1955 Philadelphia Phillies season

The 1955 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 73rd season in the history of the franchise, and the 18th season for the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. It was the first season for Phillies' manager Mayo Smith. Prior to the season, the Phillies were seen to have strong pitching with ace Robin Roberts but did not have power hitters to match pennant favorites Brooklyn, New York, or Milwaukee, behind whom the Phillies finished in fourth place with a record of 77–77.

Offseason

Prior to the 1955 season, the Phillies purchased the Ballantine Beer electronic scoreboard from Yankee Stadium for $175,000 from the Yankees. It was placed in right-center field at Connie Mack Stadium. This scoreboard was used through the final year at the ballpark.

Spring training

In March 1955, the Phillies began spring training play at Clearwater's Jack Russell Stadium. The stadium was dedicated on March 10, 1955. Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick, National League president Warren Giles, American League president Will Harridge, Clearwater mayor Herbert M. Brown, and other city dignitaries were in attendance. The Phillies played their first game at the stadium on the day of the dedication. Robin Roberts started for the Phillies against the Detroit Tigers. The Phillies won 4–2 on a two-run double by Willie Jones before 4,209 attendees.

Notable transactions

February 11, 1955: Peanuts Lowrey was signed as a free agent by the Phillies.
February 19, 1955: Jimmie Coker was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.
Prior to 1955 season: Ed Bouchee was purchased by the Phillies from the Spokane Indians.

Regular season

Notable transactions

April 30, 1955: Smoky Burgess, Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik were traded by the Phillies to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Andy Seminick, Glen Gorbous, and Jim Greengrass.

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		93	289	71	.246	11	34
1B	Marv Blaylock	113	259	54	.208	3	24
2B	Bobby Morgan	136	483	112	.232	10	49
3B		146	516	133	.258	16	81
SS		92	260	51	.196	7	39
LF	Del Ennis	146	564	167	.296	29	120
CF	Richie Ashburn	140	533	180	.338	3	42
RF		94	323	88	.272	12	37

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
Granny Hamner	104	405	104	.257	5	43
Stan Lopata	99	303	82	.271	22	58
	91	224	53	.237	4	23
Earl Torgeson	47	150	40	.267	1	17
Eddie Waitkus	33	107	30	.280	2	14
	54	106	20	.189	0	8
	15	52	15	.288	1	8
Mel Clark	10	32	5	.156	0	1
	7	21	4	.190	1	1
Ted Kazanski	9	12	1	.083	1	1
Gus Niarhos	7	9	1	.111	0	0
Floyd Baker	5	8	0	.000	0	0
Jim Command	5	5	0	.000	0	0
Mickey Micelotta	4	4	0	.000	0	0
Bob Bowman	3	3	0	.000	0	0
Danny Schell	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Jim Westlake	1	1	0	.000	0	0
Fred Van Dusen	1	0	0	----	0	0
John Easton	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	305.0	23	14	3.28	160
	36	216.0	12	11	3.50	92
Herm Wehmeier	31	193.2	10	12	4.41	85
Curt Simmons	25	130.0	8	8	4.92	58
Saul Rogovin	12	73.0	5	3	3.08	27

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
Ron Negray	19	71.2	4	3	3.52	30
	17	32.1	1	0	7.24	13
	7	18.1	0	3	6.38	6
	3	11.0	0	1	2.45	6
Jim Owens	3	8.2	0	2	8.31	6

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	6	11	16	3.43	97
	40	8	4	1	2.41	28
	24	0	1	0	4.99	15
	22	0	2	1	6.55	18
	14	0	1	0	4.50	14
Jack Spring	2	0	1	0	6.75	2
	1	0	0	0	15.43	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Del Ennis, starter, outfield
Robin Roberts, starter, pitcher
Stan Lopata, reserve