1959 San Francisco Giants season

1959 San Francisco Giants
Willie McCovey's Rookie Year
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)
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The 1959 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 77th year in Major League Baseball and their second year 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.^[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

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	—

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 Eddie 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	Landrith, HobieHobie Landrith	109	283	71	.251	3	29

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
Rhodes, DustyDusty Rhodes	54	48	9	.188	0	7
Pagán, JoséJosé Pagán	31	46	8	.174	0	1

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	40	282	19	10	3.10	165
Jones, SamSam Jones	50	270.2	21	15	2.83	209
Sanford, JackJack Sanford	36	222.1	15	12	3.16	132

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

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
Byerly, BudBud Byerly	11	1	0	0	1.38	4
Muffett, BillyBilly Muffett	5	0	0	0	5.40	3
Barclay, CurtCurt 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

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]

Notes

1. Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference
2. Rubén Gómez page at Baseball Reference
3. Joey Amalfitano page at Baseball Reference
4. Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference
5. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1959&t=SFN
6. Billy Muffett page at Baseball Reference
7. Hank Sauer page at Baseball Reference
8. 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

• 1959 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference
• 1959 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac