1957_New_York_Giants_(MLB)_season
1957 New York Giants (MLB) season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1957 New York Giants season involved the team finishing in sixth place in the National League with a 69–85 record, 26 games behind the NL and World Champion Milwaukee Braves. It was the team's 75th and final season in New York City before its relocation to San Francisco, California for the following season. The last game at their stadium, the Polo Grounds, was played on September 29 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
| 1957 New York Giants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | Polo Grounds | |||
| City | New York City | |||
| Owners | Horace Stoneham | |||
| General managers | Chub Feeney | |||
| Managers | Bill Rigney | |||
| Television | WPIX (Russ Hodges, Bob DeLaney, Jim Woods) | |||
| Radio | WMCA (Russ Hodges, Bob DeLaney, Jim Woods) | |||
| ||||
- October 26, 1956: Hank Sauer was signed as a free agent by the Giants.[1]
- February 21, 1957: Manny Mota was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[2]
- February 26, 1957: Hoyt Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman.[3]
- March 27, 1957: Bill Sarni was released by the Giants.[4]
- Prior to 1957 season: John Orsino was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[5]
Relocation to San Francisco
While seeking a new stadium to replace the crumbling Polo Grounds, the Giants began to contemplate a move from New York, initially considering Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis–St. Paul, which was home to their top farm team, the Minneapolis Millers. Under the rules of the time, the Giants' ownership of the Millers gave them priority rights to a major league team in the area.
At this time, the Giants were approached by San Francisco mayor George Christopher. Despite objections from shareholders such as Joan Whitney Payson (who later owned the expansion Mets), majority owner Horace Stoneham entered into negotiations with San Francisco officials around the same time that Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley was courting the city of Los Angeles. O'Malley had been told that the Dodgers would not be allowed to move to Los Angeles unless a second team moved to California as well. He pushed Stoneham toward relocation. In the summer of 1957, both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers announced their moves to California, and the golden age of baseball in the New York area ended.
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Braves | 95 | 59 | 0.617 | — | 45–32 | 50–27 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | 0.565 | 8 | 42–35 | 45–32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | 0.545 | 11 | 43–34 | 41–36 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 80 | 74 | 0.519 | 15 | 45–32 | 35–42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | 0.500 | 18 | 38–39 | 39–38 |
| New York Giants | 69 | 85 | 0.448 | 26 | 37–40 | 32–45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | 0.403 | 33 | 36–41 | 26–51 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | 0.403 | 33 | 31–46 | 31–46 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Brooklyn | — | 17–5 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 12–10 | |||||
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 12–10–1 | 12–10 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 9–13 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 18–4 | — | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 16–6 | 11–11 | |||||
| New York | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 9–13 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — | 6–16 | |||||
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 16–6 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 16, 1957: Dick Littlefield and Bob Lennon were traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Ray Katt and Ray Jablonski.[6]
- June 15, 1957: Red Schoendienst was traded by the Giants to the Milwaukee Braves for Danny O'Connell, Ray Crone, and Bobby Thomson.[7]
Roster
| 1957 New York 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 | Valmy Thomas | 88 | 241 | 60 | .249 | 6 | 31 |
| 1B | Whitey Lockman | 133 | 456 | 113 | .248 | 7 | 30 |
| 2B | Danny O'Connell | 95 | 364 | 97 | .266 | 7 | 28 |
| SS | Daryl Spencer | 148 | 534 | 133 | .249 | 11 | 50 |
| 3B | Ray Jablonski | 107 | 305 | 88 | .289 | 9 | 57 |
| LF | Hank Sauer | 127 | 378 | 98 | .259 | 26 | 76 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 152 | 585 | 195 | .333 | 35 | 97 |
| RF | Don Mueller | 135 | 450 | 116 | .258 | 6 | 37 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Schoendienst | 57 | 254 | 78 | .307 | 9 | 33 |
| Ozzie Virgil Sr. | 96 | 226 | 53 | .235 | 4 | 24 |
| Gail Harris | 90 | 225 | 54 | .240 | 9 | 31 |
| Bobby Thomson | 81 | 215 | 52 | .242 | 8 | 38 |
| Dusty Rhodes | 92 | 190 | 39 | .205 | 4 | 19 |
| Ray Katt | 72 | 165 | 38 | .230 | 2 | 17 |
| Ed Bressoud | 49 | 127 | 34 | .268 | 5 | 10 |
| Wes Westrum | 63 | 91 | 15 | .165 | 1 | 2 |
| Andre Rodgers | 32 | 86 | 21 | .244 | 3 | 9 |
| Foster Castleman | 14 | 37 | 6 | .162 | 1 | 1 |
| Bill Taylor | 11 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Hofman | 2 | 2 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rubén Gómez | 38 | 238.1 | 15 | 13 | 3.78 | 92 |
| Johnny Antonelli | 40 | 212.1 | 12 | 18 | 3.77 | 144 |
| Curt Barclay | 37 | 183.0 | 9 | 9 | 3.44 | 67 |
| Ray Crone | 25 | 120.2 | 4 | 8 | 4.33 | 56 |
| Pete Burnside | 10 | 30.2 | 1 | 4 | 8.80 | 18 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Worthington | 55 | 157.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.22 | 90 |
| Stu Miller | 38 | 124.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.63 | 60 |
| Mike McCormick | 24 | 74.2 | 3 | 1 | 4.10 | 50 |
| Joe Margoneri | 13 | 34.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.24 | 18 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marv Grissom | 55 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 2.61 | 51 |
| Ramón Monzant | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3.99 | 37 |
| Jim Constable | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.86 | 13 |
| Steve Ridzik | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.73 | 13 |
| Gordon Jones | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.17 | 5 |
| Jim Davis | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.55 | 6 |
| Max Surkont | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.95 | 8 |
| Windy McCall | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 2 |
| Sandy Consuegra | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 1 |
League leaders
- Willie Mays, National League leader, triples, (20).[8]
- Hank Sauer at Baseball-Reference
- Manny Mota at Baseball-Reference
- Hoyt Wilhelm at Baseball-Reference
- Bill Sarni at Baseball-Reference
- John Orsino at Baseball-Reference
- Red Schoendienst at Baseball-Reference
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
- 1957 New York Giants team at Baseball-Reference
- 1957 New York Giants at Baseball Almanac