# 1959 San Francisco Giants season

The 1959 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 77th year in Major League Baseball and their second season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season. The team finished in third place in the National League with an 83–71 record, 4 games behind the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the team's second and final season at Seals Stadium before moving their games to Candlestick Park the following season.

## Offseason

* October 8, 1958: Marv Grissom and Ernie Broglio were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Hobie Landrith, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela.
* December 3, 1958: Rubén Gómez and Valmy Thomas were traded by the Giants to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jack Sanford.
* December 5, 1958: Joey Amalfitano was released by the Giants.
* March 25, 1959: Ray Jablonski and Bill White were traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Sam Jones and Don Choate.

## Regular season

In his major league debut on July 30, Willie McCovey went four-for-four against future Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts en route to a .354 batting average. McCovey went on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors while playing in just 52 games.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 68 | .564 | — | 46‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 86 | 70 | .551 | 2 | 49‍–‍29 | 37‍–‍41 |
| San Francisco Giants | 83 | 71 | .539 | 4 | 42‍–‍35 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 76 | .506 | 9 | 47‍–‍30 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 74 | 80 | .481 | 13 | 38‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 80 | .481 | 13 | 43‍–‍34 | 31‍–‍46 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | 83 | .461 | 16 | 42‍–‍35 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 64 | 90 | .416 | 23 | 37‍–‍40 | 27‍–‍50 |

### Record vs. opponents

1959 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | LA | 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 starters

* Johnny Antonelli
* Jackie Brandt
* Orlando Cepeda
* Jim Davenport
* Willie Kirkland
* Willie Mays
* Andre Rodgers
* Bob Schmidt
* Daryl Spencer

### Notable transactions

* July 26, 1959: Billy Muffett and cash were traded by the Giants to the Boston Red Sox for Bud Byerly.
* August 25, 1959: Hank Sauer was released 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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Hobie Landrith | 109 | 283 | 71 | .251 | 3 | 29 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 151 | 605 | 192 | .317 | 27 | 105 |
| 2B | Daryl Spencer | 152 | 555 | 147 | .265 | 12 | 62 |
| SS | Ed Bressoud | 104 | 315 | 79 | .251 | 9 | 26 |
| 3B | Jim Davenport | 123 | 469 | 121 | .258 | 6 | 38 |
| LF | Jackie Brandt | 137 | 429 | 116 | .270 | 12 | 57 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 151 | 575 | 180 | .313 | 34 | 104 |
| RF | Willie Kirkland | 126 | 463 | 126 | .272 | 22 | 68 |

#### 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 |
| Felipe Alou | 95 | 247 | 68 | .275 | 10 | 33 |
| Andre Rodgers | 71 | 228 | 57 | .250 | 6 | 24 |
| Willie McCovey | 52 | 192 | 68 | .354 | 13 | 38 |
| Bob Schmidt | 71 | 181 | 44 | .243 | 5 | 20 |
| Leon Wagner | 87 | 129 | 29 | .225 | 5 | 22 |
| Danny O'Connell | 34 | 58 | 11 | .190 | 0 | 0 |
| Dusty Rhodes | 54 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 0 | 7 |
| José Pagán | 31 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Hegan | 21 | 30 | 4 | .133 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Sauer | 13 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 1 | 1 |
| Bob Speake | 15 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 1 |
| Roger McCardell | 4 | 4 | 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 |
| Johnny Antonelli | 40 | 282.0 | 19 | 10 | 3.10 | 165 |
| Sam Jones | 50 | 270.2 | 21 | 15 | 2.83 | 209 |
| Jack Sanford | 36 | 222.1 | 15 | 12 | 3.16 | 132 |
| Marshall Renfroe | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Mike McCormick | 47 | 225.2 | 12 | 16 | 3.99 | 151 |
| Stu Miller | 59 | 167.2 | 8 | 7 | 2.84 | 95 |
| Eddie Fisher | 17 | 40.0 | 2 | 6 | 7.88 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Al Worthington | 42 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.68 | 45 |
| Gordon Jones | 31 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4.33 | 29 |
| Bud Byerly | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.38 | 4 |
| Joe Shipley | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 11 |
| Dom Zanni | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.55 | 11 |
| Billy Muffett | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 3 |
| Curt Barclay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Willie McCovey – National League Rookie of the Year
All-Star Game (first game) All-Star Game (second game)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Phoenix Giants | Pacific Coast League | Red Davis |
| AA | Corpus Christi Giants | Texas League | Ray Murray |
| A | Springfield Giants | Eastern League | Andy Gilbert |
| B | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Roy Partee |
| C | Fresno Giants | California League | Mike McCormick |
| C | St. Cloud Rox | Northern League | Richie Klaus |
| D | Michigan City White Caps | Midwest League | Buddy Kerr |
| D | Hastings Giants | Nebraska State League | Leo Schrall |
| D | Artesia Giants | Sophomore League | Jodie Phipps |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield