1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the National League with a record of 68–86, 37 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team changed its name from "Reds" to "Redlegs" prior to this season in response to rampant American anti-communist sentiment during this time period.

Offseason

October 13, 1952: Jim Bolger was purchased by the Redlegs from the Buffalo Bisons.
October 14, 1952: Cal Abrams, Joe Rossi, and Gail Henley were traded by the Redlegs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gus Bell.

Regular season

Notable transactions

May 1953: Brooks Lawrence was acquired by the Redlegs from the Cleveland Indians.
May 23, 1953: Eddie Erautt was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jackie Collum.

Player stats

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	119	387	91	.235	19	64
1B	Ted Kluszewski	149	570	180	.316	40	108
2B	Rocky Bridges	122	432	98	.227	1	21
SS	Roy McMillan	155	557	130	.233	5	43
3B	Bobby Adams	150	607	167	.275	8	49
OF		154	606	173	.285	20	100
OF		151	610	183	.300	30	105
OF		122	357	95	.266	17	62

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
Bob Borkowski	94	249	67	.269	7	29
Grady Hatton	83	159	37	.233	7	22
Hobie Landrith	52	154	37	.240	3	16
Johnny Temple	63	110	29	.264	1	9
Bob Marquis	40	44	12	.273	2	3
Wally Post	11	33	8	.242	1	4
Frank Baldwin	16	20	2	.100	0	0
George Lerchen	22	17	5	.294	0	2
Hank Foiles	5	13	2	.154	0	0
Joe Szekely	5	13	1	.077	0	0
Ed Bailey	2	8	3	.375	0	1

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
Harry Perkowski	33	193.0	12	11	4.52	70
Bud Podbielan	36	186.1	6	16	4.73	74
Ken Raffensberger	26	174.0	7	14	3.93	47
	24	138.1	11	4	3.45	58

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	30	141.2	9	11	4.32	52
	30	124.2	7	11	3.75	51
Herm Wehmeier	28	81.2	1	6	7.16	32
Clyde King	35	76.0	3	6	5.21	21
Bob Kelly	28	66.1	1	2	4.34	29
	11	43.2	3	3	5.98	12
Howie Judson	10	38.2	0	1	5.59	11

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
Frank Smith	50	8	1	2	5.49	42
Ernie Nevel	10	0	0	0	6.10	5
	4	0	0	0	5.79	1
Barney Martin	1	0	0	0	9.00	1
	1	0	0	0	inf	0