1955 Chicago Cubs season

The 1955 Chicago Cubs season was the 84th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 80th in the National League and the 40th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished sixth in the National League with a record of 72–81.

1955 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916) Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Philip K. Wrigley
General manager(s)	Wid Matthews
Manager(s)	Stan Hack
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton)
Local radio	WIND (Bert Wilson, Jack Quinlan, Gene Elston, Vince Lloyd)
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Offseason

• October 1, 1954: Johnny Klippstein and Jim Willis were traded by the Cubs to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Jim Bolger, Harry Perkowski and Ted Tappe.[1]
• November 16, 1954: Ralph Kiner was sent by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for $60,000 as part of an earlier deal (the Cubs sent a player to be named later to the Indians for Sam Jones and players to be named later) made on September 30, 1954. The Indians sent Gale Wade to the Cubs on November 30 to complete the trade.[2]
• November 22, 1954: Jim King was drafted by the Cubs from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1954 rule 5 draft.[3]

Regular season

• May 10, 1955: Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit the 200th HR of his career against the Cubs. The opposing pitcher was Warren Hacker and the home run was hit at Wrigley Field.[4]
• May 12, 1955: Sam Jones of the Cubs became the first black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the major leagues.[5] It was in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	98	55	0.641	—	56–21	42–34
Milwaukee Braves	85	69	0.552	13½	46–31	39–38
New York Giants	80	74	0.519	18½	44–35	36–39
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	0.500	21½	46–31	31–46
Cincinnati Redlegs	75	79	0.487	23½	46–31	29–48
Chicago Cubs	72	81	0.471	26	43–33	29–48
St. Louis Cardinals	68	86	0.442	30½	41–36	27–50
Pittsburgh Pirates	60	94	0.390	38½	36–39	24–55

Record vs. opponents

1955 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	14–7–1	12–10	15–7	13–9	16–6	14–8	14–8
Chicago	7–14–1	—	11–11	7–15	12–10	10–12	11–11	14–8
Cincinnati	10–12	11–11	—	9–13	9–13	11–11	14–8	11–11
Milwaukee	7–15	15–7	13–9	—	14–8	14–8	11–11	11–11
New York	9–13	10–12	13–9	8–14	—	10–12	17–5	13–9
Philadelphia	6–16	12–10	11–11	8–14	12–10	—	15–7	13–9
Pittsburgh	8–14	11–11	8–14	11–11	5–17	7–15	—	10–12
St. Louis	8–14	8–14	11–11	11–11	9–13	9–13	12–10	—

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased by the Cubs from the Chicago White Sox.[6]
• June 12, 1955: Owen Friend was purchased by the Cubs from the Boston Red Sox.[7]
• August 19, 1955: George Altman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.[8]
• August 19, 1955: J. C. Hartman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.[9]

Roster

1955 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 35 Vicente Amor 29 John André 23 Bubba Church 42 Hy Cohen 22 Jim Davis 18 Warren Hacker 53 Dave Hillman 19 Hal Jeffcoat 27 Sam Jones 45 Don Kaiser 24 Paul Minner 43 Harry Perkowski 16 Howie Pollet 17 Bob Rush 26 Bob Thorpe 33 Bill Tremel		Catchers 32 Harry Chiti 25 Walker Cooper  1 Jim Fanning  8 Clyde McCullough 55 El Tappe Infielders 37 Gene Baker 14 Ernie Banks 40 Dee Fondy  3 Owen Friend  2 Randy Jackson  5 Vern Morgan		Outfielders  7 Frank Baumholtz 30 Jim Bolger 48 Jim King 28 Lloyd Merriman 21 Eddie Miksis  9 Hank Sauer 11 Bob Speake  4 Ted Tappe  3 Gale Wade Other batters 31 Al Lary		Manager  6 Stan Hack Coaches 41 Ray Blades 46 Ray Hayworth 20 Dutch Leonard 46 Bob Scheffing

Player stats

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

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
Jim Bolger	64	160	33	.206	0	7
Ted Tappe	23	50	13	.260	4	10

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
Sam Jones	36	241.2	14	20	4.10	198

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

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
Harry Perkowski	25	3	4	2	5.29	28
John André	22	0	1	1	5.80	19
Vicente Amor	4	0	1	0	4.50	3
Bubba Church	2	0	0	1	5.40	3
Bob Thorpe	2	0	0	0	3.00	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Los Angeles Angels	Pacific Coast League	Bill Sweeney, Jack Warner and Bob Scheffing
A	Macon Peaches	Sally League	Pepper Martin and Ivy Griffin
A	Des Moines Bruins	Western League	Les Peden and Pepper Martin
B	Burlington Bees	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Hal Meek
C	Vicksburg Hill Billies	Cotton States League	Papa Williams
C	Lafayette Oilers	Evangeline League	Lou Klein
C	Magic Valley Cowboys	Pioneer League	Ed McDade
D	Paris Lakers	Mississippi–Ohio Valley League	Dick Rigazio
D	Gainesville Owls/Ponca City Cubs	Sooner State League	Ed Carnett

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lafayette, Magic Valley

Gainesville franchise transferred to Ponca City and renamed, May 19, 1955

Notes

1. Jim Bolger at Baseball-Reference
2. Ralph Kiner at Baseball-Reference
3. Jim King at Baseball-Reference
4. Duke Snider | The Baseball Page
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 198, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
6. Lloyd Merriman at Baseball-Reference
7. Owen Friend at Baseball-Reference
8. George Altman at Baseball-Reference
9. J. C. Hartman at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1955 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference