1959 Milwaukee Braves season

1959 Milwaukee Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Milwaukee County Stadium (since 1953)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (since 1953)
Results
Record	86–70 (.551)
League place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Louis R. Perini
General manager(s)	John McHale
Manager(s)	Fred Haney
Local television	none
Local radio	WEMP WTMJ (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1959 Milwaukee Braves season was the seventh season for the franchise in Milwaukee and its 84th season overall. The Braves ended the National League regular season in a first-place tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers. With both clubs finishing with records of 86–68, a special best-of-three tie-breaking series was played to decide the National League Championship for the World Series. The Braves lost this series to the Dodgers two games to none. That left the Braves record at 86–70, two games behind the Dodgers, who went on to win the 1959 World Series over the Chicago White Sox.

Offseason

• December 1, 1958: Claude Raymond was drafted from the Braves by the Chicago White Sox in the 1958 rule 5 draft.^[1]
• March 31, 1959: Gene Conley, Harry Hanebrink and Joe Koppe were traded by the Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies for Johnny O'Brien, Ted Kazanski, and Stan Lopata.^[2]

Front-office turnover

Three days after the conclusion of the 1958 World Series, which the Braves lost in seven games to the New York Yankees, the club announced a reorganization of its front office. Team president Joseph Cairnes stepped aside, and was succeeded by former Cincinnati Redlegs manager Birdie Tebbetts, 46. Named executive vice president, and ranked just below owner Louis Perini on the Braves' organizational chart, Tebbetts had never before served in a front-office capacity in baseball.^[3]

The repercussions of Tebbetts' appointment to a senior management post were felt three months later when general manager John J. Quinn, 50, a member of the team's front office since 1936 (as well as the son of former owner J. A. Robert Quinn) and the Braves' GM since 1945, resigned on January 14, 1959, to take the reins of the Philadelphia Phillies.^[4] Quinn would in turn be replaced in Milwaukee by Tebbetts' former teammate with the Detroit Tigers, 37-year-old John McHale, GM of the Tigers since 1957.^[5] McHale would serve as the Braves' general manager and, later, team president, through the club's final years in Milwaukee and its 1966 move to Atlanta, before his dismissal in 1966.

Regular season

Batting

Right fielder Hank Aaron won the National League batting championship with a career-high .355 batting average. He also led the league in hits with 223, total bases with 400—both also career highs—and slugging percentage at .636. Aaron finished third in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player award. Aaron also led the Braves with 154 games played, 629 at bats, and 123 runs batted in.

Third baseman Eddie Mathews led the NL with 46 home runs and had a career-high 182 hits, and he led the National League. He also led the team with 118 runs scored, had 182 hits and drove in 114 runs. Mathews finished second to Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs in the voting for the league's Most Valuable Player, who hit 47 home runs and lead the league in runs batted in. The choice was controversial, as the Cubs finished in last place, but Aaron and Mathews split the voting among Braves players, allowing Banks to claim the award.

Pitching

Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette led the National League pitchers with 21 wins apiece, and they had identical 21–15 win-loss records in carrying the Braves on their backs for most of the season. Spahn, who was the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, pitched 292 innings, and Burdette pitched 290. Third starter Bob Buhl returned from a season full of injuries to pitch 198 innings and finish with a good 15–9 record.

The star of the bullpen was relief pitcher Don McMahon, who pitched in 60 games (finishing 49), had a 5–3 record, a 2.57 earned run average, and saved 15 games. McMahon was also chosen for the All-Star Game.

