1959 Chicago Cubs season

1959 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916)
Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Philip K. Wrigley
General manager(s)	John Holland
Manager(s)	Bob Scheffing
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Local radio	WGN (Jack Quinlan, Lou Boudreau)
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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.^[1]
• March 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was traded by the Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Bob Smith.^[2]
• Prior to 1959 season: Dick Burwell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.^[3]

Regular season

Ernie Banks became the first shortstop in the history of the NL to win the MVP award in back to back seasons.^[4]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	88	68	0.564	—	46–32	42–36
Milwaukee Braves	86	70	0.551	2	49–29	37–41
San Francisco Giants	83	71	0.539	4	42–35	41–36
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	76	0.506	9	47–30	31–46
Chicago Cubs	74	80	0.481	13	38–39	36–41
Cincinnati Reds	74	80	0.481	13	43–34	31–46
St. Louis Cardinals	71	83	0.461	16	42–35	29–48
Philadelphia Phillies	64	90	0.416	23	37–40	27–50

Record vs. opponents

1959 National League Records 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	—

Notable transactions

• May 4, 1959: Bob Smith was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Randy Jackson.^[5]

Roster

1959 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 32 Bob Anderson 38 John Buzhardt 41 Art Ceccarelli 22 Ed Donnelly 39 Moe Drabowsky 30 Dick Drott 36 Don Elston 37 Bill Henry 31 Dave Hillman 40 Glen Hobbie 45 Ben Johnson 45 Morrie Martin 41 Seth Morehead 41 Taylor Phillips 43 Bob Porterfield 46 Joe Schaffernoth 42 Elmer Singleton 43 Bob Smith		Catchers  6 Earl Averill 11 Cal Neeman 15 Sammy Taylor Infielders 16 Bobby Adams 14 Ernie Banks 17 Alvin Dark 18 Don Eaddy  4 Johnny Goryl 16 Randy Jackson  8 Dale Long 12 Jim Marshall 43 Art Schult  5 Tony Taylor		Outfielders 21 George Altman 20 Chick King  7 Walt Moryn 20 Irv Noren  9 Bobby Thomson  2 Lee Walls  4 Billy Williams Other batters 22,42 Lou Jackson		Manager 25 Bob Scheffing Coaches 33 Freddie Fitzsimmons 35 Rogers Hornsby 34 George Myatt 10 El Tappe

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	Taylor, SammySammy Taylor	110	353	95	.269	13	43
2B	Taylor, TonyTony Taylor	150	624	175	.280	8	38
3B	Dark, AlvinAlvin Dark	136	477	126	.264	6	45
SS	Banks, ErnieErnie Banks	155	589	179	.304	45	143
RF	Walls, LeeLee Walls	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
Thomson, BobbyBobby Thomson	122	374	97	.259	11	52
Marshall, JimJim Marshall	108	294	74	.252	11	40
Averill, EarlEarl Averill	74	186	44	.237	10	34
Jackson, RandyRandy Jackson	41	74	18	.243	1	10
Williams, BillyBilly Williams	18	33	5	.152	0	2
Jackson, LouLou Jackson	6	4	1	.250	0	1
Eaddy, DonDon Eaddy	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
Anderson, BobBob Anderson	37	235.1	12	13	4.13	113
Drabowsky, MoeMoe Drabowsky	31	141.2	5	10	4.13	70
Ceccarelli, ArtArt Ceccarelli	18	102	5	5	4.76	56
Drott, DickDick Drott	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
Buzhardt, JohnJohn Buzhardt	31	101.1	4	5	4.97	33
Johnson, BenBen Johnson	4	16.2	0	0	2.16	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
Elston, DonDon Elston	65	10	8	13	3.32	82
Henry, BillBill Henry	65	9	8	12	2.68	115
Donnelly, EdEd Donnelly	9	1	1	0	3.14	6
Martin, MorrieMorrie Martin	3	0	0	0	19.29	1
Smith, BobBob Smith	1	0	0	0	81.00	0

Awards and records

• Ernie Banks, National League MVP

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Fort Worth Cats	American Association	Lou Klein
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Grady Hatton
A	Lancaster Red Roses	Eastern League	Nick Cullop
B	Burlington Bees	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Ray Mueller
D	Morristown Cubs	Appalachian League	Red Hayworth
D	Paris Lakers	Midwest League	Verlon Walker
D	Carlsbad Potashers	Sophomore League	Walt Dixon

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Morristown

Notes

1. Jim Bolger page at Baseball Reference
2. Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
3. Dick Burwell page at Baseball Reference
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
5. Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1959 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference