1956 Milwaukee Braves season


The 1956 Milwaukee Braves season was the fourth in Milwaukee and the 86th overall season of the franchise. The Braves finished in second place in the National League, just one game behind the Brooklyn Dodgers in the league standings, and one game ahead of the All three teams posted wins on the final day of the season; the Braves had entered the final three games with a game advantage, but dropped the first two at St. Louis while the Dodgers swept the Pirates.
The Braves' led the major leagues in home attendance with 2,046,331; next closest was the New York Yankees of the American League at under The runner-up in NL attendance was champion Brooklyn at under The Braves averaged 30,093 for the

Regular season

Season summary

Under opening day manager Charlie Grimm, the Braves got off to a mediocre start at. After a loss on Saturday, June 16, the owners dismissed him and replaced him with who led the Braves to a record for the rest of the season. Finishing at, the Braves nearly caught up with the Dodgers, who finished a game ahead at. Haney managed the Braves to the World Series in 1957 and 1958, and then to a tie atop the National League standings in 1959, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In individual performance statistics, outfielder Hank Aaron led the league in hits with 200, in batting average at.328, and in doubles with 34. His 106 runs scored led the Braves. First baseman Joe Adcock led the Braves with 38 home runs and 103 runs batted in. The Braves' other hitting star was their third baseman, Eddie Mathews, who played in 151 games, hit 37 home runs, scored 103 runs, and batted in 95 runs.
The pitching leaders for the Braves were their "big three" starting pitchers : Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl. Spahn also recorded three saves among the four games in which he was used as a relief pitcher.
Outfielder Bobby Thomson also had his best season, out of three, with the Braves, with 142 games played, 20 home runs, and 74 runs batted in, but just a.235 batting average. Then, the next season, Thomson was traded back to the New York Giants.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; R = Runs; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PosPlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBI
C1123113774.2381648
1B13745476132.32838103
2B13949871119.239242
3B151552103150.3283795
SS14854569153.2811546
LF14245159106.2352074
CF14752573143.272856
RF153609106200.3282692

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
7118840.213317
11115941.258016
7513839.283216
4410225.24516
459324.25829
606315.23814
355315.28303
15305.16727
7133.23100
14110.00000
421.50011

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
39281.120112.78111
39256.119102.70110
38216.21883.3286
35169.211103.8773

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
35158.1893.1368
2387.2532.2636
1950.2322.6640

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
364363.7126
292373.7420
252223.1532
140014.4418
20106.752
10000.000
1000∞0

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Evansville, Boise, Wellsville