Major League Baseball Season Recap 1956

World Series – New York Yankees AL over Brooklyn Dodgers NL 4 games to 3

World Series MVP – Don Larsen
Babe Ruth Award – Don Larsen

Awards – 
Major League Cy Young Award Don Newcombe
MVP Awards –

NL Don Newcombe  AL Mickey Mantle
Major League Rookie of The Year –
NL Rookie of The Year – Frank Robinson

AL Rookie of The Year – Luis Aparicio

All-Star Game – July 10th – N.L. 7 over A.L. 3, played at Griffith Stadium (AL)
AL Starter B. Pierce NL Starter B. Friend MVP

Notable Events and Chronology for 1956 Major League Baseball Season

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

January 6, 1956

A Federal Court bars former Little League Commissioner Carl Stotz from forming a rival group. Stotz initiated the suit because he felt the league had grown too big, and that increasing team rosters to 15 players was preventing less able players from getting any real playing time.

January 6, 1956

The Boston Red Sox sell their Louisville farm club, the Louisville Colonels, to a Cuban cartel led by Havana businessman Edward F. Wheeler.

January 19, 1956

In New Jersey, the city of Hoboken dedicates a plaque honoring the achievements of Alexander Cartwright in organizing early baseball at Elysian Fields in Jersey City.

January 23, 1956

Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans dies in Miami, Florida

January 27, 1956

The New York Giants football team switches its home games from Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium

January 31, 1956

The Cincinnati Redlegs send pitcher Jackie Collum to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Brooks Lawrence and a prospect

January 31, 1956

Chicago Black Sox – Buck Weaver dies at the age of 65

February 4, 1956

The American League says it will test the automatic intentional walk during spring training. However, it will not be adopted in the majors until 2017.

February 4, 1956

The Major Leagues vote to establish the Cy Young Memorial Award for the outstanding pitcher of the year. At first, there will be one award for both major leagues.

February 5, 1956

New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner and Brooklyn Borough President Frank Cashmore sponsor a bill to create a Brooklyn Sports Center Authority

February 6, 1956

Wagner-Cashmore plan to build a $30-million downtown Brooklyn

February 8, 1956

The Washington Senators trade for Whitey Herzog in seven player deal

February 8, 1956

Connie Mack Passes Away

February 15, 1956

Kansas City A’s and Pittsburgh Pirates cancel an exhibition game

February 16, 1956

Major League owners announce that the players’ pension fund will receive 60 percent of World Series and All-Star Game radio and TV revenues.

February 16, 1956

The courts award Dr. Samuel Shenkman $5,000 in his suit against Dodger C Roy Campanella for surgery on Campy’s injured hand on October 20, 1954. Campanella says the doctor never informed him that the charge would be $9,500, a price the catcher considered excessive.

February 27, 1956

1956 – The Piedmont League disbands after 37 years in operation.

February 29, 1956

1956 – The Cleveland Indians are sold for nearly four million dollars. The team’s present general manager and former player, Hank Greenberg, is one of the new owners.

March 3, 1956

Manhattan Borough President Hulan Jack makes plans for a new 110,000-seat stadium over the New York Central railroad tracks

March 3, 1956

The New York Giants and Cleveland Indians cancel an exhibition game in Meridian, Mississippi, because of mass racial violence in neighboring Alabama.

March 4, 1956

“Clemente Wows Bucs; Outfielder Amazes New Boss, Crowd With Fly-Chasing.” 

March 7, 1956

The Players Association accept the owners’ decisions on minimum pay and the World Series television agreement

March 8, 1956

Roberto Clemente hits Pittsburgh’s inaugural dinger of spring training in an in-house affair

March 11, 1956

Mickey Mantle blasts a spring training homerun and Stan Musial contends, “no home run has ever cleared my head by as much as long as I can remember.”

March 14, 1956

Satchel Paige signs a contract to play for the Birmingham Barons of the Negro National League

March 16, 1956

Two Triples and one Triple Play, courtesy of Roberto Clemente and Eddie O’Brien 

March 21, 1956

Brooklyn Dodgers at spring training. Vero Beach, Florida – 1956.

March 24, 1956

The Cleveland Indians sign veteran OF/1B Sam Mele, just released by the Boston Red Sox.

March 29, 1956

“The Catch”, Part 2. A year and a half after one of baseball’s most celebrated moments, Willie Mays again robs Vic Wertz again

April 17, 1956

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hits a pair of tape measure home runs against Camilo Pascual at Griffith Stadium

April 17, 1956

Three future Hall of Famers make their major league debuts on April 17 – Don Drysdale, Frank Robinson and Luis Aparicio

April 18, 1956

Ed Rommel becomes the first major league umpire to wear glasses during a game when he mans third base during the Yankees’ 9-5 victory over Washington at Griffith Stadium. The bespectacled arbitrator, known as the father of the modern knuckleball, played 13 seasons with Philadelphia, compiling an impressive record of 171-119 with the A’s from 1920 to 1932.

