1959 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1959 Los Angeles Dodgers
1959 World Series Champions National League champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (since 1958)
Los Angeles (since 1958)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
General manager(s)	Buzzie Bavasi
Manager(s)	Walter Alston
Local television	KTTV (11)
Local radio	KMPC Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW René Cárdenas, Jaime Jarrín, Miguel Alonzo
< Previous season     Next season  >

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 playoff series. They went on to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the 1959 World Series in just their second season since leaving Brooklyn.

Offseason

• December 4, 1958: Gino Cimoli was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wally Moon and Phil Paine.^[1]
• December 23, 1958: Sparky Anderson was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rip Repulski, Jim Golden and Gene Snyder.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Los Angeles Dodgers	88	68	--	.564
Milwaukee Braves	86	70	2	.551
San Francisco Giants	83	71	4	.539
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	76	9	.506
Chicago Cubs	74	80	13	.481
Cincinnati Reds	74	80	13	.481
St. Louis Cardinals	71	83	16	.461
Philadelphia Phillies	64	90	23	.416

Record vs. opponents

1959 National League Records Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	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 lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Ron Fairly	Right fielder
Wally Moon	Left fielder
Johnny Roseboro	Catcher
Duke Snider	Center fielder
Charlie Neal	Second baseman
Gil Hodges	First baseman
Don Zimmer	Shortstop
Jim Baxes	Third baseman
Don Drysdale	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.^[3]

Roster

1959 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 45 Chuck Churn 38 Roger Craig 53 Don Drysdale 17 Carl Erskine 45 Art Fowler 21 Bill Harris 26 Fred Kipp 35 Johnny Klippstein 32 Sandy Koufax 41 Clem Labine 16 Danny McDevitt 22 Johnny Podres 51 Larry Sherry 37 Gene Snyder 40 Stan Williams		Catchers 58 Joe Pignatano 44 Johnny Roseboro 34 Norm Sherry Infielders 29 Jim Baxes 19 Jim Gilliam 11 Dick Gray 14 Gil Hodges  5 Norm Larker 30 Bob Lillis 43 Charlie Neal 30 Maury Wills 23 Don Zimmer		Outfielders 18 Sandy Amorós 12 Tommy Davis  2 Don Demeter 18 Solly Drake 29 Chuck Essegian  8 Ron Fairly  6 Carl Furillo 25 Frank Howard  9 Wally Moon 20 Rip Repulski  4 Duke Snider		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 33 Joe Becker  7 Charlie Dressen 31 Greg Mulleavy  1 Pee Wee Reese

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
LF	Moon, WallyWally Moon	145	543	164	.302	19	74

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
Repulski, RipRip Repulski	53	94	24	.255	2	14

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

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

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
Churn, ChuckChuck Churn	14	3	2	1	4.99	24

1959 World Series

Game 1

October 1, 1959 at Comiskey Park I in Chicago

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	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

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Montreal Royals	International League	Clay Bryant
AAA	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	Bobby Bragan
AAA	St. Paul Saints	American Association	Max Macon
AA	Victoria Rosebuds	Texas League	Pete Reiser
A	Macon Dodgers	South Atlantic League	Danny Ozark
B	Green Bay Bluejays	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Stan Wasiak
C	Great Falls Electrics	Pioneer League	Brandy Davis
C	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Ray Perry
D	Kokomo Dodgers	Midwest League	Edward Serrano
D	Odessa Dodgers	Sophomore League	Roy Hartsfield
D	Orlando Dodgers	Florida State League	Martin Devlin
D	Panama City Fliers	Alabama–Florida League	Al Ronning

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Green Bay

Notes

1. Gino Cimoli at Baseball-Reference
2. Sparky Anderson at Baseball-Reference
3. Dick Gray at Baseball-Reference

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

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