1956 St. Louis Cardinals Season
The 1956 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 75th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 65th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 76–78 during the season and finished 4th in the National League. Offseason * October 20, 1955: Harry Walker was released by the Cardinals. * November 27, 1955: Ed Mayer (pitcher), Ed Mayer was drafted by the Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox in the 1955 minor league draft. * November 27, 1955: Billy Muffett was drafted by the Cardinals from the Chicago Cubs in the 1955 rule 5 draft. * January 31, 1956: Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia were traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Jackie Collum. * March 30, 1956: Pete Whisenant was traded by the Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Sauer. Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents Notable transactions * May 14, 1956: Solly Hemus was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Morgan (baseball), Bobby Morgan. * May 17, 1956 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sportsman's Park
Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the same piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, on the north side of the city. History Sportsman's Park was the home field of both the St. Louis Browns of the American League, and the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League from 1920 to 1953, when the Browns relocated to Baltimore and were rebranded as the Orioles. The physical street address was 2911 North Grand Boulevard. The ballpark (by then known as Busch Stadium, but still commonly called Sportsman's Park) was also the home to professional football: in , it hosted St. Louis' first NFL team, the All-Stars, and later hosted the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League from 1960 (following the team's relocation from Chicago) until 1965, with Busch Memorial Stadium opening its doors in 1966. 1881 structure Baseball was pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sonny Senerchia
Emanuel Robert "Sonny" Senerchia (April 6, 1931 – November 1, 2003) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 29 games of Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and later became a professional musician as well as a teacher and college baseball coach. He was born and brought up in Newark, New Jersey, and attended Montclair State University, where he earned bachelor's degrees in physical education and English; he then received a master's degree in music from Trenton State College. According to his obituary, Senerchia was an accomplished violinist as a boy, appearing at Carnegie Hall at the age of ten, and as an adult he was a concert violinist with the New Jersey Symphony, the Garden State Arts Center Orchestra, and the Toms River Symphony. He also performed as a violinist with Pearl Bailey, Jack Benny and others. As a jazz musician, he played clarinet, saxophone, flute and piano in ensembles and big bands. Senerchia's professional baseball c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dick Rand
Richard Hilton Rand (March 7, 1931 – January 22, 1996) was an American professional baseball catcher who appeared in 72 games in Major League Baseball during all or part of three seasons (, and ) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Born in South Gate, California, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Rand's pro career stretched over 12 seasons (1949–1959 and 1961). Signed initially by the Cardinals, he had two late-season trials with the Redbirds, collecting 12 hits in 41 at bats ( .293) in a dozen games—all of them as the club's starting catcher. St. Louis traded him to Pittsburgh after the 1956 minor-league season, and Rand spent all of 1957 with the Pirates, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Toby Atwell
Maurice Dailey "Toby" Atwell (March 8, 1924 – January 25, 2003) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs (–), Pittsburgh Pirates (–) and Milwaukee Braves (). Atwell, listed at tall and , batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Leesburg, Virginia, and served in the United States military during World War II. Career Atwell's baseball career started in the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization in 1946. A strong defensive catcher, he shortened his career when he hurt his knee sliding while playing for the Triple-A Montreal Royals during the International League season. His most productive campaign came in his rookie year with the 1952 Cubs, when he posted career-highs in batting average (.290), RBI (31), runs (36), hits (105), doubles (16), games played (107), and was selected to the National League All-Star team. In he was part of a ten-player, early-June trade that saw the Cubs acquire Base ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bobby Del Greco
Robert George Del Greco (April 7, 1933 – October 13, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six teams during the 1950s and 1960s, including the Pittsburgh Pirates (1952 and 1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956), Chicago Cubs (1957), New York Yankees (1957–58), Philadelphia Phillies (1960–61, 1965), and Kansas City Athletics (1961–63). He threw and batted right-handed; Del Greco stood tall and weighed , during his playing days. Del Greco grew up in Pittsburgh's Hill District and was signed by the hometown Pirates. They traded him to the Cardinals on May 17, 1956, in a deal that brought center fielder Bill Virdon to Pittsburgh. After spending most of 1957 with the seventh-place Cubs and in Triple-A, Del Greco was acquired by the pennant-winning Yankees, on September 10. He was a light-hitting, speedy, and defensively-sound player. The Yankees used him to fill in for Mickey Mantle in the late innings, but Del G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dick Littlefield
