1956 Major League Baseball season

Schedule

The 1956 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 17, featuring all sixteen teams, the first time since . The final day of the regular season was on September 30, which also saw all sixteen teams play, continuing the trend from the previous season. This was the first time since that all sixteen teams played their first and last games on the same days. The World Series took place between October 3 and October 10.

Rule changes

The 1956 season saw the following rule changes:

• In an effort to speed up the pace of play, the American League limited the number of times a nonplayer (such as the manager or coaches) could visit the pitcher's mound to one, per each pitcher. A second visit would necessitate the removal of the pitcher.
• The National League required that batting helmets must be worn by all hitters.

Teams

An asterisk () denotes the ballpark a team played the minority of their home games at*

Standings

American League

National League

Tie games

7 tie games (2 in AL, 5 in NL), which are not factored into winning percentage or games behind (and were often replayed again) occurred throughout the season.

American League

The Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Washington Senators had one tie game each.

• June 13, Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox, tied at 8 after 11 innings.
• June 26, Washington Senators vs. Detroit Tigers, tied at 2 after only 5 innings. Game was also protested by the Tigers, but disallowed.

National League

The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates had three tie games each. The St. Louis Cardinals had two tie games. The Cincinnati Redlegs and Milwaukee Braves had one tie game each.

• April 22, Cincinnati Redlegs vs. Chicago Cubs, tied at 1 after only 7 innings.
• May 6 (game 2), Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs, tied at 6 after only 7 innings.
• July 18, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals, tied at 1 after 9 innings.
• August 12, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs, scoreless after 9 innings.
• August 30, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Milwaukee Braves, tied at 1 after 1 out in the top of the 9th inning.

Postseason

The postseason began on October 3 and ended on October 10 with the New York Yankees defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series in seven games.

Bracket

| RD1-seed1=AL | RD1-team1=New York Yankees | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=NL | RD1-team2=Brooklyn Dodgers | RD1-score2=3

Managerial changes

Off-season

In-season

League leaders

American League

1 American League Triple Crown batting winner

National League

Milestones

Batters

• Mickey Mantle (NYY):
  • Won the Major League Triple Crown by leading both leagues in batting average (.353), home runs (52), and runs batted in (130).

Pitchers

Perfect games

• Don Larsen (NYY)
  • Pitched the sixth perfect game in Major League history and the first in franchise history on October 8, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. It remains the only perfect game in World Series history. Larsen threw 97 pitches, 71 for strikes, and struck out seven in the 2–0 victory.

No-hitters

• Carl Erskine (BRO):

  • Erskine threw the 12th no-hitter in franchise history, and the first since 1952 (when Erskine threw his first no-hitter), by defeating the New York Giants 3–0 on May 12. Erskine threw 102 pitches, 66 of them for strikes, while walking two and striking out three.

• Mel Parnell (BOS):

  • Parnell threw the 11th no-hitter in franchise history, and the first since 1923, by defeating the Chicago White Sox 4–0 on July 14. Parnell walked two and struck out 4.

• Sal Maglie (BRO):

  • Maglie threw the 13th no-hitter in franchise history, and the Dodgers' second of the season, by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 5–0 on September 25. Maglie threw 110 pitches, 71 of them for strikes, while walking two and striking out three.

Other pitching accomplishments

• On June 21, Jack Harshman of the Chicago White Sox defeats Connie Johnson of the Baltimore Orioles 1–0, at Comiskey Park in which both pitchers throw matching one-hitters. This game was only the third double one-hitter thrown in the modern era (since 1901).

Miscellaneous

• New York Yankees:

  • Set a Major League record by leaving 20 players on base on September 21 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

• Umpire Ed Rommel was the first umpire to wear glasses in a Major League game on April 18. The game was played between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.

• December 6–8 – Major League owners meet in Chicago. Cleveland general manager and minority-owner Hank Greenberg proposed implementing limited interleague play beginning in 1958. Under Greenberg's proposal, each team would continue to play 154-games in a season, 126 of which would be within their league, and 28 against the eight clubs in the other league. The interleague games would all be played during a period immediately following the All-Star Game. The proposal was not adopted.

Awards and honors

Regular season

Other awards

• Sport Magazine's World Series Most Valuable Player Award: Don Larsen (NYY)

Baseball Hall of Fame

Main article: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

• Hank Greenberg
• Joe Cronin

Home field attendance

Venues

The Brooklyn Dodgers began playing several home games in Jersey City, New Jersey, playing seven games.

Television coverage

CBS aired the Saturday Game of the Week for the second consecutive year. The All-Star Game and World Series aired on NBC.

Retired numbers

• Bob Feller had his No. 19 retired by the Cleveland Indians on December 28. This was the first number retired by the team.

References

References

1. Voiss, Dale. "1955 Winter Meetings: Majors and Minors Clash Over Money – Society for American Baseball Research".
2. "1956 Major League Managers".
3. "Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: June 13, 1956".
4. "Washington Nationals vs Detroit Tigers Box Score: June 26, 1956".
5. "Cincinnati Redlegs vs Chicago Cubs Box Score: April 22, 1956".
6. "Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Box Score: May 6, 1956".
7. "Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Box Score: July 18, 1956".
8. "St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Box Score: August 12, 1956".
9. "Pittsburgh Pirates vs Milwaukee Braves Box Score: August 30, 1956".
10. "1956 American League Batting Leaders".
11. "1956 American League Pitching Leaders".
12. "1956 National League Batting Leaders".
13. "1956 National League Pitching Leaders".
14. "New York Giants vs Brooklyn Dodgers Box Score: May 12, 1956".
15. "Chicago White Sox vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: July 14, 1956".
16. "Philadelphia Phillies vs Brooklyn Dodgers Box Score: September 25, 1956".
17. "June 21, 1956 boxscore of double one-hitter from Baseball Reference".
18. "Left on Base – Team Records in a Game". baseball-almanac.com.
19. ''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p.43, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, {{ISBN. 978-0-451-22363-0
20. Drebinger, John. (December 6, 1956). "Player limit, Interleague Games Top Issues on Majors' Agenda". New York Times.
21. "Major League Player of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
22. "Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
23. "Rookie of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
24. "Manager of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
25. "MLB Executive of the Year Award {{!}} Baseball Almanac".
26. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
27. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
28. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
29. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
30. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
31. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
32. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
33. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
34. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
35. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
36. "Philadelphia Phillies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
37. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
38. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
39. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
40. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
41. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
42. "Ballparks {{!}} Los Angeles Dodgers".