The 1959

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 ...

season was the team's 78th season in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and its 68th season 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 ...

. 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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

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 ...

. They attracted 929,953 paying fans to

Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (M ...

, fifth in the eight-team league.

Offseason

* September 29, 1958: One day after the end of the 1958 National League regular season,

Gene Freese Eugene Lewis "Gene" Freese (January 8, 1934 – June 18, 2013), was an American professional baseball third baseman, who was widely noted as a journeyman. Freese played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (twice), St. Louis Card ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for

Solly Hemus Solomon Joseph Hemus (April 17, 1923 – October 2, 2017) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. Hemus is one of a sel ...

. 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 A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

for 1959, succeeding interim skipper

Stan Hack Stanley Camfield Hack (December 6, 1909 – December 15, 1979), nicknamed "Smiling Stan", was an American third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the National League's top t ...

. * October 8, 1958:

Hobie Landrith Hobart Neal Landrith (born March 16, 1930) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1950 through 1963 for the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, San Franci ...

, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela were traded by the Cardinals to the

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 ...

for

Marv Grissom Marvin Edward Grissom (March 31, 1918 – September 19, 2005) was an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach. During his active career he appeared in 356 games in Major League Baseball for the New York / San Francisco Giants ...

and

Ernie Broglio Ernest Gilbert Broglio (; August 27, 1935 – July 16, 2019) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball from 1959 to 1966. After attending high school and junior college i ...

. * October 15, 1958:

Marshall Bridges Marshall Bridges (June 2, 1931 – September 3, 1990) was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1959 to 1965 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Washington Senators. A st ...

was purchased by the Cardinals from the

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...

. * December 1, 1958: Johnny O'Brien was drafted from the Cardinals by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1958 rule 5 draft. * December 3, 1958: Rubén Amaro was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for

Chuck Essegian Charles Abraham Essegian (born August 9, 1931) is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He appeared in 404 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) over six seasons (1958–1963) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, L ...

. * December 4, 1958:

Wally Moon Wallace Wade MoonSteve Springer"Dodgers' Moon found success in Coliseum" ''Los Angeles Times'', March 23, 2008. (April 3, 1930 – February 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball. Moon played his 12-yea ...

and

Phil Paine Phillips Steere Paine (June 8, 1930 – February 19, 1978) was an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher who appeared in all or part of six MLB seasons between 1951 and 1958. In 1953, while serving in the military, Paine pitched in nine ga ...

were traded by the Cardinals to the

for

Gino Cimoli Gino Nicholas Cimoli (December 18, 1929 – February 12, 2011) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee ...

. * March 25, 1959: Sam Jones and

Don Choate Donald Leon Choate (July 2, 1938 – February 4, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher appeared in four Major League games, all in relief, for the San Francisco Giants in . He stood tall and weighed . ...

were traded by the Cardinals to the

for

Ray Jablonski Raymond Leo Jablonski (December 17, 1926 – November 25, 1985) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for all or parts of eight MLB seasons between 1953 and 1960. A National League All-Star, Jablonski appeared in 812 ...

and Bill White.Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown) ** Lee Gregory was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.

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 An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

was ranked worst in the National League. There were some bright spots to the season.

Larry Jackson Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies from to . In , ...

and

Lindy McDaniel Lyndall Dale McDaniel (December 13, 1935 – November 14, 2020), known as Lindy McDaniel, was an American professional baseball pitcher who had a 21-year career in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1975. During his career, he witnessed approxim ...

, 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 Kenton Lloyd "Ken" Boyer (May 20, 1931 – September 7, 1982) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman, coach and manager who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers for 15 ...

won a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

this year.

Right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

Joe Cunningham led the National League in on-base percentage at .453 and batted .345 to finish second to

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

for the National League

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

* June 8, 1959:

Jim Brosnan James Patrick Brosnan (October 24, 1929 – June 28, 2014) was an American baseball player and author who played in Major League Baseball in 1954 and from 1956 through 1963. A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in 385 games, largely in relie ...

was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for

Hal Jeffcoat Harold Bentley Jeffcoat (September 6, 1924 – August 30, 2007) was an American professional baseball player who forged a 12-season, 918-game Major League Baseball career, first as an outfielder (1948–1953) and then as a right-handed pitcher (1 ...

. * June 19, 1959: Solly Hemus was released by the Cardinals as an active player; he remained the team's manager.Solly Hemus page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * July 25, 1959: Jay Porter was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Washington Senators. * August 4, 1959:

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 released by the Cardinals. * August 20, 1959: Ray Jablonski was selected off waivers from the Cardinals 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 ...

. * September 6, 1959:

Phil Gagliano Philip Joseph Gagliano (December 27, 1941 – December 19, 2016) was an American professional baseball player who forged a 12-season, 702-game career in Major League Baseball as a utility infielder/outfielder and pinch hitter for four clubs (pri ...

was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.

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''

Farm system

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

References

External links

1959 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference1959 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season 1959 in sports in Missouri