1956 Brooklyn Dodgers season

The 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers edged out the Milwaukee Braves to win the National League title. The Dodgers again faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. This time they lost the series in seven games, one of which was a perfect game by the Yankees' Don Larsen.

1956 Brooklyn Dodgers
1956 National League Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Ebbets Field (since 1913) Brooklyn, New York (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey, Mrs. John L. Smith
General manager(s)	Buzzie Bavasi
Manager(s)	Walter Alston
Local television	WOR-TV
Local radio	WMGM Vin Scully, Connie Desmond, Jerry Doggett, Al Helfer WHOM Buck Canel
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Offseason

• December 9, 1955: Don Hoak, Russ Meyer and Walt Moryn were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Randy Jackson and Don Elston.[1]
• December 21, 1955: Jack Littrell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Kansas City Athletics.[2]
• December 30, 1955: Pete Wojey was traded by the Dodgers to the Detroit Tigers for Leo Cristante and cash.[3]
• March 2, 1956: Tommy Lasorda was purchased from the Dodgers by the Kansas City Athletics[4]

Regular season

Don Newcombe won the NL MVP award and the very first Cy Young Award. He was the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same season.[5]

During the season, the Dodgers played seven home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of owner Walter O'Malley's continued attempts to pressure Brooklyn to allow him to build a new stadium in his preferred location at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. The first of these games was on April 19.[6]

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

1956 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	16–6	11–11	10–12	14–8	13–9	13–9	16–6
Chicago	6–16	—	6–16–1	9–13	7–15	13–9	10–12–1	9–13–1
Cincinnati	11–11	16–6–1	—	9–13	14–8	11–11	17–5	13–9
Milwaukee	12–10	13–9	13–9	—	17–5	10–12	14–8–1	13–9
New York	8–14	15–7	8–14	5–17	—	11–11	13–9	7–15
Philadelphia	9–13	9–13	11–11	12–10	11–11	—	7–15	12–10
Pittsburgh	9–13	12–10–1	5–17	8–14–1	9–13	15–7	—	8–14–1
St. Louis	6–16	13–9–1	9–13	9–13	15–7	10–12	14–8–1	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
Name	Position
Jim Gilliam	Left fielder
Pee Wee Reese	Shortstop
Duke Snider	Center fielder
Roy Campanella	Catcher
Gil Hodges	First baseman
Jackie Robinson	Third baseman
Carl Furillo	Right fielder
Charlie Neal	Second baseman
Don Newcombe	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1956: Tim Thompson was traded by the Dodgers to the Kansas City Athletics for Lee Wheat, Tom Saffell and cash.[7]
• May 14, 1956: Billy Loes was purchased from the Dodgers by the Baltimore Orioles.[8]
• May 15, 1956: Jim Hughes was purchased from the Dodgers by the Chicago Cubs.[9]
• May 15, 1956: Sal Maglie was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.[10]
• July 4, 1956: Ray Shearer was traded by the Dodgers to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Frey.[11]
• July 29, 1956: Dale Mitchell was purchased by the Dodgers from the Cleveland Indians.[12]

Roster

1956 Brooklyn Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Bessent 28 Ralph Branca 40 Roger Craig 34 Bob Darnell 53 Don Drysdale 17 Carl Erskine 18 Jim Hughes 32 Sandy Koufax 41 Clem Labine 16 Ken Lehman 30 Billy Loes 35 Sal Maglie 36 Don Newcombe 37 Ed Roebuck 28,49 Chuck Templeton		Catchers 39 Roy Campanella 54 Dixie Howell 10 Rube Walker Infielders  3 Chico Fernández 19 Jim Gilliam 14 Gil Hodges  2 Randy Jackson 43 Charlie Neal 8,21 Rocky Nelson  1 Pee Wee Reese 42 Jackie Robinson 23 Don Zimmer		Outfielders 15 Sandy Amorós  9 Gino Cimoli 27 Don Demeter  6 Carl Furillo  8 Dale Mitchell  4 Duke Snider Other batters 34 Bob Aspromonte 38 Dick Williams		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 33 Joe Becker 22 Billy Herman 31 Jake Pitler

