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1956 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 1956 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1956 in baseball.
1956 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 17 – October 10, 1956
Number of games154
Number of teams16
TV partner(s)NBC, CBS
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Mickey Mantle (NYY)
NL: Don Newcombe (BKN)
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upCleveland Indians
NL championsBrooklyn Dodgers
  NL runners-upMilwaukee Braves
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upBrooklyn Dodgers
World Series MVPDon Larsen (NYY)
MLB seasons
Locations of teams for the 1955–1960 American League seasons
American League
Locations of teams for the 1953–1957 National League seasons
National League

The 1956 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 17 to October 10, 1956, featuring eight teams in the National League and eight teams in the American League. The 1956 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The series is notable for Yankees pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5.

Standings

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American League

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 97 57 .630 — 49‍–‍28 48‍–‍29
Cleveland Indians 88 66 .571 9 46‍–‍31 42‍–‍35
Chicago White Sox 85 69 .552 12 46‍–‍31 39‍–‍38
Boston Red Sox 84 70 .545 13 43‍–‍34 41‍–‍36
Detroit Tigers 82 72 .532 15 37‍–‍40 45‍–‍32
Baltimore Orioles 69 85 .448 28 41‍–‍36 28‍–‍49
Washington Senators 59 95 .383 38 32‍–‍45 27‍–‍50
Kansas City Athletics 52 102 .338 45 22‍–‍55 30‍–‍47

National League

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Brooklyn Dodgers 93 61 .604 — 52‍–‍25 41‍–‍36
Milwaukee Braves 92 62 .597 1 47‍–‍29 45‍–‍33
Cincinnati Redlegs 91 63 .591 2 51‍–‍26 40‍–‍37
St. Louis Cardinals 76 78 .494 17 43‍–‍34 33‍–‍44
Philadelphia Phillies 71 83 .461 22 40‍–‍37 31‍–‍46
New York Giants 67 87 .435 26 37‍–‍40 30‍–‍47
Pittsburgh Pirates 66 88 .429 27 35‍–‍43 31‍–‍45
Chicago Cubs 60 94 .390 33 39‍–‍38 21‍–‍56

Postseason

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Bracket

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World Series
   
AL New York Yankees 4
NL Brooklyn Dodgers 3

Awards and honors

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1956 Award Winners
  American League National League
Award Player Position Team Player Position Team
Triple Crown Mickey Mantle CF NYY None
Most Valuable Player Mickey Mantle CF NYY Don Newcombe P BKN
Cy Young Award None Don Newcombe P BKN
Rookie of the Year Luis Aparicio SS CWS Frank Robinson LF CIN

Statistical leaders

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  American League National League
Type Name Stat Name Stat
AVG Mickey Mantle, NYY .353 Hank Aaron, MIL .328
HR Mickey Mantle, NYY 52 Duke Snider, BKN 43
RBIs Mickey Mantle, NYY 130 Stan Musial, STL 109
SB Luis Aparicio, CWS 21 Willie Mays, NYG 40
Wins Frank Lary, DET 21 Don Newcombe, BKN 27
ERA Whitey Ford, NYY 2.47 Lew Burdette, MIL 2.70
SO Herb Score, CLE 263 Sam Jones, CHC 176

Feats

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Triple Crown

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Milestones

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  • On April 18, 1956, umpire Ed Rommel was the first umpire to wear glasses in a Major League game. The game was played between the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators.[1]

Managers

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American League

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Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Paul Richards
Boston Red Sox Pinky Higgins
Chicago White Sox Marty Marion Finished 3rd
Cleveland Indians Al López Finished 2nd
Detroit Tigers Bucky Harris
Kansas City Athletics Lou Boudreau
New York Yankees Casey Stengel Won World Series
Washington Senators Chuck Dressen

National League

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Team Manager Comments
Brooklyn Dodgers Walter Alston Won Pennant
Chicago Cubs Stan Hack
Cincinnati Reds Birdie Tebbetts Finished 3rd
Milwaukee Braves Charlie Grimm and Fred Haney Finished 2nd
New York Giants Bill Rigney
Philadelphia Phillies Mayo Smith
Pittsburgh Pirates Bobby Bragan
St. Louis Cardinals Fred Hutchinson

Home field attendance

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Team name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per game
Milwaukee Braves[2] 92 8.2% 2,046,331 2.0% 26,576
New York Yankees[3] 97 1.0% 1,491,784 0.1% 19,374
Brooklyn Dodgers[4] 93 -5.1% 1,213,562 17.4% 15,761
Boston Red Sox[5] 84 0.0% 1,137,158 -5.5% 14,579
Cincinnati Redlegs[6] 91 21.3% 1,125,928 62.3% 14,622
Detroit Tigers[7] 82 3.8% 1,051,182 -11.1% 13,477
St. Louis Cardinals[8] 76 11.8% 1,029,773 21.3% 13,202
Kansas City Athletics[9] 52 -17.5% 1,015,154 -27.1% 13,184
Chicago White Sox[10] 85 -6.6% 1,000,090 -14.9% 12,988
Pittsburgh Pirates[11] 66 10.0% 949,878 102.4% 12,178
Philadelphia Phillies[12] 71 -7.8% 934,798 1.3% 12,140
Baltimore Orioles[13] 69 21.1% 901,201 5.8% 11,704
Cleveland Indians[14] 88 -5.4% 865,467 -29.2% 11,240
Chicago Cubs[15] 60 -16.7% 720,118 -17.8% 9,001
New York Giants[16] 67 -16.3% 629,179 -23.7% 8,171
Washington Senators[17] 59 11.3% 431,647 1.5% 5,606

Notable events

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June

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July–September

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October–December

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  • December 6–8 – Major League owners meet in Chicago. Cleveland general manager and minority-owner Hank Greenberg proposed implementing limited Interleague play beginning in 1958. Under Greenberg's proposal, each team would continue to play 154-games in a season, 126 of which would be within their league, and 28 against the eight clubs in the other league. The interleague games would all be played during a period immediately following the All-Star Game. The proposal was not adopted.[20]

Television coverage

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CBS aired the Saturday Game of the Week for the second consecutive year. The All-Star Game and World Series aired on NBC.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.43, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  2. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "June 21, 1956 boxscore of double one-hitter from Baseball Reference". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  19. ^ "Left on Base – Team Records in a Game". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  20. ^ Drebinger, John (December 6, 1956). "Player limit, Interleague Games Top Issues on Majors' Agenda". New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
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