April 22, 1956

New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen hits a grand slam off Frank Sullivan of the Boston Red Sox, as New York wins, 13 – 6, at Yankee Stadium.

April 23, 1956

Don Drysdale wins first career game vs Philadelphia

April 24, 1956

American League umpire Frank Umont is the first to wear glasses in a regular-season game

April 28, 1956

Frank Robinson hits first career homerun

April 28, 1956

4/28/1956: Mickey Mantle drilled a ball into the Fenway Park center field bleachers in the eighth inning. The blast off Dave Sisler landed three or four rows up in the stands. The ball bounced once while a number of fans tried to grab it and then bounced back onto the field. Mantle hustled and beat the throw to third. Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey and Frank Crosetti surrounded second base umpire Ed Rommel, trying to convince him that his ruling was incorrect. The argument took five minutes and Stengel was ejected by Rommel. Rommel ruled that the ball hit the top of the wall and not in the stands.

May 2, 1956

At Wrigley Field, the New York Giants (25) and Chicago Cubs (23) set a major league record with 48 players on the field in a 17-inning marathon

May 4, 1956

Boston Red Sox manager Pinky Higgins accepts the first Red Sox schedule ever printed in braille from the National Braille Press.

May 6, 1956

Cincinnati Redlegs outfielder Gus Bell hits home runs off Bob Miller in both ends of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field. Cincinnati wins, 10 – 2 and 11 – 9.

May 9, 1956

Tom Poholsky allows four hits and the Cardinals beat the Phils and Herm Wehmeier, 3 – 0. It is a club-record 14th win in a row for the Cardinals over Wehmeier stretching back to July 3, 1949. It is also a National Leaguerecord for consecutive losses from the start of a career.

May 10, 1956

1956 – At Yankee Stadium, Bob Lemon gives Cleveland a 7 – 2 win over the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a solo homer in the 6th for New York. By the end of the month, Mantle will have hit his 20th homer and will be batting .425 with 50 RBIs.

May 11, 1956

Rookie Danny Kravitz hits his first career homerun – a walk-off grand slam

May 12, 1956

Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers hurls a no-hitter against the New York Giants

May 15, 1956

The Dodgers buy P Sal Maglie from the Indians, who are eager to unload the veteran.

May 15, 1956

Scoreboard at Shibe Park – May 15th, 1956 Third base players don’t like the glare from the new electric scoreboard

May 16, 1956

On a blustery day in Cleveland, the Yankees top the Indians, 4 – 1. Mickey Mantle hits a homer off Bud Daley, while his pal Billy Martin is benched for the first time. Bobby Richardson takes his place at 2B.

May 16, 1956

In Jersey City, Cards RF Wally Moon hits his first major league home run, but St. Louis loses, 5 – 3, to the Dodgers. The Dodgers score five unearned runs in the 4th.

May 17, 1956

Due to his slow start in his sophomore season, the Cardinals trade Bill Virdon, last year’s Rookie of the Year, to the Pirates in exchange for Bobby Del Greco and Dick Littlefield. The 25 year-old outfielder will finish the season hitting .334 in 133 games for the Bucs and will play a vital role in the team’s World Championship in 1960.

May 17, 1956

Spahn steals show at the plate and on mound

May 18, 1956

Mickey Mantle sets the record by hitting HR’s from both sides of the plate for 3rd time in his short career

May 19, 1956

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Dale Long starts his historic homerun streak with a 8th inning blast

May 21, 1956

The White Sox send 3B George Kell, OF Bob Nieman, and pitchers Mike Fornieles and Connie Johnson to the Orioles for P Jim Wilson and OF Dave Philley. Kell will play solid 3B until Brooks Robinson is ready, while Johnson will lead the Birds’ starters in wins in 1957.

May 21, 1956

At Kansas City, Mickey Mantle clouts a drive over the second and more distance fence in right field to help the Yankees win, 8 – 5. The drive, off Moe Burtschy, matches homers to that spot by Larry Doby and Suitcase Simpson.

May 22, 1956

Detroit’s Red Wilson belts a two-run home run in the bottom of the 9th to give the Tigers a 3 – 2 win against the Yankees. The loss goes to Whitey Ford, his first following six wins. Ford had given up just five earned runs through 54 innings before today.

May 23, 1956

The Kansas City Athletics score 2 runs in the 9th to tie the Washington Senators at 5 apiece, then score another 2 runs in the 17th to win, 7 – 6. The tying run scores on a wild pitch by Camilo Pascual and the winner comes on a Jim Finigan homer.

