1957 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1957 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1957 in baseball.

1957 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 15 – October 10, 1957
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16
TV partner(s)	NBC, CBS
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Mickey Mantle (NYY) NL: Hank Aaron (MIL)
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Chicago White Sox
NL champions	Milwaukee Braves
NL runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series
Champions	Milwaukee Braves
Runners-up	New York Yankees
World Series MVP	Lew Burdette (MIL)
MLB seasons
← 1956 1958 →

Orioles

Red Sox

White Sox   

Indians

Tigers

    Athletics

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1955–1960 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 1957 Major League Baseball season was played from April 15 to October 10, 1957. The National League's Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants played their final seasons as New York City-based franchises before their moves to California for the 1958 season, leaving New York City without a National League team until the birth of the Mets in 1962.

On April 22, the Philadelphia Phillies became the 14th team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded John Kennedy. ^[1]

Awards and honors

• Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Sam Crawford
  • Joe McCarthy
• MLB Most Valuable Player Award
  • American League: Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, OF
  • National League: Hank Aaron, Milwaukee Braves, OF
• MLB Rookie of the Year Award
  • American League: Tony Kubek, New York Yankees, SS
  • National League: Jack Sanford, Philadelphia Phillies, P
• Cy Young Award
  • Warren Spahn, Milwaukee Braves (NL)
• The Sporting News Player of the Year Award
  • Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox
• The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
  • American League: Billy Pierce, Chicago White Sox
  • National League: Warren Spahn, Milwaukee Braves
• The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
  • Fred Hutchinson, St. Louis Cardinals
• Gold Glove Award
  • Gil Hodges (1B) (NL)
  • Nellie Fox (2B) (AL)
  • Frank Malzone (3B) (AL)
  • Roy McMillan (SS) (AL)
  • Willie Mays (OF) (NL)
  • Al Kaline (OF) (AL)
  • Minnie Miñoso (OF) (AL)
  • Sherm Lollar (C) (AL)
  • Bobby Shantz (P) (AL)

Statistical leaders

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat AVG Ted Williams BOS .388 Stan Musial STL .351 HR Roy Sievers WSH 42 Hank Aaron MIL 44 RBI Roy Sievers WSH 114 Hank Aaron MIL 132 Wins Jim Bunning DET Billy Pierce CWS 20 Warren Spahn MIL 21 ERA Bobby Shantz NYY 2.45 Johnny Podres BKN 2.66 SO Early Wynn CLE 184 Jack Sanford PHI 188 SV Bob Grim NYY 19 Clem Labine BKN 17 SB Luis Aparicio CWS 28 Willie Mays NYG 38

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	98	56	.636	—	48‍–‍29	50‍–‍27
Chicago White Sox	90	64	.584	8	45‍–‍32	45‍–‍32
Boston Red Sox	82	72	.532	16	44‍–‍33	38‍–‍39
Detroit Tigers	78	76	.506	20	45‍–‍32	33‍–‍44
Baltimore Orioles	76	76	.500	21	42‍–‍33	34‍–‍43
Cleveland Indians	76	77	.497	21½	40‍–‍37	36‍–‍40
Kansas City Athletics	59	94	.386	38½	37‍–‍40	22‍–‍54
Washington Senators	55	99	.357	43	28‍–‍49	27‍–‍50

National League

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	95	59	.617	—	45‍–‍32	50‍–‍27
St. Louis Cardinals	87	67	.565	8	42‍–‍35	45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	.545	11	43‍–‍34	41‍–‍36
Cincinnati Redlegs	80	74	.519	15	45‍–‍32	35‍–‍42
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	.500	18	38‍–‍39	39‍–‍38
New York Giants	69	85	.448	26	37‍–‍40	32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	.403	33	36‍–‍41	26‍–‍51
Chicago Cubs	62	92	.403	33	31‍–‍46	31‍–‍46

Postseason

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	New York Yankees	3	2	12	5	0	3	0
	NL	Milwaukee Braves	1	4	3	710*	1	2	5

