1956 Baltimore Orioles season

1956  Baltimore Orioles
League	American League
Ballpark	Memorial Stadium
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Record	69–85 (.448)
League place	6th
Owners	Jerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart
General managers	Paul Richards
Managers	Paul Richards
Television	WMAR-TV/WAAM/WBAL-TV
Radio	WCBM (Ernie Harwell, Chuck Thompson, Bailey Goss)
←  1955 Seasons 1957  →

The 1956 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 6th in the American League with a record of 69 wins and 85 losses.

Offseason

• October 10, 1955: Ed Lopat was released by the Orioles. ^[1]

Regular season

• September 20, 1956: Catcher Tom Gastall was killed in a plane crash. ^[2]
• September 30, 1956: Joe Frazier hit a home run in the last at bat of his career. ^[3]

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	97	57	0.630	—	49–28	48–29
Cleveland Indians	88	66	0.571	9	46–31	42–35
Chicago White Sox	85	69	0.552	12	46–31	39–38
Boston Red Sox	84	70	0.545	13	43–34	41–36
Detroit Tigers	82	72	0.532	15	37–40	45–32
Baltimore Orioles	69	85	0.448	28	41–36	28–49
Washington Senators	59	95	0.383	38	32–45	27–50
Kansas City Athletics	52	102	0.338	45	22–55	30–47

Record vs. opponents

1956 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–16	9–13	5–17	13–9	15–7	9–13	12–10
Boston	16–6	—	14–8	13–9–1	12–10	12–10	8–14	9–13
Chicago	13–9	8–14	—	15–7	13–9	14–8	9–13	13–9
Cleveland	17–5	9–13–1	7–15	—	11–11	17–5	10–12	17–5
Detroit	9–13	10–12	9–13	11–11	—	16–6	12–10	15–7–1
Kansas City	7–15	10–12	8–14	5–17	6–16	—	4–18	12–10
New York	13–9	14–8	13–9	12–10	10–12	18–4	—	17–5
Washington	10–12	13–9	9–13	5–17	7–15–1	10–12	5–17	—

Notable transactions

• May 14, 1956: Billy Loes was purchased by the Orioles from the Brooklyn Dodgers for $20,000. ^[4]
• May 21, 1956: Dave Philley and Jim Wilson were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Fornieles, Connie Johnson, George Kell and Bob Nieman. ^[5]
• July 13, 1956: Morrie Martin was selected off waivers by the Orioles from the Chicago White Sox. ^[6]
• August 17, 1956: Hal Smith was traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Joe Ginsberg. ^[7]

Roster

1956 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 28 Charlie Beamon 38 Fred Besana 25,41 Babe Birrer 28 Hal Brown 20 Sandy Consuegra 23 Harry Dorish 39 Don Ferrarese 25,36,41 Mike Fornieles 21 Bob Harrison 40 Mel Held 36 Connie Johnson 38 Billy Loes 19 Morrie Martin 32 Ron Moeller 29 Ray Moore 18 Billy O'Dell 16 Erv Palica 40 Johnny Schmitz 24 Gordie Sundin 15 George Werley 17 Bill Wight 36 Jim Wilson 35 George Zuverink		Catchers 10 Tom Gastall 22 Joe Ginsberg 22 Hal Smith 11 Gus Triandos Infielders  5 Bobby Adams  1 Bob Boyd 33 Wayne Causey  9 Billy Gardner  6 Bob Hale  5 Grady Hatton  3 George Kell  2 Fred Marsh  7 Willy Miranda  6 Brooks Robinson		Outfielders 32 Chuck Diering 14 Jim Dyck 14,17 Hoot Evers 44 Tito Francona  2 Joe Frazier 37 Tex Nelson  4 Bob Nieman  4 Dave Philley  3 Dave Pope  8 Jim Pyburn 23 Dick Williams		Manager 12 Paul Richards Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 26 Lum Harris 30 Al Vincent

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	Gus Triandos	131	452	126	.279	21	88
1B	Bob Boyd	70	225	70	.311	2	11
2B	Billy Gardner	144	515	119	.231	11	50
SS	Willy Miranda	148	461	100	.217	2	34
3B	George Kell	102	345	90	.261	8	37
LF	Bob Nieman	114	388	125	.322	12	64
CF	Dick Williams	87	353	101	.286	11	37
RF	Tito Francona	139	445	115	.258	9	57

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
Hal Smith	77	229	60	.262	3	18
Bob Hale	85	207	49	.237	1	24
Jim Pyburn	84	156	27	.173	2	11
Dave Philley	32	117	24	.205	1	17
Hoot Evers	48	112	27	.241	1	4
Bobby Adams	41	111	25	.225	0	7
Chuck Diering	50	97	18	.186	1	4
Wayne Causey	53	88	15	.170	1	4
Joe Frazier	45	74	19	.257	1	12
Tex Nelson	39	68	14	.206	0	5
Grady Hatton	27	61	9	.148	1	3
Tom Gastall	32	56	11	.196	0	4
Brooks Robinson	15	44	10	.227	1	1
Joe Ginsberg	15	28	2	.071	0	2
Fred Marsh	20	24	3	.125	0	0
Jim Dyck	11	23	5	.217	0	0
Dave Pope	12	19	3	.158	0	1

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
Ray Moore	32	185.0	12	7	4.18	105
Connie Johnson	26	183.2	9	10	3.43	130
Bill Wight	35	174.2	9	12	4.02	84
Jim Wilson	7	48.1	4	2	5.03	31
Bob Harrison	1	1.2	0	0	16.20	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
Hal Brown	35	151.2	9	7	4.04	57
Erv Palica	29	116.1	4	11	4.49	62
Mike Fornieles	30	111.0	4	7	3.97	53
Don Ferrarese	36	102.0	4	10	5.03	81
Billy Loes	21	56.2	2	7	4.76	22
Fred Besana	7	17.2	1	0	5.60	7
Charlie Beamon	2	13.0	2	0	1.38	14
Ron Moeller	4	8.2	0	1	4.15	2
Sandy Consuegra	4	8.2	1	1	4.15	1
Billy O'Dell	4	8.0	0	0	1.13	6

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
George Zuverink	62	7	6	16	4.16	33
Johnny Schmitz	18	0	3	0	3.99	15
Fritz Dorish	13	0	0	0	4.12	4
Morrie Martin	9	1	1	0	10.80	3
Mel Held	4	0	0	0	5.14	4
Babe Birrer	4	0	0	0	6.75	1
George Werley	1	0	0	0	9.00	0
Gordie Sundin	1	0	0	0	inf	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Lefty O'Doul
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Joe Schultz
A	Columbus Foxes	Sally League	Skeeter Newsome
B	Lubbock Hubbers/Texas City Texans	Big State League	Bill Krueger and Jay Haney
C	Phoenix Stars	Arizona–Mexico League	Billy Capps
C	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	George Staller
D	Thomson Orioles	Georgia State League	Barney Lutz and Enid Drake
D	Paris Orioles	Sooner State League	Jimmy Adair and Barney Lutz

Lubbock franchise transferred to Texas City and renamed, July 8, 1956

Notes

1. Ed Lopat at Baseball-Reference
2. List of athletes who have died in plane crashes
3. "Home Run in Last at Bat | Baseball Almanac".
4. Billy Loes at Baseball-Reference
5. Dave Philley at Baseball-Reference
6. Morrie Martin at Baseball-Reference
7. Joe Ginsberg at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1956 Baltimore Orioles team at Baseball-Reference
• 1956 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com