May 24, 1956

Mickey Mantle goes 5 for 5 with an intentional walk in an 11 – 4 win against the Tigers. Mantle is hitting .421. He combines with Joe Collins for back-to-back homers‚ off Duke Maas.

May 25, 1956

3B Tommy Brown of the Nashville Vols sets a probable Organized Baseball record when he reaches base for the 20th consecutive time. He has ten hits and ten walks during the streak.

May 26, 1956

Reds starter John Klippstein, Hershell Freeman, and Joe Black combine to hurl 9 2/3 innings of hitless ball in a losing effort to Milwaukee. Frank Torre’s 11th inning walk-off single scoring Hank Aaron is the difference in the 2-1 defeat at County Stadium.

May 26, 1956

Bucketfoot Al Simmons one of baseballs greatest players dies at age 54

May 28, 1956

Dale Long sets the homerun record by connecting in his 8th straight game

May 29, 1956

For the second time in two years‚ Gus Bell of the Redlegs hits 3 homers – all consecutive – going 5 for 5 in a 10 – 4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Bell drives in 7 runs. Brooks Lawrence coasts to his 6th straight win.

May 29, 1956

Dodgers P Don Newcombe beats the Pirates, 10 – 1, and blanks Dale Long in 4 at-bats‚ stopping his home run streak. Newk has a three-run double off Ron Kline in the 2nd to help clinch his 7th win.

May 29, 1956

At Yankee Stadium‚ Mickey Mantle’s walk in the 7th is the first baserunner against Willard Nixon‚ and Mantle’s two-out 9th inning homer deprives the Boston righty of a shutout. Boston beats the Yankees, 7 – 3.

May 30, 1956

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees blasts one of the longest home runs in history

May 30, 1956

Bobby Thomson of the Milwaukee Braves hits four home runs in a doubleheader

June 3, 1956

In the second game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium, future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn records the lone 5-hit game of his career in a 9-3 win by the 1956 Phillies over the 1956 Cardinals. “Whitey” had two doubles and three singles, and scored three runs to key the Fightin’ Phils victory.

June 4, 1956

1956 – The Cards pick up relief P Jim Konstanty‚ who was released by the Yankees.

June 4, 1956

Roy Campanella does the catching,as 21 yr.old Roberto Clemente takes a big swing in a 1956 Pirate-Dodger game in Ebbets Field.

June 11, 1956

The discussion over the cork-center baseball continues. At this point‚ there have been 745 homers in the majors‚ hit by 192 players; at this point in the 1927 season‚ there were 320 homers‚ hit by 140 ball players. National League President Warren Giles will retort that bigger players‚ not livelier balls‚ account for the present-day hitting feats.

June 12, 1956

1956 – Roberto Clemente’s 5th-inning, two-out, two-run rope into Crosley Field’s right-centerfield bleachers vaults Pittsburgh past Cincinnati both in the game and in the standings, transforming a 3 – 2 deficit into a 4 – 3 lead and pushing Pittsburgh to the head of the class, atop the National League by half a game over the newly-demoted Redlegs.

June 16, 1956

Charlie Grimm, after the Braves lose the 12th game of their last 17 contests, resigns as the team’s manager, being immediately replaced by coach Fred Haney. The 56 year-old skipper, who is offered a personnel position within the organization, leaves the dugout with a 24-22 record, only 3.5 games behind the league-leading Pirates.

June 17, 1956

Joe Adcock’s ninth-inning home run off Brooklyn right-hander Ed Roebuck, his second round-tripper of the game, proves to be the game-winner in the Braves’ 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. The blast to left field, which clears an 83-foot wall at the 350-foot mark, is believed to the only homer ever to land on the roof at Ebbets Field.

June 20, 1956

Mickey Mantle is first player to hit homers into RC bleachers at Briggs

June 21, 1956

Chicago and Baltimore one-hit one another as White Sox pitcher Jack Harshman beats Oriole hurlers Connie Johnson and George Zuverink, 1 – 0.

June 21, 1956

Kansas City Star reporter Dick Wade says that his stopwatch proves that there were only 9:55 minutes of actual “action” in a game the Athletics won from the Senators, 15 – 6 (in just 8 1/2 innings). Wade calculated the time the ball was in play, allowing a second for each pitch that was taken or fouled off.

June 23, 1956

1956 – Hal Jeffcoat of the Cincinnati Reds hits Dodger SS Don Zimmer in the face with a pitch, breaking his cheekbone. This is the second time that Zimmer suffers an injury that nearly ends his career, and he is out for the season. The Dodgers win, 7 – 6.

