INTRODUCING YOUR 1956 NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STARS

The 1956 All-Star Game was played on July 10th in Washington's Griffith Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds, atop the National League standings, had five position players in the NL All-Star starting line-up, and three other players selected by managers and coaches. The Milwaukee Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers, in second and third, each had four players make the All-Star team, none as starters.

Introducing Your 1956 National League All-Stars (60 Years Ago)

One would think that a club in first place by only a game-and-a-half would not have dominated the vote for starting position players quite the way the Cincinnati Redlegs did. One year before ballot-stuffing on behalf of Reds players caused major league baseball to take the privilege of voting for starting All-Stars away from the fans, leaving it to professionals in the game to select who deserved to play in the game, the middle of the Reds' infield, two of their three starting outfielders, and their catcher were all voted in as All-Stars. It was an honor that rookie Frank Robinson clearly deserved, and arguably so did catcher Ed Bailey, although a strong case might be made for Phillies' catcher Stan Lopata (see tables at end of this article).

The non-Reds who were starting NL All-Stars were Pirates' first baseman Dale Long and Cardinals' third baseman Ken Boyer and outfielder Stan Musial. Boyer was leading the league with 60 runs batted in, and Musial was close behind with 58. Ironically, Long bumped out of the starting line-up the Cincinnati player other than Robinson who was most deserving of the honor —first baseman Ted Kluszewski, whose 22 home runs led the league. Kluszewski, however, did make the NL All-Star team as a back-up.

While Johnny Temple may have been the most deserving second baseman in the National League, the selection of Roy McMillan—for all his defensive excellence—to start at shortstop deprived Ernie Banks of a deserved privilege. The Cubs' shortstop was right behind Big Klu in home runs with 21; Banks did make the team as a reserve. 

In the outfield, the fan vote for Gus Bell to play alongside Frank Robinson and Musial in the outfield deprived the following three outfielders of a starting role, although all three were named to the NL All-Star team as reserves—Milwaukee's Hank Aaron (batting .309 with 40 RBIs); the Giants' incomparable Willie Mays (hitting just .288 with 13 home runs, but successful in 19 of 21 stolen base attempts); and the Duke of Flatbush, Edwin Snider, who was almost half-way to a fourth straight 40-homer season with 19 round-trippers at the break while batting .295.

The Reds also had pitchers Brooks Lawrence, a righty, and southpaw Joe Nuxhall make the squad. Lawrence was leading the National League with 12 wins at the break, and he was undefeated. It was Pittsburgh right-hander Bob Friend (11-7), however, who got the start for the National League All-Stars. 

Notable among the other pitchers was the Phillies' Robin Roberts, whose 8-10 record at the break put potentially at risk the continuance of his string of six consecutive 20-win seasons; he had won 138 games between 1950 and 1955. Roberts went on to just miss a seventh straight 20-win year by one victory, finishing 1956 at 19-18.

The most noteworthy players who did not make the 1956 NL All-Star Game, certainly in historical retrospect, were Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson. At 11-5, Newcombe was second in the league in wins along with Friend, but that wasn't enough to get him on the All-Star squad. Certainly unanticipated was that Big Newk would finish the year with 27 wins.

At 37 years old, Jackie was playing what would be his last year in baseball, although that decision would not be made until after the Dodgers tried trading him to the Giants after the season. He got off to a slow start, then spent most of the month of June on the bench nursing various aches and pains. Robinson was batting just .256. 

In his 10 major league seasons, Jackie Robinson was an All-Star just six times, every year from 1949 to 1954. He did not make the NL All-Star squad in his rookie year of 1947 despite his .310 batting average at the break as the only black player in major league baseball. (Larry Doby made his debut in Cleveland just two days before the All-Star break.) Robinson wasn't on the 1948 All-Star team either. Red Schoendienst was voted in as the starting NL second baseman that year. Chosen instead of Robinson as a backup at second base for the 1948 NL All-Stars was Giants second baseman Bill Rigney, who was batting .275 at the time. Jackie was hitting .295 at the 1948 break. 

