1956 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1956 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1956 in baseball.

The 1956 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 17 to October 10, 1956, featuring eight teams in the National League and eight teams in the American League. The 1956 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The series is notable for Yankees pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5.

1956 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 17 – October 10, 1956
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16
TV partner(s)	NBC, CBS
Regular season
Season MVP	AL: Mickey Mantle (NYY) NL: Don Newcombe (BKN)
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Cleveland Indians
NL champions	Brooklyn Dodgers
NL runners-up	Milwaukee Braves
World Series
Champions	New York Yankees
Runners-up	Brooklyn Dodgers
World Series MVP	Don Larsen (NYY)
MLB seasons
← 1955 1957 →

Standings

American League v t e American League W L Pct. GB Home Road New York Yankees 97 57 0.630 — 49–28 48–29 Cleveland Indians 88 66 0.571 9 46–31 42–35 Chicago White Sox 85 69 0.552 12 46–31 39–38 Boston Red Sox 84 70 0.545 13 43–34 41–36 Detroit Tigers 82 72 0.532 15 37–40 45–32 Baltimore Orioles 69 85 0.448 28 41–36 28–49 Washington Senators 59 95 0.383 38 32–45 27–50 Kansas City Athletics 52 102 0.338 45 22–55 30–47

National League v t e National League W L Pct. GB Home Road Brooklyn Dodgers 93 61 0.604 — 52–25 41–36 Milwaukee Braves 92 62 0.597 1 47–29 45–33 Cincinnati Redlegs 91 63 0.591 2 51–26 40–37 St. Louis Cardinals 76 78 0.494 17 43–34 33–44 Philadelphia Phillies 71 83 0.461 22 40–37 31–46 New York Giants 67 87 0.435 26 37–40 30–47 Pittsburgh Pirates 66 88 0.429 27 35–43 31–45 Chicago Cubs 60 94 0.390 33 39–38 21–56

Postseason

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	New York Yankees	4
	NL	Brooklyn Dodgers	3

Awards and honors

1956 Award Winners   American League National League Award Player Position Team Player Position Team Triple Crown Mickey Mantle CF NYY None Most Valuable Player Mickey Mantle CF NYY Don Newcombe P BKN Cy Young Award None Don Newcombe P BKN Rookie of the Year Luis Aparicio SS CWS Frank Robinson LF CIN

Statistical leaders

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat AVG Mickey Mantle, NYY .353 Hank Aaron, MIL .328 HR Mickey Mantle, NYY 52 Duke Snider, BKN 43 RBIs Mickey Mantle, NYY 130 Stan Musial, STL 109 SB Luis Aparicio, CWS 21 Willie Mays, NYG 40 Wins Frank Lary, DET 21 Don Newcombe, BKN 27 ERA Whitey Ford, NYY 2.47 Lew Burdette, MIL 2.70 SO Herb Score, CLE 263 Sam Jones, CHC 176

Feats

Triple Crown

• Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees – Mantle won the Major League Triple Crown by leading both leagues in batting average (.353), home runs (52), and runs batted in (130). Mantle became the first player to win a Triple Crown since Ted Williams in 1947.

Milestones

• On April 18, 1956, umpire Ed Rommel was the first umpire to wear glasses in a Major League game. The game was played between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.^[1]

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Baltimore Orioles	Paul Richards
Boston Red Sox	Pinky Higgins
Chicago White Sox	Marty Marion	Finished 3rd
Cleveland Indians	Al López	Finished 2nd
Detroit Tigers	Bucky Harris
Kansas City Athletics	Lou Boudreau
New York Yankees	Casey Stengel	Won World Series
Washington Senators	Chuck Dressen

National League

Team	Manager	Comments
Brooklyn Dodgers	Walter Alston	Won Pennant
Chicago Cubs	Stan Hack
Cincinnati Reds	Birdie Tebbetts	Finished 3rd
Milwaukee Braves	Charlie Grimm and Fred Haney	Finished 2nd
New York Giants	Bill Rigney
Philadelphia Phillies	Mayo Smith
Pittsburgh Pirates	Bobby Bragan
St. Louis Cardinals	Fred Hutchinson

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Milwaukee Braves^[2]	92	8.2%	2,046,331	2.0%	26,576
New York Yankees^[3]	97	1.0%	1,491,784	0.1%	19,374
Brooklyn Dodgers^[4]	93	-5.1%	1,213,562	17.4%	15,761
Boston Red Sox^[5]	84	0.0%	1,137,158	-5.5%	14,579
Cincinnati Redlegs^[6]	91	21.3%	1,125,928	62.3%	14,622
Detroit Tigers^[7]	82	3.8%	1,051,182	-11.1%	13,477
St. Louis Cardinals^[8]	76	11.8%	1,029,773	21.3%	13,202
Kansas City Athletics^[9]	52	-17.5%	1,015,154	-27.1%	13,184
Chicago White Sox^[10]	85	-6.6%	1,000,090	-14.9%	12,988
Pittsburgh Pirates^[11]	66	10.0%	949,878	102.4%	12,178
Philadelphia Phillies^[12]	71	-7.8%	934,798	1.3%	12,140
Baltimore Orioles^[13]	69	21.1%	901,201	5.8%	11,704
Cleveland Indians^[14]	88	-5.4%	865,467	-29.2%	11,240
Chicago Cubs^[15]	60	-16.7%	720,118	-17.8%	9,001
New York Giants^[16]	67	-16.3%	629,179	-23.7%	8,171
Washington Senators^[17]	59	11.3%	431,647	1.5%	5,606

Notable events

June

• 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).^[18]

July–September

• September 21 – The New York Yankees set a Major League record by leaving 20 players on base against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.^[19]

October–December

• 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.^[20]

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.

See also

• 1956 Nippon Professional Baseball season

References

1. 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
2. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
3. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
4. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
5. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
6. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
7. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
8. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
9. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
10. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
11. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "June 21, 1956 boxscore of double one-hitter from Baseball Reference". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
19. "Left on Base – Team Records in a Game". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
20. Drebinger, John (December 6, 1956). "Player limit, Interleague Games Top Issues on Majors' Agenda". New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2009.

External links

• 1956 Major League Baseball season schedule