Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Brooklyn Dodgers over New York Yankees (4–3); Johnny Podres, MVP All-Star Game, July 12 at County Stadium: National League, 6–5 (12 innings)
Other champions College World Series: Wake Forest University Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Nankai Hawks (4–3) Global World Series: USA over Hawaii Little League World Series: Morrisville, Pennsylvania Pan American Games: Dominican Republic over USA Winter Leagues 1955 Caribbean Series: Cangrejeros de Santurce Cuban League: Alacranes del Almendares Dominican Republic League: Leones del Escogido Mexican Pacific League: Venados de Mazatlán Panamanian League: Carta Vieja Yankees Puerto Rican League: Cangrejeros de Santurce Venezuelan League: Navegantes del Magallanes
Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame Frank Baker Joe DiMaggio Ted Lyons Dazzy Vance Gabby Hartnett Ray Schalk MLB Most Valuable Player Roy Campanella (BRO, National) Yogi Berra (NYY, American) MLB Rookie of the Year Bill Virdon (STL, National) Herb Score (CLE, American)
Statistical leaders American LeagueNational League Stat Player Total Player Total AVG Al Kaline (DET) .340 Richie Ashburn (PHI) .338 HR Mickey Mantle (NYY) 37 Willie Mays (NYG) 51 RBI Ray Boone (DET)Jackie Jensen (BOS) 116 Duke Snider (BRO) 136 W Whitey Ford (NYY)Bob Lemon (CLE)Frank Sullivan (BOS) 18 Robin Roberts (PHI) 23 ERA Billy Pierce (CWS) 1.97 Bob Friend (PIT) 2.83 K Herb Score (CLE) 245 Sam Jones (CHC) 198
Major league baseball final standings American League final standings
National League final standings
Nippon Professional Baseball final standings Central League final standings Central League G W L T Pct. GBYomiuri Giants 130 92 37 1 .713 —Osaka Tigers 130 77 52 1 .597 15.0Chunichi Dragons 130 71 57 2 .555 20.5Hiroshima Carp 130 58 70 2 .453 33.5Kokutetsu Swallows 130 57 71 2 .445 34.5Taiyo Whales 130 31 99 0 .238 61.5
Pacific League final standings Pacific League G W L T Pct. GBNankai Hawks 143 99 41 3 .707 —Nishitetsu Lions 144 90 50 4 .643 9.0Mainichi Orions 142 85 55 2 .607 14.0Hankyu Braves 142 80 60 2 .571 19.0Kintetsu Pearls 142 60 80 2 .429 39.0Daiei Stars 141 53 87 1 .379 46.0Toei Flyers 143 51 89 3 .364 48.0Tombo Unions 141 42 98 1 .300 57.0
Events
January
January 5 – The move west to Kansas City by the Athletics franchise will bring limited air travel to the American League; visiting clubs previously traveled by rail to each league city. January 7 – Commissioner Ford Frick approves the 1955 contract of seven-time former National League home-run king and future Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner, which calls for a 25% pay cut. Kiner, 32, acquired by the Cleveland Indians from the Chicago Cubs during the off-season, had negotiated for even greater cut in pay, a reported 38% reduction from his $65,000 1954 earnings, but Frick had held up approval of the arrangement. January 15 – Catcher Mickey Owen, whose MLB career includes four National League All-Star team selections, a momentum-changing error in the 1941 World Series, and almost four prime years lost due to his suspension for "jumping" to the Mexican League in , is released by the Boston Red Sox. Owen, 38, will remain in the majors for two more years as a coach on Pinky Higgins' Red Sox staff. January 16 – The once-stable eight-team lineup of the Triple-A American Association will undergo a significant change in 1955, with Denver and Omaha replacing Kansas City and Columbus. The relocation of the Athletics drives the Kansas City-to-Denver move, while deteriorating attendance is behind the transfer of the Columbus franchise. The loss of Denver and Omaha weakens the Western League, which will play only four more years before shutting down. On January 29, the Triple-A International League will welcome Columbus as the new home of the transferred Ottawa A's. January 20 – The last remnants of the Philadelphia Athletics—portraits of Hall of Famers including Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons, Rube Waddell and Mack himself—are removed from Connie Mack Stadium and shipped westward to Kansas City. New club owner Arnold Johnson torpedoes the Mack family's suggestion that the mementos be donated to Cooperstown, saying he wants to display them in the team's new home. January 24 In an effort to speed up the game, Major League Baseball announces a new rule which requires a pitcher to deliver the ball within 20 seconds after taking a pitching position. The Washington Senators release legendary Cuban pitcher Connie Marrero. The , 43-year-old Marrero, known for his "windmill" windup, is a folk hero in Cuba as an amateur player from the 1930s to the mid-1940s, winning three Gold Medals in the Baseball World Cup. He turned pro at age 36 in 1947, then appeared in 118 MLB games over five seasons (–) for Washington, and was named to the 1951 AL All-Star team. January 26 – Joe DiMaggio tops the Hall-of-Fame ballot, entering the shrine only three years after his December 11, 1951, retirement from the New York Yankees. DiMaggio, 40, receives 88.8% of the vote. Three other luminaries are also voted in: Ted Lyons (86.5%), Dazzy Vance (81.7%) and Gabby Hartnett (77.7%). What's more, the Veterans Committee selects two more honorees: Home Run Baker and Ray Schalk."1955 Hall of Fame Voting" at Baseball Reference. January 30 – The American League follows the National League's lead and delays any discussion of expansion from eight to ten teams. The NL had voted January 29 to defer any plan to expand into attractive minor-league territories such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth.