It was not until 1949—three years after he broke the major league's institutionally-arbitrary color barrier—that Robinson finally made an All-Star team. He had company with Newcombe and Campanella also making the 1949 NL All-Star team, and Doby was named to the AL team. Batting second and playing second base, Jackie Robinson became the first black player voted by the fans and the first black player to start in an All-Star Game. He went 1-for-4 and scored 3 runs of the National League's 7 runs. Jackie Robinson was 6-for-18 (.333) with 7 runs scored, 1 home run, and 4 RBIs in his six All-Star games.

The following is the list of the National League's starting position players, reserves, and pitchers for the 1956 All-Star Game with their key stats up to the All-Star break.

NL STARTING LINE-UP	RUNS	Power	BA
Temple, CIN, 2B	45 R	24 RBI	.281
F. Robinson, CIN, LF	58 R	18 HR 39 RBI	.313
Musial, StL, RF	43 R	14 HR 58 RBI	.308
Boyer, StL, 3B	57 R	20 HR  60 RBI	.321
Bell, CIN, CF	46 R	15 HR 41 RBI	.289
Long, PIT, 1B	39 R	17 HR 50 RBI	.303
Bailey, CIN, C	30 R	14 HR 33 RBI	.335
McMillan, CIN, SS	26 R	34 RBI	.282

NL POSITION RESERVES	RUNS	Power	BA
Kluszewski, CIN, 1B	48	22 HR 55 RBI	.282
Aaron, MIL, OF	43	9 HR  40 RBI	.309
Mathews, MIL, 3B	42	13 HR 28 RBI	.229
Crandall, MIL, C	23	11 HR 27 RBI	.253
Snider, BRO, OF	54	19 HR 43 RBI	.295
Campanella, BRO, C	26	11 HR  38 RBI	.222
Gilliam, BRO, 2B	49	28 RBI	.295
Repulski, StL, OF	26	7 HR  28 RBI	.335
Banks, CHI, SS	49	21 HR 48 RBI	.283
Mays, NYG, OF	40 R 19 SB	13 HR 36 RBI	.288
Lopata, PHI, C	43 R	14 HR 45 RBI	.256

NL PITCHERS	Record	G	ERA
Friend, PIT ( SP / ASG )	11-7	22 GS	3.07
Lawrence, CIN	12-0	21 G    15 GS	3.48
Antonelli, NYG *	8-7	17 GS	3.26
Roberts, PHI,	8-10	18 GS	4.28
Spahn, MIL *	7-7  3 ShO	16 GS	2.80
Nuxhall, CIN *	6-8	22 G       5 GS	4.06
Labine, BRO	7-3  11 SV	35 G relief	3.11
*  Left-handed pitcher

CORRECTION: In my previous post, "1956 Reds Power Into First Place," I wrote that the 18th home run that Duke Snider hit on July 1 led the league. I was wrong. Ken Boyer and Ernie Banks both had 20 home runs; Banks hit two against the Braves on July 1. 

1956 Reds Power Into First Place (60 Years Ago)

Their Sunday doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis on July 1st, coupled with the Braves single-game loss to the Cubs in Chicago, put the 1956 Cincinnati Reds into a first place tie with Milwaukee (although technically .005 percentage points behind because of the difference in games played). The Redlegs, which was their official nom-de-guerre so as not to be confused with "Reds" at a time when the Cold War was at its height, were on a role with 8 wins in their last 11 games powered by Frank Robinson, Ted Kluszewski, and the long ball. Next stop for the Reds: home to Cincinnati to take on the Braves.

1956 Reds Power Into First Place (60 Years Ago)

The real fireworks would not be until Independence Day celebrations three days hence, but the Reds unloaded on the Cardinals for 26 runs in their Sunday doubleheader The Reds hit 5 home runs to win a 10-inning 19-15 slugfest in the first game, followed by 2 more in their 7-1 victory in the nightcap. Powerful first baseman Ted Kluszewski hit three homers in the opening game off three different pitchers, twice with a runner on, and his final one came with a runner on second and first base open to cap a 6-run 10th inning. 