Richard Bernard Littlefield (March 18, 1926 – November 20, 1997) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Braves between 1950 and 1958. He batted and threw left-handed, and was listed as tall and . He was born and died in Detroit. He was traded (along with $30,000 cash) by the New York Giants to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Jackie Robinson on December 13, 1956. However, Robinson refused to report to the Giants, choosing instead to retire, and the trade was voided. Moreover, Littlefield was known as one of the most well-traveled and frequently-traded players prior to the free agency era,Bill Nowlin"Dick Littlefield" Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project. appearing for nine of the 16 MLB franchises in existence before 1961—ten, including his brief assignment to the Dodgers' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Association in 1881 under the name Pittsburgh Allegheny, the club joined the National League in 1887 and was a member of the National League East from 1969 through 1993. The Pirates have won five World Series championships, nine National League pennants, nine National League East division titles and made three appearances in the Wild Card Game. Despite struggling in the 1880s and 1890s, the Pirates were among the best teams in baseball shortly after the turn of the 20th century. They won three consecutive NL titles from 1901 to 1903, played in the inaugural World Series in 1903 and won their first World Series in 1909 behind Honus Wagner. The Pirates took part in arguably the most famous World Series ending, winning the 1960 World Series agains ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bill Virdon
William Charles Virdon (June 9, 1931 – November 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Virdon played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 through 1965 and in 1968. He served as a coach for the Pirates and Houston Astros, and managed the Pirates, Astros, New York Yankees, and Montreal Expos. After playing in the minors for the Yankees organization, Virdon was traded to the Cardinals, and he made his MLB debut in 1955. That year, Virdon won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. He slumped at the beginning of the 1956 season, and was traded to the Pirates, where he spent the remainder of his playing career. A premier defensive outfielder during his playing days as a center fielder for the Cardinals and Pirates, Virdon led a strong defensive team to the 1960 World Series championship. In 1962, Virdon won a Gold Glove Award. Following the 1965 season, he retired due to h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bobby Morgan (baseball)
Robert Morris "Bobby" Morgan (born June 29, 1926) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1950 and 1958 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs."Bobby Morgan Statistics and History" "baseball-reference.com. Accessed May 23, 2017. Born in , Morgan began his pro career in 1944, playing for two minor league teams before he was drafted for World War II military duty and spent the 1945–46 seasons in the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizens Bank Park, located in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Founded in 1883, the Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in all of American professional sports. The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in and the Tampa Bay Rays in ), eight National League pennants (the first of which came in 1915), and made 15 playoff appearances. As of November 6, 2022, the team has played 21,209 games, winning 10,022 games and losing 11,187. Since the first modern World Series was played in , the Phillies have played 120 consecutive seasons and 140 seasons since the team's 1883 establishment. Before the Phillies won their first World Series in 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Solly Hemus
Solomon Joseph Hemus (April 17, 1923 – October 2, 2017) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. Hemus is one of a select group of big league players to have held a dual role as a player-manager. Hemus was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in San Diego, where he graduated from Saint Augustine High School. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, and began his professional playing career in the Cardinals' farm system as a 23-year-old in 1946. Baseball career Player Hemus batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he stood tall, weighing . During his 11-year MLB playing career (–), Hemus was primarily a shortstop (472 games and 3,745 innings played), although he also saw significant time as a second baseman (211 games, 1,635 innings). Hemus compiled a lifetime batting average of .273 in 961 games and collected 736 hits, with 137 d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hank Sauer
Henry John Sauer (March 17, 1917 – August 24, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He appeared in 1,399 games, primarily as a left fielder, in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds (1941–1942, 1945, 1948–1949), Chicago Cubs (1949–1955), St. Louis Cardinals (1956), and New York / San Francisco Giants (1957–1959). A two-time All-Star, Sauer hit more than 30 home runs six times in the seven seasons of 1948 through 1954. He was a feared slugger for the early-1950s Cubs, exceeding the 30-homer mark five times in a Chicago uniform, with a career-high of 41 in . His most productive season came in , when Sauer led the National League in home runs (37, tied with Ralph Kiner) and runs batted in (121), and was named the Most Valuable Player. Sauer and Johnny Bench are the only players in major league history ever to have hit three homers in a single game twice against the same pitcher. He did it and 1952 while with the Cubs, victimiz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |