1959 Chicago White Sox season

1959 Chicago White Sox
1959 American League Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Comiskey Park (since 1910)
Chicago (since 1900)
Other information
Owner(s)	Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, Bill Veeck
General manager(s)	Chuck Comiskey/Johnny Rigney, Bill Veeck
Manager(s)	Al López
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Local radio	WCFL (Bob Elson, Don Wells)
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The 1959 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 59th season in the major leagues, and its 60th season overall. They finished with a record 94–60, good enough to win the American League (AL) championship, five games ahead of the second place Cleveland Indians. It was the team's first pennant since 1919 and would be its last until their championship season of 2005.

Offseason

• December 1, 1958: 1958 rule 5 draft
  • Claude Raymond was drafted by the White Sox from the Milwaukee Braves.^[1]
  • Lou Skizas was drafted by the White Sox from the Detroit Tigers.^[2]

Regular season

In 1959, the team won its first pennant in 40 years, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – manager Al López, Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox (the league MVP), and pitcher Early Wynn, who won the Cy Young Award at a time when only one award was presented for both leagues. Veteran catcher Sherm Lollar provided quiet leadership on and off the field, leading the team in home runs and RBIs.^[3] The White Sox also acquired slugger Ted Kluszewski in August, a local area native, from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final pennant push. Kluszewski gave the team the needed power-hitting for the stretch run and hit nearly .300 in the final month of play for the White Sox. Lopez had also managed the Cleveland Indians to the World Series in 1954, making him the only manager to interrupt the New York Yankees pennant run between 1949 and 1964.

After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a lifelong White Sox fan, ordered his fire chief to set off the city's air raid sirens. Many Chicagoans became fearful and confused since 1959 was the height of the Cold War; however, they relaxed somewhat upon realizing it was part of the White Sox' celebration. The Sox won Game 1 of the World Series 11–0 on the strength of Kluszewski's two home runs, their last postseason home win until 2005. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, won three of the next four games and captured their first World Series championship since moving to the west coast in 1958. 92,706 fans witnessed Game 5 of the World Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the most ever to attend a World Series game, or for that matter any non-exhibition major league baseball game. The White Sox won that game 1–0 over the Dodgers' 23-year-old pitcher Sandy Koufax, but the Dodgers clinched the series by beating the Sox 9–3 two days later at Comiskey Park.

Fox became the last player in the 20th century to have five hits on Opening Day.^[4]

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Chicago White Sox	94	60	.610	--
Cleveland Indians	89	65	.578	5
New York Yankees	79	75	.513	15
Detroit Tigers	76	78	.494	18
Boston Red Sox	75	79	.487	19
Baltimore Orioles	74	80	.481	20
Kansas City Athletics	66	88	.429	28
Washington Senators	63	91	.409	31

Record vs. opponents

1959 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	8–14	11–11–1	10–12	13–9	8–14	12–10	12–10
Boston	14–8	—	8–14	8–14	11–11	11–11	13–9	10–12
Chicago	11–11–1	14–8	—	15–7	13–9	12–10	13–9–1	16–6
Cleveland	12–10	14–8	7–15	—	14–8	15–7	11–11	16–6
Detroit	9–13	11–11	9–13	8–14	—	15–7	14–8	10–12
Kansas City	14–8	11–11	10–12	7–15	7–15	—	5–17	12–10
New York	10–12	9–13	9–13–1	11–11	8–14	17–5	—	15–7
Washington	10–12	12–10	6–16	6–16	12–10	10–12	7–15	—

Notable transactions

• May 1, 1959: Lou Skizas and Don Rudolph were traded by the White Sox to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Del Ennis.^[2]
• May 2, 1959: Ray Boone was traded by the White Sox to the Kansas City Athletics for Harry Simpson.^[5]
• May 11, 1959: Claude Raymond was returned by the White Sox to the Milwaukee Braves.^[1]
• August 25, 1959: Ted Kluszewski was traded to the White Sox from Pittsburgh for outfielder Harry Simpson and minor league pitcher Bob Sagers.

Opening Day lineup

• Luis Aparicio, ss
• Nellie Fox, 2b
• Jim Landis, cf
• Sherm Lollar, c
• Norm Cash, 1b
• Al Smith, rf
• Johnny Callison, lf
• Bubba Phillips, 3b
• Billy Pierce, p

Roster

1959 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 25 Rudy Árias 22 Dick Donovan 18 Barry Latman 27 Turk Lown 15 Ken McBride 29 Ray Moore 12 Gary Peters 19 Billy Pierce 28 Claude Raymond 15 Don Rudolph 35 Bob Shaw 21 Gerry Staley 36 Joe Stanka 24 Early Wynn		Catchers 26 Earl Battey 44 Cam Carreon 10 Sherm Lollar 20 Johnny Romano Infielders 11 Luis Aparicio  8 Ray Boone 38 Norm Cash 14 Sammy Esposito  2 Nellie Fox  6 Billy Goodman  4 Ron Jackson 4,8 Ted Kluszewski 32 J. C. Martin  5 Bubba Phillips 17 Earl Torgeson		Outfielders  9 Johnny Callison 32 Larry Doby  3 Del Ennis 28 Joe Hicks  1 Jim Landis  3 Jim McAnany  7 Jim Rivera  8 Harry Simpson  3 Lou Skizas 16 Al Smith Other batters 32 Don Mueller		Manager 42 Al López Coaches 37 Ray Berres 34 Johnny Cooney 33 Tony Cuccinello 39 Don Gutteridge

