If you like to see high-scoring games, then this was a good year; if you were also a Dodger fan, then it was a really good year. Lots of runs were scored this year, and the Dodgers scored more than anybody; the league ERA ballooned to 4.29, more than half a run higher than in 1952.

         Brooklyn won the pennant with ease; they had an awesome offense that almost scored 1000 runs. Duke Snider (in his first of five consecutive 40 homer seasons), Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo all played for the Dodgers, and were allformidable power hitters. Furillo was nicknamed "The Reading Rifle"; his throwing arm was the very best of the era. He was also a good hitter, and this was his best year. Furillo played for 15 years, all of them with the Dodgers, and amassed over 1900 career hits.
        Gil Hodges also had one of his best seasons. Hodges was the best first baseman of the 1950's; he had seven consecutive 100 RBI seasons, and hit 370 home runs in his career. He played 18 seasons, most of them with the Dodgers, but the last two were with the Mets. After he retired, Hodges took over as the Mets' manager; he was the skipper of the 1969 Amazing Mets team that won the World Series. A couple of years after his great triumph, Hodges died suddenly of a heart attack during spring training.
        But there was more; the Dodgers also had the league MVP, catcher Roy Campanella, at catcher. He and many other glovemen had big years with the bat.
        Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Junior Gilliam all played for the Dodgers. Robinson split the year between third and the outfield; Gilliam (a rookie) took his place at second. Campanella set backstop records for home runs and RBI; those records lasted until Johnny Bench came along in 1970. There were a lot of great seasons this year by some great players, but I think Campanella was the best, and deserved his MVP Award.
        Eddie Mathews was only 21 years old, and established himself as one of the best young power hitters ever to play the game. Red Schoendienst also had a huge season at the plate, his best by far. Schoendienst played for 19 years in the majors, and was the best defensive second baseman of his era. He could also use the bat a little; he was a career .289 hitter, and just missed getting 2500 hits in his career. Schoendienst was an All-Star nine times, and was eventually inducted into the Hall Of Fame. I wouldn't rank Schoendienst among the very best second basemen ever, but his Hall Of Fame credentials are solid; he was similar to Nellie Fox and Bill Mazeroski.
        After he retired, Schoendiest became a successful manager, leading the Cardinals to a World Series victory in 1967. He managed for 12 years, then coached for many more, and even took over the Cardinals for 24 games in 1990 after Whitey Herzog was fired.
        Rounding out the top four is a tough task; I'm forced to leave out Schoendienst, who had a truly great season, but was probably not quite as good as his teammate, Stan Musial.