1958 Cleveland Indians season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1958 Cleveland Indians season was the 58th season for the franchise, the 44th as the Indians and the 27th season at Cleveland Stadium. They improved upon their 76–77 campaign from the previous season, but missed the playoffs for the 4th consecutive season, finishing the season at 77–76.
| 1958 Cleveland Indians | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Owners | William R. Daley |
| General managers | Frank Lane |
| Managers | Bobby Bragan, Joe Gordon |
| Television | WEWS-TV (Ken Coleman, Bill McColgan) |
| Radio | WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal) |
Offseason
- December 4, 1957: Early Wynn and Al Smith were traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Minnie Miñoso and Fred Hatfield.[1]
- January 29, 1958: Mickey Vernon was selected off waivers by the Indians from the Boston Red Sox.[2]
- February 18, 1958: Hank Aguirre and Jim Hegan were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Jay Porter and Hal Woodeshick.[3]
- February 25, 1958: Pete Mesa (minors) was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Milt Bolling.[4]
- March 27, 1958: Vito Valentinetti and Milt Bolling were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Pete Wojey and $20,000.[5]
- Prior to 1958 season (exact date unknown)
- Doc Edwards was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.[6]
- Jim Weaver was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.[7]
Regular season
- May 17, 1958: Carroll Hardy hit his first major league home run when he pinch hit for Roger Maris in the 11th inning of a 4–4 tie against the Chicago White Sox.[8]
- June 26, 1958: First-year skipper Bobby Bragan was fired after 67 games, the shortest stint (at the time) for a Cleveland Indians manager.[9] Cleveland was 31–36 (.463) and in sixth place at the time. Former Tribe All-Star second baseman Joe Gordon took the reins on June 27, and led the Indians to a 46–40 (.535) mark for the rest of the season.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 92 | 62 | .597 | — | 44–33 | 48–29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 82 | 72 | .532 | 10 | 47–30 | 35–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 79 | 75 | .513 | 13 | 49–28 | 30–47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 77 | 76 | .503 | 14½ | 42–34 | 35–42 |
| Detroit Tigers | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15 | 43–34 | 34–43 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 79 | .484 | 17½ | 46–31 | 28–48 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 73 | 81 | .474 | 19 | 43–34 | 30–47 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 93 | .396 | 31 | 33–44 | 28–49 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 10–12 | 9–13–1 | 10–11 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 8–14 | 15–7 | |||||
| Boston | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13–1 | 14–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | — | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 7–15 | 16–6 | |||||
| Cleveland | 11–10 | 10–12 | 10–12 | — | 14–8 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | |||||
| Detroit | 12–10 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 12–10 | 12–10 | 9–13 | |||||
| Kansas City | 10–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 | 12–10–2 | |||||
| New York | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 13–9 | — | 12–10 | |||||
| Washington | 7–15 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 10–12–2 | 10–12 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 12, 1958: Chico Carrasquel was traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Billy Hunter.[10]
- June 15, 1958: Roger Maris, Dick Tomanek and Preston Ward were traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Woodie Held and Vic Power.[11]
- July 2, 1958: Bob Lemon was released by the Indians.[12]
- July 2, 1958: Morrie Martin was selected off waivers by the Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.[13]
- August 4, 1958: Randy Jackson was purchased by the Indians from the Los Angeles Dodgers.[14]
- August 23, 1958: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers from the Indians by the Baltimore Orioles.[15]
Opening Day Lineup
| Opening Day Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Position |
| 17 | Chico Carrasquel | SS |
| 5 | Roger Maris | RF |
| 9 | Minnie Miñoso | LF |
| 14 | Larry Doby | CF |
| 8 | Mickey Vernon | 1B |
| 15 | Russ Nixon | C |
| 7 | Fred Hatfield | 3B |
| 16 | Billy Moran | 2B |
| 27 | Herb Score | P |
Roster
| 1958 Cleveland Indians | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Russ Nixon | 113 | 376 | 113 | .301 | 9 | 46 |
| 1B | Mickey Vernon | 119 | 355 | 104 | .293 | 8 | 55 |
| 2B | Bobby Ávila | 113 | 375 | 95 | .253 | 5 | 30 |
| SS | Billy Hunter | 76 | 190 | 37 | .195 | 0 | 9 |
| 3B | Vic Power | 93 | 385 | 122 | .317 | 12 | 53 |
| LF | Minnie Miñoso | 149 | 556 | 168 | .302 | 24 | 80 |
| CF | Larry Doby | 89 | 247 | 70 | .285 | 13 | 45 |
| RF | Rocky Colavito | 143 | 489 | 148 | .303 | 41 | 113 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Moran | 115 | 257 | 58 | .226 | 1 | 18 |
| Billy Harrell | 101 | 229 | 50 | .218 | 7 | 19 |
| Gary Geiger | 91 | 195 | 45 | .231 | 1 | 6 |
| Roger Maris | 51 | 182 | 41 | .225 | 9 | 27 |
| Dick Brown | 68 | 173 | 41 | .237 | 7 | 20 |
| Chico Carrasquel | 49 | 156 | 40 | .225 | 9 | 27 |
| Preston Ward | 48 | 148 | 50 | .338 | 4 | 21 |
| Woodie Held | 67 | 144 | 28 | .194 | 3 | 17 |
| Randy Jackson | 29 | 91 | 22 | .242 | 4 | 13 |
| Jay Porter | 40 | 85 | 17 | .200 | 4 | 19 |
| Earl Averill Jr. | 17 | 55 | 10 | .182 | 2 | 7 |
| Carroll Hardy | 27 | 49 | 10 | .204 | 1 | 6 |
| Vic Wertz | 25 | 43 | 12 | .279 | 3 | 12 |
| Larry Raines | 7 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Hal Naragon | 9 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Rod Graber | 4 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Hatfield | 3 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal McLish | 39 | 225.2 | 16 | 8 | 2.99 | 97 |
| Gary Bell | 33 | 182.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.31 | 110 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mudcat Grant | 44 | 204.0 | 10 | 11 | 3.84 | 111 |
| Ray Narleski | 44 | 183.1 | 13 | 10 | 4.07 | 102 |
| Don Ferrarese | 28 | 94.2 | 3 | 4 | 3.71 | 62 |
| Hal Woodeshick | 14 | 71.2 | 6 | 6 | 3.64 | 27 |
| Dick Tomanek | 18 | 57.2 | 2 | 3 | 5.62 | 42 |
| Herb Score | 12 | 41.0 | 2 | 3 | 3.95 | 48 |
| Bob Kelly | 13 | 27.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.20 | 12 |
| Jim Constable | 6 | 9.1 | 0 | 1 | 11.57 | 3 |
| Mike Garcia | 6 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 30 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2.49 | 57 |
| Don Mossi | 43 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 3.90 | 55 |
| Morrie Martin | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.41 | 5 |
| Bob Lemon | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.33 | 8 |
| Steve Ridzik | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.08 | 6 |
| Chuck Churn | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 4 |
| Dick Brodowski | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 12 |
| Rocky Colavito | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Gary Geiger | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
Awards and honors
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington, North Platte[17]