1955 Chicago White Sox season

The 1955 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 55th season in the major leagues, and its 56th season overall. The White Sox started the season with a plus 40 run-differential in their first 8 games. Good for 2nd best in the modern era. [1] They finished with a record of 91–63, good enough for third place in the American League, 5 games behind the first place New York Yankees.

1955 Chicago White Sox
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkComiskey Park
CityChicago
OwnersGrace Comiskey
General managersFrank Lane
ManagersMarty Marion
TelevisionWGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton, Vince Lloyd)
RadioWCFL
(Bob Elson, Don Wells)
Seasons

Offseason
  • December 6, 1954: Leo Cristante, Ferris Fain, and Jack Phillips were traded by the White Sox to the Detroit Tigers for Walt Dropo, Ted Gray and Bob Nieman.[2]
  • December 6, 1954: Don Ferrarese, Don Johnson, Matt Batts, and Fred Marsh were traded by the White Sox to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Chakales, Jim Brideweser and Clint Courtney.[3]
  • February 10, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased by the White Sox from the Cincinnati Redlegs.[4]
  • Prior to 1955 season (exact date unknown)
    • Vito Valentinetti was acquired from the White Sox by the Charleston Senators.[5]
    • Jim McAnany was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.[6]

Regular season

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 9658 0.623 — 52–25 44–33
Cleveland Indians 9361 0.604 3 49–28 44–33
Chicago White Sox 9163 0.591 5 49–28 42–35
Boston Red Sox 8470 0.545 12 47–31 37–39
Detroit Tigers 7975 0.513 17 46–31 33–44
Kansas City Athletics 6391 0.409 33 33–43 30–48
Baltimore Orioles 5797 0.370 39 30–47 27–50
Washington Senators 53101 0.344 43 28–49 25–52

Record vs. opponents
1955 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KCA NYY WSH
Baltimore —8–1410–12–13–199–1310–12–13–1914–8
Boston 14–8—9–1311–1113–914–88–1415–7
Chicago 12–10–113–9—10–1214–814–811–1117–5
Cleveland 19–311–1112–10—12–1017–513–99–13
Detroit 13–99–138–1410–12—12–1010–1217–5
Kansas City 12–10–18–148–145–1710–12—7–1513–9
New York 19–314–811–119–1312–1015–7—16–6
Washington 8–147–155–1713–95–179–136–16—

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions
  • April 16, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased by the Chicago Cubs from the Chicago White Sox.[4]
  • June 7, 1955: Bob Chakales, Clint Courtney and Johnny Groth were traded by the White Sox to the Washington Senators for Jim Busby.[3]

Roster
1955 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders
  •  5 Jim Busby
  • 35 Gil Coan
  •  5 Johnny Groth
  • 27 Willard Marshall
  • 6,35 Ed McGhee
  •  9 Minnie Miñoso
  • 18 Bob Nieman
  •  6 Ron Northey
  •  7 Jim Rivera
  • 27 Ed White

