1955 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1955 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Redlegs finishing in fifth place in the National League, with a record of 75–79, games behind the NL and World Series Champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The Redlegs were managed by Birdie Tebbetts and played their home games at Crosley Field.

Offseason

October 1, 1954: Jim Bolger, Harry Perkowski and Ted Tappe were traded by the Redlegs to the Chicago Cubs for Johnny Klippstein and Jim Willis.
December 8, 1954: Frank Smith was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ray Jablonski and Gerry Staley.
February 10, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased from the Redlegs by the Chicago White Sox.
Prior to 1955 season
*Jesse Gonder was signed as an amateur free agent by the Redlegs.
*Ernie Broglio was acquired from the Cincinnati Redlegs by the Stockton Ports.

Regular season

Notable transactions

April 30, 1955: Andy Seminick, Glen Gorbous, and Jim Greengrass were traded by the Redlegs to the Philadelphia Phillies for Smoky Burgess, Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik.
September 10, 1955: Gene Hayden was obtained by the Redlegs from the Seattle Rainiers as part of a working agreement.
September 14, 1955: Gerry Staley was selected off waivers from the Redlegs by the New York Yankees.

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	Smokey Burgess	116	421	129	.306	20	77
1B	Ted Kluszewski	153	612	192	.314	47	113
2B	Johnny Temple	150	588	165	.281	0	50
SS	Roy McMillan	151	470	126	.268	1	37
3B	Rocky Bridges	95	168	48	.286	1	18
LF	Stan Palys	79	222	51	.230	7	30
CF	Gus Bell	154	610	188	.308	27	104
RF	Wally Post	154	601	186	.309	40	109

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
	74	221	53	.240	9	28
Chuck Harmon	96	198	50	.253	5	28
Bob Thurman	82	152	33	.217	7	22
Bobby Adams	64	150	41	.273	2	20
Milt Smith	36	102	20	.196	3	8
Hobie Landrith	43	87	22	.253	4	7
Matt Batts	26	71	18	.254	0	13
Sam Mele	35	62	13	.210	2	7
	13	39	4	.103	0	1
Ed Bailey	21	39	8	.205	1	4
Glen Gorbous	8	18	6	.333	0	4
Bob Borkowski	25	18	3	.167	0	1
Joe Brovia	21	18	2	.111	0	4
	6	15	2	.133	1	1
Bob Hazle	6	13	3	.231	0	0
Al Silvera	13	7	1	.143	0	2

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
Joe Nuxhall	50	257.0	17	12	3.47	98
Art Fowler	46	207.2	11	10	3.90	94

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
	39	138.0	9	10	3.39	68
Jackie Collum	32	134.0	9	8	3.63	49
	30	119.2	5	8	4.66	40
Rudy Minarcin	41	115.2	5	9	4.90	45
	32	102.1	5	2	4.22	54
Don Gross	17	67.1	4	5	4.14	33
Steve Ridzik	13	30.0	0	3	4.50	6
Corky Valentine	10	26.2	2	1	7.43	14
	2	3.1	0	1	10.80	0

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
Hersh Freeman	52	7	4	11	2.16	37
Bud Podbielan	17	1	2	0	3.21	26
Bob Hooper	8	0	2	0	7.62	6
Jerry Lane	8	0	2	1	4.91	5
Maurice Fisher	1	0	0	0	6.75	1
	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Ted Kluszewski, Outfield, Starter
Smokey Burgess, Catcher, Reserve
Joe Nuxhall, Pitcher, Reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Douglas