1 photo
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Manager & Coaches
6 photos
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Players
30 photos
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Noteable Transactions
1 photo in 1 sub-album
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Season Recap
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Heading to spring training in 1955, expectations soared because young standouts such as Ken Boyer, Wally Moon and Bill Virdon joined a lineup with Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst.
Bill Walsingham, a club vice president, told The Sporting News the 1955 Cardinals “will run faster and throw better than players on the Cardinals champions of 1942.” Eddie Stanky heightened the hope, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch his everyday lineup “is the best, the fastest and finest-fielding, I’ve had. And, unless the kids fail to hit at all, it’s of championship caliber.”
What was left out though was the fact that the pitching staff hadn’t been improved.
An unhappy fan base and an unreliable pitching staff combined to create an unhealthy situation for Eddie Stanky and the 1955 Cardinals. Unable to overcome those obstacles, Stanky was fired in his fourth season as Cardinals manager.
The end came just thirty-six games into the 1955 season. After a 17-19 start and the Cardinals mired in fifth place. Cardinals new owner August A. Busch Jr. had decided he had had enough. On May 27, 1955, Eddie Stanky was fired.
The Cardinals replaced Stanky with Harry Walker, who was managing their farm club at Rochester. Walker had played for Cardinals World Series championship clubs in 1942 and 1946 and had managed Cardinals farm clubs at Columbus (1951) and Rochester (1952-55).
On May 26th, Cardinals general manager Dick Meyer met with Walker in Rochester and told him he would replace Stanky. Meyer instructed Walker to be in St. Louis on May 28th for a press conference introducing him as the new Cardinals manager.
Walker was more popular than Stanky but no better able to win with such poor pitching. The 1955 Cardinals were 51-67 under Walker and finished seventh at 68-86 overall. The staff ERA of 4.56 was the worst in the National League.
After the season, the Cardinals replaced Walker with Fred Hutchinson, former Tigers manager. They also replaced general manager Dick Meyer with Frank Lane on October 7, 1955, moving Meyer into a vice -president position.
Season Highlights:
June 3, Stan Musial collects his 300th career home run against the Dodgers in Brooklyn.
Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, Luis Arroyo and Harvey Haddix were named to the NL All-Star team.
July 12, Stan Musial connects for a 12th inning walk off home run at the All-Star game in Milwaukee. It was Musial's fourth All-Star game home run breaking a tie for most All-Star game homers he had shared with Ralph Kiner and Ted Williams.
Bill Virdon was named NL Rookie of the Year, the second year in a row a Cardinal had won the award, Wally Moon the previous year. Virdon finished the year with a .281 batting average, 17 home runs and 68 rbi's.