1955 Washington Senators
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkGriffith Stadium
CityWashington, D.C.
OwnersClark Griffith (majority owner)
ManagersChuck Dressen
TelevisionWTTG
RadioWWDC (FM)
(Arch McDonald, Bob Wolff, Les Sands)
Seasons

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.[1]

It was Dressen's first year as the Senators' manager, after Bucky Harris had led the 1954 club to a 66–88, 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 1951 (losing the 1951 National League tie-breaker series on Bobby Thomson's famous home run), then won back-to-back NL titles in 1952 and 1953. 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.[2]

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

Regular season

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9658 0.623 — 52–25 44–33
Cleveland Indians 9361 0.604 3 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 9163 0.591 5 49–28 42–35
Boston Red Sox 8470 0.545 12 47–31 37–39
Detroit Tigers 7975 0.513 17 46–31 33–44
Kansas City Athletics 6391 0.409 33 33–43 30–48
Baltimore Orioles 5797 0.370 39 30–47 27–50
Washington Senators 53101 0.344 43 28–49 25–52

Record vs. opponents

1955 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KCA NYY WSH
Baltimore —8–1410–12–13–199–1310–12–13–1914–8
Boston 14–8—9–1311–1113–914–88–1415–7
Chicago 12–10–113–9—10–1214–814–811–1117–5
Cleveland 19–311–1112–10—12–1017–513–99–13
Detroit 13–99–138–1410–12—12–1010–1217–5
Kansas City 12–10–18–148–145–1710–12—7–1513–9
New York 19–314–811–119–1312–1015–7—16–6
Washington 8–147–155–1713–95–179–136–16—

Notable transactions

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
CEd Fitz Gerald7423656.237419
1BMickey Vernon150538162.3011485
2BPete Runnels134503143.284249
SSJosé Valdivielso9429465.221228
3BEddie Yost12237591.243748
LFRoy Sievers144509138.27125106
CFTom Umphlett11032370.217219
RFCarlos Paula115351105.299645

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 Oravetz10026371.270025
Clint Courtney7523871.298230
Jim Busby4719144.230614
Johnny Groth6318340.219217
Bobby Kline7714031.22109
Juan Delis5413225.189011
Jerry Snyder4610724.22405
Harmon Killebrew388016.20047
Bruce Edwards305710.17503
Tony Roig295713.22804
Jerry Schoonmaker20467.15214
Steve Korcheck133610.27802
Jim Lemon10255.20013
Jesse Levan16163.18814
Julio Bécquer10143.21401
Tom Wright770.00000
Bob Oldis660.00000

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 Porterfield30178.010174.4574
Johnny Schmitz32165.07103.7149
Mickey McDermott31156.010103.7578

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 Stone43180.06134.1584
Chuck Stobbs41140.14145.0060
Pedro Ramos45130.05113.8834
Camilo Pascual43129.02126.1482
Ted Abernathy40119.1595.9679
Webbo Clarke721.1004.649
Bunky Stewart715.1004.1110

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 Chakales292305.2728
Spec Shea272223.9916
Bill Currie300012.462
Dick Hyde30004.501
Vince Gonzales100027.001
Bobby Kline100027.000

Award winners

All-Star Game

  • Mickey Vernon, starter, first base

[6]

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern Association Cal Ermer
A Charlotte Hornets Sally League Jimmy Bloodworth
B Hagerstown Packets Piedmont League Johnny Welaj
B Rock Hill Chiefs Tri-State League Buster Boguskie, Frank Colasinski
and Pete Treece
D Orlando C.B.s Florida State League Tommy O'Brien
D Fulton Lookouts KITTY League Ned Waldrop, Sam Lamitina,
Mel Simons and Bob Harmon
D Erie Senators PONY League Ted Sepkowski

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando

References

  1. ↑ Baseball Reference: 1955 Miscellaneous Team Information
  2. ↑ Povich, Shirley, "Schemeboat on the Potomac", Baseball Digest, May 1955
  3. ↑ Choo Choo Coleman page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Al Sima page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ "1955 All-Star Game".
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