The 1959 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 77th year in Major League Baseball and their second season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season. The team finished in third place in the National League with an 83–71 record, 4 games behind the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the team's second and final season at Seals Stadium before moving their games to Candlestick Park the following season.
Offseason October 8, 1958: Marv Grissom and Ernie Broglio were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Hobie Landrith, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela. December 3, 1958: Rubén Gómez and Valmy Thomas were traded by the Giants to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jack Sanford. December 5, 1958: Joey Amalfitano was released by the Giants. March 25, 1959: Ray Jablonski and Bill White were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Sam Jones and Don Choate.
Regular season In his major league debut on July 30, Willie McCovey went four-for-four against future Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts en route to a .354 batting average. McCovey went on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors while playing in just 52 games.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters Johnny Antonelli Jackie Brandt Orlando Cepeda Jim Davenport Willie Kirkland Willie Mays Andre Rodgers Bob Schmidt Daryl Spencer
Notable transactions July 26, 1959: Billy Muffett and cash were traded by the Giants to the Boston Red Sox for Bud Byerly. August 25, 1959: Hank Sauer was released by the Giants.
Roster 1959 San Francisco Giants 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 109 283 71 .251 3 29 1B Orlando Cepeda 151 605 192 .317 27 105 2B Daryl Spencer 152 555 147 .265 12 62 SS Ed Bressoud 104 315 79 .251 9 26 3B Jim Davenport 123 469 121 .258 6 38 LF Jackie Brandt 137 429 116 .270 12 57 CF Willie Mays 151 575 180 .313 34 104 RF Willie Kirkland 126 463 126 .272 22 68
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 Felipe Alou 95 247 68 .275 10 33 Andre Rodgers 71 228 57 .250 6 24 Willie McCovey 52 192 68 .354 13 38 Bob Schmidt 71 181 44 .243 5 20 Leon Wagner 87 129 29 .225 5 22 Danny O'Connell 34 58 11 .190 0 0 54 48 9 .188 0 7 31 46 8 .174 0 1 Jim Hegan 21 30 4 .133 0 0 Hank Sauer 13 15 1 .067 1 1 Bob Speake 15 11 1 .091 0 1 Roger McCardell 4 4 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 40 282.0 19 10 3.10 165 50 270.2 21 15 2.83 209 36 222.1 15 12 3.16 132 Marshall Renfroe 1 2.0 0 0 27.00 3
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 Mike McCormick 47 225.2 12 16 3.99 151 Stu Miller 59 167.2 8 7 2.84 95 Eddie Fisher 17 40.0 2 6 7.88 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 Al Worthington 42 2 3 3 3.68 45 Gordon Jones 31 3 2 2 4.33 29 11 1 0 0 1.38 4 Joe Shipley 10 0 0 0 4.50 11 Dom Zanni 9 0 0 0 6.55 11 5 0 0 0 5.40 3 1 0 0 0 54.00 0
Awards and honors Willie McCovey – National League Rookie of the Year
All-Star Game (first game) All-Star Game (second game)
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: SpringfieldJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
Notes
References 1959 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference 1959 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac