1954 Washington Senators season

1954  Washington Senators
League	American League
Ballpark	Griffith Stadium
City	Washington, D.C.
Owners	Clark Griffith (majority owner)
Managers	Bucky Harris
Television	WTOP
Radio	WWDC (FM) (Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff)
←  1953 Seasons 1955  →

The 1954 Washington Senators won 66 games, lost 88, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Offseason

• November 30, 1953: Al Sima was drafted from the Senators by the Chicago White Sox in the 1953 rule 5 draft. ^[1]
• Prior to 1954 season: José Valdivielso was acquired by the Senators from the Lubbock Hubbers. ^[2]

Regular season

During the season, Carlos Paula became the first black player in the history of the Senators. ^[3]

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	111	43	0.721	—	59–18	52–25
New York Yankees	103	51	0.669	8	54–23	49–28
Chicago White Sox	94	60	0.610	17	45–32	49–28
Boston Red Sox	69	85	0.448	42	38–39	31–46
Detroit Tigers	68	86	0.442	43	35–42	33–44
Washington Senators	66	88	0.429	45	37–41	29–47
Baltimore Orioles	54	100	0.351	57	32–45	22–55
Philadelphia Athletics	51	103	0.331	60	29–47	22–56

Record vs. opponents

1954 American League record v t e 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

• June 11, 1954: Sonny Dixon was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Gus Keriazakos. ^[4]
• June 18, 1954: Harmon Killebrew was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Senators. ^[5]
• August 7, 1954: Jim Pearce was purchased from the Senators by the Cincinnati Redlegs. ^[6]

Roster

1954 Washington Senators
Roster
Pitchers 16 Sonny Dixon 16 Gus Keriazakos 22 Connie Marrero 21 Mickey McDermott 27,62 Camilo Pascual 19 Bob Porterfield 31,20 Johnny Schmitz 17 Spec Shea 32,24 Bunky Stewart 18 Chuck Stobbs 26,49 Dean Stone		Catchers 8,37 Ed Fitz Gerald 31 Steve Korcheck  9 Bob Oldis 10 Joe Tipton Infielders 28 Roy Dietzel 28 Mel Hoderlein 25 Harmon Killebrew 30 Jesse Levan 11 Johnny Pesky  5 Pete Runnels  6 Jerry Snyder 12 Wayne Terwilliger  3 Mickey Vernon  1 Eddie Yost		Outfielders  7 Jim Busby 14 Jim Lemon 23 Carlos Paula  2 Roy Sievers  4 Tom Umphlett 15 Clyde Vollmer 29 Tom Wright		Manager 50 Bucky Harris Coaches 52 Joe Fitzgerald 55 Joe Haynes 51 Heinie Manush 53 George Myatt

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	Ed Fitz Gerald	115	360	104	.289	4	40
1B	Mickey Vernon	151	597	173	.290	20	97
2B	Wayne Terwilliger	106	337	70	.208	3	24
SS	Pete Runnels	139	488	131	.268	3	56
3B	Eddie Yost	155	539	138	.256	11	47
LF	Roy Sievers	145	514	119	.232	24	102
CF	Jim Busby	155	628	187	.298	7	80
RF	Tom Umphlett	114	342	75	.219	1	33

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
Tom Wright	76	171	42	.246	1	17
Johnny Pesky	49	158	40	.253	0	9
Joe Tipton	54	157	35	.223	1	10
Jerry Snyder	64	154	36	.234	0	17
Jim Lemon	37	128	30	.234	2	13
Clyde Vollmer	62	117	30	.256	2	15
Mel Hoderlein	14	25	4	.160	0	1
Bob Oldis	11	24	8	.333	0	0
Carlos Paula	9	24	4	.167	0	2
Roy Dietzel	9	21	5	.238	0	1
Harmon Killebrew	9	13	4	.308	0	3
Jesse Levan	7	10	3	.300	0	0
Steve Korcheck	2	7	1	.143	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 Porterfield	32	244.0	13	15	3.32	82
Mickey McDermott	30	196.1	7	15	3.44	95
Johnny Schmitz	29	185.1	11	8	2.91	56
Chuck Stobbs	31	182.0	11	11	4.10	67
Dean Stone	31	178.2	12	10	3.22	87

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
Spec Shea	23	71.1	2	9	6.18	22
Connie Marrero	22	66.1	3	6	4.75	26

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
Camilo Pascual	48	4	7	3	4.22	60
Bunky Stewart	29	0	2	1	7.64	27
Gus Keriazakos	22	2	3	0	3.77	33
Sonny Dixon	16	1	2	1	3.03	7

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Chattanooga Lookouts	Southern Association	Cal Ermer
A	Charlotte Hornets	Sally League	Pete Appleton and Ellis Clary
B	Hagerstown Packets	Piedmont League	Paul Campbell and Zeke Bonura
B	Rock Hill Chiefs	Tri-State League	Sam Lamitina, Mel Kerestes and Jake Early
C	Wichita Falls/ Sweetwater Spudders	Longhorn League	Red McCarty
D	Orlando C.B.s	Florida State League	Tommy O'Brien
D	Fulton Lookouts	KITTY League	Red Mincy
D	Erie Senators	PONY League	Tom O'Connell, Nap Reyes, Tom Milich and Joe Consoli

Wichita Falls club moved to Sweetwater, May 6, 1954

References

1. Al Sima page at Baseball Reference
2. José Valdivielso page at Baseball Reference
3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
4. Sonny Dixon page at Baseball Reference
5. Harmon Killebrew page at Baseball Reference
6. Jim Pearce page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1954 Washington Senators at Baseball-Reference
• 1954 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com