The 1953 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 72nd season in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

and the 62nd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83–71 during the season and finished in a tie for 3rd place with the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League. Prior to the start of the season,

August A. Busch, Jr. August Anheuser "Gussie" Busch Jr. (March 28, 1899 – September 29, 1989) was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world by 1957 as company chairman from 1946 to 1975.Holian, T ...

of Anheuser-Busch bought the team from

Fred Saigh Frederick Michael Saigh Jr. (pronounced "sigh") (1905–1999) was a lawyer, real estate investor, and owner of the American professional baseball franchise, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1948 through 1953. Early life ...

. That started a reign that would last until March 1996, when

William DeWitt, Jr. William Orville DeWitt Jr. (born August 31, 1941) is an American businessman who is currently the managing partner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball franchise which competes in Major League Baseball (MLB). The Car ...

Drew Baur Andrew N. "Drew" Baur (April 25, 1944 – February 20, 2011) was a co-owner of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Baur was a key member of the ownership group which purchased the team from Anheuser-Busch in March 1996. Baur served as the team's ...

and Fred Hanser bought the club. Realizing the Cardinals now had more resources than he could possibly match,

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Br ...

, owner of the St. Louis Browns decided to search for another city to which to move the Browns. As a first step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals. He would have probably had to sell the park in any case; the park had fallen into disrepair over the years, and the city had threatened to have it condemned. With the Browns' declining revenues – despite collecting rent from the Cardinals – Veeck could not afford to bring it up to code. Busch heavily renovated the 44-year-old park and renamed it ''Busch Stadium.'' Within a year, Veeck also sold the Browns to

Jerold Hoffberger Jerold Charles Hoffberger (April 7, 1919 – April 9, 1999) was an American businessman. He was president of the National Brewing Company from 1946 to 1973. He was also part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles of the American League from 1954 to 1965 ...

and

Clarence Miles Clarence Miles (June 29, 1897 – October 8, 1977) was the chairman of the board and president of the Baltimore Orioles of the American League during the and seasons. Miles was a native of the Eastern Shore. He had gone to school with Wallis ...

, and the new owners moved them to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

as the Orioles.

Offseason

* December 3, 1952:

Grant Dunlap Grant Lester Dunlap (December 20, 1923 – September 10, 2014) was an American baseball and basketball player and coach. An outfielder, he played professional baseball for 11 seasons, and appeared in 16 major league games for the St. Louis ...

was purchased by the Cardinals from the

Shreveport Sports The Shreveport Sports were a professional Minor League Baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Sports fielded a team from 1925 to 1935, 1938 to 1942, 1946 to 1957, and 1959 to 1961. They were affiliated with the ...

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* May 18, 1953: Billy Johnson was released by the Cardinals. * May 23, 1953: Jackie Collum was traded by the Cardinals to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

for Eddie Erautt. * June 14, 1953:

Hal Rice Harold Housten Rice (February 11, 1924 – December 22, 1997), nicknamed "Hoot", was a professional baseball left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1954. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs. Mo ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

for Pete Castiglione.Hal Rice page at Baseball Reference
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Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dothan, Hazlehurst-Baxley, Paducah

References

External links

1953 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference

1953 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season 1953 in sports in Missouri