The 1956 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 75th season in St. Louis, Missouri, and its 65th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 76–78 during the season and finished fourth in the National League.
Offseason October 20, 1955: Harry Walker was released by the Cardinals.Harry Walker at Baseball-Reference November 27, 1955: Ed Mayer was drafted by the Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox in the 1955 minor league draft.Ed Mayer at Baseball-Reference November 27, 1955: Billy Muffett was drafted by the Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs in the 1955 rule 5 draft.Billy Muffett at Baseball-Reference January 31, 1956: Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Jackie Collum.Jackie Collum at Baseball-Reference March 30, 1956: Pete Whisenant was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Sauer.Hank Sauer at Baseball-Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions May 14, 1956: Solly Hemus was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Morgan.Solly Hemus at Baseball-Reference May 17, 1956: Bill Virdon was traded by the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Dick Littlefield and Bobby Del Greco.Bill Virdon at Baseball-Reference May 28, 1956: The Cardinals traded cash and a player to be named later to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Toby Atwell. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Dick Rand to the Pirates on October 14.Dick Rand at Baseball-Reference June 14, 1956: Red Schoendienst, Jackie Brandt, Dick Littlefield, Bill Sarni, and a player to be named later were traded by the Cardinals to the New York Giants for Alvin Dark, Ray Katt, Don Liddle, and Whitey Lockman. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Gordon Jones to the Giants on October 1.Red Schoendienst at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1956 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 Hal Smith 75 227 64 .282 5 23 1B Stan Musial 156 594 184 .310 27 109 2B Don Blasingame 150 587 153 .261 0 27 SS Alvin Dark 100 413 118 .286 4 37 3B Ken Boyer 150 595 182 .306 26 98 LF Rip Repulski 112 376 104 .277 11 55 CF Bobby Del Greco 102 270 58 .215 5 18 RF Wally Moon 149 540 161 .298 16 68
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 Whitey Lockman 70 193 48 .249 0 10 Ray Katt 47 158 41 .259 6 20 Red Schoendienst 40 153 48 .314 0 15 75 151 45 .298 5 24 Bill Sarni 43 148 43 .291 5 22 Bobby Morgan 61 113 22 .195 3 20 Grady Hatton 44 73 18 .247 0 7 Bill Virdon 24 71 15 .211 2 9 Walker Cooper 40 68 18 .265 2 14 Rocky Nelson 38 56 13 .232 3 8 Charlie Peete 23 52 10 .192 0 6 Jackie Brandt 27 42 12 .286 1 3 Ducky Schofield 16 30 3 .100 0 1 Joe Frazier 14 19 4 .211 1 4 Chuck Harmon 20 15 0 .000 0 0 Alex Grammas 6 12 3 .250 0 1 Solly Hemus 8 5 1 .200 0 2 Joe Cunningham 4 3 0 .000 0 0 Tom Alston 3 2 0 .000 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 Vinegar Bend Mizell 33 208.2 14 14 3.62 153 Tom Poholsky 33 203.0 9 14 3.59 95 Murry Dickson 28 196.1 13 8 3.07 109 Harvey Haddix 4 23.2 1 0 5.32 16 Ben Flowers 3 11.2 1 1 6.94 5
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 Herm Wehmeier 34 170.2 12 9 3.69 68 Willard Schmidt 33 147.2 6 8 3.84 52 Lindy McDaniel 39 116.1 7 6 3.40 59 14 41.0 1 6 6.37 39 Gordon Jones 5 11.1 0 2 5.56 6 Dick Littlefield 3 9.2 0 2 7.45 5
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 Larry Jackson 51 2 2 10 4.11 50 Jackie Collum 38 6 2 7 4.20 17 Jim Konstanty 27 1 1 5 4.58 7 Ellis Kinder 22 2 0 6 3.51 4 Don Liddle 14 1 2 0 3.39 14 Max Surkont 5 0 0 0 9.53 5 Stu Miller 3 0 1 1 4.91 5 Paul LaPalme 1 0 0 0 81.00 0
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Houston, FresnoJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
References
External links 1956 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1956 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com