*Denotes walk-off

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Baltimore Orioles	Paul Richards
Boston Red Sox	Pinky Higgins	Finished 3rd
Chicago White Sox	Marty Marion	Finished 2nd
Cleveland Indians	Kerby Farrell
Detroit Tigers	Jack Tighe
Kansas City Athletics	Lou Boudreau and Harry Craft
New York Yankees	Casey Stengel	Won Pennant
Washington Senators	Chuck Dressen and Cookie Lavagetto

National League

Team	Manager	Comments
Brooklyn Dodgers	Walter Alston	Finished 3rd in last season in Brooklyn
Chicago Cubs	Bob Scheffing
Cincinnati Reds	Birdie Tebbetts
Milwaukee Braves	Charlie Grimm and Fred Haney	Won World Series
New York Giants	Bill Rigney
Philadelphia Phillies	Mayo Smith
Pittsburgh Pirates	Bobby Bragan and Danny Murtaugh
St. Louis Cardinals	Fred Hutchinson	Finished 2nd

Records and notable events

• The 1957 season marked the first time that both the American and National League leader in Complete Games had less than 20 Complete Games to lead their league. ^[2]

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Milwaukee Braves [3]	95	3.3%	2,215,404	8.3%	28,403
New York Yankees [4]	98	1.0%	1,497,134	0.4%	19,443
Detroit Tigers [5]	78	−4.9%	1,272,346	21.0%	16,524
St. Louis Cardinals [6]	87	14.5%	1,183,575	14.9%	15,371
Boston Red Sox [7]	82	−2.4%	1,181,087	3.9%	15,339
Philadelphia Phillies [8]	77	8.5%	1,146,230	22.6%	14,695
Chicago White Sox [9]	90	5.9%	1,135,668	13.6%	14,749
Cincinnati Redlegs [10]	80	−12.1%	1,070,850	−4.9%	13,907
Baltimore Orioles [11]	76	10.1%	1,029,581	14.2%	13,371
Brooklyn Dodgers [12]	84	−9.7%	1,028,258	−15.3%	13,354
Kansas City Athletics [13]	59	13.5%	901,067	−11.2%	11,702
Pittsburgh Pirates [14]	62	−6.1%	850,732	−10.4%	11,048
Cleveland Indians [15]	76	−13.6%	722,256	−16.5%	9,380
Chicago Cubs [16]	62	3.3%	670,629	−6.9%	8,598
New York Giants [17]	69	3.0%	653,923	3.9%	8,493
Washington Senators [18]	55	−6.8%	457,079	5.9%	5,936

Events

April–June

• April 18 – New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses proposes a new 78-acre (320,000 m²) tract in Flushing Meadows as a site for a new National League baseball stadium. The plan, submitted to mayor Robert Wagner, includes a 50,000-seat stadium with a plastic dome to be built by the Parks Department.
• April 21 – The Cincinnati Redlegs are involved in a bizarre play in a game against the host Milwaukee Braves. With Don Hoak on second and Gus Bell on first, Wally Post hits a ground ball to Milwaukee shortstop Johnny Logan. Hoak breaks up a potential double play by fielding the ball himself and flipping it to Logan. Hoak is called out for interference (contact with batted ball before a fielder touched it), but Post is given a single on the play. The day before, Johnny Temple let Bell's ground ball hit him with the same result, Temple being called out for interference and Bell being awarded a single. The two incidents prompt league presidents Warren Giles and Will Harridge to jointly announce a rule change that declared both the runner and batter out if the runner intentionally interfered with a batted ball, with no runners allowed to advance.
• April 22 – John Irvin Kennedy becomes the first black player in Philadelphia Phillies history, entering the game in the top of the 8th inning as a pinch runner for Solly Hemus.
• April 24 – The New York City Board Of Estimates fails to act on the Moses plan as outlined by Mayor Wagner.
• May 7 – Cleveland Indian pitcher Herb Score is hit in the face by a line drive by New York Yankee Gil McDougald, the ball breaking numerous bones in Score's face and leaving him quite bloodied. McDougald vows to quit if Score is blinded as a result. Score regains his 20/20 vision, but will miss the remainder of the 1957 season.
• May 10 – San Francisco mayor George Christopher confers with Giants owner Horace Stoneham on a possible move of the New York Giants franchise to the West Coast.
• May 28 – The National League approves the proposed moves of the Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers to the West Coast, provided both clubs make their request before October 1 and move at the same time.
• May 29 – New York City mayor Robert Wagner says he plans to confer with the Giants and Dodgers about the proposed move, but that the city will not be "blackjacked" into anything.
• May 30 – Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley rejects an offer from a Queens group to buy the team.
• June 9 – Ernie Banks hits 100th career home run helping Chicago Cubs beat Philadelphia Phillies 7–3.

