1959 San Francisco Giants season

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.

1959 San Francisco Giants
League	National League
Ballpark	Seals Stadium
City	San Francisco, California
Owners	Horace Stoneham
General managers	Chub Feeney
Managers	Bill Rigney
Television	KTVU (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons)
Radio	KSFO (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons, Bill King)
← 1958 Seasons 1960 →

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.^[1]
• December 3, 1958: Rubén Gómez and Valmy Thomas were traded by the Giants to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jack Sanford.^[2]
• December 5, 1958: Joey Amalfitano was released by the Giants.^[3]
• March 25, 1959: Ray Jablonski and Bill White were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Sam Jones and Don Choate.^[4]

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

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	88	68	.564	—	46‍–‍32	42‍–‍36
Milwaukee Braves	86	70	.551	2	49‍–‍29	37‍–‍41
San Francisco Giants	83	71	.539	4	42‍–‍35	41‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	76	.506	9	47‍–‍30	31‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs	74	80	.481	13	38‍–‍39	36‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds	74	80	.481	13	43‍–‍34	31‍–‍46
St. Louis Cardinals	71	83	.461	16	42‍–‍35	29‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies	64	90	.416	23	37‍–‍40	27‍–‍50

Record vs. opponents

1959 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	9–13	11–11	10–12	10–12–1	12–10	12–10	10–12
Cincinnati	13–9	—	13–9	11–11	9–13	9–13	8–14	11–11
Los Angeles	11–11	9–13	—	14–10	17–5	11–11	14–8	12–10
Milwaukee	12–10	11–11	10–14	—	13–9	15–7–1	12–10	13–9
Philadelphia	12–10–1	13–9	5–17	9–13	—	9–13	9–13	7–15
Pittsburgh	10–12	13–9	11–11	7–15–1	13–9	—	10–12	14–8
San Francisco	10–12	14–8	8–14	10–12	13–9	12–10	—	16–6
St. Louis	12–10	11–11	10–12	9–13	15–7	8–14	6–16	—

Opening Day starters

• Johnny Antonelli
• Jackie Brandt
• Orlando Cepeda
• Jim Davenport
• Willie Kirkland
• Willie Mays
• Andre Rodgers
• Bob Schmidt
• Daryl Spencer^[5]

Notable transactions

• July 26, 1959: Billy Muffett and cash were traded by the Giants to the Boston Red Sox for Bud Byerly.^[6]
• August 25, 1959: Hank Sauer was released by the Giants.^[7]

Roster

1959 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers 43 Johnny Antonelli 39 Curt Barclay 36 Bud Byerly 39 Eddie Fisher 38 Gordon Jones 19 Sam Jones 40 Mike McCormick 37 Stu Miller 36 Billy Muffett 28 Marshall Renfroe 33 Jack Sanford 42 Joe Shipley 32 Al Worthington 34 Dom Zanni		Catchers 27 Jim Hegan  5 Hobie Landrith  8 Roger McCardell  9 Bob Schmidt Infielders 16 Ed Bressoud 30 Orlando Cepeda 12 Jim Davenport 44 Willie McCovey 22 Danny O'Connell 10 José Pagán 15,17 Andre Rodgers 20 Daryl Spencer		Outfielders 23 Felipe Alou 25 Jackie Brandt 28 Willie Kirkland 24 Willie Mays  6 Hank Sauer 39 Leon Wagner Other batters 26 Dusty Rhodes 26 Bob Speake		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  2 Salty Parker  1 Bill Posedel  6 Hank Sauer  3 Wes Westrum

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	Hobie Landrith	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
Dusty Rhodes	54	48	9	.188	0	7
José Pagán	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
Johnny Antonelli	40	282.0	19	10	3.10	165
Sam Jones	50	270.2	21	15	2.83	209
Jack Sanford	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
Bud Byerly	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
Billy Muffett	5	0	0	0	5.40	3
Curt Barclay	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

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Phoenix Giants	Pacific Coast League	Red Davis
AA	Corpus Christi Giants	Texas League	Ray Murray
A	Springfield Giants	Eastern League	Andy Gilbert
B	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Roy Partee
C	Fresno Giants	California League	Mike McCormick
C	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Richie Klaus
D	Michigan City White Caps	Midwest League	Buddy Kerr
D	Hastings Giants	Nebraska State League	Leo Schrall
D	Artesia Giants	Sophomore League	Jodie Phipps

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield^[8]