1959 Los Angeles Dodgers season explained

Los Angeles Dodgers
Season:	1959
Misc:	World Series Champions National League Champions
League:	National League
Ballpark:	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
City:	Los Angeles
Owners:	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
President:	Walter O'Malley
General Managers:	Buzzie Bavasi
Managers:	Walter Alston
Television:	KTTV (11)
Radio:	KMPC Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW René Cárdenas, Jaime Jarrín, Miguel Alonzo

The 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers finished in a first-place tie with the Milwaukee Braves, with each club going 86–68. The Dodgers won the pennant as they swept the Braves in a best-of-three tie-breaker series. They went on to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series in just their second season since leaving Brooklyn. The Dodgers led all 16 Major League Baseball clubs in home attendance, drawing 2,071,045 fans to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.^[1]

Offseason

• December 4, 1958: Gino Cimoli was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wally Moon and Phil Paine.^[2]
• December 23, 1958: Sparky Anderson was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rip Repulski, Jim Golden and Gene Snyder.^[3]

While training in Vero Beach, the Dodgers played their home spring training games at Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida in 1959.^[4]

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters

Name	Position
	Right fielder
	Left fielder
John Roseboro	Catcher
	Center fielder
	Second baseman
	First baseman
	Shortstop
	Third baseman
	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• June 15, 1959: Dick Gray was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Chuck Essegian and Lloyd Merritt.^[5]

Roster

1959 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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		118	397	92	.232	10	38
1B		124	413	114	.276	25	80
2B		151	616	177	.287	19	83
SS		97	249	41	.165	4	28
3B		145	553	156	.282	3	34
LF		145	543	164	.302	19	74
CF		139	371	95	.256	18	70
RF		126	370	114	.308	23	88

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
	108	311	90	.289	8	49
	118	244	58	.238	4	23
	83	242	63	.260	0	7
	52	139	33	.237	1	11
	53	94	24	.255	2	14
	50	93	27	.290	0	13
	21	52	8	.154	2	4
	30	48	11	.229	0	2
	24	46	14	.304	1	5
	11	33	10	.303	2	5
	9	21	3	.143	1	6
	9	8	2	.250	0	0
	5	5	1	.200	0	1
	2	3	1	.333	0	2
	1	1	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
	44	270.2	17	13	3.46	242
	34	195.0	14	9	4.11	145
	35	153.1	8	6	4.05	173
	29	152.2	11	5	2.06	76

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
	39	145.0	10	8	3.97	106
	35	124.2	5	5	3.97	89
	23	94.1	7	2	2.19	72
	11	26.1	1	1	5.47	20
	10	23.1	0	3	7.71	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
	56	5	10	8	3.93	37
	36	3	4	2	5.31	47
	28	4	0	2	5.91	30
	14	3	2	1	4.99	24
	2	0	0	0	0.00	1
	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

1959 World Series

See main article: article and 1959 World Series.

Game 1

October 1, 1959, at Comiskey Park I in Chicago

align=left width=125	Team	width=25	1	width=25	2	width=25	3	width=25	4	width=25	5	width=25	6	width=25	7	width=25	8	width=25	9	width=25	R	width=25	H	width=25	E
Los Angeles (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	3
Chicago (A)	2	0	7	2	0	0	0	0	x	11	11	0
W: Early Wynn (1–0)   L: Roger Craig (0–1)   S: Gerry Staley (1)
HR: CWS – Ted Kluszewski (1, 2)

Game 2

October 2, 1959, at Comiskey Park I in Chicago

align=left width=125	Team	width=25	1	width=25	2	width=25	3	width=25	4	width=25	5	width=25	6	width=25	7	width=25	8	width=25	9	width=25	R	width=25	H	width=25	E
Los Angeles (N)	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	4	9	1
Chicago (A)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	8	0
W: Johnny Podres (1–0)   L: Bob Shaw (0–1)   S: Larry Sherry (1)
HR: LAD – Charlie Neal (1, 2), Chuck Essegian (1)

Game 3

October 4, 1959, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles

align=left width=125	Team	width=25	1	width=25	2	width=25	3	width=25	4	width=25	5	width=25	6	width=25	7	width=25	8	width=25	9	width=25	R	width=25	H	width=25	E
Chicago (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	12	0
Los Angeles (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	x	3	5	0
W: Don Drysdale (1–0)  L: Dick Donovan (0–1)   S: Larry Sherry (1)

Game 4

October 5, 1959, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles

align=left width=125	Team	width=25	1	width=25	2	width=25	3	width=25	4	width=25	5	width=25	6	width=25	7	width=25	8	width=25	9	width=25	R	width=25	H	width=25	E
Chicago (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	4	10	3
Los Angeles (N)	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	x	5	9	0
W: Larry Sherry (1–0)  L: Gerry Staley (0–1)
HR: CWS – Sherm Lollar (1)    LAD – Gil Hodges (1)

Game 5

October 6, 1959, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles

align=left width=125	Team	width=25	1	width=25	2	width=25	3	width=25	4	width=25	5	width=25	6	width=25	7	width=25	8	width=25	9	width=25	R	width=25	H	width=25	E
Chicago (A)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
Los Angeles (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
W: Bob Shaw (1–1)  L: Sandy Koufax (0–1)   S: Dick Donovan (1)

Game 6

October 8, 1959, at Comiskey Park I in Chicago

align=left width=125	Team	width=25	1	width=25	2	width=25	3	width=25	4	width=25	5	width=25	6	width=25	7	width=25	8	width=25	9	width=25	R	width=25	H	width=25	E
Los Angeles (N)	0	0	2	6	0	0	0	0	1	9	13	0
Chicago (A)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	1
W: Larry Sherry (2–0)   L: Early Wynn (1–1)
HR: LAD – Duke Snider (1), Wally Moon (1), Chuck Essegian (2) CWS – Ted Kluszewski (3)

Awards and honors

• World Series Most Valuable Player
  • Larry Sherry
• Gold Glove Award
  • Charlie Neal
  • Gil Hodges
• TSN Manager of the Year
  • Walter Alston
• TSN Executive of the Year Award
  • Buzzie Bavasi
• NL Player of the Month
  • Don Drysdale (July 1959)

All-Stars

• 1959 Major League Baseball All-Star Game – Game 1
  • Don Drysdale starter
  • Wally Moon starter
• 1959 Major League Baseball All-Star Game – Game 2
  • Don Drysdale starter
  • Wally Moon starter
  • Jim Gilliam reserve
  • Charlie Neal reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Green Bay

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1959-misc.shtml 1959 National League attendance
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cimolgi01.shtml Gino Cimoli
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/andersp01.shtml Sparky Anderson
4. News: Windhorn . Stan. March 1, 1959. Assembly Line Fashion Production . Sarasota Herald-Tribune . Sarasota, Florida. 15.
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/graydi01.shtml Dick Gray