The 1959 Chicago Cubs season was the 88th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 84th in the National League and the 44th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs tied the Cincinnati Reds for fifth in the National League with a record of 74–80, thirteen games behind the NL and World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason January 23, 1959: Jim Bolger and John Briggs were traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Earl Averill and Morrie Martin.Jim Bolger page at Baseball Reference March 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was traded by the Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Bob Smith.Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac Prior to 1959 season: Dick Burwell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.Dick Burwell page at Baseball Reference

Regular season Ernie Banks became the first shortstop in the history of the NL to win the MVP award in back to back seasons.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

One of baseball history's weirdest plays took place on June 30, 1959, when the St. Louis Cardinals played the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Stan Musial was at the plate facing Bob Anderson with a count of 3–1. Anderson's next pitch was errant, the ball evaded catcher Sammy Taylor and rolled all the way to the backstop. Umpire Vic Delmore called "ball four", but Anderson and Taylor contended that Musial foul tipped the ball. Because the ball was still in play and Delmore was embroiled in an argument with Anderson and Taylor, Musial tried to run for second base. Seeing that Musial was running to second, third baseman Alvin Dark ran to the backstop to retrieve the ball. The ball wound up in the hands of field announcer Pat Pieper, but Dark ended up getting it back anyway. Absentmindedly, however, Delmore pulled out a new baseball and gave it to Taylor. When Anderson noticed that Musial was trying for second, he took the new ball from Sammy Taylor and threw it towards Tony Taylor covering second base, and the ball went over Taylor's head into the outfield. At the same time that Anderson threw the new ball towards second baseman Taylor, Dark threw the original ball to shortstop Ernie Banks. Musial did not see the throw and he was declared out when the tag was made.Musial Is First in History Put Out By 2 Baseballs!

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 4, 1959: Bob Smith was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Randy Jackson.Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1959 Chicago Cubs 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 110 353 95 .269 13 43 1B Dale Long 110 296 70 .236 14 37 2B 150 624 175 .280 8 38 3B 136 477 126 .264 6 45 SS 155 589 179 .304 45 143 LF Walt Moryn 117 381 89 .234 14 48 CF George Altman 135 420 103 .245 12 47 RF 120 354 91 .257 8 33

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 122 374 97 .259 11 52 108 294 74 .252 11 40 74 186 44 .237 10 34 Irv Noren 65 156 50 .321 4 19 Art Schult 42 118 32 .271 2 14 Cal Neeman 44 105 17 .162 3 9 41 74 18 .243 1 10 Johnny Goryl 25 48 9 .188 1 6 18 33 5 .152 0 2 6 4 1 .250 0 1 Chick King 7 3 0 .000 0 0 Bobby Adams 3 2 0 .000 0 0 15 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 37 235.1 12 13 4.13 113 Glen Hobbie 46 234.0 16 13 3.69 138 31 141.2 5 10 4.13 70 18 102.0 5 5 4.76 56 8 27.1 1 2 5.93 15

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 Dave Hillman 39 191.0 8 11 3.53 88 31 101.1 4 5 4.97 33 Seth Morehead 11 18.2 0 1 4.82 9 4 16.2 0 0 2.16 6 Taylor Phillips 7 16.2 0 2 7.56 5 Joe Schaffernoth 5 7.2 1 0 8.22 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 65 10 8 13 3.32 82 65 9 8 12 2.68 115 Elmer Singleton 21 2 1 0 2.72 25 9 1 1 0 3.14 6 Bob Porterfield 4 0 0 0 11.37 0 3 0 0 0 19.29 1 1 0 0 0 81.00 0

Awards and records Ernie Banks, National League MVP

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Morristown

Notes

References

1959 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference