The 1955

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

season was the team's 74th season in

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

and the 64th season in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

. The Cardinals went 68–86 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, 30½ games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. Outfielder

Bill Virdon William Charles Virdon (June 9, 1931 – November 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Virdon played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates from 195 ...

won the

Rookie of the Year Award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

this year, batting .281, with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. This was the second consecutive year a Cardinal won the Rookie of the Year Award, with

Wally Moon Wallace Wade MoonSteve Springer"Dodgers' Moon found success in Coliseum" ''Los Angeles Times'', March 23, 2008. (April 3, 1930 – February 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball. Moon played his 12-yea ...

winning the previous season. The Cardinals would have this occur again in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, with Vince Coleman and

Todd Worrell Todd Roland Worrell (born September 28, 1959) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played all or part of eleven seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, serving as those team ...

, respectively.

Offseason

* October 19, 1954:

Peanuts Lowrey Harry Lee "Peanuts" Lowrey (August 27, 1917 – July 2, 1986) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs (1942–43; 1945–49), Cincinnati Reds (1949–50), St. Louis Cardinals (1950–54) and Philadelp ...

was released by the Cardinals. * November 22, 1954: Jim King was drafted from the Cardinals by the Chicago Cubs in the 1954 rule 5 draft. * November 30, 1954: Benny Valenzuela was drafted by the Cardinals from the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings in the 1954 minor league draft. * December 8, 1954:

Ray Jablonski Raymond Leo Jablonski (December 17, 1926 – November 25, 1985) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for all or parts of eight MLB seasons between 1953 and 1960. A National League All-Star, Jablonski appeared in 812 ...

and

Gerry Staley Gerald Lee Staley (August 21, 1920 – January 2, 2008) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1942 Minor League draft. He pitched regularly from 1947 on, then was traded to ...

were traded by the Cardinals to the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

for Frank Smith. * Prior to 1955 season:

Duke Carmel Leon James "Duke" Carmel (April 23, 1937 – August 3, 2021) was an American professional baseball player. Carmel played in 124 games over all or parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball between 1959 and 1965 for the St. Louis Cardinals, N ...

was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* June 3, 1955:

Del Rice Delbert Rice Jr. (October 27, 1922 – January 26, 1983) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played for 17 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1961, most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the Milwaukee Braves for Pete Whisenant.

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''

Awards and honors

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

Red Schoendienst Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst (; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years wi ...

, second base, starter *

Luis Arroyo Luis Enrique "Tite" Arroyo, (February 18, 1927 – January 13, 2016) was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1955 to 1963. Arroyo was the first Puerto Rican player to appear for the New York Yankees and was a key part of their pennant winning s ...

, reserve *

Harvey Haddix Harvey Haddix, Jr. (September 18, 1925 – January 8, 1994) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1956), Philadelphia Phillies ...

, reserve * Stan Musial, reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Fresno, Paducah, Hamilton; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Johnson CityJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links

1955 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference1955 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season 1955 in sports in Missouri