The 1953 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 92–62, games behind the New York Yankees.

Offseason December 11, 1952: Earl Averill, Jr. was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.Earl Averill, Jr. at Baseball-Reference

Regular season Al Rosen became the first third baseman in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 1953: Brooks Lawrence was acquired from the Indians by the Cincinnati Reds.Brooks Lawrence at Baseball-Reference June 15, 1953: Ray Boone, Al Aber, Steve Gromek, and Dick Weik were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Art Houtteman, Owen Friend, Bill Wight, and Joe Ginsberg.Ray Boone at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1953 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Third Base) (Pitching) (First Base) (Bullpen)

Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 112 299 65 .217 9 37 1B 147 411 100 .243 3 30 2B 141 559 160 .286 8 55 SS 123 419 119 .284 5 47 3B 155 599 201 .336 43 145 OF 149 513 135 .263 29 102 OF 82 242 55 .227 7 22 OF 134 500 150 .300 13 60

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 82 218 72 .330 9 46 68 211 64 .303 7 31 100 161 38 .236 3 22 47 150 36 .240 3 14 34 112 27 .241 4 21 47 109 25 .229 6 13 46 109 31 .284 0 10 34 68 16 .235 2 13 50 50 15 .300 2 12 16 46 8 .174 1 5 22 21 4 .190 0 3 7 7 1 .143 0 0 4 3 0 .000 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 41 286.2 21 15 3.36 98 38 271.2 18 9 3.25 134 36 251.2 17 12 3.93 138 25 175.2 10 7 3.59 60 1 9.0 1 0 2.00 6

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 26 112.2 9 3 3.99 55 22 109.0 7 7 3.80 40 7 27.0 0 2 2.67 6 5 11.0 1 1 3.27 8

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 43 5 4 7 4.02 16 20 2 1 1 3.71 14 16 0 0 2 7.62 5 6 1 1 0 7.50 4 4 0 0 0 7.36 2

Awards and records Al Rosen, American League MVP

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fargo-Moorhead, Daytona Beach, Green BayJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

On May 6, 1953, the Fargo-Moorhead Twins defeated Sioux Falls in their Opening Day game by a score of 12–3. A record crowd of 10,123 fans came to Barnett Field. In the game, Roger Maris got his first professional baseball hit.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 54, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, That season, Twins player Frank Gravino would hit 52 home runs.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 55 The Twins would host the Northern League All-Star game and defeat the Northern League All-Stars by a score of 8–4.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 56 The Twins finished with a record of 86–39 (improving from their record of 44–80 in 1952) and bested Duluth to win the Northern League championship.Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 58 Roger Maris was selected as the 1953 Northern League Rookie of the Year.

Notes

References 1953 Cleveland Indians season at Baseball Reference