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Luis Aparicio, SS	152	612	98	157	18	5	6	51	53	40	.257	56
Earl Battey, C	26	64	9	14	1	2	2	7	8	13	.219	0
Ray Boone, 1B	9	21	3	5	0	0	1	5	7	5	.238	1
Johnny Callison, LF	49	104	12	18	3	0	3	12	13	20	.173	0
Cam Carreon, C	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Norm Cash, 1B	58	104	16	25	0	1	4	16	18	9	.240	1
Larry Doby, OF,1B	21	58	1	14	1	1	0	9	2	13	.241	1
Del Ennis, LF	26	96	10	21	6	0	2	7	4	10	.219	0
Sammy Esposito, 3B,SS	69	66	12	11	1	0	1	5	11	16	.167	0
Nellie Fox, 2B	156	624	84	191	34	6	2	70	71	13	.306	5
Billy Goodman, 3B	104	268	21	67	14	1	1	28	19	20	.250	3
Joe Hicks, CF	6	7	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.429	0
Ron Jackson, 1B	10	14	3	3	1	0	1	2	1	0	.214	0
Ted Kluszewski, 1B	31	101	11	30	2	1	2	10	9	10	.297	0
Jim Landis, CF	149	515	78	140	26	7	5	60	78	68	.272	20
Sherm Lollar, C	140	505	63	134	22	3	22	84	55	49	.269	4
J. C. Martin, 3B	3	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.250	0
Jim McAnany, RF	67	210	22	58	9	3	0	27	19	26	.276	2
Don Mueller, PH	4	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	0
Bubba Phillips, 3B,OF	117	379	43	100	27	1	5	40	27	28	.264	1
Jim Rivera, RF,LF	80	177	18	39	9	4	4	19	11	19	.220	5
John Romano, C	53	126	20	37	5	1	5	25	23	18	.294	0
Harry Simpson, RF	38	75	5	14	5	1	2	13	4	14	.187	0
Lou Skizas, LF	8	13	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	2	.077	0
Al Smith, LF,RF	129	472	65	112	16	4	17	55	46	74	.237	7
Earl Torgeson, 1B	127	277	40	61	5	3	9	45	62	55	.220	7
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB Rudy Árias, P 34 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 Dick Donovan, P 31 61 4 8 4 0 1 5 5 32 .131 0 Barry Latman, P 37 47 3 6 1 0 0 6 4 4 .128 0 Turk Lown, P 60 12 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 .250 0 Ken McBride, P 11 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .167 0 Ray Moore, P 29 23 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 11 .087 0 Billy Pierce, P 34 68 3 13 1 2 0 7 7 13 .191 0 Bob Shaw, P 47 73 7 9 1 0 0 2 5 19 .123 0 Gerry Staley, P 67 13 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 5 .154 0 Joe Stanka, P 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .333 0 Early Wynn, P 37 90 11 22 7 0 2 8 9 18 .244 0 Team totals 156 5297 669 1325 220 46 97 620 580 634 .250 113 Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB K Rudy Árias 2 0 4.09 34 0 2 44.0 49 23 20 7 27 28 Dick Donovan 9 10 3.66 31 29 0 179.2 171 84 73 15 61 71 Barry Latman 8 5 3.75 37 21 0 156.0 138 71 65 15 75 97 Turk Lown 9 2 2.89 60 0 15 93.1 73 32 30 12 46 63 Ken McBride 0 1 3.18 11 2 1 22.2 20 11 8 1 17 12 Ray Moore 3 6 4.12 29 8 0 89.2 86 46 41 10 49 50 Gary Peters 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 1 Billy Pierce 14 15 3.62 34 33 0 224.0 217 98 90 26 66 114 Claude Raymond 0 0 9.00 3 0 0 4.0 5 4 4 2 2 1 Don Rudolph 0 0 0.00 4 0 1 3.0 4 0 0 0 3 0 Bob Shaw 18 6 2.69 47 26 3 230.2 217 72 69 15 59 89 Gerry Staley 8 5 2.24 67 0 14 116.1 111 39 29 5 34 54 Joe Stanka 1 0 3.38 2 0 0 5.1 2 2 2 1 5 3 Early Wynn 22 10 3.17 37 37 0 255.2 202 106 90 20 124 179 Team totals 94 60 3.29 156 156 36 1425.1 1297 588 521 129 570 761 1959 World Series NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (2) Game Score Date Location Attendance 1 Dodgers – 0, White Sox – 11 October 1 Comiskey Park 48,013 2 Dodgers – 4, White Sox – 3 October 2 Comiskey Park 47,368 3 White Sox – 1, Dodgers – 3 October 4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 92,394 4 White Sox – 4, Dodgers – 5 October 5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 92,650 5 White Sox – 1, Dodgers – 0 October 6 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 92,706 6 Dodgers – 9, White Sox – 3 October 8 Comiskey Park 47,653 Awards and honors Nellie Fox, American League MVP.[6] Luis Aparicio, second place in MVP voting.[6] Early Wynn, Cy Young Award[7] Nellie Fox, Gold Glove Award[8] Luis Aparicio, Gold Glove Award[8] Sherm Lollar, Gold Glove Award[8] Al López, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year[9] Farm system Level Team League Manager AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Walker Cooper A Charleston ChaSox Sally League Skeeter Scalzi B Lincoln Chiefs Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Ira Hutchinson C Duluth–Superior Dukes Northern League George Noga D Clinton C-Sox Midwest League Johnny Hutchings D Holdrege White Sox Nebraska State League Frank Parenti [10] Notes Claude Raymond at Baseball Reference Lou Skizas at Baseball Reference Grosshandler, Stan (October 1979). "Sam Esposito Recalls White Sox Pennant Year". Baseball Digest 38 (10). ISSN 0005-609X. "SI.com". CNN. Ray Boone at Baseball Reference 1959 MVP award voting results at Baseball Reference 1959 Cy Young Award voting results at Baseball Reference American League Gold Glove winners at Baseball Reference Al López at Baseball Almanac Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References 1959 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference