1955 Chicago White Sox season explained

Chicago White Sox
Season:	1955
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Comiskey Park
City:	Chicago
Owners:	Grace Comiskey
General Managers:	Frank Lane
Managers:	Marty Marion
Television:	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton, Vince Lloyd)
Radio:	WCFL (Bob Elson, Don Wells)

The 1955 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 55th season in the major leagues, and its 56th season overall. The White Sox started the season with a plus 40 run-differential in their first 8 games. Good for 2nd best in the modern era. ^[1] They finished with a record of 91–63, good enough for third place in the American League, 5 games behind the first place New York Yankees.

Offseason

• December 6, 1954: Leo Cristante, Ferris Fain, and Jack Phillips were traded by the White Sox to the Detroit Tigers for Walt Dropo, Ted Gray and Bob Nieman.^[2]
• December 6, 1954: Don Ferrarese, Don Johnson, Matt Batts, and Fred Marsh were traded by the White Sox to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Chakales, Jim Brideweser and Clint Courtney.^[3]
• February 10, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased by the White Sox from the Cincinnati Redlegs.^[4]
• Prior to 1955 season (exact date unknown)
  • Vito Valentinetti was acquired from the White Sox by the Charleston Senators.^[5]
  • Jim McAnany was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.^[6]

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

• Chico Carrasquel, SS
• Nellie Fox, 2B
• Minnie Miñoso, LF
• George Kell, 3B
• Jim Rivera, CF
• Walt Dropo, 1B
• Willard Marshall, RF
• Sherm Lollar, C
• Virgil Trucks, P

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1955: Lloyd Merriman was purchased by the Chicago Cubs from the Chicago White Sox.^[4]
• June 7, 1955: Bob Chakales, Clint Courtney and Johnny Groth were traded by the White Sox to the Washington Senators for Jim Busby.^[3]

Roster

1955 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Bobby Adams, 3B	28	21	8	2	0	1	0	3	4	4	.095	0
Earl Battey, C	5	7	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.286	0
Jim Brideweser, SS	34	58	6	12	3	2	0	4	3	7	.207	0
Jim Busby, CF	99	337	38	82	13	4	1	27	25	37	.243	7
Chico Carrasquel, SS	145	523	83	134	11	2	11	52	61	59	.256	1
Phil Cavarretta, 1B	6	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Gil Coan, RF	17	17	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	5	.176	0
Clint Courtney, C	19	37	7	14	3	0	1	10	7	0	.378	0
Walt Dropo, 1B	141	453	55	127	15	2	19	79	42	71	.280	0
Sammy Esposito, 3B	3	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	0
Nellie Fox, 2B	154	636	100	198	28	7	6	59	38	15	.311	7
Johnny Groth, CF	32	77	13	26	7	0	2	11	6	13	.338	1
Ron Jackson, 1B	40	74	10	15	1	1	2	7	8	22	.203	1
Stan Jok, 3B	6	4	3	1	0	0	1	2	1	1	.250	0
George Kell, 3B,1B	128	429	44	134	24	1	8	81	51	36	.312	2
Bob Kennedy, 3B,RF	83	214	28	65	10	2	9	43	16	16	.304	0
Sherm Lollar, C	138	426	67	111	13	1	16	61	68	34	.261	2
Willard Marshall, RF,LF	22	41	6	7	0	0	0	6	13	1	.171	0
Ed McGhee, CF,LF	26	13	6	1	0	0	0	0	6	1	.077	2
Lloyd Merriman, PH	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Minnie Miñoso, LF,RF	139	517	79	149	26	7	10	70	76	43	.288	19
Les Moss, C	32	59	5	15	2	0	2	7	6	10	.254	0
Bob Nieman, RF,LF	99	272	36	77	11	2	11	53	36	37	.283	1
Ron Northey, RF	14	14	1	5	2	0	1	4	3	3	.357	0
Buddy Peterson, SS	6	21	7	6	1	0	0	2	3	2	.286	0
Bob Powell, PR	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Jim Rivera, RF,CF	147	454	71	120	24	4	10	52	62	59	.264	25
Vern Stephens, 3B	22	56	10	14	3	0	3	7	7	11	.250	0
Ed White, RF	3	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.500	0

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Harry Byrd, P	25	30	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	7	.067	0
Bob Chakales, P	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Sandy Consuegra, P	44	29	1	3	0	0	0	1	1	8	.103	0
Dick Donovan, P	40	76	10	17	0	0	1	5	9	26	.224	0
Fritz Dorish, P	13	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	0
Mike Fornieles, P	28	29	6	3	1	0	0	1	0	5	.103	0
Jack Harshman, P	32	60	6	11	1	0	2	8	9	17	.183	0
Dixie Howell, P	35	21	0	8	0	0	0	1	0	8	.381	0
Connie Johnson, P	19	33	4	5	2	0	0	5	0	7	.152	0
Bob Keegan, P	18	18	0	6	0	0	0	2	1	3	.333	0
Morrie Martin, P	37	10	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.300	0
Al Papai, P	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Billy Pierce, P	34	70	5	12	2	0	0	7	3	10	.171	1
Virgil Trucks, P	32	64	2	8	1	0	0	6	0	12	.125	0
	155	5220	725	1401	204	36	116	677	568	595	.268	69

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Harry Byrd	4	6	4.65	25	12	1	91.0	85	49	47	10	34	44
Bob Chakales	0	0	1.46	7	0	0	12.1	11	2	2	2	7	6
Sandy Consuegra	6	5	2.64	44	7	7	126.1	120	42	37	4	25	35
Dick Donovan	15	9	3.32	29	24	0	187.0	186	77	69	17	53	88
Fritz Dorish	2	0	1.59	13	0	1	17.0	16	4	3	0	10	6
Mike Fornieles	6	3	3.86	26	9	2	86.1	84	37	37	12	32	23
Ted Gray	0	0	18.00	2	1	0	3.0	9	6	6	0	2	1
Jack Harshman	11	7	3.36	32	23	0	179.1	144	74	67	16	100	116
Dixie Howell	8	3	2.93	35	0	9	73.2	70	27	24	1	30	25
Connie Johnson	7	4	3.45	17	16	0	99.0	95	40	38	5	52	72
Bob Keegan	2	5	5.83	18	11	0	58.2	83	39	38	4	29	29
Morrie Martin	2	3	3.63	37	0	2	52.0	50	27	21	4	22	22
Al Papai	0	0	3.86	7	0	0	11.2	10	5	5	1	10	5
Billy Pierce	15	10	1.97	33	26	1	205.2	162	50	45	16	69	157
Virgil Trucks	13	8	3.96	32	26	0	175.0	176	78	77	19	66	91
	91	63	3.37	155	155	23	1378.0	1301	557	516	111	541	720

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

References

• 1955 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference
• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rays (8-0!) chasing mark not seen in 84 years . .
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dropowa01.shtml Walt Dropo page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chakabo01.shtml Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/merrill01.shtml Lloyd Merriman page at Baseball Reference
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/v/valenvi01.shtml Vito Valentinetti page at Baseball Reference
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcanaji01.shtml Jim McAnany page at Baseball Reference