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 winner and World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They attracted 929,953 paying fans to Busch Stadium, fifth in the eight-team league.1959 National League attendance at Baseball America
Offseason September 29, 1958: One day after the end of the 1958 National League regular season, Gene Freese was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Solly Hemus. The 35-year-old Hemus, a ten-year MLB veteran, had begun his career as a Cardinal, playing in 684 games between 1949 and 1956. He had appeared in 85 games as a second baseman for the 1958 Phillies, but was immediately named the Redbirds' player-manager for 1959, succeeding interim skipper Stan Hack. 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.Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference October 15, 1958: Marshall Bridges was purchased by the Cardinals from the Sacramento Solons.Marshall Bridges page at Baseball Reference December 1, 1958: Johnny O'Brien was drafted from the Cardinals by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1958 rule 5 draft.Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference December 3, 1958: Rubén Amaro was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chuck Essegian.Ruben Amaro page at Baseball Reference December 4, 1958: Wally Moon and Phil Paine were traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Gino Cimoli.Phil Paine page at Baseball Reference March 25, 1959: Sam Jones and Don Choate were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Jablonski and Bill White.Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown) Lee Gregory was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.Lee Gregory page at Baseball Reference
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
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup
Notable transactions June 8, 1959: Jim Brosnan was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Hal Jeffcoat.Hall Jeffcoat page at Baseball Reference June 19, 1959: Solly Hemus was released by the Cardinals as an active player; he remained the team's manager.Solly Hemus page at Baseball Reference July 25, 1959: Jay Porter was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Washington Senators.Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference August 4, 1959: Ray Katt was released by the Cardinals.Ray Katt page at Baseball Reference August 20, 1959: Ray Jablonski was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Kansas City Athletics. September 6, 1959: Phil Gagliano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.Phil Gagliano page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1959 St. Louis Cardinals 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 Hal R. Smith 142 452 122 .270 13 50 1B Stan Musial 115 341 87 .255 14 44 2B Don Blasingame 150 615 178 .289 1 24 SS Alex Grammas 131 368 99 .269 3 30 3B Ken Boyer 149 563 174 .309 28 94 LF Bill White 138 517 156 .302 12 72 CF 143 519 145 .279 8 72 RF Joe Cunningham 144 458 158 .345 7 60
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 Curt Flood 121 208 53 .255 7 26 Gene Oliver 68 172 42 .244 6 28 George Crowe 77 103 31 .301 8 29 Wally Shannon 47 95 27 .284 0 5 Ray Jablonski 60 87 22 .253 3 14 Gene Green 30 74 14 .189 1 3 Bobby Smith 43 60 13 .217 1 7 Dick Gray 36 51 16 .314 1 6 41 50 7 .140 1 4 17 39 7 .179 0 5 Jay Porter 23 33 7 .212 1 2 Tim McCarver 8 24 4 .167 0 0 Ray Katt 15 24 7 .292 0 2 10 23 3 .130 0 3 Solly Hemus 24 17 4 .235 0 1 Irv Noren 8 8 1 .125 0 0 Chick King 5 7 3 .429 0 1 Joe Durham 6 5 0 .000 0 0 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 Larry Jackson 40 256.0 14 13 3.30 145 Vinegar Bend Mizell 31 201.1 13 10 4.20 108 35 181.1 7 12 4.72 133 Bob Gibson 13 75.2 3 5 3.33 48 Bob Miller 11 70.2 4 3 3.31 43 2 4.0 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 26 100.0 4 5 5.13 61 Dick Ricketts 12 55.2 1 6 5.82 25 Alex Kellner 12 37.0 2 1 3.16 19 Tom Cheney 11 11.2 0 1 6.94 8 3 9.0 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 Lindy McDaniel 62 14 12 16 3.82 86 Marshall Bridges 27 6 3 1 4.26 76 20 1 3 2 4.91 18 Dean Stone 18 0 1 1 4.20 17 Howie Nunn 16 2 2 0 7.59 20 Bob Duliba 11 0 1 1 2.78 14 Hal Jeffcoat 11 0 1 0 9.17 7 Jack Urban 8 0 0 0 9.28 4 Phil Clark 7 0 1 0 12.86 5 Bill Smith 6 0 0 1 1.08 4 3 0 0 0 22.50 0
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winnipeg, BillingsJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
References
External links 1959 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1959 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com