1953 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1953 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1953 in baseball.

1953 MLB season
League	American League (AL) National League (NL)
Sport	Baseball
Duration	Regular season: April 14 – September 27, 1953 (AL) April 13 – September 27, 1953 (NL) World Series: September 30 – October 5, 1953
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16 (8 per league)
TV partner(s)	ABC, NBC
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Al Rosen (CLE) NL: Roy Campanella (BKN)
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Cleveland Indians
NL champions	Brooklyn Dodgers
NL runners-up	Milwaukee Braves
World Series
Champions	New York Yankees
Runners-up	Brooklyn Dodgers
Finals MVP	Billy Martin (NYY)
MLB seasons
← 1952 1954 →

Red Sox

White Sox   

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1942–1953 American League seasons
American League

Dodgers

Cubs

Redlegs

Braves

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1953–1957 National League seasons
National League

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'." ^[1]

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. ^[2]

This was also the first regular season of the televised Major League Baseball Game of the Week , originally broadcast on ABC.

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball 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 [3]
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	34,824	Lou Boudreau
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	47,400	Paul Richards
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	Cleveland Stadium	73,811	Al López
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Briggs Stadium	58,000	Fred Hutchinson
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	67,000	Casey Stengel
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Connie Mack Stadium	33,166	Jimmy Dykes
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Busch Stadium	30,500	Marty Marion
	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
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	36,755	Phil Cavarretta
	Cincinnati Redlegs	Cincinnati, Ohio	Crosley Field	29,439	Rogers Hornsby
					Buster Mills
	Milwaukee Braves	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Milwaukee County Stadium	36,011	Charlie Grimm
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	54,500	Leo Durocher
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Connie Mack Stadium	33,166	Steve O'Neill
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	34,249	Fred Haney
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Busch Stadium	30,500	Eddie Stanky

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American 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

• v
• t
• e

National 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

The postseason began on September 30 and ended on October 5 with the New York Yankees defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1953 World Series in six games.

Bracket

	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 ^[4]

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 ^[5]

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 ^[6]

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 ^[7]

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 [8]	—	Al Rosen (CLE)
Pitcher of the Year [9]	Warren Spahn (MIL)	Bob Porterfield (WSH)
Rookie of the Year [10]	Jim Gilliam (BKN)	Harvey Kuenn (DET)
Manager of the Year [11]	—	Casey Stengel (NYY)
Executive of the Year [12]	Lou Perini (MIL)	—

Baseball Hall of Fame

Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

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

Further information: 1953 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Milwaukee Braves [13]	92	43.8%	1,826,397	549.3%	23,119
New York Yankees [14]	99	4.2%	1,537,811	−5.6%	19,972
Chicago White Sox [15]	89	9.9%	1,191,353	−3.3%	15,274
Brooklyn Dodgers [16]	105	9.4%	1,163,419	6.9%	14,916
Cleveland Indians [17]	92	−1.1%	1,069,176	−26.0%	13,707
Boston Red Sox [18]	84	10.5%	1,026,133	−8.0%	13,502
Detroit Tigers [19]	60	20.0%	884,658	−13.8%	11,198
St. Louis Cardinals [20]	83	−5.7%	880,242	−3.6%	11,285
Philadelphia Phillies [21]	83	−4.6%	853,644	13.0%	10,944
New York Giants [22]	70	−23.9%	811,518	−17.6%	10,539
Chicago Cubs [23]	65	−15.6%	763,658	−25.5%	9,918
Washington Senators [24]	76	−2.6%	595,594	−14.8%	7,941
Pittsburgh Pirates [25]	50	19.0%	572,757	−16.6%	7,438
Cincinnati Redlegs [26]	68	−1.4%	548,086	−9.3%	7,027
Philadelphia Athletics [27]	59	−25.3%	362,113	−42.3%	4,642
St. Louis Browns [28]	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, ^[29] and Chicago White Sox ^{[30] [31]} were interested. ^[32] To make matters worse, Major League Baseball barred the Game of the Week from airing within fifty miles of any big-league city. ^[33]

The All-Star Game and World Series aired exclusively on NBC.

See also

• 1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
• 1953 Nippon Professional Baseball season

References

1. Lamb, Chris (April 7, 2021). "From 'Redlegs' to 'Red Scare' to 'Twilight Zone:' The Strange Trip of the Cincinnati Reds' Nickname". USA Today. USA Today . Retrieved March 23, 2024.
2. "These players integrated each MLB team". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
3. "1953 Major League Managers". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
4. "1953 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
5. "1953 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
6. "1953 National League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "1953 National League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
8. "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
9. "Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
10. "Rookie of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
11. "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
12. "MLB Executive of the Year Award | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
13. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
20. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
21. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
22. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
23. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
24. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
25. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
26. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
27. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
28. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
29. Ames, Walter (June 13, 1953). "Major League Ball Game on KECA-TV; Topper Series Set as 'Irma' Replacement". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.
30. "Albany Club Owner Asks for Video Of Major League Games in His Area". Hartford Courant. Associated Press. June 6, 1953.
31. Ames, Walter (May 8, 1954). "L.A.-Las Vegas Relay Ready by Fall; Lamenting Berle Seeks New Home". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.
32. "TV Baseball Ban Denied By Official". The Daily Reporter. Associated Press. March 11, 1954. p. 1.
33. "Club Owners Veto Television of Spring Games". The Spokane-Review. Associated Press. March 14, 1954. p. 1.

External links

• 1953 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference