| 1953 MLB season | |
| League: | Major League Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | April 13 – October 12, 1953 |
| No Of Games: | 154 |
| No Of Teams: | 16 |
| Tv: | ABC, NBC |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Mvp: | AL Al Rosen (CLE) |
| Mvp Link: | Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Conf1: | AL |
| Conf1 Champ: | New York Yankees |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Cleveland Indians |
| Conf2: | NL |
| Conf2 Champ: | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Milwaukee Braves |
| Finals: | World Series |
| Finals Link: | 1953 World Series |
| Finals Mvp: | Billy Martin (NYY) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Babe Ruth Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of MLB seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | MLB |
| Prevseason Link: | 1952 Major League Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1952 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1954 Major League Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1954 |
The 1953 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 13 to October 12, 1953. It marked the first relocation of an MLB franchise in fifty years, as the Boston Braves moved their NL franchise to Milwaukee, where they would play their home games at the new County Stadium. This was also the first regular season of the televised Major League Baseball Game of the Week, originally broadcast on ABC.
The New York Yankees won their fifth consecutive World Series championship, an MLB record.
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey Vernon (WSH) | .337 | ||
| Al Rosen (CLE) | 43 | ||
| Al Rosen (CLE) | 145 | ||
| Al Rosen (CLE) | 115 | ||
| Harvey Kuenn (DET) | 209 | ||
| Minnie Minoso (CWS) | 25 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Porterfield (WSH) | 22 | ||
| Harry Byrd (PHA) | 20 | ||
| Eddie Lopat (NYY) | 2.42 | ||
| Billy Pierce (CWS) | 186 | ||
| Bob Lemon (CLE) | 286.2 | ||
| Ellis Kinder (BOS) | 27 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Furillo (BKN) | .344 | ||
| Eddie Mathews (MIL) | 47 | ||
| Roy Campanella (BKN) | 142 | ||
| Duke Snider (BKN) | 132 | ||
| Richie Ashburn (PHP) | 205 | ||
| Bill Bruton (MIL) | 26 |
| Stat | Player | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Roberts (PHP) Warren Spahn (MIL) | 23 | ||
| Murry Dickson (PIT) Warren Hacker (CHC) | 19 | ||
| Warren Spahn (MIL) | 2.10 | ||
| Robin Roberts (PHP) | 198 | ||
| Robin Roberts (PHP) | 346.2 | ||
| Al Brazle (SLC) | 18 |
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Boudreau | |||
| Paul Richards | Finished 3rd | ||
| Al López | Finished 2nd | ||
| Fred Hutchinson | |||
| Casey Stengel | Won 5th straight World Series | ||
| Jimmy Dykes | |||
| St. Louis Browns | Marty Marion | ||
| Washington Senators | Bucky Harris |
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Braves | Tommy Holmes and Charlie Grimm | ||
| Brooklyn Dodgers | Chuck Dressen | Won Pennant | |
| Chicago Cubs | Phil Cavarretta | ||
| Cincinnati Reds | Rogers Hornsby and Buster Mills | ||
| Milwaukee Braves | Charlie Grimm | Finished 2nd in inaugural season | |
| New York Giants | Leo Durocher | ||
| Philadelphia Phillies | Steve O'Neill | Finished tied for 3rd | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Fred Haney | ||
| St. Louis Cardinals | Eddie Stanky | Finished tied for 3rd |
| Team name | Wins | Home attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Braves[1] | 92 | 43.8% | 1,826,397 | 549.3% | 23,119 | |
| New York Yankees[2] | 99 | 4.2% | 1,537,811 | −5.6% | 19,972 | |
| Chicago White Sox[3] | 89 | 9.9% | 1,191,353 | −3.3% | 15,274 | |
| Brooklyn Dodgers[4] | 105 | 9.4% | 1,163,419 | 6.9% | 14,916 | |
| Cleveland Indians[5] | 92 | −1.1% | 1,069,176 | −26.0% | 13,707 | |
| Boston Red Sox[6] | 84 | 10.5% | 1,026,133 | −8.0% | 13,502 | |
| Detroit Tigers[7] | 60 | 20.0% | 884,658 | −13.8% | 11,198 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals[8] | 83 | −5.7% | 880,242 | −3.6% | 11,285 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies[9] | 83 | −4.6% | 853,644 | 13.0% | 10,944 | |
| New York Giants[10] | 70 | −23.9% | 811,518 | −17.6% | 10,539 | |
| Chicago Cubs[11] | 65 | −15.6% | 763,658 | −25.5% | 9,918 | |
| Washington Senators[12] | 76 | −2.6% | 595,594 | −14.8% | 7,941 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[13] | 50 | 19.0% | 572,757 | −16.6% | 7,438 | |
| Cincinnati Reds[14] | 68 | −1.4% | 548,086 | −9.3% | 7,027 | |
| Philadelphia Athletics[15] | 59 | −25.3% | 362,113 | −42.3% | 4,642 | |
| St. Louis Browns[16] | 54 | −15.6% | 297,238 | −42.7% | 3,860 |
ABC executive Edgar J. Scherick approached MLB with a Saturday Game of the Week. With fewer outlets than CBS or NBC, ABC needed paid programming (or "anything for bills" as Scherick put it). At first, ABC hesitated at the idea of a nationally televised regular season baseball program, but gave Scherick the green light to sign up teams. Prior to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, antitrust laws only allowed the networks to make deals with individual teams instead of pooling rights directly from a central league authority. Unfortunately, only three (the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians,[17] and Chicago White Sox[18] [19] were interested.[20] To make matters worse, Major League Baseball barred the Game of the Week from airing within fifty miles of any big-league city.[21]
The All-Star Game and World Series aired exclusively on NBC.