June 24, 1956

Ed Bailey of the Redlegs hits three home runs in a 10 – 6 first-game win against the Dodgers. The Redlegs win the nitecap, 2 – 1. Eleven Cincinnati players then make an appearance on the What’s My Line? television show that night.

June 26, 1956

1956 – Robin Roberts and the Phillies hand the Braves a 4 – 2 loss. It is the first loss for the Braves after 11 wins under new manager Fred Haney.

July 1, 1956

 Mickey Mantle switch-hits home runs in the same game for the fourth time in his career. The Yankees win 8 – 6 over Washington.

July 2, 1956

NBC pays $16.25 million for the Television and radio rights to the All-Star Game and the World Series. The players’ pension fund will get 60 percent of the revenues.

July 6, 1956

Ford Frick inaugurates the Cy Young Award, to honor the outstanding pitcher each year. The BBWAA will do the voting. Only one pitcher will be honored each year until 1967, when a pitcher will be selected in each league.

July 6, 1956

Jim Busby hits his second grand slam in consecutive days to beat the A’s, 4-2. Yesterday, in a 13-7 loss to Detroit, the Indians’ outfielder hit his bases-loaded home run off winner Frank Lary in the first inning.

July 8, 1956

The Giants connect for a team-record seven home runs in a 11 – 1 home win over the Pirates. Willie Mays, Daryl Spencer and Wes Westrum each connect for 2. Hank Thompson, Westrum, and Spencer hit consecutive homers in the 4th inning.

July 8, 1956

Boston’s Ted Williams becomes the 12th player to drive in 1,500 runs when he hits a single in the second game of a doubleheader against the Orioles. The Red Sox sweep, winning 9 – 0 and 8 – 4.

July 9, 1956

The BBWAA, by a narrow margin of 14-12, votes to establish the Cy Young Award to honor the major leagues’ most outstanding pitcher. Commissioner Ford Frick initiated the idea because he felt hurlers were not recognized in the MVP voting, but ironically the first recipient of the Cy Young Award, Dodger Don Newcombe, will also win the Most Valuable Player Award.

July 10, 1956

1956 All-Star Game

July 11, 1956

The White Sox purchase Cardinal relief pitcher Ellis Kinder.

July 13, 1956

Ernie Banks plays in his 394th consecutive contest to tie Al Simmons

July 14, 1956

Boston Red Sox lefty Mel Parnell pitches a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park, winning 4 – 0

July 15, 1956

Wally Burnette of the Kansas City A’s shuts out the Washington Senators, 8 – 0, in his first start.

July 15, 1956

Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hits in the second game of a doubleheader sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Braves winning, 3 – 2 and 4 – 1. This is the start of a 25-game hitting streak for Aaron, the longest of the season.

July 16, 1956

The Tigers and Briggs Stadium are sold to a syndicate of 11, led by radio executives John Fetzer and Fred Knorr, for a record $5.5 million from Walter Briggs, Jr., after he was ordered by family estate administrators to sell the ownership inherited from his father. The deal includes an agreement to retain Briggs, who will also become the team’s general manager, as executive vice president, but the former owner, who wanted keep the team and ballpark, will resign from both posts at the start of next season.

July 17, 1956

Red Sox pitchers Tom Brewer and Bob Porterfield sweep the Athletics, 10 – 0 and 4 – 0.

July 19, 1956

With the Reds’ 4-3 loss to the Pirates at Crosley Field, Brooks Lawrence’s 13-game winning streak comes to an end. Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer in the ninth inning proves to be the decisive hit.

July 21, 1956

In a 13 – 6 defeat to the Cardinals, Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese becomes one of five active players to collect 2,000 hits and teammate Junior Gilliam sets a major league record by handling 12 assists at second base.

July 21, 1956

Roberto Clemente saddles 13-and-0 Brooks Lawrence with his first defeat of the season as he powers Pittsburgh to a come-from-behind win over Cincinnati. Coming to bat in the 9th with two on, one out and the Bucs down by two, Clemente turns around the second pitch from Lawrence and deposits it into Crosley Field’s right-centerfield bleachers. The newly acquired 4 – 3 margin is now entrusted to Elroy Face, working his second inning of relief. Face makes it look easy, fanning Frank Robinson and Ed Bailey, then coaxing a game-ending grounder from pinch-hitter Smoky Burgess to pick up the win.

July 22, 1956

1956 – The Hall of Fame announces special rules governing elections. Writers should vote every two years, alternating with the Veterans Committee; because of criticism, this will revert back in 1962. To be eligible, players must have been retired for five years.

