The 1955 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 74th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 64th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 68–86 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Outfielder Bill Virdon won the Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .281, with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. This was the second consecutive year a Cardinal won the Rookie of the Year Award, with Wally Moon winning the previous season. The Cardinals would have this occur again in 1985 and 1986, with Vince Coleman and Todd Worrell, respectively.
Offseason October 19, 1954: Peanuts Lowrey was released by the Cardinals.Peanuts Lowrey at Baseball-Reference November 22, 1954: Jim King was drafted from the Cardinals by the Chicago Cubs in the 1954 rule 5 draft.Jim King at Baseball-Reference November 30, 1954: Benny Valenzuela was drafted by the Cardinals from the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings in the 1954 minor league draft.Benny Valenzuela at Baseball-Reference December 8, 1954: Ray Jablonski and Gerry Staley were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Frank Smith.Ray Jablonski at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1955 season: Duke Carmel was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.Duke Carmel at Baseball-Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 3, 1955: Del Rice was traded by the Cardinals to the Milwaukee Braves for Pete Whisenant.Del Rice at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1955 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders 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 Bill Sarni 107 325 83 .255 3 34 1B Stan Musial 154 562 179 .319 33 108 2B Red Schoendienst 145 553 148 .268 11 51 SS Alex Grammas 128 366 88 .240 3 25 3B Ken Boyer 147 530 140 .264 18 62 LF Rip Repulski 147 512 138 .270 23 73 CF 144 534 150 .281 17 68 RF 152 593 175 .295 19 76
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 Solly Hemus 96 206 50 .243 5 21 Nelson Burbrink 58 170 47 .276 0 15 Harry Elliott 68 117 30 .256 1 12 Pete Whisenant 58 115 22 .191 2 9 Bob Stephenson 67 111 27 .243 0 6 Joe Frazier 58 70 14 .200 4 9 Del Rice 20 59 12 .203 1 7 Don Blasingame 5 16 6 .375 0 0 11 14 5 .357 0 1 3 10 3 .300 1 3 Tom Alston 13 8 1 .125 0 0 Ducky Schofield 12 4 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 Harvey Haddix 37 208.0 12 16 4.46 150 Larry Jackson 37 177.1 9 14 4.31 88 35 159.0 11 8 4.19 68 Tom Poholsky 30 151.0 9 11 3.81 66 Willard Schmidt 20 129.2 7 6 2.78 86 4 27.1 1 0 3.62 19 Vic Raschi 1 1.2 0 1 21.60 1
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 Brooks Lawrence 46 96.0 3 8 6.56 52 Floyd Wooldridge 18 57.2 2 4 4.84 14 Gordon Jones 15 57.0 1 4 5.84 46 John Mackinson 8 20.2 0 1 7.84 8 Lindy McDaniel 4 19.0 0 0 4.74 7
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 Paul LaPalme 56 4 3 2 2.75 39 Mel Wright 29 2 2 1 6.19 18 28 3 1 1 3.23 17 Barney Schultz 19 1 2 4 7.89 19 Bobby Tiefenauer 18 1 4 0 4.41 16 Herb Moford 14 1 1 2 7.88 8 8 1 0 0 9.00 7 Tony Jacobs 1 0 0 0 18.00 1
Awards and honors All-Star Game Red Schoendienst, second base, starter Luis Arroyo, reserve Harvey Haddix, reserve Stan Musial, reserve
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Fresno, Paducah, Hamilton; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Johnson CityJohnson, 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 1955 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1955 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com