The 1955 Washington Senators season was the franchise's 55th in Major League Baseball. The Senators won 53 games, lost 101, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Chuck Dressen and played home games at Griffith Stadium, where they draw 425,238 fans, eighth and last in the American League and 16th and last in MLB.Baseball Reference: 1955 Miscellaneous Team Information
It was Dressen's first year as the Senators' manager, after Bucky Harris had led the 1954 club to a 66–88, a sixth-place finish. Dressen, 60, came to Washington two years removed from a highly successful three-year term as skipper of the Brooklyn Dodgers, where his teams finished in a dead heat for first in (losing the 1951 National League tie-breaker series on Bobby Thomson's famous home run), then won back-to-back NL titles in and . But in each of the latter seasons, his Dodgers were defeated by the New York Yankees in the World Series, and when Dressen decided to demand a three-year contract to return to Brooklyn for 1954, his owner, Walter O'Malley, let his 1953 contract expire. Dressen spent 1954 managing Oakland in the highly competitive Pacific Coast League, and his return to the major leagues was viewed with anticipation by some observers.Povich, Shirley, "Schemeboat on the Potomac", Baseball Digest, May 1955
His hiring was a departure for the Senators' management and ownership. He was the first manager outside the Washington team's "family" hired during Clark Griffith's presidency, which began in 1920. Through 1954, Griffith had appointed eight different men to manage his club (with one, Harris, serving three different terms), and all had been current or former Senator players. Dressen, as a veteran National Leaguer and a high-profile manager with New York ties, broke that 35-season trend.
And, though no one knew it at the time, 1955 would be a milestone for baseball in Washington when it proved to be Griffith's last season as the club's president and chief stockholder. He died at age 85 on October 27, and his nephew Calvin, who succeeded him, would move the franchise to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as the Minnesota Twins after only five seasons as the Senators' president.
Offseason Prior to 1955 season: Choo-Choo Coleman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Senators.Choo Choo Coleman page at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions May 1955: Gus Keriazakos was traded by the Senators to the Kansas City Athletics for Al Sima.Al Sima page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1955: Jim Busby was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Bob Chakales, Clint Courtney and Johnny Groth.Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1955 Washington Senators 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 Ed Fitz Gerald 74 236 56 .237 4 19 1B Mickey Vernon 150 538 162 .301 14 85 2B Pete Runnels 134 503 143 .284 2 49 SS 94 294 65 .221 2 28 3B Eddie Yost 122 375 91 .243 7 48 LF Roy Sievers 144 509 138 .271 25 106 CF Tom Umphlett 110 323 70 .217 2 19 RF Carlos Paula 115 351 105 .299 6 45
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 Ernie Oravetz 100 263 71 .270 0 25 75 238 71 .298 2 30 47 191 44 .230 6 14 Johnny Groth 63 183 40 .219 2 17 Bobby Kline 77 140 31 .221 0 9 Juan Delis 54 132 25 .189 0 11 Jerry Snyder 46 107 24 .224 0 5 Harmon Killebrew 38 80 16 .200 4 7 Bruce Edwards 30 57 10 .175 0 3 Tony Roig 29 57 13 .228 0 4 Jerry Schoonmaker 20 46 7 .152 1 4 Steve Korcheck 13 36 10 .278 0 2 Jim Lemon 10 25 5 .200 1 3 Jesse Levan 16 16 3 .188 1 4 Julio Bécquer 10 14 3 .214 0 1 Tom Wright 7 7 0 .000 0 0 Bob Oldis 6 6 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 Bob Porterfield 30 178.0 10 17 4.45 74 Johnny Schmitz 32 165.0 7 10 3.71 49 Mickey McDermott 31 156.0 10 10 3.75 78
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 Dean Stone 43 180.0 6 13 4.15 84 Chuck Stobbs 41 140.1 4 14 5.00 60 Pedro Ramos 45 130.0 5 11 3.88 34 Camilo Pascual 43 129.0 2 12 6.14 82 40 119.1 5 9 5.96 79 Webbo Clarke 7 21.1 0 0 4.64 9 Bunky Stewart 7 15.1 0 0 4.11 10
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 29 2 3 0 5.27 28 Spec Shea 27 2 2 2 3.99 16 Bill Currie 3 0 0 0 12.46 2 Dick Hyde 3 0 0 0 4.50 1 1 0 0 0 27.00 1 Bobby Kline 1 0 0 0 27.00 0
Award winners
All-Star Game Mickey Vernon, starter, first base
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando
References
External links 1955 Washington Senators at Baseball-Reference 1955 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com 1955 Washington "Nationals" promotional film