1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season

The 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the National League with a record of 68–86, 37 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team changed its name from "Reds" to "Redlegs" prior to this season in response to rampant American anti-communist sentiment during this time period.

1953 Cincinnati Redlegs
League	National League
Ballpark	Crosley Field
City	Cincinnati
Owners	Powel Crosley, Jr.
General managers	Gabe Paul
Managers	Rogers Hornsby Buster Mills
Television	WCPO-TV (Waite Hoyt, Bob Gilmore)
Radio	WCPO (Waite Hoyt, Bob Gilmore)

Offseason

• October 13, 1952: Jim Bolger was purchased by the Redlegs from the Buffalo Bisons.
• October 14, 1952: Cal Abrams, Joe Rossi, and Gail Henley were traded by the Redlegs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gus Bell.

Regular season

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	105	49	.682	—	60‍–‍17	45‍–‍32
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	.597	13	45‍–‍31	47‍–‍31
Philadelphia Phillies	83	71	.539	22	48‍–‍29	35‍–‍42
St. Louis Cardinals	83	71	.539	22	48‍–‍30	35‍–‍41
New York Giants	70	84	.455	35	38‍–‍39	32‍–‍45
Cincinnati Redlegs	68	86	.442	37	38‍–‍39	30‍–‍47
Chicago Cubs	65	89	.422	40	43‍–‍34	22‍–‍55
Pittsburgh Pirates	50	104	.325	55	26‍–‍51	24‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1953 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	13–9–1	15–7	13–9	15–7	14–8	20–2	15–7
Chicago	9–13–1	—	12–10	8–14	9–13	5–17	11–11	11–11
Cincinnati	7–15	10–12	—	8–14	9–13	12–10	15–7	7–15–1
Milwaukee	9–13	14–8	14–8	—	14–8–1	13–9–1	15–7	13–9–1
New York	7–15	13–9	13–9	8–14–1	—	9–13	11–11	9–13
Philadelphia	8–14	17–5	10–12	9–13–1	13–9	—	15–7	11–11–1
Pittsburgh	2–20	11–11	7–15	7–15	11–11	7–15	—	5–17
St. Louis	7–15	11–11	15–7–1	9–13–1	13–9	11–11–1	17–5	—

Notable transactions

• May 1953: Brooks Lawrence was acquired by the Redlegs from the Cleveland Indians.
• May 23, 1953: Eddie Erautt was traded by the Redlegs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jackie Collum.

Roster

1953 Cincinnati Redlegs
Roster
Pitchers 46 Fred Baczewski 45 Ed Blake 33 Bubba Church 34 Jackie Collum 34 Eddie Erautt 47 Howie Judson 33 Bob Kelly 37 Clyde King 48 Barney Martin 46 Ernie Nevel 39 Joe Nuxhall 35 Harry Perkowski 38 Bud Podbielan 36 Ken Raffensberger 32 Frank Smith 31 Herm Wehmeier		Catchers  2 Ed Bailey 5,8 Frank Baldwin  6 Hank Foiles  5 Hobie Landrith  7 Andy Seminick Infielders 12 Bobby Adams 14 Rocky Bridges 15 Grady Hatton 18 Ted Kluszewski 11 Roy McMillan 16 Johnny Temple		Outfielders 25 Gus Bell 24 Bob Borkowski 23 Jim Greengrass 20 George Lerchen 20 Bob Marquis 22 Willard Marshall 28 Wally Post 27 Joe Szekely		Manager 50 Rogers Hornsby 52 Buster Mills Coaches 51 Ford Garrison 52 Buster Mills

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	Andy Seminick	119	387	91	.235	19	64
1B	Ted Kluszewski	149	570	180	.316	40	108
2B	Rocky Bridges	122	432	98	.227	1	21
SS	Roy McMillan	155	557	130	.233	5	43
3B	Bobby Adams	150	607	167	.275	8	49
OF	Jim Greengrass	154	606	173	.285	20	100
OF	Gus Bell	151	610	183	.300	30	105
OF	Willard Marshall	122	357	95	.266	17	62

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
Bob Borkowski	94	249	67	.269	7	29
Grady Hatton	83	159	37	.233	7	22
Hobie Landrith	52	154	37	.240	3	16
Johnny Temple	63	110	29	.264	1	9
Bob Marquis	40	44	12	.273	2	3
Wally Post	11	33	8	.242	1	4
Frank Baldwin	16	20	2	.100	0	0
George Lerchen	22	17	5	.294	0	2
Hank Foiles	5	13	2	.154	0	0
Joe Szekely	5	13	1	.077	0	0
Ed Bailey	2	8	3	.375	0	1

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
Harry Perkowski	33	193.0	12	11	4.52	70
Bud Podbielan	36	186.1	6	16	4.73	74
Ken Raffensberger	26	174.0	7	14	3.93	47
Fred Baczewski	24	138.1	11	4	3.45	58

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
Joe Nuxhall	30	141.2	9	11	4.32	52
Jackie Collum	30	124.2	7	11	3.75	51
Herm Wehmeier	28	81.2	1	6	7.16	32
Clyde King	35	76.0	3	6	5.21	21
Bob Kelly	28	66.1	1	2	4.34	29
Bubba Church	11	43.2	3	3	5.98	12
Howie Judson	10	38.2	0	1	5.59	11

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
Frank Smith	50	8	1	2	5.49	42
Ernie Nevel	10	0	0	0	6.10	5
Eddie Erautt	4	0	0	0	5.79	1
Barney Martin	1	0	0	0	9.00	1
Ed Blake	1	0	0	0	inf	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Tulsa Oilers	Texas League	Joe Schultz
A	Columbia Reds	Sally League	Ernie White
B	Burlington Flints	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Johnny Vander Meer
C	Ogden Reds	Pioneer League	Earle Brucker Sr.
D	Fitzgerald Pioneers	Georgia–Florida League	Bob Carson, Charlie Ridgeway and Bull Hamons
D	Jackson Generals	KITTY League	Mickey O'Neil
D	Lawton Reds	Sooner State League	Tuck McWilliams

External links

• 1953 Cincinnati Redlegs season at Baseball Reference