1953 St. Louis Cardinals season
1953 St. Louis Cardinals | |
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Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
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Results | |
Record | 83–71 (.539) |
League place | 3rd |
Other information | |
Owner(s) | August "Gussie" Busch |
Manager(s) | Eddie Stanky |
Local radio |
WIL (Harry Caray, Gus Mancuso) |
Stats |
ESPN.com BB-reference |
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The 1953 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 72nd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 62nd season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83–71 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League.
Prior to the start of the season, August A. Busch, Jr. of Anheuser-Busch bought the team from Fred Saigh. That started a reign that would last until March, 1996, when William DeWitt, Jr., Drew Baur and Fred Hanser bought the club. Realizing the Cardinals now had more resources than he could possibly match, Bill Veeck, 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 and Clarence Miles, and the new owners moved them to Baltimore as the Orioles.
Offseason
- December 3, 1952: Grant Dunlap was purchased by the Cardinals from the Shreveport Sports.[1]
Regular season
Season standings
National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Brooklyn Dodgers | 105 | 49 | 0.682 | — | 60–17 | 45–32 |
Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | 0.597 | 13 | 45–31 | 47–31 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 83 | 71 | 0.539 | 22 | 48–29 | 35–42 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 71 | 0.539 | 22 | 48–30 | 35–41 |
New York Giants | 70 | 84 | 0.455 | 35 | 38–39 | 32–45 |
Cincinnati Redlegs | 68 | 86 | 0.442 | 37 | 38–39 | 30–47 |
Chicago Cubs | 65 | 89 | 0.422 | 40 | 43–34 | 22–55 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 50 | 104 | 0.325 | 55 | 26–51 | 24–53 |
Record vs. opponents
1953 National League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
Brooklyn | — | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 20–2 | 15–7 | |||||
Chicago | 9–13–1 | — | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 11–11 | 11–11 | |||||
Cincinnati | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 8–14 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 7–15–1 | |||||
Milwaukee | 9–13 | 14–8 | 14–8 | — | 14–8–1 | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 | |||||
New York | 7–15 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 8–14–1 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 | |||||
Philadelphia | 8–14 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | — | 15–7 | 11–11–1 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 2–20 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 | |||||
St. Louis | 7–15 | 11–11 | 15–7–1 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 17–5 | — |
Notable transactions
- May 18, 1953: Billy Johnson was released by the Cardinals.[2]
- May 23, 1953: Jackie Collum was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Eddie Erautt.[3]
- June 14, 1953: Hal Rice was traded by the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Pete Castiglione.[4]
Roster
1953 St. Louis Cardinals | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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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 |
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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 |
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Castiglione, PetePete Castiglione | 67 | 52 | 9 | .173 | 0 | 3 |
Rand, DickDick Rand | 9 | 31 | 9 | .290 | 0 | 1 |
Dunlap, GrantGrant Dunlap | 16 | 17 | 6 | .353 | 1 | 3 |
Johnson, BillyBilly Johnson | 11 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
Phillips, EddieEddie Phillips | 9 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Brazle, AlAl Brazle | 60 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 4.21 | 57 |
Erautt, EddieEddie Erautt | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6.31 | 15 |
Collum, JackieJackie Collum | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.35 | 5 |
Bokelmann, DickDick Bokelmann | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 0 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dothan, Hazlehurst-Baxley, Paducah