1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The Los Angeles Dodgers took the field before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 18, 1958, to usher in the beginning of the team's new life in Los Angeles. It was a rough season, as the Dodgers finished 21 games in back of the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves in the National League standings, but it was the beginning of the second phase for the team. Vin Scully and company moved to KTTV (television) and KMPC (radio) from that year onward, and the Dodgers became one of the first teams that commenced Spanish language radio broadcasts for Latinos, with KWKW as the first station to offer a Spanish-language service.

1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
1st season in Los Angeles
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
General manager(s)Buzzie Bavasi
Manager(s)Walter Alston
Local televisionKTTV (11)
Local radioKMPC
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett
KWKW
René Cárdenas, Miguel Alonzo, Milt Nava
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Offseason

Spring training

The Dodgers played their first exhibition game as the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 8, 1958. The team faced the Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Stadium. Ron Negray started for the Dodgers and gave up four runs in a 7 to 4 Dodgers loss. The New York Times noted that as much as the game was a historic milestone for the franchise, it was a chance for manager Walter Alston to evaluate players under game conditions, especially catchers, following Roy Campanella's offseason auto accident that ended his career before he could ever play for Los Angeles.[1]

Regular season
  • April 15–20, 1958: The Dodgers and Giants played their first six official National League games as representatives of their new cities on the West Coast with back-to-back three-game series, first at Seals Stadium, San Francisco, then at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Giants won four of those six games. In the season opener April 15, San Francisco blanked Los Angeles, 8–0, behind Rubén Gómez' complete game, six-hit shutout. Don Drysdale took the loss, and Charlie Neal notched Los Angeles' first hit, a single, in the second inning.[2] In their home opener April 18 in Los Angeles, the Dodgers built a 5–2 lead behind starting pitcher Carl Erskine, and held on to win 6–5. A throng of 78,762 witnessed the event at the Coliseum. Dick Gray, who hit the first home run in Los Angeles Dodger history April 16 in the second game of the 1958 season, also hit the first four-bagger before their home crowd in the seventh inning, giving Los Angeles an insurance run. The Giants nearly tied the game in the ninth inning, but Jim Davenport was ruled out for failing to touch third base after apparently scoring the equalizer on a triple by San Francisco's Willie Kirkland.[3]
Opening Day starters
NamePosition
Gino CimoliCenter fielder
Pee Wee ReeseShortstop
Duke SniderLeft fielder
Gil HodgesFirst baseman
Charlie NealSecond baseman
Dick GrayThird baseman
Carl FurilloRight fielder
Rube WalkerCatcher
Don DrysdaleStarting pitcher
Home opener starters
NamePosition
Jim GilliamLeft fielder
Pee Wee ReeseShortstop
Duke SniderRight fielder
Gil HodgesFirst baseman
Charlie NealSecond baseman
Dick GrayThird baseman
Gino CimoliCenter fielder
John RoseboroCatcher
Carl ErskineStarting pitcher

Season standings
National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Milwaukee Braves 9262 0.597 — 48–29 44–33
Pittsburgh Pirates 8470 0.545 8 49–28 35–42
San Francisco Giants 8074 0.519 12 44–33 36–41
Cincinnati Redlegs 7678 0.494 16 40–37 36–41
Chicago Cubs 7282 0.468 20 35–42 37–40
St. Louis Cardinals 7282 0.468 20 39–38 33–44
Los Angeles Dodgers 7183 0.461 21 39–38 32–45
Philadelphia Phillies 6985 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—10–1211–1110–1213–99–1312–107–15
Cincinnati12–10—11–115–1715–710–1211–1112–10
Los Angeles 11–1111–11—14–810–128–146–1611–11
Milwaukee12–1017–58–14—13–911–1116–615–7
Philadelphia9–137–1512–109–13—12–108–1412–10
Pittsburgh13–912–1014–811–1110–12—12–1012–10
San Francisco10–1211–1116–66–1614–810–12—13–9
St. Louis15–710–1211–117–1510–1210–129–13—


Notable transactions

Roster
1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers
  •  8 Johnny Roseboro

Infielders

 Outfielders
  • 51 Logan Fuga
 Manager

Coaches

  •  7 Charlie Dressen

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
CJohn Roseboro114384104.2711443
1BGil Hodges141475123.2592264
2BCharlie Neal140473120.2542265
SSDon Zimmer127455119.2621760
3BDick Gray5819749.249930
LFJim Gilliam147555145.261243
CFDuke Snider106327102.3121558
RFCarl Furillo122411119.2901883

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
Gino Cimoli10932580.246927
Norm Larker9925370.277429
Pee Wee Reese5914733.224417
Joe Pignatano6314231.218917
Don Demeter4310620.18958
Elmer Valo6510125.248114
Steve Bilko4710121.208718
Bob Lillis206927.39115
Randy Jackson356512.18514
Ron Fairly155315.28328
Rube Walker25445.11417
Jim Gentile12304.13304
Frank Howard8297.24112
Don Miles8224.18200
Earl Robinson8153.20000
Bob Wilson351.20000

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 Podres39210.113153.72143
Stan Williams27119974.0180
Danny McDevitt1348.1267.4526
Bob Giallombardo626.1113.7614

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
Don Drysdale44211.212134.17131
Sandy Koufax40158.211114.48131
Fred Kipp40102.1665.0158
Carl Erskine3198.1445.1354
Don Newcombe1134.1067.8616
Roger Craig932214.5016
Ralph Mauriello311.2114.6311

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
Clem Labine5266144.1543
Johnny Klippstein453593.8073
Ed Roebuck320153.4826
Don Bessent191003.3313
Babe Birrer160014.5016
Larry Sherry500012.462
Ron Negray40007.152
Jackie Collum20008.100

Awards and honors

All-stars

Farm system
Level Team League Manager
AAA Montreal Royals International League Clay Bryant
AAA St. Paul Saints American Association Max Macon
AA Victoria Rosebuds Texas League Lou Rochelli
A Macon Dodgers South Atlantic League Danny Ozark
A Pueblo Dodgers Western League Ray Mueller
B Green Bay Bluejays Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Pete Reiser
C Great Falls Electrics Pioneer League Stan Wasiak
C Reno Silver Sox California League Ray Perry
D Columbus Foxes Alabama–Florida League Brandy Davis
D Kokomo Dodgers Midwest League Edward Serrano
D Thomasville Dodgers Georgia–Florida League Rudy Rufer
Sam Suplizio

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal

Notes
  1. Gordon S. White Jr. (March 9, 1958). "Phillies Triumph Over Dodgers, 7–4". New York Times. p. S1.
  2. Retrosheet box score: 1958-04-15
  3. Retrosheet box score: 1958-04-18
  4. http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/snidedu01.php%5B%5D
  5. Don Newcombe at Baseball-Reference
  6. Randy Jackson at Baseball-Reference
  7. Ramón Conde at Baseball-Reference

References
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