July 23, 1956

Joe Cronin and Hank Greenberg are inducted into the Hall of Fame

July 24, 1956

Honored just eight hours ago at a Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce luncheon as the Pirates’ leading hitter, Roberto Clemente continues to earn his laurels, leading the Bucs to a 6 – 2 win over Chicago with four RBI on three shots, all launched in the same direction: a long sacrifice fly to left center, an even longer triple off the wall, and one longer still into Schenley Park. The 1st-inning RBI triple ties the score at one all; Clemente scores the go-ahead tally on Dale Long’s sac fly, and the Bucs never look back.

July 24, 1956

New York City Mayor Robert Wagner appoints Charles J. Mylod as chairman and R. E. Blum and C. A. Allen as members of the newly-created Brooklyn Sports Center Authority. He reveals plans for a 50,000-seat stadium bounded by Warren Street and Fourth, Flatbush and Fifth Avenues. Robert Moses prefers a different Brooklyn site.

July 24, 1956

Under cloudy skies, former first baseman/outfielder Hank Greenberg and infielder Joe Cronin, currently serving as general managers for the Tigers and Red Sox, respectively, are inducted into the Hall of Fame as more than 8,500 fans witness the impressive ceremony. The former Detroit slugger becomes the first Jewish player to enshrined in Cooperstown.

July 25, 1956

Brooklyn’s right fielder Carl Furillo is the first Dodger player to homer in Jersey City

July 25, 1956

Roberto Clemente hits a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam

July 27, 1956

3B Hector Lopez and 1B Vic Power of the Athletics each have five hits in a 14-inning, 10 – 9 loss to New York.

July 27, 1956

Gil Hodges’s grand slam clips the Cubs, 4 – 3, as the Dodgers move to five games behind the Braves.

July 29, 1956

Herb Score and Hank Aguirre of the Indians sweep Baltimore, 3 – 0 and 4 – 0.

July 31, 1956

By salvaging a split of today’s twin bill with the last-place Giants, 2nd-place Cincinnati gains half a game on idle Milwaukee. The marathon’s most memorable moment, however, comes in the 8th inning of New York’s 5 – 1 win, as Willie Mays travels far and wide to pull in Wally Post’s 430-foot blast to the Polo Grounds’ distant left center power alley over his shoulder. Willie’s circus catch comes after Stan Palys’ pinch-hit homer has put Cincy on the board, down by 4.

August 1, 1956

Jackie Robinson Safe at second

August 2, 1956

Boston’s Jackie Jensen knocks in nine RBIs as the Red Sox bag the Tigers, 18 – 3.

August 7, 1956

51-year-old Satchel Paige of the Miami Marlins wins a game before the largest crowd in minor league history

August 7, 1956

The Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans, as the Red Sox edge the Yanks in 11 innings on Williams’s bases-loaded walk. It’s the serial spitter’s third incident in three weeks; in the words of Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey: “It’s got to stop, that’s all.” The costly saliva salvo comes after the crowd of 36,350, a record for a night game at Fenway Park, starts booing the Splendid but sensitive Splinter for muffing Mickey Mantle’s wind-blown fly with two out in the 11th. Immediately thereafter, the jeers turn to cheers when Williams redeems himself with a leaping grab of Yogi Berra’s drive against the scoreboard. The Splinter, however, is not so easily appeased. Thus, the fickle Fenway patrons find themselves the target of Teddy’s spittle repeatedly as he makes his way towards the Red Sox dugout. A less publicized, but potentially more disastrous, incident is narrowly averted when, before the game, Red Sox RF Jackie Jensen has to be restrained by teammates from going into the stands after a heckler. The previous year Jensen had challenged a fan to come out of the stands.

August 8, 1956

Mickey Mantle’s opposite-field homer‚ off Camilo Pascual in the 1st inning, jump starts the Yankees to a 12 – 2 win over the Senators. Mantle is now 9 games ahead of Babe Ruth’s 1927 pace.

August 8, 1956

At Milwaukee‚ the Cards’ Herm Wehmeier stages a one-man attack‚ hurling a four-hitter and driving in the winning run in the 10th to win‚ 3 – 2. He singles off Lew Burdette’s glove. He also stops Hank Aaron’s hitting streakof 25 straight games. The Braves win the lidlifter easily‚ 10 – 1, behind homers by Johnny Logan‚ Del Crandall and 2 by Joe Adcock.

August 8, 1956

Robin Roberts gets his fourth victory in the past ten days when the Phillies beat New York at the Polo Grounds, 8-3

August 9, 1956

Longtime Dodger announcer Connie Desmond resigns from the broadcast booth.

August 9, 1956

The Senators get a license to sell beer at Griffith Stadium.

August 10, 1956

1956 – Cincinnati C Ed Bailey hits a grand slam as the Redlegs win, 8 – 1, over Milwaukee, to move into second place, a half game behind the Braves and a half game ahead of the Dodgers.

