MLB Trades During June 1955 White Sox Obtain Harry Byrd From Baltimore - June 1955 Tigers Purchase Phils' Torgenson... Billy Cox Quits; Westlake Balks At Leaving Tribe... Giants Bring Up 'Twig' - Sell Irvin... Orioles Trade Bobby Young For Hank Majeski... Broken Bone Idles Russ Meyer For 30 Days... White Sox Recall Connie Johnson and Lino Donoso - Vern Stephens Released... Yanks Sign Ted Gray; Bob Grim On Inactive List Mid-Year Trades - June 1955 - Major League Teams Trading Some Big-Name Veterans... No free agents during this era. From old baseballhistorian.com Archives - Baseball History June 16, 1955 - Baltimore - Harry Byrd, right-hander who came to Baltimore from the Yankees last winter, was sold Wednesday night to the White Sox for an undisclosed amount. Sox General Manager Paul Richards would only say that the price was in excess of the $10,000 wavier price. Byrd had appeared in 14 games for the Orioles, starting eight and completing one. Byrd became the second former Yankee dealt off by the Orioles. Gene Woodling was sent to Cleveland earlier, along with Billy Cox in return for Dave Pope, Wally Westlake and a bundle of cash. * June 16, 1955 - Pittsburgh (UP) The Pirates sent third baseman George Freese and relief pitcher Ben Wade to the Hollywood Stars for left-handed pitcher Lino Donoso. Dinoso, who has won three games and lost four in the Pacific Coast League, will join the Pirates in St. Louis. * June 16, 1955 - Tigers Purchase Phil's Earl Torgenson... New York (UP) - The Detroit Tigers purchased Earl Torgenson for a sum 'over the waiver price.' To make room for him, the Tigers optioned pitcher Leo Christante to their Buffalo farm club. Torgenson is with the Phillies in Milwaukee and will report Thursday. The bespectacled first baseman has a .267 batting average with the Phillies so far this season, having collected 40 hits and driven in 17 runs in 150 at bats. Billy Cox Quits; Westlake Balks At Leaving Tribe - June 17, 1955 Washington (AP) - Cleveland's trade with Baltimore appears to be collapsing. One of the principals, Billy Cox, decided to quit baseball and a second, Wally Westlake, says he might refuse to report to his new club. At the same time it was reported the Orioles were on the verge of obtaining shortstop Sam Dente from the Indians in a wavier deal. Al Lopez, Cleveland manager, said after a conversation with Cox Thursday that the veteran infielder had made up his mind to give up the game and would not report to the Indians. Westlake, who went from Cleveland to Baltimore in the deal, said he would talk with Paul Richards, the Orioles manager, 'and then I'll know definitely what I'm going to do. There's about a 5-50 chance I won't go to Baltimore.' The trade had the Indians sending Westlake and another outfielder, Dave Pope, along with a bundle of cash (to the owners - not the players) to Baltimore in exchange for Cox and outfielder Gene Woodling. If the players do not report in 72 hours, the deal normally is cancelled. * Orioles Settle Cox Row, Pay Tribe June 23, 1955 (UP) - Officials of the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians met in the office of Comr. Ford C. Frick and settled the deal that was upset when Billy Cox retired from baseball. Under the terms of the settlement, the Orioles will turn over an undisclosed sum of cash in lieu of Cox. The rest of the deal will remain, outfielder Gene Woodling and cash going to Cleveland for outfielders Dave Pope and Wally Westlake. General Manager Hank Greenberg of the Indians and Art Ehlers, assistant general manager of the Orioles, attended the meeting with Frick and his assistant, Charley Segar. * Giants Bring Up 'Twig'; Sell Monte Irvin -June 25, 1955 - St. Louis (AP) - The New York Giants, struggling to get back into National League contention, brought up infielder Wayne Terwilliger from their Montreal farm club. They sold outfielder Monte Irwin (a future Hall of Famer) outright to the Millers. Wayne Terwilliger will replace the ailing Davey Williams at second base in the Giants' lineup. Irvin was one of the stars of the Giants' pennant rush in 1951 when the New Yorkers overtook the Brooklyn Dodgers and won a thrill-packed playoff. Bill Rigney, Minneapolis manager, called Terwilliger 'the best second baseman in the American Association.' Baseballhistorian.com notes: Wayne Terwilliger was a highly popular second baseman for the Chicago Cubs in the early 1950s. * Orioles Trade Bobby Young For Hank Majeski June 25, 1955 Baltimore, Md. (UP) The Baltimore Orioles traded second baseman Bobby Young to the Cleveland Indians for infielder Hank Majeski. No cash was involved although technically it was a wavier deal for both players. * Broken Bone Idles Russ Meyer - June 29, 1955 - Brooklyn, NY (UP) - The Brooklyn Dodgers discovered Tuesday that right-hander Russ Meyer has a broken bone near his collar-bone. They placed him on the 30-day disabled list. Meyer suffered the fracture Sunday at Milwaukee. Pitchers Carl Erskine, Johnny Podres and Billy Loes also are nursing injuries, leaving the league-leading Dodgers with only six healthy pitchers, including bonus-baby Sandy Koufax. * White Sox Recall Connie Johnson; Vern Stephens To Go June 30, 1955 - The White Sox Thursday recalled righthander Connie Johnson from their Toronto farm club. Johnson currently boasts a record of 12 victories and two defeats with Toronto. Johnson's pitching record at Toronto was 17-8. To make room for Johnson, the White Sox asked waivers for his unconditional release on veteran Vern (Junior) Stephens. The 35-yearold Stephens had appeared at bat only 61 times this season, getting 15 hits for a .246 average. * Yanks Sign Ted Gray, while Bob Grim goes on Inactive List June 30, 1955 - (AP) The New York Yankees Thursday signed Ted Gray, veteran lefthander, who has pitched for Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland in the American League. They placed pitcher Bob Grim on the inactive list for 30 days because of a sore elbow. Ted Gray, 30, appeared in only four games this season, pitching five innings for the White Sox and Indians. He was traded to Chicago by Detroit and cut loose by the Sox in mid-May and signed with the Indians June 15. The Tribe released him nine days later to make room for Joe Antobelli, rookie first baseman recalled by the Tribe its Indianapolis farm club. Grim won 20 games last season to become the 'rookie of the year' in the American League. He was bothered by a sore elbow all spring and had compiled a 4-2 record. Baseball HIstorian 104 |
