1954 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1954 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's 54th season (it was founded as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901, then played as the St. Louis Browns from 1902–53) but its first season as the Baltimore Orioles. The season involved the Orioles finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses, 57 games behind the AL champion Cleveland Indians in their first season in Baltimore. The team was managed by Jimmy Dykes, and played its home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.

Offseason

• November 30, 1953: Chuck Diering was purchased by the Orioles from the San Francisco Seals.
• February 2, 1954: Satchel Paige was released by the Orioles.
• February 5, 1954: Johnny Groth and Johnny Lipon were traded by the Orioles to the Chicago White Sox for Neil Berry and Sam Mele.
• April 8, 1954: Dave Koslo was acquired from the New York Giants.

Regular season

• April 15, 1954: Thousands of Baltimoreans jammed city streets as the new Orioles paraded from downtown to their new home at Memorial Stadium. During the 90-minute parade, the new birds signed autographs, handed out pictures and threw styrofoam balls to crowd as the throng marched down 33rd Street West. Inside, more than 46,000 watched the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–1, to win their home opener and move into first place in the American League. Ironically, the Orioles lost their last home game of the season, 11–0, to the same White Sox, finishing with 100 losses and 57½ games out of first place.
• September 12: At Memorial Stadium, Joe Durham hit a solo home run off Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Al Sima in the sixth inning, to become the first African-American position player to belt a homer in Baltimore Orioles history.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Cleveland Indians	111	43	.721	--
New York Yankees	103	51	.669	8
Chicago White Sox	94	60	.610	17
Boston Red Sox	69	85	.448	42
Detroit Tigers	68	86	.442	43
Washington Senators	66	88	.429	45
Baltimore Orioles	54	100	.351	57
Philadelphia Athletics	51	103	.331	60

Record vs. opponents

1954 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHI	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–11	7–15	3–19	8–14	5–17	10–12	10–12
Boston	11–11	—	5–17	2–20–2	14–8	9–13	15–7	13–9
Chicago	15–7	17–5	—	11–11	12–10–1	7–15	17–5	15–7
Cleveland	19–3	20–2–2	11–11	—	14–8	11–11	18–4	18–4
Detroit	14–8	8–14	10–12–1	8–14	—	6–16	13–9	9–13
New York	17–5	13–9	15–7	11–11	16–6	—	18–4–1	13–9
Philadelphia	12–10	7–15	5–17	4–18	9–13	4–18–1	—	10–12–1
Washington	12–10	9–13	7–15	4–18	13–9	9–13	12–10–1	—

Notable transactions

• May 11, 1954: Neil Berry, Dick Kokos and Jim Post (minors) were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Jim Brideweser.
• May 12, 1954: Don Lenhardt was acquired from the Orioles by the Boston Red Sox.
• May 25, 1954: Dick Littlefield was traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Cal Abrams.
• June 1, 1954: Vic Wertz was traded by the Orioles to the Cleveland Indians for Bob Chakales.
• July 4, 1954: Marlin Stuart was claimed off waivers from the Orioles by the New York Yankees.
• August 7, 1954: Bob Kuzava was claimed off waivers by the Orioles from the New York Yankees.

Roster

1954 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 24 Vern Bickford 34 Mike Blyzka 20 Bob Chakales 35 Joe Coleman 21 Ryne Duren 21,37 Howie Fox 38 Jay Heard 22,24 Dave Koslo 23 Lou Kretlow 15 Bob Kuzava 27 Don Larsen 18 Dick Littlefield 24 Billy O'Dell 28 Duane Pillette 26 Marlin Stuart 33 Bob Turley		Catchers 11 Clint Courtney 10 Les Moss  9 Ray Murray Infielders  2 Neil Berry  2 Jim Brideweser  1 Chico García  6 Billy Hunter  7 Frank Kellert 40 Bob Kennedy  8 Dick Kryhoski  4 Vern Stephens  3 Eddie Waitkus  5 Bobby Young		Outfielders 18 Cal Abrams 16 Gil Coan 32 Chuck Diering 43 Joe Durham 17 Jim Fridley 19 Dick Kokos 14 Don Lenhardt 15 Sam Mele 20 Vic Wertz		Manager 25 Jimmy Dykes Coaches 31 Harry Brecheen 29 Tom Oliver 30 Frank Skaff

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	Clint Courtney	122	397	107	.270	4	37
1B	Eddie Waitkus	95	311	88	.283	2	33
2B	Bobby Young	130	432	106	.245	4	24
3B	Vern Stephens	101	365	104	.285	8	46
SS	Billy Hunter	125	411	100	.243	2	27
LF	Jim Fridley	85	240	59	.246	4	36
CF	Chuck Diering	128	418	108	.258	2	29
RF	Cal Abrams	115	423	124	.293	6	25

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
Bob Kennedy	106	323	81	.251	6	45
Dick Kryhoski	100	300	78	.260	1	34
Gil Coan	94	265	74	.279	2	20
Jim Brideweser	73	204	54	.265	0	12
Sam Mele	72	230	55	.239	5	32
Les Moss	50	126	31	.246	0	5
Chico García	39	62	7	.113	0	5
Vic Wertz	29	94	19	.202	1	13
Ray Murray	22	61	15	.246	0	2
Don Lenhardt	13	33	5	.152	0	1
Dick Kokos	11	10	2	.200	1	1
Joe Durham	10	40	9	.225	1	3
Frank Kellert	10	34	7	.206	0	1
Neil Berry	5	9	1	.111	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 Turley	35	247.1	14	15	3.46	185
Joe Coleman	33	221.1	13	17	3.50	103
Don Larsen	29	201.2	3	21	4.37	80
Duane Pillette	25	179	10	14	3.12	66
Bob Kuzava	4	23.2	1	3	4.18	15
Vern Bickford	1	4	0	1	9.00	0

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
Lou Kretlow	32	166.2	6	11	4.37	82
Billy O'Dell	7	16.1	1	1	2.76	6
Dave Koslo	3	14.1	0	1	3.14	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
Bob Chakales	38	3	7	3	3.73	44
Howie Fox	38	1	2	2	3.67	27
Mike Blyzka	37	1	5	1	4.69	35
Marlin Stuart	22	1	2	2	4.46	13
Dick Littlefield	3	0	0	0	10.50	5
Jay Heard	2	0	0	0	13.50	2
Ryne Duren	1	0	0	0	9.00	2

Awards and honors

1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Bob Turley

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Don Heffner
A	Wichita Indians	Western League	Herb Brett and Les Layton
A	Lewiston Broncs	Western International League	Larry Barton, Sr.
B	York White Roses	Piedmont League	George Staller
B	Anderson Rebels	Tri-State League	Virgil Stallcup, Fred Boiko and Bob Knoke
C	Pine Bluff Judges	Cotton States League	Frank Lucchesi and Bill Enos
C	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	Barney Lutz
C	Thetford Mines Mineurs	Provincial League	Bill Krueger
D	Wytheville Statesmen	Appalachian League	Joe Murray, Bill Enos and Jim Cisternelli
D	Americus-Cordele Orioles	Georgia–Florida League	Cliff Melton and Jack Landis
D	Ada Herefords/Cementers	Sooner State League	Louis Brower and John Densmore
D	Marion Marauders	Tar Heel League	Bob Knoke

Tar Heel League disbanded, June 21, 1954

References

• 1954 Baltimore Orioles team at Baseball-Reference
• 1954 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com