The 1954 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the National League with a record of 74–80, 23 games behind the New York Giants.

Offseason October 6, 1953: Art Fowler was acquired by the Redlegs from the Milwaukee Braves as part of a conditional deal.Art Fowler page at Baseball-Reference December 1, 1953: Brooks Lawrence was drafted from the Redlegs by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1953 minor league draft.Brooks Lawrence page at Baseball-Reference

Regular season April 17, 1954: In the seventh inning of the Redlegs' third game of 1954, against the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium, Nino Escalera became the first black player in the history of the Cincinnati franchise.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Escalera, an Afro-Latin American from Puerto Rico, pinch hits for Andy Seminick and singles off Lew Burdette. The next batter for the Redlegs is another pinch hitter, Chuck Harmon, who bats for Corky Valentine; Harmon becomes the team's first-ever African-American player.Retrosheet box score: Milwaukee Braves 5, Cincinnati Redlegs 1

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions July 1954: Ernie Broglio was acquired by the Redlegs from the Oakland Oaks.Ernie Broglio page at Baseball-Reference August 7, 1954: Jim Pearce was purchased by the Redlegs from the Washington Senators.Jim Pearce page at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1954 Cincinnati Redlegs Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader

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 C Andy Seminick 86 247 58 .235 7 30 1B Ted Kluszewski 149 573 187 .326 49 141 2B Johnny Temple 146 505 155 .307 0 44 SS Roy McMillan 154 588 147 .250 4 42 3B Bobby Adams 110 390 105 .269 3 23 LF 139 542 152 .280 27 92 CF Gus Bell 153 619 185 .299 17 101 RF Wally Post 130 451 115 .255 18 83

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 Chuck Harmon 94 286 68 .238 2 25 Ed Bailey 73 183 36 .197 9 20 Bob Borkowski 73 162 43 .265 1 19 Lloyd Merriman 73 112 30 .268 0 16 Hobie Landrith 48 81 16 .198 5 14 73 69 11 .159 0 3 Rocky Bridges 53 52 12 .231 0 2 Jim Bolger 5 3 1 .333 0 0 Grady Hatton 1 1 0 .000 0 0 Johnny Lipon 1 1 0 .000 0 0 Dick Murphy 6 1 0 .000 0 0 Connie Ryan 1 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 40 227.2 12 10 3.83 93 Corky Valentine 36 194.1 12 11 4.45 73 Bud Podbielan 27 131.0 7 10 5.36 42 29 130.0 6 6 5.26 43

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 Joe Nuxhall 35 166.2 12 5 3.89 85 Harry Perkowski 28 95.2 2 8 6.11 32 Howie Judson 37 93.1 5 7 3.95 27 Karl Drews 22 60.0 4 4 6.00 29 Herm Wehmeier 12 33.2 0 3 6.68 13 2 11.0 1 0 0.00 3 Ken Raffensberger 6 10.1 0 2 7.84 5 Mario Picone 4 10.1 0 1 6.10 1

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 50 5 8 20 2.67 51 36 7 3 0 3.76 28 Moe Savransky 16 0 2 0 4.88 7 Cliff Ross 4 0 0 1 0.00 1 Jerry Lane 3 1 0 0 1.69 2 George Zuverink 2 0 0 0 9.00 2

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Ted Kluszewski, Outfield, Starter Gus Bell, Outfield, Reserve

Farm system

Maryville-Alcoa franchise transferred to Morristown, June 19, 1954; Morristown club folded, July 7Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 1954 Cincinnati Redlegs season at Baseball Reference