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1957 Milwaukee Braves season

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1957 Milwaukee Braves
World Champions
National League Champions
LeagueNational League
BallparkMilwaukee County Stadium
CityMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Record95–59 (.617)
League place1st
OwnersLouis R. Perini
General managersJohn J. Quinn
ManagersFred Haney
RadioWEMP
WTMJ
(Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
← 1956
1958 →

The 1957 Milwaukee Braves season was the fifth season in Milwaukee and the 87th season of the franchise. It was the year that the team won its first and only World Series championship while based in Milwaukee. The Braves won 95 games and lost 59 to win the National League pennant by eight games over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. This season was the best season for the Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965) in terms of wins (95) and winning percentage (.617).

The club went on to the 1957 World Series, where they faced the New York Yankees. Pitcher Lew Burdette was the star and Most Valuable Player, winning three games, including the crucial seventh game played in New York City. The Braves became the first team not based in New York to win the World Series since the Cleveland Indians in 1948.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Season summary

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The Braves finished the regular season with a 95–59 record, and they scored 772 runs while giving up 613. They played their home games in Milwaukee County Stadium, where they sold just over 2,220,000 tickets, tops in the National League.

Offense

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The Braves were led on offense by right fielder Hank Aaron, who won the National League Most Valuable Player award in just his fourth year in the major leagues. Fielding well in 151 games in right field, Aaron also led the National League with 118 runs scored, 44 home runs, a career high of 132 runs batted in, and 369 total bases. He also struck out just 58 times. Aaron also finished high in the league standings with 198 hits, a .322 batting average, and a .600 slugging percentage.

Another offensive star was third baseman Eddie Mathews. On June 12, Mathews hit the 200th home run of his career.[5] For the season, Matthews was second on the team with 167 hits, 109 runs scored, 32 home runs, 94 runs batted in, and 148 games played.

In addition, the Braves' new second baseman, Red Schoendienst, was acquired in a trade on June 15, and he played in 93 games. Given up in this trade were Bobby Thomson (who was batting just .236) and Danny O'Connell (who was batting just .235). Wes Covington was the main replacement for Thomson in left field. Covington played in 96 games, batted .284, and batted in 65 runs, third on the team.

Del Crandall was the Braves' catcher in 118 of the 154 games. Del Rice was his primary backup, and he played in 54 games, including pinch-hitting.

Pitching

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Starting pitcher Warren Spahn was the Cy Young Award winner as the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, the first left-handed pitcher to win the award.[6] Spahn finished with 35 games started with a 21–11 record. He also relieved in four games, saving three of those. Spahn led the National League with 21 wins and 18 complete games, and he had a 2.69 earned-run average in 271 innings pitched. Spahn was backed up by starters Bob Buhl (18–7) and Lew Burdette (17–9).

Manager

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Fred Haney, coming off his good performance in 1956, managed the Braves for the entire season in 1957. Haney also led the Braves to the top of the regular-season standings in 1958 and 1959, including the 1958 World Series, but after 1959, he never managed another Major League team again, although he did become the general manager of the Los Angeles Angels.

Injuries

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The Braves overcame two serious injuries during the 1957 season that caused some players to miss large parts of the year. First baseman Joe Adcock was injured in mid-season, and only played in 65 games, in which he batted in 38 runs. Frank Torre filled in for him and batted .272 in 129 games. Center fielder Bill Bruton injured his knee after playing in just 79 games, missing the rest of the season. He was replaced by Andy Pafko, who played in 83 games.

Opening Day lineup

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Danny O'Connell 2B
Hank Aaron RF
Eddie Mathews 3B
Joe Adcock 1B
Bobby Thomson LF
Johnny Logan SS
Bill Bruton CF
Del Crandall C
Warren Spahn P

Notable transactions

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Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Milwaukee Braves 95 59 .617 — 45‍–‍32 50‍–‍27
St. Louis Cardinals 87 67 .565 8 42‍–‍35 45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers 84 70 .545 11 43‍–‍34 41‍–‍36
Cincinnati Redlegs 80 74 .519 15 45‍–‍32 35‍–‍42
Philadelphia Phillies 77 77 .500 18 38‍–‍39 39‍–‍38
New York Giants 69 85 .448 26 37‍–‍40 32‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates 62 92 .403 33 36‍–‍41 26‍–‍51
Chicago Cubs 62 92 .403 33 31‍–‍46 31‍–‍46

Record vs. opponents

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1957 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BRO CHC CIN MIL NYG PHI PIT STL
Brooklyn — 17–5 12–10 10–12 12–10 9–13 12–10 12–10
Chicago 5–17 — 7–15 9–13 9–13 8–14–1 12–10–1 12–10
Cincinnati 10–12 15–7 — 4–18 12–10 16–6 14–8 9–13
Milwaukee 12–10 13–9 18–4 — 13–9 12–10–1 16–6 11–11
New York 10–12 13–9 10–12 9–13 — 10–12 9–13 8–14
Philadelphia 13–9 14–8–1 6–16 10–12–1 12–10 — 13–9 9–13
Pittsburgh 10–12 10–12–1 8–14 6–16 13–9 9–13 — 6–16
St. Louis 10–12 10–12 13–9 11–11 14–8 13–9 16–6 —