February February 2 – Five-time American League All-Star right-hander Allie Reynolds retires at age 37. Reynolds posted a 13–4 (3.32) record in 36 games for the 1954 New York Yankees, but a chronic back injury drives him from the mound. He went 131–60 (3.30) in eight AL seasons for the Bombers and 7–2 (2.79) in World Series play, helping them win six Fall Classics in six appearances. February 15 – Puerto Rico captures its third consecutive Caribbean Series title when its representative, the Cangrejeros de Santurce, defeats Venezuela's Navegantes del Magallanes, 7–2, to win its fifth game in six outings. Puerto Rico's outfield features future Hall of Famers Willie Mays, 23, and Roberto Clemente, 20. February 28 – The National League fines the Milwaukee Braves $500 for opening their spring training camp before the official March 1 date. Three days from today, the American League will fine the Kansas City Athletics $250 for the same infraction.
March March 2 – Cass Michaels, the Chicago White Sox' infielder trying to come back from a near-fatal skull fracture inflicted by a beanball in August 1954, is hospitalized in Tampa after suffering dizzy spells and losing consciousness during the second day of routine spring training drills. After ten days in the hospital, Michaels will end his playing career at age 29 and become a scout. March 7 Jorge Pasquel, the businessman whose Mexican League briefly shook up the U.S. baseball establishment by "raiding" MLB rosters of playing talent and shunning the reserve clause in , dies in a plane crash in San Luis Potosí. Although by 1948 his league failed its challenge to MLB, 20,000 people line the streets for Pasquel's funeral. (See Deaths for this date below.) Commissioner Ford Frick advocates for the return of the spitball, arguing that it is "a great pitch and one of the easiest to throw. There was nothing dangerous about it." The spitball was banned following the 1920 season. Despite the Commissioner's enthusiasm, the pitch remains illegal. March 12 – The New York Giants sign future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey, 17, as an amateur free agent. March 17 – The Baltimore Orioles obtain pitcher Erv Palica from the Brooklyn Dodgers in exchange for first baseman Frank Kellert and cash considerations. The trade is an add-on to a December 13, 1954 transaction that sent third baseman Billy Cox and pitcher Preacher Roe to Baltimore, which had to be reworked when Roe announced his retirement. March 22 – Arnold Johnson, the real estate mogul who purchased the Philadelphia Athletics in November 1954 and immediately moved them to Kansas City, sells Yankee Stadium, which he has owned since 1953, to fellow Chicago businessman John M. Cox. The stadium sale partially addresses "conflict of interest" charges that have loomed over Johnson since he pursued the Athletics (he is a close business associate of Yankees owners Del Webb and Dan Topping)—but, until Johnson's sudden death in March 1960, his Athletics will engage in multiple player transactions with Webb and Topping's club, most of them lopsided and in the Yankees' favor. March 29 Philip K. Wrigley, owner of both the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles franchise of the Pacific Coast League, says that Major League Baseball will "inevitably" come to the West Coast either through expansion or franchise relocation, but he doubts that the financially stronger National League will make the first move. The Boston Red Sox sign shortstop Eddie Joost, a 17-year veteran, as a free agent. Joost, 38, spent 1954 as the player-manager of the final edition of the Philadelphia Athletics. March 30 – The New York Yankees sell the contracts of pitchers Ewell Blackwell and Tom Gorman and first baseman Dick Kryhoski to the Kansas City Athletics.
April
April 8 – In one of their final exhibition games of the spring, the Philadelphia Phillies get a scare when two starting outfielders, Del Ennis and future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn, are injured in the same collision. Ennis is reported to have fractured his left leg, while Ashburn has sprained his left knee. Both men will miss the club's first two National League games, but are able to return by April 17. April 11 In the American League's traditional Presidential Opener at Griffith Stadium, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, throws out the first ball and watches as the Washington Senators trounce the Baltimore Orioles, 12–5, behind Bob Porterfield's complete game. In the National League's customary opener at Crosley Field, Cincinnati, the visiting Chicago Cubs defeat the hometown Redlegs, 7–5. April 12 – After an estimated 150,000 people jam downtown streets for a welcoming parade—and the threat of rain dissipates—the Athletics open their first season in Kansas City with a win over the Detroit Tigers, 6–2, before a crowd of 32,844 at Municipal Stadium. Former U.S. President Harry Truman throws out the first ball and center fielder Bill Wilson scores three runs and goes three-for-three, including the first home run in Kansas City's major-league history. Alex Kellner gets the win, with erstwhile six-time All-Star Ewell Blackwell—who will be released April 30—his only save in an Athletics uniform."Kansas City Athletics 6, Detroit Tigers 2." Retrosheet box score (April 12, 1955). April 13 The eventual combatants in the 1955 World Series, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, get their seasons off on the right foot. At Ebbets Field, Carl Erskine tosses a complete game and Brooklyn scores five sixth-inning runs (helped by homers from Jim Gilliam and Carl Furillo) as the Dodgers breeze past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6–1. At Yankee Stadium, the "Bronx Bombers" live up to their nickname, thrashing the Washington Senators, 19–1, with Whitey Ford throwing a two-hitter and going three-for-five at the plate, including a home run, and collecting four runs batted in. The Milwaukee Braves sell the contract of veteran right-hander Jim Wilson, 33, to the Baltimore Orioles. In , Wilson, had thrown the first no-hitter in Milwaukee's MLB history and been selected to the NL All-Star team. This season and next, Wilson will be a member of the American League's All-Star squad.