1959_San_Francisco_Giants_season
1959 San Francisco Giants season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1959 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 77th year in Major League Baseball and their second season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season. The team finished in third place in the National League with an 83–71 record, 4 games behind the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the team's second and final season at Seals Stadium before moving their games to Candlestick Park the following season.
| 1959 San Francisco Giants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Seals Stadium | |||
| City | San Francisco, California | |||
| Owners | Horace Stoneham | |||
| General managers | Chub Feeney | |||
| Managers | Bill Rigney | |||
| Television | KTVU (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons) | |||
| Radio | KSFO (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons, Bill King) | |||
| ||||
- October 8, 1958: Marv Grissom and Ernie Broglio were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Hobie Landrith, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela.[1]
- December 3, 1958: Rubén Gómez and Valmy Thomas were traded by the Giants to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jack Sanford.[2]
- December 5, 1958: Joey Amalfitano was released by the Giants.[3]
- March 25, 1959: Ray Jablonski and Bill White were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Sam Jones and Don Choate.[4]
In his major league debut on July 30, Willie McCovey went four-for-four against future Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts en route to a .354 batting average. McCovey went on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors while playing in just 52 games.
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 68 | 0.564 | — | 46–32 | 42–36 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 86 | 70 | 0.551 | 2 | 49–29 | 37–41 |
| San Francisco Giants | 83 | 71 | 0.539 | 4 | 42–35 | 41–36 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 76 | 0.506 | 9 | 47–30 | 31–46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 74 | 80 | 0.481 | 13 | 38–39 | 36–41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 80 | 0.481 | 13 | 43–34 | 31–46 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | 83 | 0.461 | 16 | 42–35 | 29–48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 64 | 90 | 0.416 | 23 | 37–40 | 27–50 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | CHC | CIN | LA | MIL | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||||
| Chicago | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 10–12 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 13–9 | — | 13–9 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 11–11 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 14–10 | 17–5 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 12–10 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 11–11 | 10–14 | — | 13–9 | 15–7–1 | 12–10 | 13–9 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | 5–17 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 7–15 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 7–15–1 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 14–8 | |||||
| San Francisco | 10–12 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | |||||
| St. Louis | 12–10 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 6–16 | — | |||||
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- July 26, 1959: Billy Muffett and cash were traded by the Giants to the Boston Red Sox for Bud Byerly.[6]
- August 25, 1959: Hank Sauer was released by the Giants.[7]
Roster
| 1959 San Francisco Giants | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Hobie Landrith | 109 | 283 | 71 | .251 | 3 | 29 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 151 | 605 | 192 | .317 | 27 | 105 |
| 2B | Daryl Spencer | 152 | 555 | 147 | .265 | 12 | 62 |
| SS | Ed Bressoud | 104 | 315 | 79 | .251 | 9 | 26 |
| 3B | Jim Davenport | 123 | 469 | 121 | .258 | 6 | 38 |
| LF | Jackie Brandt | 137 | 429 | 116 | .270 | 12 | 57 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 151 | 575 | 180 | .313 | 34 | 104 |
| RF | Willie Kirkland | 126 | 463 | 126 | .272 | 22 | 68 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Felipe Alou | 95 | 247 | 68 | .275 | 10 | 33 |
| Andre Rodgers | 71 | 228 | 57 | .250 | 6 | 24 |
| Willie McCovey | 52 | 192 | 68 | .354 | 13 | 38 |
| Bob Schmidt | 71 | 181 | 44 | .243 | 5 | 20 |
| Leon Wagner | 87 | 129 | 29 | .225 | 5 | 22 |
| Danny O'Connell | 34 | 58 | 11 | .190 | 0 | 0 |
| Dusty Rhodes | 54 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 0 | 7 |
| José Pagán | 31 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Hegan | 21 | 30 | 4 | .133 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Sauer | 13 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 1 | 1 |
| Bob Speake | 15 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 1 |
| Roger McCardell | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Antonelli | 40 | 282.0 | 19 | 10 | 3.10 | 165 |
| Sam Jones | 50 | 270.2 | 21 | 15 | 2.83 | 209 |
| Jack Sanford | 36 | 222.1 | 15 | 12 | 3.16 | 132 |
| Marshall Renfroe | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 3 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike McCormick | 47 | 225.2 | 12 | 16 | 3.99 | 151 |
| Stu Miller | 59 | 167.2 | 8 | 7 | 2.84 | 95 |
| Eddie Fisher | 17 | 40.0 | 2 | 6 | 7.88 | 15 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Worthington | 42 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.68 | 45 |
| Gordon Jones | 31 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4.33 | 29 |
| Bud Byerly | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.38 | 4 |
| Joe Shipley | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 11 |
| Dom Zanni | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.55 | 11 |
| Billy Muffett | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 3 |
| Curt Barclay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 0 |
- Willie McCovey – National League Rookie of the Year
All-Star Game (first game) All-Star Game (second game)
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield[8]
- "Hobie Landrith Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
- "Rubén Gómez Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
- "Joey Amalfitano Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
- "Ray Jablonski Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
- "Billy Muffett Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
- "Hank Sauer Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007