1959 St. Louis Cardinals season

The 1959 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 78th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 68th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 71–83 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, 16 games behind the NL pennant winner and World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They attracted 929,953 paying fans to Busch Stadium, fifth in the eight-team league.[1]

1959 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1892)
Location
Busch Stadium I (since 1920) St. Louis, Missouri (since 1882)
Results
Record	71–83 (.461)
League place	7th
Other information
Owner(s)	August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)	Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Solly Hemus
Local television	KPLR
Local radio	KMOX (Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola)
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Offseason

• September 29, 1958: One day after the end of the 1958 National League regular season, Gene Freese was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Solly Hemus. The 35-year-old Hemus, a ten-year MLB veteran, had begun his career as a Cardinal, playing in 684 games between 1949 and 1956. He had appeared in 85 games as a second baseman for the 1958 Phillies, but was immediately named the Redbirds' player-manager for 1959, succeeding interim skipper Stan Hack.
• October 8, 1958: Hobie Landrith, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Marv Grissom and Ernie Broglio.[2]
• October 15, 1958: Marshall Bridges was purchased by the Cardinals from the Sacramento Solons.[3]
• December 1, 1958: Johnny O'Brien was drafted from the Cardinals by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1958 rule 5 draft.[4]
• December 3, 1958: Rubén Amaro was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chuck Essegian.[5]
• December 4, 1958: Wally Moon and Phil Paine were traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Gino Cimoli.[6]
• March 25, 1959: Sam Jones and Don Choate were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Jablonski and Bill White.[7]
• Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown)
  • Lee Gregory was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.[8]

Regular season

Season summary

The Cardinals played the league's best baseball from early May into late July, during which time they went 40–30. In the end, pitching failed the Redbirds. Their 4.34 ERA was ranked worst in the National League.

There were some bright spots to the season. Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel, who found success and saved 15 games after an early-season move to the bullpen, each won a team-high 14 games. Also, third baseman Ken Boyer won a Gold Glove this year.

Right fielder Joe Cunningham led the National League in on-base percentage at .453 and batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title.

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 lineup

Notable transactions

• June 8, 1959: Jim Brosnan was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Hal Jeffcoat.[9]
• June 19, 1959: Solly Hemus was released by the Cardinals as an active player; he remained the team's manager.[10]
• July 25, 1959: Jay Porter was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Washington Senators.[11]
• August 4, 1959: Ray Katt was released by the Cardinals.[12]
• August 20, 1959: Ray Jablonski was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Kansas City Athletics.[7]
• September 6, 1959: Phil Gagliano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.[13]

Roster

1959 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers 24 Bob Blaylock 44 Gary Blaylock 30 Marshall Bridges 32 Ernie Broglio 37 Jim Brosnan 38 Tom Cheney 36 Phil Clark 24 Bob Duliba 58 Bob Gibson 42 Marv Grissom 38 Tom Hughes 39 Larry Jackson 36 Hal Jeffcoat 34 Alex Kellner 41 Lindy McDaniel 49 Bob Miller 33 Vinegar Bend Mizell 57 Howie Nunn 47 Dick Ricketts 30 Bill Smith 45 Dean Stone 24 Jack Urban		Catchers  9 Ray Katt 51 Tim McCarver 44 J. W. Porter  2 Hal Smith Infielders 11 Don Blasingame 14 Ken Boyer 18 George Crowe 10 Alex Grammas 27 Dick Gray  7 Solly Hemus 16 Ray Jablonski  6 Stan Musial 25 Wally Shannon 19 Lee Tate		Outfielders 20 Duke Carmel 22 Gino Cimoli 15 Joe Cunningham 20 Joe Durham 29 Chuck Essegian 21 Curt Flood  1 Gene Green 25 Chick King 25 Irv Noren 29 Gene Oliver 24 Bobby Gene Smith 12,26 Bill White Other batters 25 Charlie O'Rourke		Manager  7 Solly Hemus Coaches  9 Ray Katt  5 Johnny Keane  4 Howie Pollet  3 Harry Walker

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
CF	Gino Cimoli	143	519	145	.279	8	72

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
Lee Tate	41	50	7	.140	1	4
Chuck Essegian	17	39	7	.179	0	5
Duke Carmel	10	23	3	.130	0	3
Charlie O'Rourke	2	2	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
Ernie Broglio	35	181.1	7	12	4.72	133
Tom Hughes	2	4	0	2	15.75	2

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
Gary Blaylock	26	100	4	5	5.13	61
Marshall Bridges	27	76	6	3	4.26	76
Bob Blaylock	3	9	0	1	4.00	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
Jim Brosnan	20	1	3	2	4.91	18
Marv Grissom	3	0	0	0	22.50	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Cardinals	American Association	Joe Schultz
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Cot Deal and Clyde King
AA	Tulsa Oilers	Texas League	Vern Benson
A	York White Roses	Eastern League	Mike Ryba and Ed Lyons
B	Winston-Salem Red Birds	Carolina League	Al Unser
C	Winnipeg Goldeyes	Northern League	Chase Riddle
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Whitey Kurowski
D	Dothan Cardinals	Alabama–Florida League	J. C. Dunn
D	Wytheville Cardinals	Appalachian League	Don Pries
D	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	Homer Ray Wilson
D	Keokuk Cardinals	Midwest League	Frank Calo
D	Hobbs Cardinals	Sophomore League	Thurman Tucker

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winnipeg, Billings[14]

References

1. 1959 National League attendance at Baseball America
2. Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference
3. Marshall Bridges page at Baseball Reference
4. Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
5. Ruben Amaro page at Baseball Reference
6. Phil Paine page at Baseball Reference
7. Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference
8. Lee Gregory page at Baseball Reference
9. Hall Jeffcoat page at Baseball Reference
10. Solly Hemus page at Baseball Reference
11. Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference
12. Ray Katt page at Baseball Reference
13. Phil Gagliano page at Baseball Reference
14. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• 1959 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1959 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com