August 11, 1956

Mickey Mantle hits his 40th homer‚ off Hal Brown‚ as the Yankees clip the Orioles‚ 10 – 5. Mantle is the first Yankee since Joe DiMaggio‚ in 1937‚ to hit 40 homers.

August 11, 1956

Don Newcombe’s consecutive scoreless innings streak is snapped at 39 2/3‚ but the Dodger righty wins his 18th of the year and 9th in a row‚ beating the Phils‚ 5 – 2. Stan Lopata’s two-run homer in the 7th is the Quaker scoring.

August 12, 1956

Mickey Mantle hits his 41st homer‚ and 7th in 8 days‚ to pace New York to a 6 – 2 win and a doubleheader sweep of the Orioles.

August 12, 1956

At Wrigley Field‚ Stan Musial doubles in the 6th for his 1‚071st extra-base hit‚ tying Mel Ott for the National League record‚ but his Cards lose‚ 6 – 2. Bob Rush is the winner. In the nitecap‚ Herm Wehmeier and Jim Daviseach throw 9 scoreless innings before darkness stops the game.

August 12, 1956

Shreveport’s Ken Guettler sets the Texas League mark with his 56th home run. He will finish the season with 62.

August 13, 1956

8/13/1956: Peewee Reese homered in the top of the first inning with no one on and one out but had it rained out.

August 15, 1956

1956 – The Dodgers and Giants draw 26,385 for a night-game record at Jersey City. A Willie Mays home run is the only scoring as Johnny Antonelli shuts out the Dodgers, 1 – 0.

August 18, 1956

The Braves and Reds hit 10 homeruns to set a National League mark for total homers for a nine inning game.

August 20, 1956

Lew Burdette accused of spitball

August 23, 1956

Led by Nellie Fox’s seven straight hits, the White Sox sweep the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a bunt single, triple and home run in the 6 – 4 nightcap loss but trails Fox in season hits, 158 to 155. But the Mick still leads in the Triple Crown race.

August 24, 1956

Johnny Kucks needs only 73 pitches to blank the Pale Hose, 2-0, on four hits in a two-hour contest played at Yankee Stadium. The 24 year-old All-Star right-hander, who improves his record to 17-7, has become the team’s #2 starter, behind Whitey Ford, for the eventual world champs.

August 25, 1956

Prior to the Old Timers’ Game at Yankee Stadium, shortstop Phil Rizzuto is asked to consult with general manager George Weiss and manager Casey Stengel concerning a player move necessitated by reacquiring Enos Slaughter off waivers from the A’s. After making several suggestions about who should be cut from the squad, the veteran infielder is told by Weiss he is the player about to be let go.

August 26, 1956

1956 – The Yankees announce the purchase of OF Enos Slaughter from Kansas City.

August 27, 1956

1956 – Curt Roberts of Columbus (International League) hits four home runs in a row in a seven-inning game against the Havana Sugar Kings.

August 28, 1956

The Giants sign 17-year-old lefty Mike McCormick to a bonus contract.

August 28, 1956

It certainly comes as no shock, when reading the box score of tonight’s 5 – 4 defeat of the league-leading Braves, to find an assist credited to Pittsburgh’s rifle-armed right fielder, Roberto Clemente, the 13th of 17 outfield assists to be recorded by Clemente this season. That being said, without witnessing it one would be hard pressed to envision the exact nature of this exciting but atypical and inadvertent ‘assist.’ Both a highlight and turning point in Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind win, the freak play prevents the Braves from breaking this game open in the sixth. “Production might have continued indefinitely,” notes the Milwaukee Journal’s Cleon Walfoort, “but for a fantastic two-man catch of a long drive by Spahn. The Journal’s Bob Wolf elaborates: “Clemente and Bill Virdon robbed Spahn of an extra-base hit and the Braves of one or more runs. Clemente got his glove on the ball against the fence and Virdon grabbed it as it squirted out.” As Walfoort notes: “It was just after this remarkable catch that the Pirates came to life.”

August 31, 1956

1956 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower is in attendance as Jim Lemon of the Senators slugs three consecutive home runs in a night game against the Yankees, but New York still wins, 6 – 4.

September 1, 1956

1956 – Sparked by Warren Spahn’s 2-hit pitching and the clutch hitting of Joe Adcock‚ the Braves beat the Cards‚ 3 – 1. Adcock has 3 RBIs. Despite the win‚ the Braves’ lead is cut to 2 games as the Dodgers sweep a pair from the Giants.

September 3, 1956

1956 – The Braves set a home night game record by drawing 47,604 to see a doubleheader split with the Redlegs, winning the first, 3 – 2, and losing the second, 7 – 5.

