The 1957 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the American League with a record of 76–77, games behind the New York Yankees
Regular season The Indians season was marked by change. Longtime Indians manager Al López took over as manager of the Chicago White Sox, and was replaced by Kerby Farrell, who had led the Indianapolis Indians to the 1956 Junior World Series crown.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 85, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, Eddie Stanky also became the Indians new infield coach.
Rookie Roger Maris, who was part of Farrell's Indianapolis team, joined the Indians as the team's starting center fielder. He made his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox on April 16. In 5 at bats, Maris had 3 hits.Roger Maris at Baseball-Reference Two days later, Maris hit the first home run of his career, a grand slam off Tigers pitcher Jack Crimian at Briggs Stadium in Detroit.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 87
In grimmer news, on May 7 Gil McDougald of the Yankees hit a pitch off Indians pitcher Herb Score in the first inning. The pitch would strike Score in the face.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, pp. 88–89
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions August 24, 1957: Vito Valentinetti was purchased by the Indians from the Brooklyn Dodgers.Vito Valentinetti at Baseball-Reference September 21, 1957: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.Hoyt Wilhelm at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1957 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches (Pitching) (First Base) (Bullpen) (Third Base)
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 Jim Hegan 58 148 32 .216 4 15 1B Vic Wertz 144 515 145 .282 28 105 2B Bobby Ávila 129 463 124 .268 5 48 SS Chico Carrasquel 125 392 108 .276 8 57 3B Al Smith 135 507 125 .247 11 49 LF Gene Woodling 133 430 138 .321 19 78 CF 116 358 84 .235 14 51 RF Rocky Colavito 134 461 116 .252 25 84
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 Larry Raines 96 244 64 .262 2 16 Dick Williams 67 205 58 .283 6 17 George Strickland 89 201 47 .234 1 19 Russ Nixon 62 185 52 .281 2 18 Hal Naragon 57 121 31 .256 0 8 Dick Brown 34 114 30 .263 4 22 Joe Caffie 32 89 24 .270 3 10 Joe Altobelli 83 87 18 .207 0 9 Jim Busby 30 74 14 .189 2 4 Billy Harrell 22 57 15 .263 1 5 Kenny Kuhn 40 53 9 .170 0 5 Eddie Robinson 19 27 6 .222 1 3 Preston Ward 10 11 2 .182 0 0 Bob Usher 10 8 1 .125 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 Early Wynn 40 263.0 14 17 4.31 184 Mike Garcia 38 211.1 12 8 3.75 110 Bob Lemon 21 117.1 6 11 4.60 45 5 36.0 2 1 2.00 39
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 Don Mossi 36 159.0 11 10 4.13 97 Ray Narleski 46 154.1 11 5 3.09 93 Cal McLish 42 144.1 9 7 2.74 88 34 87.1 2 8 4.43 54 Stan Pitula 23 59.2 2 2 4.98 17 11 23.2 2 2 4.94 9 Johnny Gray 7 20.0 1 3 5.85 3
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 Dick Tomanek 34 2 1 0 5.68 55 10 1 1 0 5.75 9 5 0 1 0 9.00 1 Art Houtteman 3 0 0 0 6.75 3 2 1 0 1 2.45 0
Awards and honors
All-Star Game
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: ReadingJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
Notes
References 1957 Cleveland Indians team at Baseball-Reference 1957 Cleveland Indians team page at baseball-almanac.com