The 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs season consisted of the Redlegs finishing in third place in the National League with a record of 91–63, two games behind the NL Champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The Redlegs were managed by Birdie Tebbetts and played their home games at Crosley Field, where they drew 1,125,928 fans, third-most in their league.Baseball Reference: 1956 MLB Attendance
Offseason November 28, 1955: Hobie Landrith was traded by the Redlegs to the Chicago Cubs for Hal Jeffcoat.Hobie Landrith at Baseball-Reference January 31, 1956: Jackie Collum was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia.Jackie Collum at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1956 season: Joe Azcue was signed as an amateur free agent by the Redlegs.Joe Azcue at Baseball-Reference
Regular season
The Redlegs were in first place at mid-season and stayed in the pennant race until the last day of the season, ending up with a 91–63 record, two games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. For his efforts, the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted Birdie Tebbetts as the 1956 Manager of the Year.
The 1956 Redlegs tied the National League and MLB record for home runs in a season, hitting 221 over 155 regular-season games. (The 1947 Giants also slugged 221 in 155 games played.) Three Redlegs hit more than 35 homers, with Frank Robinson (38) establishing a record for rookies; Wally Post (36) and Ted Kluszewski (35) were the others. Gus Bell (29) and Ed Bailey (28) came within reach of the 30-home-run mark, Bailey in only 383 at bats. The mark stood until , when the New York Yankees hit 240 homers in the first year of the modern 162-game schedule.
On Sunday, June 24, following a doubleheader sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers, eleven Redlegs players appeared on the panel quiz show What's My Line?.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 1, 1956: Jim Pearce was assigned by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals.Jim Pearce at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs 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 118 383 115 .300 28 75 1B 138 517 156 .302 35 102 2B 154 632 180 .285 2 41 SS 150 479 126 .263 3 62 3B 130 407 104 .256 15 66 LF 152 572 166 .290 38 83 CF 150 603 176 .292 29 84 RF 143 539 134 .249 36 83
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 90 229 63 .275 12 39 77 144 36 .250 10 23 77 140 34 .243 0 16 80 139 41 .295 8 22 40 53 12 .226 2 5 71 19 4 .211 0 1 10 17 4 .235 1 2 18 11 1 .091 0 0 5 7 3 .429 0 2 7 5 1 .200 0 0 13 4 0 .000 0 0 3 2 0 .000 0 0 7 2 0 .000 0 0 5 1 0 .000 0 0 1 0 0 ---- 0 0 1 0 0 ---- 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 37 211.0 12 11 4.09 86 44 200.2 13 11 3.72 120 8 34.2 2 3 5.19 16
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 49 218.2 19 10 3.99 96 45 177.2 11 11 4.05 86 38 171.0 8 2 3.84 55 29 83.2 4 3 2.37 54 19 69.1 3 0 1.95 47 11 27.0 2 4 4.67 4 6 19.0 0 1 6.63 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 64 14 5 17 3.40 17 32 3 2 2 4.52 27 2 0 0 0 12.00 1 1 0 0 0 18.00 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 1
Awards and honors
All-Star Game
Ted Kluszewski Gus Bell
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: DouglasJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
External links 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs season at Baseball Reference