1957 Cleveland Indians season

1957  Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	William R. Daley
General managers	Hank Greenberg, Frank Lane
Managers	Kerby Farrell
Television	WEWS-TV (Ken Coleman, Jim Britt)
Radio	WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)
←  1956 Seasons 1958  →

The 1957 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the American League with a record of 76–77, 21+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees

Regular season

The Indians season was marked by change. Longtime Indians manager Al López took over as manager of the Chicago White Sox, and was replaced by Kerby Farrell, who had led the Indianapolis Indians to the 1956 Junior World Series crown. ^[1] Eddie Stanky also became the Indians new infield coach.

Rookie Roger Maris, who was part of Farrell's Indianapolis team, joined the Indians as the team's starting center fielder. He made his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox on April 16. In 5 at bats, Maris had 3 hits. ^[2] Two days later, Maris hit the first home run of his career, a grand slam off Tigers pitcher Jack Crimian at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. ^[3]

In grimmer news, on May 7 Gil McDougald of the Yankees hit a pitch off Indians pitcher Herb Score in the first inning. The pitch would strike Score in the face. ^[4]

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	98	56	0.636	—	48–29	50–27
Chicago White Sox	90	64	0.584	8	45–32	45–32
Boston Red Sox	82	72	0.532	16	44–33	38–39
Detroit Tigers	78	76	0.506	20	45–32	33–44
Baltimore Orioles	76	76	0.500	21	42–33	34–43
Cleveland Indians	76	77	0.497	21½	40–37	36–40
Kansas City Athletics	59	94	0.386	38½	37–40	22–54
Washington Senators	55	99	0.357	43	28–49	27–50

Record vs. opponents

1957 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	8–14	10–12–1	9–12	9–13	16–5–1	9–13	15–7
Boston	14–8	—	8–14	12–10	10–12	16–6	8–14	14–8
Chicago	12–10–1	14–8	—	14–8	11–11	14–8	8–14	17–5
Cleveland	12–9	10–12	8–14	—	11–11	11–11	9–13	15–7
Detroit	13–9	12–10	11–11	11–11	—	8–14	10–12	13–9
Kansas City	5–16–1	6–16	8–14	11–11	14–8	—	3–19	12–10
New York	13–9	14–8	14–8	13–9	12–10	19–3	—	13–9
Washington	7–15	8–14	5–17	7–15	9–13	10–12	9–13	—

Notable transactions

• August 24, 1957: Vito Valentinetti was purchased by the Indians from the Brooklyn Dodgers. ^[5]
• September 21, 1957: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals. ^[6]

Roster

1957 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 28 Hank Aguirre 30 Bob Alexander 10 Bud Daley 25 Mike Garcia  6 Johnny Gray 11 Art Houtteman 21 Bob Lemon 22 Cal McLish 12 Don Mossi 20 Ray Narleski 34 Stan Pitula 27 Herb Score 29 Dick Tomanek 26 Vito Valentinetti 26 Hoyt Wilhelm 24 Early Wynn		Catchers 11 Dick Brown  4 Jim Hegan 18 Hal Naragon 15 Russ Nixon Infielders  5 Joe Altobelli  1 Bobby Ávila 17 Chico Carrasquel  6 Billy Harrell  8 Kenny Kuhn  9 Larry Raines  6 Eddie Robinson 16 Al Smith  3 George Strickland 26 Preston Ward 23 Vic Wertz		Outfielders 31 Jim Busby 34 Joe Caffie 38 Rocky Colavito 32 Roger Maris 35 Bob Usher 36 Dick Williams 14 Gene Woodling		Manager  2 Kerby Farrell Coaches 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Red Kress (First Base) 40 Bill Lobe (Bullpen) 44 Eddie Stanky (Third Base)

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	Jim Hegan	58	148	32	.216	4	15
1B	Vic Wertz	144	515	145	.282	28	105
2B	Bobby Ávila	129	463	124	.268	5	48
SS	Chico Carrasquel	125	392	108	.276	8	57
3B	Al Smith	135	507	125	.247	11	49
LF	Gene Woodling	133	430	138	.321	19	78
CF	Roger Maris	116	358	84	.235	14	51
RF	Rocky Colavito	134	461	116	.252	25	84

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
Larry Raines	96	244	64	.262	2	16
Dick Williams	67	205	58	.283	6	17
George Strickland	89	201	47	.234	1	19
Russ Nixon	62	185	52	.281	2	18
Hal Naragon	57	121	31	.256	0	8
Dick Brown	34	114	30	.263	4	22
Joe Caffie	32	89	24	.270	3	10
Joe Altobelli	83	87	18	.207	0	9
Jim Busby	30	74	14	.189	2	4
Billy Harrell	22	57	15	.263	1	5
Kenny Kuhn	40	53	9	.170	0	5
Eddie Robinson	19	27	6	.222	1	3
Preston Ward	10	11	2	.182	0	0
Bob Usher	10	8	1	.125	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
Early Wynn	40	263.0	14	17	4.31	184
Mike Garcia	38	211.1	12	8	3.75	110
Bob Lemon	21	117.1	6	11	4.60	45
Herb Score	5	36.0	2	1	2.00	39

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
Don Mossi	36	159.0	11	10	4.13	97
Ray Narleski	46	154.1	11	5	3.09	93
Cal McLish	42	144.1	9	7	2.74	88
Bud Daley	34	87.1	2	8	4.43	54
Stan Pitula	23	59.2	2	2	4.98	17
Vito Valentinetti	11	23.2	2	2	4.94	9
Johnny Gray	7	20.0	1	3	5.85	3

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
Dick Tomanek	34	2	1	0	5.68	55
Hank Aguirre	10	1	1	0	5.75	9
Bob Alexander	5	0	1	0	9.00	1
Art Houtteman	3	0	0	0	6.75	3
Hoyt Wilhelm	2	1	0	1	2.45	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	San Diego Padres	Pacific Coast League	Bob Elliott and Catfish Metkovich
AA	Mobile Bears	Southern Association	Don Heffner
A	Reading Indians	Eastern League	Jo-Jo White
B	Keokuk Kernels	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Pinky May
C	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League	Frank Tornay and Ken Blackman
D	Cocoa Indians	Florida State League	Hank Majeski and Jim Gruzdis
D	North Platte Indians	Nebraska State League	Rudy York
D	Batavia Indians	New York–Penn League	Don Richmond

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reading ^[7]

Notes

1. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 85, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-1-4165-8928-0
2. Roger Maris at Baseball-Reference
3. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 87
4. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, pp. 88–89
5. Vito Valentinetti at Baseball-Reference
6. Hoyt Wilhelm at Baseball-Reference
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1957 Cleveland Indians team at Baseball-Reference
• 1957 Cleveland Indians team page at baseball-almanac.com