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
Location
Results
Record71–83 (.461)
League place7th
Other information
Owner(s)August "Gussie" Busch
General manager(s)Bing Devine
Manager(s)Solly Hemus
Local televisionKPLR
Local radioKMOX
(Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola)
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Offseason

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 8868 0.564 — 46–32 42–36
Milwaukee Braves 8670 0.551 2 49–29 37–41
San Francisco Giants 8371 0.539 4 42–35 41–36
Pittsburgh Pirates 7876 0.506 9 47–30 31–46
Chicago Cubs 7480 0.481 13 38–39 36–41
Cincinnati Reds 7480 0.481 13 43–34 31–46
St. Louis Cardinals 7183 0.461 16 42–35 29–48
Philadelphia Phillies 6490 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 —9–1311–1110–1210–12–112–1012–1010–12
Cincinnati 13–9—13–911–119–139–138–1411–11
Los Angeles 11–119–13—14–1017–511–1114–812–10
Milwaukee 12–1011–1110–14—13–915–7–112–1013–9
Philadelphia 12–10–113–95–179–13—9–139–137–15
Pittsburgh 10–1213–911–117–15–113–9—10–1214–8
San Francisco 10–1214–88–1410–1213–912–10—16–6
St. Louis 12–1011–1110–129–1315–78–146–16—

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
  • 38 Tom Hughes
 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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
CFGino Cimoli143519145.279872

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 Tate41507.14014
Chuck Essegian17397.17905
Duke Carmel10233.13003
Charlie O'Rourke220.00000

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 Broglio35181.17124.72133
Tom Hughes240215.752

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 Blaylock26100455.1361
Marshall Bridges2776634.2676
Bob Blaylock39014.003

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 Brosnan201324.9118
Marv Grissom300022.500

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
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