Season highlights

On May 26, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a perfect game through 12 innings of a game against the Braves. Haddix retired the first 36 consecutive batters, but lost the game 1–0 in the 13th inning.^[6] Félix Mantilla broke up the perfect game in the 13th inning.^[7] Braves pitcher Lew Burdette also pitched a shutout for all thirteen innings, giving up 12 hits and no walks.^[6]

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	—

Notable transactions

• April 11, 1959: Humberto Robinson was traded by the Braves to the Cleveland Indians for Mickey Vernon.^[8]
• May 11, 1959: Claude Raymond was returned to the Braves by the Chicago White Sox.^[1]
• May 26, 1959: Phil Roof was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.^[9]
• July 19, 1959: Len Gabrielson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Braves.^[10]
• August 20, 1959: Ray Boone was selected off waivers by the Braves from the Kansas City Athletics.^[11]
• August 26, 1959: Del Rice was released by the Braves.^[12]
• September 11, 1959: Enos Slaughter was selected off waivers by the Braves from the New York Yankees.^[13]
• October 24, 1959: Rico Carty was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.^[14]

Roster

1959 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers 10 Bob Buhl 33 Lew Burdette 32 Bob Giggie 31 Bob Hartman 47 Joey Jay 20 Don McMahon 34 Juan Pizarro 17 Bob Rush 21 Warren Spahn 30 Bob Trowbridge 16 Carl Willey		Catchers  1 Del Crandall  6 Stan Lopata  7 Del Rice Infielders  9 Joe Adcock 11 Bobby Ávila 19 Ray Boone 13 Chuck Cottier 23 Johnny Logan 18 Félix Mantilla 41 Eddie Mathews 19 Joe Morgan 11 Johnny O'Brien 12 Mel Roach  4 Red Schoendienst 14 Frank Torre 15 Mickey Vernon 19 Casey Wise		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 38 Bill Bruton 43 Wes Covington 29 John DeMerit 24 Lee Maye 48 Andy Pafko 24 Jim Pisoni 25 Enos Slaughter 25 Al Spangler		Manager  2 Fred Haney Coaches  3 John Fitzpatrick  8 Billy Herman  7 Del Rice 35 George Susce  5 Whit Wyatt

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
3B	Mathews, EddieEddie Mathews	148	594	182	.306	46	114
RF	Aaron, HankHank Aaron	154	629	223	.355	39	123

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
Mantilla, FélixFélix Mantilla	103	251	54	.215	3	19
Maye, LeeLee Maye	51	140	42	.300	4	16
O'Brien, JohnnyJohnny O'Brien	44	116	23	.198	1	8
Lopata, StanStan Lopata	25	48	5	.104	0	4

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
Burdette, LewLew Burdette	41	289.6	21	15	4.07	105
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	40	292.0	21	15	2.96	111
Buhl, BobBob Buhl	31	198.0	15	9	2.86	105

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
Giggie, BobBob Giggie	13	1	0	1	4.05	15
Hartman, BobBob Hartman	3	0	0	0	27.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Louisville Colonels	American Association	Ben Geraghty
AAA	Sacramento Solons	Pacific Coast League	Bob Elliott
AA	Atlanta Crackers	Southern Association	Bud Bates and Bob Montag
AA	Austin Senators	Texas League	Ernie White
A	Jacksonville Braves	Sally League	Sibby Sisti
B	Cedar Rapids Braves	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Alex Monchak
B	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	Hub Kittle
C	Eau Claire Braves	Northern League	Travis Jackson, Bobby Dudley and Gordon Maltzberger
C	Boise Braves	Pioneer League	Billy Smith
D	McCook Braves	Nebraska State League	Bill Steinecke
D	Wellsville Braves	New York–Penn League	Harry Minor
D	Midland Braves	Sophomore League	Jimmy Brown

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Austin, Yakima, McCook, Wellsville

Notes

1. Claude Raymond page at Baseball Reference
2. Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
3. The Associated Press, Oct. 12, 1958
4. The Associated Press, Jan. 14, 1959
5. [om/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19590126&id=2t5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rCUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6770,2831102 The Milwaukee Journal, Jan. 26, 1959]
6. Retrosheet Boxscore: Milwaukee Braves 1, Pittsburgh Pirates 0
7. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p.29, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
8. Mickey Vernon page at Baseball Reference
9. Phil Roof page at Baseball Reference
10. Len Gabrielson page at Baseball Reference
11. Ray Boone page at Baseball Reference
12. Del Rice page at Baseball Reference
13. Enos Slaughter page at Baseball Reference
14. Rico Carty at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1959 Milwaukee Braves season at Baseball Reference