September 5, 1956

1956 – The Red Sox wallop the Senators, 16 – 0, in the second game after taking game one, 7 – 5. In the nightcap, the Sox bang out 20 safeties with every starter getting a hit.

September 11, 1956

Bob Lemon wins his 200th career game

September 11, 1956

Yogi Berra ties the major league career record for home runs by a catcher 

September 11, 1956

Frank Robinson ties Wally Berger’s 1930 National League record for home runs by a rookie for home runs with his 38th in the Reds’ 11-5 victory over the Giants at Polo Grounds. A’s first baseman Mark McGwire will established the major league mark for freshman homers with 49 round-trippers in 1989.

September 18, 1956

Cleveland sweeps a doubleheader from Washington behind Herb Score and Mike Garcia, 1 – 0 and 6 – 0.

September 18, 1956

Mickey Mantle hits his 50th home run, only the 8th to do so, in the 11th off Chicago’s Billy Pierce, as New York wins, 3 – 2, to clinch another pennant.

September 19, 1956

Orioles catcher Tom Gastall dies as the plane he is piloting crashes into the Chesapeake Bay. The 24 year-old backup backstop, who signed a $40,000 contract as a “bonus baby” with Baltimore after being drafted by the NFL’s Detroit Lions, was the captain of the Boston University’s basketball and baseball teams in his senior year and played quarterback for the Terriers’ football team.

September 19, 1956

For the third time in his career, P Don Newcombe hits two home runs in one game, in a 17 – 2 laugher.

September 21, 1956

1956 – 1B Bill Skowron has 5 hits, but the Yankees strand a record 20 base runners in losing to the Red Sox in Boston, 13 – 9. Mickey Mantle sends a 480-foot home run into the center field bleachers that lands a foot from the top. His 3 hits raise his average to .352, 4 points behind Ted Williams.

September 23, 1956

Ozzie Virgil becomes the first Dominican to reach the majors. The 23 year-old Monte Cristi native, who will also see his son Ozzie catch in the big leagues, plays third base for the Giants.

September 23, 1956

Due to the enforcement of a curfew, the Sunday contest between the Dodgers and Pirates is postponed with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, sending the 44,932 fans, the largest crowd in Forbes Field’s history, home. The game will be completed tomorrow with Brooklyn maintaining their 8-3 advantage over Pittsburgh.

September 24, 1956

National League President Warren Giles waives the 12:50 a.m. curfew for games that may affect the outcome of the pennant race

September 25, 1956

Dodger right-hander Sal Maglie no-hits the Phillies at Ebbets Field, 5-0. The ‘Barber’s’ gem helps second-place Brooklyn to keep pace in the pennant race with Milwaukee and Cincinnati.

September 25, 1956

In the wake of the Ted Williams spitting incident, the Massachusetts State Legislature passes a bill to fine fans for profanity during a game. The bill is later killed.

September 25, 1956

Dodger right-hander Sal Maglie no-hits the Phillies at Ebbets Field, 5-0. The ‘Barber’s’ gem helps second-place Brooklyn to keep pace in the pennant race with Milwaukee and Cincinnati.

September 26, 1956

Charlie Beamon of the Orioles throws a 1 – 0 shutout against the Yankees in his first major league start.

September 26, 1956

Jim Lemon of the Senators sets a major league record for strikeouts by a batter in one season with 138. This surpasses Larry Doby’s mark of 121, set in 1953. The Senators lose to the Red Sox, 8 – 4.

September 26, 1956

Vic Wertz of the Indians hits 4 doubles and a single in an 8 – 4 win against the Athletics.

September 30, 1956

Don Newcombe, a three-time twenty-game winner, goes the distance to earn his major-league leading 27th victory when the Dodgers beat Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, 8-6, on the last day of the campaign. Newk’s win is the most ever in a season by an African-American pitcher.

September 30, 1956

Al Lopez, manager of the Indians since 1951, resigns and is replaced by Kerby Farrell. Lopez, who won 470 while losing 354 for a .570 percentage, had one pennant and five 2nd-place finishes in his 6 years at the helm.

September 30, 1956

At the age of 16 years and 10 months, Jim Derrington of the White Sox becomes the youngest pitcher to start a major league game this century. The teenager loses to the A’s 7 – 6, but singles, becoming the youngest player to get a hit in the American League.

September 30, 1956

Red Schoendienst of the NY Giants gets the 2,000th hit of his career, but the Giants lose 4 – 2 to the Braves.

September 30, 1956

Sandy Amoros and Duke Snider each hit 2 home runs, as the Brooklyn Dodgers win 8 – 6 to cop the pennant on the last day of the season.