Big Klu had been a prolific home run hitter in recent years, with three consecutive 40-homer seasons (40 in 1953, 49 in 1954, and 47 in 1955) and seemed on his way to that total once again; he now had 17 for the 1956 season. Kluszewski was up to 227 home runs in his big league career, which began with 12 in his rookie year of 1948. This was the first time, however, that Kluszewski had hit three home runs in a single game. It would also be the last. 

Kluszewski's 17th home run tied him with rookie sensation Frank Robinson for the most on the Reds. Robinson had hit his 17th in the second inning for the first run by either team in the game. On the same day, different city—Brooklyn—Gil Hodges had also hit his 17th, and Duke Snider did all three one better by hitting his league-leading 18th as the Dodgers split their Sunday doubleheader with the Phillies. The Dodgers finished the day a game behind the first-place Braves and Reds.

The latest in a line of exceptional black players who had broken into the National League since Jackie Robinson's debut in 1947—including Willie Mays in 1951, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks in 1954, and Roberto Clemente in 1955—Frank Robinson was off to a better start than any of them in their rookie season. In addition to his 17 homers, Frank ended the day on July 1 with 38 runs batted in and a .324 batting average. Since being inserted fifth in the batting order behind Big Klu on June 16, Robinson had hit .439 with 4 homers and 13 RBIs and had gotten on base in 53 percent of his plate appearances. His team had won 11 of 17 games in that time.

Frank Robinson had the hottest bat, but in their last 11 games dating to June 22 when they went into Ebbets Field for four games with the Dodgers, of which they won three, the Reds had whacked 20 home runs that drove in 31 of the 69 runs—45 percent—they scored while going 8-3. The Reds had the most home runs of any team in the major leagues with 107; the Yankees were second with 99. Of the two presumed favorites for the NL pennant, both clubs with dangerous power hitters in their line-ups, the Dodgers had 77 homers and the Braves 69. 

Having played 67 games, the Cincinnati Reds were well ahead of the pace set by the 1947 New York Giants when they hit 221 home runs to establish the new major league record for a single year. The Giants had 101 home runs in their first 67 games of the 1947 season. 

Six Reds had double-digit home run totals already on the first day of July—Kluszewski and Robinson with 17, Gus Bell with 15 (including one in the second game of the July 1 doubleheader against St. Louis), Wally Post with 14, and Ed Bailey and Ray Jablonski with 13 each. Three of Bailey's home runs came in the first game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field the previous Sunday. Like Kluszewski, it was the first time in his career he had hit 3 homers in one game, and even though he was still in his first full big league season, like Big Klu, it would be his last. Bailey wound up with 155 home runs in his 12-year career.

Thanks to their power game, the Reds at the end of the day on July 1 had scored more runs—358—than any other club in the major leagues except the Yankees, who had crossed home plate nearly 400 times. The Dodgers were third in scoring in the National League, and the Braves were sixth. But Cincinnati had also given up the fourth-most runs in the league, and none of the three teams that had surrendered more, including the Cardinals, were presumed contenders. 

Brooks Lawrence had emerged as their best starting pitcher. At 10-0, including 8 victories as a starter and 2 in relief, Lawrence was undefeated so far in the season, but his ERA was also 3.66. He was the Reds' starter in the first game of the July 1 doubleheader, took a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth, and was pulled after surrendering a grand slam to Wally Moon that made the score 7-5 in a game that ultimately ended (it bears repeating, because the score was so outrageous) 19-15.

As the Reds returned home to face the Milwaukee Braves with first place on the line, it was 67 games down, with a 39-28 record, and 87 to go. Despite the questionable quality of their pitching staff, Cincinnati's power game was what had the Reds looking like they might be able to outlast the other presumed pennant pretenders in 1956, like the Cardinals and Pirates, as real contenders to challenge the favored Dodgers and Braves. 

While keeping pace and getting ahead of Milwaukee and Brooklyn were what was most important, Cincinnati also had 87 games in which to hit 115 more home runs that would break the record of 221 set by the 1947 Giants. The two goals were certainly not mutually exclusively, and it was quite possible the first—winning the pennant—might be dependent on achieving the home run record.