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The 1954 major league baseball season began on April 13, 1954. The regular season ended on September 26, with the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 51st World Series on September 29 and ended with Game 4 on October 2. The Giants swept the Indians in four games, capturing the 5th championship in franchise history.

The 21st Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on July 13, hosted by the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland, Ohio, with the American League winning, 11–9, ending the National League's four-win streak.

In a continuation of the relocation trend that began the previous season, the St. Louis Browns moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Baltimore, Maryland, leaving St. Louis a one-team city, and seeing the return of American League baseball to Baltimore after 52 seasons. The previous American League relocation involved the same franchise, when the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis as the Browns, 53 seasons earlier. The season would also prove to be the last season of the Athletics franchise in Philadelphia, moving to Kansas City, Missouri the following season as the Kansas City Athletics.

On Opening Day, April 13, the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals became the ninth and tenth teams in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Curt Roberts and Tom Alston, respectively; the Cincinnati Redlegs became the 11th team just four days later when they fielded future Nino Escalera and Chuck Harmon, while the Washington Senators became the 12th team on September 6 when they fielded Carlos Paula.

Schedule

The 1954 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 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 13, featuring all sixteen teams, the first time since 1950. The final day of the regular season was on September 26, which saw fourteen teams play, and was the first time since 1945 that the scheduled regular season didn't end with all sixteen teams. The World Series took place between September 29 and October 2.

Rule changes

The 1954 season saw the following rule changes:

• During half innings where a team was batting, all players of that team must remove their gloves from the field. In addition, any equipment not on a player was to be removed from the field.
• Rules regarding a defensive interference offense expanded to include all fielders on the field, not just changed from a catcher.
• Fielders who were in the batter's vision could no longer deliberately distract the batter.
• The sacrifice fly rule was brought back, having been previously used in 1939. This time, the rule was considered when a player scored after the catch only. Sacrifice bunts and flies were listed separately in official averages.

Teams

Standings

American League

National League

Postseason

Bracket

*Denotes walk-off

Managerial changes

Off-season

In-season

League leaders

American League

National League

Milestones

• Umpire Bill McGowan set a Major League record by officiating in his 2,541st consecutive game.

Awards and honors

Regular season

Other awards

• Babe Ruth Award (World Series MVP): Dusty Rhodes (NYG)

The Sporting News awards

• Player of the Year Award: Willie Mays (NYG)
• Pitcher of the Year Award: Johnny Antonelli (NYG, National); Bob Lemon (CLE, American)
• Rookie of the Year Award: Wally Moon (STL, National); Bob Grim (NYY, American)
• Manager of the Year Award: Leo Durocher (NYG)

Baseball Hall of Fame

• Rabbit Maranville
• Bill Dickey
• Bill Terry

Home field attendance

Television coverage

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

Retired numbers

• Billy Meyer had his No. 1 retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates. This was the second number retired by the team.

See also

• 1954 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
• 1954 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Notes

1. Major League Baseball recognizes Curt Roberts as the Pirates' first Black player; however, Carlos Bernier of Puerto Rico, also a Black man, debuted on April 22, 1953.

References

1. Guzzardi, Joe (April 14, 2013). "Carlos Bernier, more than a footnote". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
2. "These players integrated each MLB team". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
3. "MLB Rule Changes | Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
4. Bass, Mike. "Mike Bass column: Hate MLB's changes? You ain't seen nothing yet ... I hope". The Enquirer. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
5. admin. "The Sacrifice Fly – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved May 28, 2024.
6. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.42, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
7. "Willie Mays Baseball Almanac Awards". Baseball Almanac.
8. "Johhny Antonellli Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
9. "Johnny Antonelli Baseball Almanac Awards". Baseball Almanac.
10. "Bob Lemon Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
11. "Bob Lemon Baseball Almanac Awards". Baseball Almanac.
12. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "New York Yankees 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 White Sox 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. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
20. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
21. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
22. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
23. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
24. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
25. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
26. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
27. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.

External links

• 1954 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference

• 1954 Major League Baseball season
• Major League Baseball seasons