Roster

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1957 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Del Crandall 118 383 97 .253 15 46
1B Frank Torre 129 364 99 .272 5 40
2B Red Schoendienst 93 394 122 .310 6 32
3B Eddie Mathews 148 572 167 .292 32 94
SS Johnny Logan 129 494 135 .273 10 49
LF Wes Covington 96 328 93 .284 21 65
CF Bill Bruton 79 306 85 .278 5 30
RF Hank Aaron 151 615 198 .322 44 132

Other batters

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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
Andy Pafko 83 220 61 .277 8 27
Joe Adcock 65 209 60 .287 12 38
Danny O'Connell 48 183 43 .235 1 8
Félix Mantilla 71 182 43 .236 4 21
Bobby Thomson 41 148 35 .236 4 23
Del Rice 54 144 33 .229 9 20
Bob Hazle 41 134 54 .403 7 27
Carl Sawatski 58 105 25 .238 2 17
Nippy Jones 30 79 21 .266 2 8
Chuck Tanner 22 69 17 .246 2 6
John DeMerit 33 34 5 .147 0 1
Bobby Malkmus 13 22 2 .091 0 0
Dick Cole 15 14 1 .077 0 0
Harry Hanebrink 6 7 2 .286 0 0
Mel Roach 7 6 1 .167 0 0
Ray Shearer 2 2 1 .500 0 0
Hawk Taylor 7 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Warren Spahn 39 271.0 21 11 2.69 78
Lew Burdette 37 256.2 17 9 3.71 111
Bob Buhl 34 216.2 18 7 2.74 117

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Gene Conley 35 148.0 9 9 3.16 61
Bob Trowbridge 32 126.0 7 5 3.64 75
Juan Pizarro 24 99.1 5 6 4.62 68
Ray Crone 11 42.1 3 1 4.46 15

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Don McMahon 32 2 3 8 1.54 46
Ernie Johnson 30 7 3 4 3.88 44
Taylor Phillips 27 3 2 2 5.55 36
Dave Jolly 23 1 1 1 5.02 27
Red Murff 12 2 2 2 4.85 13
Phil Paine 1 0 0 0 0.00 2
Joey Jay 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

1957 World Series

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Main article: 1957 World Series

This was the Braves' first World Championship since the "Miracle Braves" of 1914, and their only one while based in Milwaukee (out of two chances). To date, the Braves' have won two World Championships: one in the 1995 World Series, when the now-Atlanta Braves defeated the Cleveland Indians, and the second in the 2021 World Series, when Atlanta defeated the Houston Astros.

World Series MVP Lew Burdette won two games in Yankee Stadium and one game in Milwaukee County Stadium. Warren Spahn had the other Braves's victory.

Summary

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NL Milwaukee Braves (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3)

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Braves – 1, Yankees – 3 October 2 Yankee Stadium 69,476
2 Braves – 4, Yankees – 2 October 3 Yankee Stadium 65,202
3 Yankees – 12, Braves – 3 October 5 Milwaukee County Stadium 45,804
4 Yankees – 5, Braves – 7 (10 innings) October 6 Milwaukee County Stadium 45,804
5 Yankees – 0, Braves – 1 October 7 Milwaukee County Stadium 45,811
6 Braves – 2, Yankees – 3 October 9 Yankee Stadium 61,408
7 Braves – 5, Yankees – 0 October 10 Yankee Stadium 61,207

Composite line score

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1957 World Series (4–3): Milwaukee Braves (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Milwaukee Braves 0 2 5 6 3 1 2 1 0 3 23 47 3
New York Yankees 4 1 5 2 1 2 6 0 3 1 25 57 6
Total Attendance: 394,712   Average Attendance: 56,387
Winning Player's Share: – $8,924   Losing Player's Share – $5,606

Awards and honors

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World Series awards

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All-Stars

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1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Wichita Braves American Association Ben Geraghty
AA Atlanta Crackers Southern Association Bud Bates
AA Austin Senators Texas League Sibby Sisti
A Jacksonville Braves Sally League Mickey Owen, Grady Wilson and Joe Just
A Topeka Hawks Western League Red Smith and Bill Dossey
B Corpus Christi Clippers Big State League Joe Just and Jack Wilkinson
B Evansville Braves Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Bob Coleman
C Salinas Packers California League Leo Thomas and Bill Krueger
C Eau Claire Braves Northern League Gordon Maltzberger
C Boise Braves Pioneer League George McQuinn
D Leesburg Braves Florida State League Tommy Giordano
D Waycross Braves Georgia–Florida League Mike Fandozzi
D McCook Braves Nebraska State League Bill Steinecke
D Wellsville Braves New York–Penn League Alex Monchak
D Lawton Braves Sooner State League Travis Jackson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Atlanta, Evansville, Salinas

References

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  1. ^ Carl Sawatski at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Roger McCardell at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Marshall Bridges at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Merritt Ranew at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Eddie Mathews at The Baseball Page
  6. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 234, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  7. ^ Red Schoendienst at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ "1957 Milwaukee Braves Roster". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
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