The 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 69th season for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB), their 1st season in Los Angeles, California, and their 1st season playing their home games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles California. The Dodgers took the field before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 18, 1958, to usher in the beginning of the team's new home in Los Angeles. It was a rough season, as the Dodgers finished 21 games in back of the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves in the National League standings, but it was the beginning of the second phase for the team. Vin Scully and company moved to KTTV (television) and KMPC (radio) from that year onward, and the Dodgers became one of the first teams that commenced Spanish language radio broadcasts for Latinos, with KWKW as the first station to offer a Spanish-language service.
Offseason
Spring training The Dodgers played their first exhibition game as the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 8, 1958. The team faced the Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Stadium. Ron Negray started for the Dodgers and gave up four runs in a 7 to 4 Dodgers loss. The New York Times noted that as much as the game was a historic milestone for the franchise, it was a chance for manager Walter Alston to evaluate players under game conditions, especially catchers, following Roy Campanella's offseason auto accident that ended his career before he could ever play for Los Angeles.
Regular season April 15–20, 1958: The Dodgers and Giants played their first six official National League games as representatives of their new cities on the West Coast with back-to-back three-game series, first at Seals Stadium, San Francisco, then at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Giants won four of those six games. In the season opener April 15, San Francisco blanked Los Angeles, 8–0, behind Rubén Gómez' complete game, six-hit shutout. Don Drysdale took the loss, and Charlie Neal notched Los Angeles' first hit, a single, in the second inning.Retrosheet box score: 1958-04-15 In their home opener April 18 in Los Angeles, the Dodgers built a 5–2 lead behind starting pitcher Carl Erskine, and held on to win 6–5. A throng of 78,762 witnessed the event at the Coliseum. Dick Gray, who hit the first home run in Los Angeles Dodger history April 16 in the second game of the 1958 season, also hit the first four-bagger before their home crowd in the seventh inning, giving Los Angeles an insurance run. The Giants nearly tied the game in the ninth inning, but Jim Davenport was ruled out for failing to touch third base after apparently scoring on a triple by San Francisco's Willie Kirkland.Retrosheet box score: 1958-04-18
+Opening Day startersName Position Gino Cimoli Center fielderPee Wee Reese ShortstopDuke Snider Left fielderGil Hodges First basemanCharlie Neal Second basemanDick Gray Third basemanCarl Furillo Right fielderRube WalkerCatcherDon Drysdale Starting pitcher
+Home opener startersName Position Jim Gilliam Left fielderPee Wee Reese ShortstopDuke Snider Right fielderGil Hodges First basemanCharlie Neal Second basemanDick Gray Third basemanGino Cimoli Center fielderJohn RoseboroCatcherCarl Erskine Starting pitcher
April 23, 1958: Gil Hodges hit his 300th home run, and Pee Wee Reese played his 2,000th game, on the same day that Duke Snider injured his arm before the game trying to throw a ball out of the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 15, 1958: The Dodgers traded Don Newcombe to Cincinnati Redlegs for Steve Bilko, Johnny Klippstein and players to be named later. The Redlegs completed the deal by sending Art Fowler and Charlie Rabe to the Dodgers on June 23.Don Newcombe at Baseball-Reference August 4, 1958: Randy Jackson was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cleveland Indians.Randy Jackson at Baseball-Reference August 15, 1958: Ramón Conde was purchased by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies.Ramón Conde at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders Outfielders 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 114 384 104 .271 14 43 1B 141 475 123 .259 22 64 2B 140 473 120 .254 22 65 SS 127 455 119 .262 17 60 3B 58 197 49 .249 9 30 LF 147 555 145 .261 2 43 CF 106 327 102 .312 15 58 RF 122 411 119 .290 18 83
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 109 325 80 .246 9 27 99 253 70 .277 4 29 59 147 33 .224 4 17 63 142 31 .218 9 17 43 106 20 .189 5 8 65 101 25 .248 1 14 47 101 21 .208 7 18 20 69 27 .391 1 5 35 65 12 .185 1 4 15 53 15 .283 2 8 25 44 5 .114 1 7 12 30 4 .133 0 4 8 29 7 .241 1 2 8 22 4 .182 0 0 8 15 3 .200 0 0 3 5 1 .200 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 39 210.1 13 15 3.72 143 27 119.0 9 7 4.01 80 13 48.1 2 6 7.45 26 6 26.1 1 1 3.76 14
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 44 211.2 12 13 4.17 131 40 158.2 11 11 4.48 131 40 102.1 6 6 5.01 58 31 98.1 4 4 5.13 54 11 34.1 0 6 7.86 16 9 32.0 2 1 4.50 16 3 11.2 1 1 4.63 11
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 52 6 6 14 4.15 43 45 3 5 9 3.80 73 32 0 1 5 3.48 26 19 1 0 0 3.33 13 16 0 0 1 4.50 16 5 0 0 0 12.46 2 4 0 0 0 7.15 2 2 0 0 0 8.10 0
Awards and honors Gold Glove Award Gil Hodges
All-stars 1958 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Johnny Podres reserve John Roseboro reserve
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal
Notes
References Baseball-Reference season page Baseball Almanac season page
External links 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform Los Angeles Dodgers official web site