1959 Cleveland Indians season explained

Cleveland Indians
Season:	1959
League:	American League
Ballpark:	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City:	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners:	William R. Daley
General Managers:	Frank Lane
Managers:	Joe Gordon
Television:	WEWS-TV (Ken Coleman, Bill McColgan)
Radio:	WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)

The 1959 Cleveland Indians season was the 59th season in franchise history. The Indians finished in second place in the American League with a record of 89 wins and 65 losses, 5 games behind the American League Champion Chicago White Sox.

Offseason

October 27, 1958: Jay Porter was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Ossie Álvarez.^[1]
November 20, 1958: Don Mossi, Ray Narleski, and Ossie Álvarez were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Billy Martin and Al Cicotte.^[2]
December 2, 1958: Vic Wertz and Gary Geiger were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Jimmy Piersall.^[3]
January 23, 1959: Earl Averill, Jr. and Morrie Martin were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Bolger and John Briggs.^[4]

Regular season

On June 10, right fielder Rocky Colavito hit four home runs in one game against the Baltimore Orioles.^[5]

Notable transactions

April 11, 1959: Mickey Vernon was traded by the Indians to the Milwaukee Braves for Humberto Robinson.^[6]
May 4, 1959: Randy Jackson was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Smith.^[7]
June 6, 1959: Jim Bolger and cash were traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Willie Jones.^[4]
September 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was purchased by the Indians from the Boston Red Sox.^[8]

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
	Name	Position
37		CF
1		2B
9		LF
6		RF
15		C
10		1B
3		3B
4		2B
39		P

^[9]

Roster

1959 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches (Pitching) (First Base) (Bullpen) (Third Base)

Player stats

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	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	82	258	62	.240	1	29
1B	147	595	172	.289	10	60
2B	73	242	63	.260	9	24
SS	143	525	132	.251	29	71
3B	132	441	105	.238	3	48
LF	148	570	172	.302	21	92
CF	100	317	78	.246	4	30
RF	154	588	151	.257	42	111

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
122	399	145	.363	20	79
77	247	59	.239	15	34
48	141	31	.220	5	16
49	129	35	.271	1	4
40	74	15	.203	2	10
27	67	11	.164	1	3
32	53	11	.208	0	2
14	48	12	.250	1	5
14	36	10	.278	0	5
13	36	8	.222	1	5
34	24	7	.292	0	5
11	18	4	.222	0	1
11	17	5	.294	0	2
6	15	8	.533	0	2
10	10	4	.400	0	1
8	7	0	.000	0	0
7	7	1	.143	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
35	235.1	19	8	3.63	113
44	234.0	16	11	4.04	136
30	160.2	9	11	4.71	147
1	6.2	1	0	2.70	5

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
38	165.1	10	7	4.14	85
44	153.0	12	10	2.65	79
24	77.2	0	1	5.22	17
15	76.0	5	3	3.20	45
29	72.0	3	6	4.00	49
13	66.0	5	1	2.59	35
12	29.1	0	1	5.22	17
4	12.2	0	1	5.22	17

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
18	2	2	5	1.80	9
26	3	1	1	5.32	23
6	0	1	0	5.84	5
5	1	0	0	4.15	6

Awards and honors

First All-Star Game

Rocky Colavito, Vic Power

Second All-Star Game

Rocky Colavito, Vic Power

League leaders

Rocky Colavito, American League leader in home runs (tied)

Farm system

External links

Notes and References

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/porteja01.shtml Jay Porter page at Baseball Reference
https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martibi02.shtml Billy Martin page at Baseball Reference
https://www.baseball-reference.com/p/piersji01.shtml Jim Piersall page at Baseball Reference
https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bolgeji01.shtml Jim Bolger page at Baseball Reference
Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 258, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
https://www.baseball-reference.com/v/vernomi01.shtml Mickey Vernon page at Baseball Reference
https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithbo05.shtml Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=tannech01 Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KC1/KC1195904100.shtml "1959 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference"
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007