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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)
←  1958 Seasons 1960 →

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.

Offseason

Regular season

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: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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

Roster

1959 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 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

Awards and honors

All-Star Game (first game) All-Star Game (second game)

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Phoenix Giants Pacific Coast League Red Davis
AA Corpus Christi Giants Texas League Ray Murray
A Springfield Giants Eastern League Andy Gilbert
B Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Roy Partee
C Fresno Giants California League Mike McCormick
C St. Cloud Rox Northern League Richie Klaus
D Michigan City White Caps Midwest League Buddy Kerr
D Hastings Giants Nebraska State League Leo Schrall
D Artesia Giants Sophomore League Jodie Phipps

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield [8]

Notes

  1. ^ Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Rubén Gómez page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Joey Amalfitano page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ "1959 San Francisco Giants Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  6. ^ Billy Muffett page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Hank Sauer page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References