The 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 70th season for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB), their 2nd season in Los Angeles, California, and their 2nd season playing their home games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles California. The Dodgers finished in a first-place tie with the Milwaukee Braves, with each team going 86–68. The Dodgers won the pennant as they swept the Braves in a best-of-three tie-breaker series. They went on to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series in just their second season since leaving Brooklyn. The Dodgers led all 16 Major League Baseball clubs in home attendance, drawing 2,071,045 fans to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.1959 National League attendance at Baseball Reference
Offseason December 4, 1958: Gino Cimoli was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wally Moon and Phil Paine.Gino Cimoli at Baseball-Reference December 23, 1958: Sparky Anderson was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rip Repulski, Jim Golden and Gene Snyder.Sparky Anderson at Baseball-Reference
While training in Vero Beach, the Dodgers played their home spring training games at Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida in 1959.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day lineup +Opening Day startersName Position Ron Fairly Right fielderWally Moon Left fielderJohn RoseboroCatcherDuke Snider Center fielderCharlie Neal Second basemanGil Hodges First basemanDon Zimmer ShortstopJim Baxes Third basemanDon 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.Dick Gray at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader
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 118 397 92 .232 10 38 1B 124 413 114 .276 25 80 2B 151 616 177 .287 19 83 SS 97 249 41 .165 4 28 3B 145 553 156 .282 3 34 LF 145 543 164 .302 19 74 CF 139 371 95 .256 18 70 RF 126 370 114 .308 23 88
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 108 311 90 .289 8 49 118 244 58 .238 4 23 83 242 63 .260 0 7 52 139 33 .237 1 11 53 94 24 .255 2 14 50 93 27 .290 0 13 21 52 8 .154 2 4 30 48 11 .229 0 2 24 46 14 .304 1 5 11 33 10 .303 2 5 9 21 3 .143 1 6 9 8 2 .250 0 0 5 5 1 .200 0 1 2 3 1 .333 0 2 1 1 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 44 270.2 17 13 3.46 242 34 195.0 14 9 4.11 145 35 153.1 8 6 4.05 173 29 152.2 11 5 2.06 76
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 Danny McDevitt 39 145.0 10 8 3.97 106 Stan Williams 35 124.2 5 5 3.97 89 Larry Sherry 23 94.1 7 2 2.19 72 11 26.1 1 1 5.47 20 10 23.1 0 3 7.71 15
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 56 5 10 8 3.93 37 36 3 4 2 5.31 47 28 4 0 2 5.91 30 Chuck Churn 14 3 2 1 4.99 24 2 0 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0
1959 World Series
Game 1 October 1, 1959, at Comiskey Park I in Chicago Team123456789RHELos Angeles (N)000000000083Chicago (A)20720000x11110W: 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 Team123456789RHELos Angeles (N)000010300491Chicago (A)200000010380W: 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 Team123456789RHEChicago (A)0000000101120Los Angeles (N)00000021x350W: 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 Team123456789RHEChicago (A)0000004004103Los Angeles (N)00400001x590W: 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 Team123456789RHEChicago (A)000100000150Los Angeles (N)000000000090W: Bob Shaw (1–1) L: Sandy Koufax (0–1) S: Dick Donovan (1)
Game 6 October 8, 1959, at Comiskey Park I in Chicago Team123456789RHELos Angeles (N)0026000019130Chicago (A)000300000361W: 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
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Green Bay
Notes
References Baseball-Reference season page Baseball Almanac season page
External links 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform Los Angeles Dodgers official web site