1959 St. Louis Cardinals season

1959 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Location
Busch Stadium I (since 1920)
St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	71–83 (.461)
League place	7th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Solly Hemus
Local television	KPLR
Local radio	KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola)
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The 1959 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 78th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 68th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 71–83 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, 16 games behind the NL pennant and World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

• October 8, 1958: Hobie Landrith, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Marv Grissom and Ernie Broglio.^[1]
• October 15, 1958: Marshall Bridges was purchased by the Cardinals from the Sacramento Solons.^[2]
• December 1, 1958: Johnny O'Brien was drafted from the Cardinals by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1958 rule 5 draft.^[3]
• December 3, 1958: Rubén Amaro was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chuck Essegian.^[4]
• December 4, 1958: Wally Moon and Phil Paine were traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Gino Cimoli.^[5]
• March 25, 1959: Sam Jones and Don Choate were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Jablonski and Bill White.^[6]
• Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown)
  • Solly Hemus was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals.^[7]
  • Lee Gregory was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.^[8]

Regular season

Season summary

The Cardinals played the league's best baseball from early May into late July, during which time they went 40–30. In the end, pitching failed the Redbirds. Their 4.34 ERA was ranked worst in the National League.

There were some bright spots to the season. Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel, who found success and saved 15 games after an early-season move to the bullpen, each won a team-high 14 games. Also, third baseman Ken Boyer won a Gold Glove this year.

Right fielder Joe Cunningham led the National League in on-base percentage at .453 and batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title.

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

• June 8, 1959: Jim Brosnan was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Hal Jeffcoat.^[9]
• June 19, 1959: Solly Hemus was released by the Cardinals as an active player; he remained the team's manager.^[7]
• July 25, 1959: Jay Porter was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Washington Senators.^[10]
• August 4, 1959: Ray Katt was released by the Cardinals.^[11]
• August 20, 1959: Ray Jablonski was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Kansas City Athletics.^[6]
• September 6, 1959: Phil Gagliano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.^[12]

Roster

1959 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 24 Bob Blaylock 44 Gary Blaylock 30 Marshall Bridges 32 Ernie Broglio 37 Jim Brosnan 38 Tom Cheney 36 Phil Clark 24 Bob Duliba 58 Bob Gibson 42 Marv Grissom 38 Tom Hughes 39 Larry Jackson 36 Hal Jeffcoat 34 Alex Kellner 41 Lindy McDaniel 49 Bob Miller 33 Vinegar Bend Mizell 57 Howie Nunn 47 Dick Ricketts 30 Bill Smith 45 Dean Stone 24 Jack Urban		Catchers  9 Ray Katt 51 Tim McCarver 44 J. W. Porter  2 Hal Smith Infielders 11 Don Blasingame 14 Ken Boyer 18 George Crowe 10 Alex Grammas 27 Dick Gray  7 Solly Hemus 16 Ray Jablonski  6 Stan Musial 25 Wally Shannon 19 Lee Tate		Outfielders 20 Duke Carmel 22 Gino Cimoli 15 Joe Cunningham 20 Joe Durham 29 Chuck Essegian 21 Curt Flood  1 Gene Green 25 Chick King 25 Irv Noren 29 Gene Oliver 24 Bob Smith 12,26 Bill White Other batters 25 Charlie O'Rourke		Manager  7 Solly Hemus Coaches  9 Ray Katt  5 Johnny Keane  4 Howie Pollet  3 Harry Walker

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
CF	Cimoli, GinoGino Cimoli	143	519	145	.279	8	72

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
Tate, LeeLee Tate	41	50	7	.140	1	4
Essegian, ChuckChuck Essegian	17	39	7	.179	0	5
Carmel, DukeDuke Carmel	10	23	3	.130	0	3
O'Rourke, CharlieCharlie O'Rourke	2	2	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
Broglio, ErnieErnie Broglio	35	181.1	7	12	4.72	133
Hughes, TomTom Hughes	2	4	0	2	15.75	2

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
Blaylock, GaryGary Blaylock	26	100	4	5	5.13	61
Bridges, MarshallMarshall Bridges	27	76	6	3	4.26	76
Blaylock, BobBob Blaylock	3	9	0	1	4.00	3

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
Brosnan, JimJim Brosnan	20	1	3	2	4.91	18
Grissom, MarvMarv Grissom	3	0	0	0	22.50	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Cardinals	American Association	Joe Schultz
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Cot Deal and Clyde King
AA	Tulsa Oilers	Texas League	Vern Benson
A	York White Roses	Eastern League	Mike Ryba and Ed Lyons
B	Winston-Salem Red Birds	Carolina League	Al Unser
C	Winnipeg Goldeyes	Northern League	Chase Riddle
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Whitey Kurowski
D	Dothan Cardinals	Alabama–Florida League	J. C. Dunn
D	Wytheville Cardinals	Appalachian League	Don Pries
D	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	Homer Ray Wilson
D	Keokuk Cardinals	Midwest League	Frank Calo
D	Hobbs Cardinals	Sophomore League	Thurman Tucker

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winnipeg, Billings^[13]

References

1. Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference
2. Marshall Bridges page at Baseball Reference
3. Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
4. Ruben Amaro page at Baseball Reference
5. Phil Paine page at Baseball Reference
6. Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference
7. Solly Hemus page at Baseball Reference
8. Lee Gregory page at Baseball Reference
9. Hall Jeffcoat page at Baseball Reference
10. Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference
11. Ray Katt page at Baseball Reference
12. Phil Gagliano page at Baseball Reference
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1959 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1959 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com