubs Stan Hack
Cincinnati Reds Birdie Tebbetts
Milwaukee Braves Charlie Grimm and Fred Haney
New York Giants Bill Rigney
Philadelphia Phillies Mayo Smith
Pittsburgh Pirates Bobby Bragan
St. Louis Cardinals Fred Hutchinson

Notes

  1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.43, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  2. "Left on Base – Team Records in a Game". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  3. Drebinger, John (December 6, 1956). "Player limit, Interleague Games Top Issues on Majors' Agenda". New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2009.

See also

References

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