Player stats

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	Roy Campanella	124	388	85	.219	20	73
1B	Gil Hodges	153	550	146	.265	32	87
2B	Jim Gilliam	153	594	178	.300	6	43
3B	Randy Jackson	101	307	84	.274	8	53
SS	Pee Wee Reese	147	572	147	.257	9	46
LF	Sandy Amorós	114	292	76	.260	16	58
CF	Duke Snider	151	542	158	.292	43	101
RF	Carl Furillo	149	523	151	.289	21	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
Jackie Robinson	117	357	98	.275	10	43
Rube Walker	54	146	31	.212	3	20
Charlie Neal	62	136	39	.287	2	14
Rocky Nelson	31	96	20	.208	4	15
Chico Fernández	34	66	15	.227	1	9
Gino Cimoli	73	36	4	.111	0	4
Dale Mitchell	19	24	7	.292	0	1
Don Zimmer	17	20	6	.300	0	2
Dixie Howell	7	13	3	.231	0	1
Dick Williams	7	7	2	.286	0	0
Don Demeter	3	3	1	.333	1	1
Bob Aspromonte	1	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Don Newcombe	38	268	27	7	3.06	139
Roger Craig	35	199	12	11	3.71	109
Sal Maglie	28	191	13	5	2.87	108
Carl Erskine	31	186.1	13	11	4.25	95
Sandy Koufax	16	58.2	2	4	4.91	30
Billy Loes	1	1.1	0	1	40.50	2

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
Don Drysdale	25	99	5	5	2.64	55
Ken Lehman	25	49.1	2	3	5.66	29
Chuck Templeton	6	16.1	0	1	6.61	8

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
Clem Labine	62	10	6	19	3.35	75
Ed Roebuck	43	5	4	1	3.93	60
Don Bessent	38	4	3	9	2.50	52
Jim Hughes	5	0	0	0	5.25	8
Ralph Branca	1	0	0	0	0.00	2
Bob Darnell	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

1956 World Series

Game 1

October 3, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1
Brooklyn (N)	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	x	6	9	0
W: Sal Maglie (1–0)  L: Whitey Ford (0–1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1), Billy Martin (1)    BRO – Jackie Robinson (1), Gil Hodges (1)

Game 2

October 5, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	1	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	8	12	2
Brooklyn (N)	0	6	1	2	2	0	0	2	x	13	12	0
W: Don Bessent (1–0)  L: Tom Morgan (0–1)
HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (1)    BRO – Duke Snider (1)

Game 3

October 6, 1956, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn (N)	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	8	1
New York (A)	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	1	x	5	8	1
W: Whitey Ford (1–1)   L: Roger Craig (0–1)
HR: NYY – Enos Slaughter (1), Billy Martin (2)

Game 4

October 7, 1956, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	0
New York (A)	1	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	x	6	7	2
W: Tom Sturdivant (1–0)   L: Carl Erskine (0–1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (2), Hank Bauer (1)

Game 5

October 8, 1956, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
New York (A)	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	x	2	5	0
W: Don Larsen (1–0)   L: Sal Maglie (1–1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (3)

Game 6

October 9, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	0
W: Clem Labine (1–0)  L: Bob Turley (0–1)

Game 7

October 10, 1956, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	2	0	2	1	0	0	4	0	0	9	10	0
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
W: Johnny Kucks (1–0)  L: Don Newcombe (0–1)
HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (2, 3), Elston Howard (1), Bill Skowron (1)

Awards and honors

• National League Most Valuable Player
  • Don Newcombe
• Cy Young Award
  • Don Newcombe
• TSN Pitcher of the Year Award
  • Don Newcombe

All-Stars

• 1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Roy Campanella reserve
  • Jim Gilliam reserve
  • Clem Labine reserve
  • Duke Snider reserve
• TSN Major League All-Star Team
  • Don Newcombe

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Tommy Holmes Bill Sweeney
AAA	Montreal Royals	International League	Greg Mulleavy
AAA	St. Paul Saints	American Association	Max Macon
AA	Ft. Worth Cats	Texas League	Lee Handley
A	Macon Dodgers	South Atlantic League	Goldie Holt
A	Pueblo Dodgers	Western League	Ray Hathaway
B	Cedar Rapids Raiders	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	George Scherger
B	Wichita Falls Spudders	Big State League	Jack Wilkinson Jodie Beeler
C	Great Falls Electrics	Pioneer League	Lou Rochelli
C	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Ray Perry
D	Hornell Dodgers	Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League	Boyd Bartley Charlie Gelbert
D	Kokomo Dodgers	Midwest League	Pete Reiser
D	Shawnee Hawks	Sooner State League	Jack Banta
D	Thomasville Dodgers	Georgia–Florida League	Rudy Rufer George Pfister

Notes

1. Randy Jackson at Baseball-Reference
2. Jack Littrell at Baseball-Reference
3. Pete Wojey at Baseball-Reference
4. Tommy Lasorda at Baseball-Reference
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
6. Parker, Vernon (August 16, 2011). "On This Day in History: August 16 A Lonely Ebbets Without Dodgers". Brooklyn Eagle. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
7. Tim Thompson at Baseball-Reference
8. Billy Loes at Baseball-Reference
9. Jim Hughes at Baseball-Reference
10. Sal Maglie at Baseball-Reference
11. Ray Shearer at Baseball-Reference
12. Dale Mitchell at Baseball-Reference

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
• Brooklyn Dodgers reference site
• Acme Dodgers page Archived September 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
• Retrosheet