The 1958

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

season was the franchise's first season in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and 76th season overall. The Giants' home ballpark was

Seals Stadium Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Francisco, California; it later became the first home of the major league San Francisco Giants. Opened in the Mission District in 1931, Se ...

. The team had a record of 80–74 finishing in third place in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

standings, twelve games behind the NL Champion Milwaukee Braves. Of the broadcast team, Russ Hodges left his former broadcasting partners in New York and for that season was joined on both KTVU and KSFO by Lon Simmons.

Offseason

* December 2, 1957: Tony Taylor was drafted from the Giants by the Chicago Cubs in the 1957 rule 5 draft. * December 2, 1957: 1957 minor league draft ** Lee Tate was drafted from the Giants by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. ** Ramón Conde was drafted from the Giants by the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

. * December 10, 1957: Freddy Rodríguez was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Tom Poholsky. * March 24, 1958: Foster Castleman was purchased from the Giants by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

for $30,000. * Prior to 1958 season: ** Dick LeMay was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants. ** Eddie Fisher was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent.

Regular season

Opening day

The Giants and the now-

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, arch-rivals for 68 years in New York, faced each other in their respective first-ever game on the West Coast. On Tuesday afternoon, April 15, 1958, at

, the Giants' temporary home park, San Francisco blanked Los Angeles, 8–0, behind Rubén Gómez' complete game, six-hit

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. Gómez fanned six, issued no bases on balls, and went two for four at the plate. Daryl Spencer hit the first

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

in San Francisco's MLB history with a solo shot in the fourth inning, and

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; born September 17, 1937), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", is a Puerto Rican former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco Giants. A ...

followed with another solo blast one inning later.

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

had two

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. Don Drysdale took the loss for the Dodgers. Attendance at the longtime minor league stadium was a sellout, 23,448.

Starting lineup

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* April 2, 1958:

Ray Katt Raymond Frederick Katt (May 9, 1927 – October 19, 1999) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball during the 1950s, and later became the longtime and highly successful head baseball c ...

was traded by the Giants to the

for Jim King. * April 3, 1958: Bobby Thomson was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for

Bob Speake Robert Charles Speake (born August 22, 1930), nicknamed "Spook", is an American former professional baseball player. He was an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a ...

and cash. * May 17, 1958: Nick Testa was released by the Giants. * June 3, 1958:

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year baseb ...

was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants. * July 15, 1958: Jim King was acquired from the Giants by the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. * August 25, 1958: Jesús Alou was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

– National League Rookie of the Year

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Phoenix, Corpus Christi, FresnoJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References

1958 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference

1958 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac
{{San Francisco Giants San Francisco Giants seasons San Francisco Giants season 1958 in sports in California