October 3, 1956

Game 1 1956 World Series Sal Maglie and the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the Yankees, 6 – 3

October 5, 1956

U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, during a morning news conference, indicates he is not in favor of the Washington Senators shifting their franchise to another city and would like to see the District of Columbia get a new baseball stadium, a proposal the Congress has been working on for the past decade. Club president Cal Griffith, who has disclosed other municipalities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Louisville, have made attractive offers to attract the team, has acknowledged he is willing to stay in the nation’s capital if a new stadium plan is approved.

October 5, 1956

Duke Snider barrels into Billy Martin during the 1956 World Series at Ebbets Field.

October 8, 1956

Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitches the first-and only-perfect game in World Series history

October 9, 1956

The Brooklyn Dodgers bounce back after Don Larsen’s perfect game to tie the World Series in Game 6 on Jackie Robinson’s walk off single

October 10, 1956

In Game 7 of the World Series, Johnny Kucks blanks Brooklyn, 9-0, to give the Yankees their 17th World Championship in franchise history

October 19, 1956

Brooklyn Dodgers lose the first game of an exhibition series in Japan

October 24, 1956

1956 – The Associated Press names Cincinnati Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts as its National League Manager of the Year.

October 25, 1956

Al Lopez replaces Marty Marion, who recently resigned as the manager of the White Sox

October 29, 1956

Chicago White Sox name future Hall of Famer Al Lopez as their new manager

October 30, 1956

Ebbets Field is sold to real estate developer Marvin Kratter

November 14, 1956

The Pirates threaten to move the franchise from Pittsburgh unless a new municipal stadium is built to replace the 47 year-old Forbes Field. The second division club drew 949,878 fans, the fifth-best total of the eight National League teams.

November 20, 1956

The St. Louis Cardinals trade outfielder Rip Repulski and shortstop Bobby Morgan to the Philadelphia Phillies for OF Del Ennis.

November 21, 1956

Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe wins the National League MVP; in a few days, he will become the first-ever Cy Young Award winner.

November 27, 1956

Outfielder Charlie Peete, given a good shot at being the first black starter on the St. Louis Cardinals, is killed in a plane crash in Caracas, Venezuela. Peete, who had appeared in 23 games for St. Louis in 1956, was returning from playing winter ball.

November 27, 1956

Brooklyn starter Don Newcombe receives major league baseball’s inaugural CY Young Award

November 28, 1956

The Indians name Major Kerby Farrell as the team’s new manager, replacing Al Lopez who resign on the last day of the season after finishing his six-year tenure with a franchise-best 570-354 (.617) record. The Tribe’s 43 year-old new skipper led the AA Indianapolis Indians to the Junior World Series title, sweeping the Rochester Red Wings (Cardinals) in four games at the end of September.

December 1, 1956

Outfielder Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds is unanimously voted the National League Rookie of the Year

December 1, 1956

In front of an estimated 100,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the U.S. Army baseball team beats an Australian All-Star team, 11 – 5, in an Olympic exhibition game. Sergeant Vance Sutton hits a grand slam.

December 3, 1956

The Detroit Tigers trade pitcher Virgil Trucks for a second time

December 10, 1956

The Cubs buy perennial backup C Charlie Silvera from the Yankees. They also trade pitchers Sad Sam Jones and Jim Davis, IF Eddie Miksis, and C Hobie Landrith to the Cardinals for pitchers Tom Poholsky and Jackie Collum, C Ray Katt, and a minor league pitcher.

December 10, 1956

Similar to the National League, the Junior Circuit opts for a three-game playoff in case of a tie at the end of the regular season. Previously, a deadlock in the American League had been broken with one-game winner-take-all format. However, the new format will never need to be used until the leagues break into two divisions in 1969.

December 10, 1956

Mrs. Grace Comiskey, president of the White Sox, dies of a heart attack in Washington.

December 11, 1956

The Major Leagues vote at a joint meeting to reduce player limits to 28 by Opening Day.

December 11, 1956

Bob Feller is named its first player association president

December 13, 1956

ROBINSON TRADED TO GIANTS ASKS TIME TO THINK IT OVER

December 13, 1956

Dale Berra is born in Ridgewood, NJ. Yogi’s son doesn’t have his father’s talents but closes his eleven-year big league career with 19 games as an Astro in 1987 where he bats .178.

December 18, 1956

New York Yankee star Phil Rizzuto signs on as one of the team’s radio and television broadcasters

December 28, 1956

The New York City Board of Estimate votes $25,000 for a survey regarding the Brooklyn Dodgers’ proposed new stadium for downtown Brooklyn.

November 6, 2020

President Eisenhower is about to throw out the first pitch at Ebbets Field for game 1 of the 1956 World Series