Other batters

  • 30 Lloyd Merriman
  • 21 Bob Powell
 Manager

Coaches

  • 37 Ray Berres
  • 39 Don Gutteridge
  • 34 George Myatt
  • 33 Del Wilber

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB
Bobby Adams, 3B 28 21 8 2 0 1 0 3 4 4 .095 0
Earl Battey, C 5 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .286 0
Jim Brideweser, SS 34 58 6 12 3 2 0 4 3 7 .207 0
Jim Busby, CF 99 337 38 82 13 4 1 27 25 37 .243 7
Chico Carrasquel, SS 145 523 83 134 11 2 11 52 61 59 .256 1
Phil Cavarretta, 1B 6 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0
Gil Coan, RF 17 17 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 5 .176 0
Clint Courtney, C 19 37 7 14 3 0 1 10 7 0 .378 0
Walt Dropo, 1B 141 453 55 127 15 2 19 79 42 71 .280 0
Sammy Esposito, 3B 3 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0
Nellie Fox, 2B 154 636 100 198 28 7 6 59 38 15 .311 7
Johnny Groth, CF 32 77 13 26 7 0 2 11 6 13 .338 1
Ron Jackson, 1B 40 74 10 15 1 1 2 7 8 22 .203 1
Stan Jok, 3B 6 4 3 1 0 0 1 2 1 1 .250 0
George Kell, 3B,1B 128 429 44 134 24 1 8 81 51 36 .312 2
Bob Kennedy, 3B,RF 83 214 28 65 10 2 9 43 16 16 .304 0
Sherm Lollar, C 138 426 67 111 13 1 16 61 68 34 .261 2
Willard Marshall, RF,LF 22 41 6 7 0 0 0 6 13 1 .171 0
Ed McGhee, CF,LF 26 13 6 1 0 0 0 0 6 1 .077 2
Lloyd Merriman, PH 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Minnie Miñoso, LF,RF 139 517 79 149 26 7 10 70 76 43 .288 19
Les Moss, C 32 59 5 15 2 0 2 7 6 10 .254 0
Bob Nieman, RF,LF 99 272 36 77 11 2 11 53 36 37 .283 1
Ron Northey, RF 14 14 1 5 2 0 1 4 3 3 .357 0
Buddy Peterson, SS 6 21 7 6 1 0 0 2 3 2 .286 0
Bob Powell, PR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Jim Rivera, RF,CF 147 454 71 120 24 4 10 52 62 59 .264 25
Vern Stephens, 3B 22 56 10 14 3 0 3 7 7 11 .250 0
Ed White, RF 3 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .500 0
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB
Harry Byrd, P 25 30 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 .067 0
Bob Chakales, P 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Sandy Consuegra, P 44 29 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 8 .103 0
Dick Donovan, P 40 76 10 17 0 0 1 5 9 26 .224 0
Fritz Dorish, P 13 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 0
Mike Fornieles, P 28 29 6 3 1 0 0 1 0 5 .103 0
Jack Harshman, P 32 60 6 11 1 0 2 8 9 17 .183 0
Dixie Howell, P 35 21 0 8 0 0 0 1 0 8 .381 0
Connie Johnson, P 19 33 4 5 2 0 0 5 0 7 .152 0
Bob Keegan, P 18 18 0 6 0 0 0 2 1 3 .333 0
Morrie Martin, P 37 10 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .300 0
Al Papai, P 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0
Billy Pierce, P 34 70 5 12 2 0 0 7 3 10 .171 1
Virgil Trucks, P 32 64 2 8 1 0 0 6 0 12 .125 0
Team Totals
 155 5220 725 1401 204 36 116 677 568 595 .268 69

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB K
Harry Byrd 4 6 4.65 25 12 1 91.0 85 49 47 10 34 44
Bob Chakales 0 0 1.46 7 0 0 12.1 11 2 2 2 7 6
Sandy Consuegra 6 5 2.64 44 7 7 126.1 120 42 37 4 25 35
Dick Donovan 15 9 3.32 29 24 0 187.0 186 77 69 17 53 88
Fritz Dorish 2 0 1.59 13 0 1 17.0 16 4 3 0 10 6
Mike Fornieles 6 3 3.86 26 9 2 86.1 84 37 37 12 32 23
Ted Gray 0 0 18.00 2 1 0 3.0 9 6 6 0 2 1
Jack Harshman 11 7 3.36 32 23 0 179.1 144 74 67 16 100 116
Dixie Howell 8 3 2.93 35 0 9 73.2 70 27 24 1 30 25
Connie Johnson 7 4 3.45 17 16 0 99.0 95 40 38 5 52 72
Bob Keegan 2 5 5.83 18 11 0 58.2 83 39 38 4 29 29
Morrie Martin 2 3 3.63 37 0 2 52.0 50 27 21 4 22 22
Al Papai 0 0 3.86 7 0 0 11.2 10 5 5 1 10 5
Billy Pierce 15 10 1.97 33 26 1 205.2 162 50 45 16 69 157
Virgil Trucks 13 8 3.96 32 26 0 175.0 176 78 77 19 66 91
Team Totals
 91 63 3.37 155 155 23 1378.0 1301 557 516 111 541 720

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AA Memphis Chicks Southern Association Jack Cassini and Ted Lyons
A Colorado Springs Sky Sox Western League Jack Conway
B Waterloo White Hawks Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Dutch Dorman and Willard Marshall
C Superior Blues Northern League Walt Novick
D Madisonville Miners KITTY League Bill Close
D Dubuque Packers Mississippi–Ohio Valley League Ira Hutchinson
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Dubuque
Madisonville club folded, July 7, 1955

Notes
  1. "Rays (8-0!) chasing mark not seen in 84 years". MLB.com.
  2. Walt Dropo page at Baseball Reference
  3. Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
  4. Lloyd Merriman page at Baseball Reference
  5. Vito Valentinetti page at Baseball Reference
  6. Jim McAnany page at Baseball Reference

References
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