July–September

• July 18 – Horace Stoneham states the Giants will leave New York after the season. He says he has not heard anything more from San Francisco and that his move is not contingent on that of the Dodgers. Stoneham sees a new stadium or joint occupancy with the New York Yankees as the only reason for the Giants to stay in New York.
• July 26 – Mickey Mantle hits 200th career home run.
• August 19 – As Stoneham cites poor attendance as the reason for the Giants' move, the team's board of directors votes 8–1 to move to California in 1958, as San Francisco promises a new stadium in the Bayview area. The only dissenting vote is by M. Donald Grant, who would go on to become one of the founders of the New York Mets.
• August 20 – Bob Keegan of the Chicago White Sox no-hits the Washington Senators 6–0 in the second game of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park. The no-hitter is the first by a White Sox pitcher since Bill Dietrich in 1937.
• September 5 & 6 – the only time that a walk-off home run is hit in consecutive days by a pitcher. Bob Grim homers for the New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox, followed the next day by Dixie Howell homering for the Chicago White Sox against the Kansas City Athletics. ^[19]
• September 14 – Ernie Banks hits 3 home runs helping Chicago Cubs beat Pittsburgh Pirates 7–3.
• September 23 – The Milwaukee Braves clinch the National League pennant at Milwaukee County Stadium after Braves slugger (and eventual 1957 National League MVP) Hank Aaron clubs a two-run walk-off home run off of Billy Muffett in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Milwaukee a 4–2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
• September 24 – In the last game at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field in a night game, 6,702 fans watch Dodgers lefty Danny McDevitt prevail over the Pittsburgh Pirates 2–0. Brooklyn's Gil Hodges has the last RBI.
• September 29 – With 1895 Giants manager Jack Doyle among the 11,606 looking on, the Giants lose their last game at the Polo Grounds 9–1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates pitcher Bob Friend defeats Johnny Antonelli in the historic contest, and fans storm the field for souvenirs as soon as Dusty Rhodes grounds to Pittsburgh shortstop Dick Groat for the final out.

October–December

• October 7 – the Los Angeles City Council approves the Chavez Ravine site for Dodger Stadium by a vote of 10 to 4.
• October 8 – Walter O'Malley announces that the Dodgers will move to Los Angeles for the 1958 season. New York would not have a National League team again until the expansion New York Mets began play in 1962.

Television coverage

CBS aired the Game of the Week for the third consecutive year, and began to air games on Sunday as well as Saturday. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

NBC also started to air weekend games, purchasing the rights to broadcast 11 Milwaukee Braves games, 11 Pittsburgh Pirates games, two Washington Senators games, and two Chicago Cubs games. The All-Star Game and World Series also aired on NBC.

See also

• 1957 Nippon Professional Baseball season

References

1. "These players integrated each MLB team". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
2. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.106, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
3. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
4. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
5. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
6. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
7. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
8. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
9. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
10. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
11. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. Calcaterra, Craig. "Friday, June 08, 2012 And That Happened". TheHardballTimes.com.
20. "Sunday Baseball TV Plan Proceeds Despite Minors' Pleas". The New York Times . December 17, 1957. p. 61.
21. "Major League Sunday Game of the Week TV Problems Rages". Hartford Courant. December 22, 1957.
22. "Minor Prexy Raps CBS for Sunday TV Plans". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. December 26, 1957. p. C5.

External links

• 1957 Major League Baseball season schedule