1958 San Francisco Giants season

1958 San Francisco Giants
1st Season in San Francisco
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1883)
Location
Seals Stadium (since 1958)
San Francisco, California (since 1958)
Other information
Owner(s)	Horace Stoneham
General manager(s)	Chub Feeney
Manager(s)	Bill Rigney
Local television	KTVU (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons)
Local radio	KSFO (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons)
Previous season     Next season  >

The 1958 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's inaugural season in San Francisco, California and 76th season overall. The Giants' home ballpark was Seals Stadium. The team had a record of 80–74 team finishing in third place in the National League standings, twelve games behind the NL Champion Milwaukee Braves.

Offseason

• December 2, 1957: Tony Taylor was drafted from the Giants by the Chicago Cubs in the 1957 rule 5 draft.^[1]
• December 2, 1957: 1957 minor league draft
  • Lee Tate was drafted from the Giants by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[2]
  • Ramón Conde was drafted from the Giants by the Kansas City Athletics.^[3]
• December 10, 1957: Freddy Rodríguez was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Tom Poholsky.^[4]
• March 24, 1958: Foster Castleman was purchased from the Giants by the Baltimore Orioles for $30,000.^[5]
• Prior to 1958 season:
  • Dick LeMay was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.^[6]
  • Eddie Fisher was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent.^[7]

Regular season

Opening day

The Giants and the now-Los Angeles Dodgers, arch-rivals for 68 years in New York, faced each other in their respective first-ever game on the West Coast. On Tuesday afternoon, April 15, 1958, at Seals Stadium, the Giants' temporary home park, San Francisco blanked Los Angeles, 8–0, behind Rubén Gómez' complete game, six-hit shutout. Gómez fanned six, issued no bases on balls, and went two for four at the plate. Daryl Spencer hit the first home run in San Francisco's MLB history with a solo shot in the fourth inning, and rookie Orlando Cepeda followed with another solo blast one inning later. Willie Mays had two runs batted in. Don Drysdale took the loss for the Dodgers. Attendance at the longtime minor league stadium was a sellout, 23,448.^[8]

Starting lineup

12	Jim Davenport	3B
22	Jim King	LF
24	Willie Mays	CF
29	Willie Kirkland	RF
30	Orlando Cepeda	1B
20	Daryl Spencer	SS
19	Danny O'Connell	2B
7	Valmy Thomas	C
28	Rubén Gómez	P[8][9]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	0.597	—	48–29	44–33
Pittsburgh Pirates	84	70	0.545	8	49–28	35–42
San Francisco Giants	80	74	0.519	12	44–33	36–41
Cincinnati Redlegs	76	78	0.494	16	40–37	36–41
Chicago Cubs	72	82	0.468	20	35–42	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	0.468	20	39–38	33–44
Los Angeles Dodgers	71	83	0.461	21	39–38	32–45
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	0.448	23	35–42	34–43

Record vs. opponents

1958 National League Records Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	10–12	11–11	10–12	13–9	9–13	12–10	7–15
Cincinnati	12–10	—	11–11	5–17	15–7	10–12	11–11	12–10
Los Angeles	11–11	11–11	—	14–8	10–12	8–14	6–16	11–11
Milwaukee	12–10	17–5	8–14	—	13–9	11–11	16–6	15–7
Philadelphia	9–13	7–15	12–10	9–13	—	12–10	8–14	12–10
Pittsburgh	13–9	12–10	14–8	11–11	10–12	—	12–10	12–10
San Francisco	10–12	11–11	16–6	6–16	14–8	10–12	—	13–9
St. Louis	15–7	10–12	11–11	7–15	10–12	10–12	9–13	—

Notable transactions

• April 2, 1958: Ray Katt was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jim King.^[10]
• April 3, 1958: Bobby Thomson was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Speake and cash.^[11]
• May 17, 1958: Nick Testa was released by the Giants.^[12]
• June 3, 1958: Gaylord Perry was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.^[13]
• July 15, 1958: Jim King was acquired from the Giants by the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[14]
• August 25, 1958: Jesús Alou was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.^[15]

Roster

1958 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers 43 Johnny Antonelli 39 Curt Barclay 35 Pete Burnside 48 Jim Constable 44 Ray Crone 35 John Fitzgerald 31 Paul Giel 28 Rubén Gómez 42 Marv Grissom 44 Don Johnson 38 Gordon Jones 40 Mike McCormick 37 Stu Miller 41 Ramón Monzant 38 Joe Shipley 32 Al Worthington 48 Dom Zanni		Catchers 27 Bob Schmidt 45,47 Nick Testa  7 Valmy Thomas Infielders 16 Eddie Bressoud 30 Orlando Cepeda 12 Jim Davenport 17 Jim Finigan 10 Ray Jablonski 19,22 Danny O'Connell 15 Andre Rodgers 20 Daryl Spencer 17 Bill White		Outfielders 49 Felipe Alou 22 Jackie Brandt 22 Jim King 29 Willie Kirkland 25 Whitey Lockman 24 Willie Mays  6 Hank Sauer 23 Bob Speake 14 Don Taussig 39 Leon Wagner		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  3 Herman Franks    Lefty O'Doul  2 Salty Parker 45 Nick Testa  9 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
1B	Cepeda, OrlandoOrlando Cepeda	148	603	188	.312	25	96
3B	Davenport, JimJim Davenport	134	434	111	.256	12	41
CF	Mays, WillieWillie Mays	152	600	208	.347	29	96
RF	Kirkland, WillieWillie Kirkland	122	418	108	.258	14	56

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
Speake, BobBob Speake	66	71	15	.211	3	10
King, JimJim King	34	56	12	.214	2	8
Taussig, DonDon Taussig	39	50	10	.200	1	4
Testa, NickNick Testa	1	0	0	----	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
Antonelli, JohnnyJohnny Antonelli	41	241.2	16	13	3.28	143
Gómez, RubénRubén Gómez	42	207.2	10	12	4.38	112
Fitzgerald, JohnJohn Fitzgerald	1	3	0	0	3.00	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
Monzant, RamónRamón Monzant	43	150.2	8	11	4.72	93
Barclay, CurtCurt Barclay	6	16	0	1	2.81	6

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
Crone, RayRay Crone	14	1	2	0	6.75	7
Constable, JimJim Constable	9	1	0	1	5.63	4
Burnside, PetePete Burnside	6	0	0	0	6.75	4

Awards and honors

• Orlando Cepeda – National League Rookie of the Year

All-Star Game

Farm system

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	Danville Leafs	Carolina League	Bobby Hofman
C	Fresno Giants	California League	Mike McCormick
C	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Richie Klaus
D	Panama City Fliers	Alabama–Florida League	Bill Brightwell, Charles Clark, Joe Tipton and Charley Grant
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: Phoenix, Corpus Christi, Fresno^[16]

Notes

1. Tony Taylor page at Baseball Reference
2. Lee Tate page at Baseball Reference
3. Ramón Conde page at Baseball Reference
4. Tom Poholsky page at Baseball Reference
5. Foster Castleman page at Baseball-Reference
6. Dick LeMay page at Baseball Reference
7. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fisheed02.shtml
8. Retrosheet box score: 1958-04-15
9. Baseball Almanac
10. Ray Katt page at Baseball Reference
11. Bob Speake page at Baseball Reference
12. Nick Testa page at Baseball Reference
13. Gaylord Perry page at Baseball Reference
14. Jim King page at Baseball Reference
15. Jesús Alou page at Baseball Reference
16. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1958 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference
• 1958 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac