1958 San Francisco Giants season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1958 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's first season in San Francisco, California, and 76th season overall. The Giants' home ballpark was Seals Stadium. The team had a record of 80–74 finishing in third place in the National League standings, twelve games behind the NL Champion Milwaukee Braves.
| 1958 San Francisco Giants | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Seals Stadium |
| City | San Francisco, California |
| Record | 80–74 (.519) |
| League place | 3rd |
| Owners | Horace Stoneham |
| General managers | Chub Feeney |
| Managers | Bill Rigney |
| Television | KTVU (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons) |
| Radio | KSFO (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons, Bill King) |
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.[1]
- December 2, 1957: 1957 minor league draft
- Lee Tate was drafted from the Giants by the St. Louis Cardinals.[2]
- Ramón Conde was drafted from the Giants by the Kansas City Athletics.[3]
- December 10, 1957: Freddy Rodríguez was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Tom Poholsky.[4]
- March 24, 1958: Foster Castleman was purchased from the Giants by the Baltimore Orioles for $30,000.[5]
- Prior to 1958 season:
- Dick LeMay was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[6]
- Eddie Fisher was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent.[7]
Regular season
Opening day
The Giants and the now-Los Angeles Dodgers, 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 Seals Stadium, the Giants' temporary home park, San Francisco blanked Los Angeles, 8–0, behind Rubén Gómez' complete game, six-hit shutout. Gómez fanned six, issued no bases on balls, and went two for four at the plate. Daryl Spencer hit the first home run in San Francisco's MLB history with a solo shot in the fourth inning, and rookie Orlando Cepeda followed with another solo blast one inning later. Willie Mays had two runs batted in. Don Drysdale took the loss for the Dodgers. Attendance at the longtime minor league stadium was a sellout, 23,448.[8]
Starting lineup
| 12 | Jim Davenport | 3B |
| 22 | Jim King | LF |
| 24 | Willie Mays | CF |
| 29 | Willie Kirkland | RF |
| 30 | Orlando Cepeda | 1B |
| 20 | Daryl Spencer | SS |
| 19 | Danny O'Connell | 2B |
| 7 | Valmy Thomas | C |
| 28 | Rubén Gómez | P[8][9] |
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | — | 48–29 | 44–33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 70 | .545 | 8 | 49–28 | 35–42 |
| San Francisco Giants | 80 | 74 | .519 | 12 | 44–33 | 36–41 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16 | 40–37 | 36–41 |
| Chicago Cubs | 72 | 82 | .468 | 20 | 35–42 | 37–40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 82 | .468 | 20 | 39–38 | 33–44 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 71 | 83 | .461 | 21 | 39–38 | 32–45 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 69 | 85 | .448 | 23 | 35–42 | 34–43 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | CHC | CIN | LAD | MIL | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||||
| Chicago | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 7–15 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 5–17 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 11–11 | 11–11 | — | 14–8 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | |||||
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 17–5 | 8–14 | — | 13–9 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 15–7 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 9–13 | — | 12–10 | 8–14 | 12–10 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 | — | 12–10 | 12–10 | |||||
| San Francisco | 10–12 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 6–16 | 14–8 | 10–12 | — | 13–9 | |||||
| St. Louis | 15–7 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 2, 1958: Ray Katt was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jim King.[10]
- April 3, 1958: Bobby Thomson was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Speake and cash.[11]
- May 17, 1958: Nick Testa was released by the Giants.[12]
- June 3, 1958: Gaylord Perry was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[13]
- July 15, 1958: Jim King was acquired from the Giants by the Toronto Maple Leafs.[14]
- August 25, 1958: Jesús Alou was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[15]
Roster
| 1958 San Francisco Giants | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos. | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Bob Schmidt | 127 | 393 | 96 | .244 | 14 | 54 | 0 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 148 | 603 | 188 | .312 | 25 | 96 | 15 |
| 2B | Danny O'Connell | 107 | 306 | 71 | .232 | 3 | 23 | 2 |
| SS | Daryl Spencer | 148 | 539 | 138 | .256 | 17 | 74 | 1 |
| 3B | Jim Davenport | 134 | 434 | 111 | .256 | 12 | 41 | 1 |
| LF | Hank Sauer | 88 | 236 | 59 | .250 | 12 | 46 | 0 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 152 | 600 | 208 | .347 | 29 | 96 | 31 |
| RF | Willie Kirkland | 122 | 418 | 108 | .258 | 14 | 56 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Jablonski | 86 | 230 | 53 | .230 | 12 | 46 |
| Leon Wagner | 74 | 221 | 70 | .317 | 13 | 35 |
| Felipe Alou | 75 | 182 | 46 | .253 | 4 | 16 |
| Valmy Thomas | 63 | 143 | 37 | .259 | 3 | 16 |
| Ed Bressoud | 66 | 137 | 36 | .263 | 0 | 8 |
| Whitey Lockman | 92 | 122 | 29 | .238 | 2 | 7 |
| Bob Speake | 66 | 71 | 15 | .211 | 3 | 10 |
| Andre Rodgers | 22 | 63 | 13 | .206 | 2 | 11 |
| Jim King | 34 | 56 | 12 | .214 | 2 | 8 |
| Jackie Brandt | 18 | 52 | 13 | .250 | 0 | 3 |
| Don Taussig | 39 | 50 | 10 | .200 | 1 | 4 |
| Bill White | 26 | 29 | 7 | .241 | 1 | 4 |
| Jim Finigan | 23 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Testa | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 | 41 | 241.2 | 16 | 13 | 3.28 | 143 |
| Rubén Gómez | 42 | 207.2 | 10 | 12 | 4.38 | 112 |
| Mike McCormick | 42 | 178.1 | 11 | 8 | 4.59 | 82 |
| John Fitzgerald | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stu Miller | 41 | 182.0 | 6 | 9 | 2.47 | 119 |
| Al Worthington | 54 | 151.1 | 11 | 7 | 3.63 | 76 |
| Ramón Monzant | 43 | 150.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.72 | 93 |
| Paul Giel | 29 | 92.0 | 4 | 5 | 4.70 | 55 |
| Curt Barclay | 6 | 16.0 | 0 | 1 | 2.81 | 6 |
| Pete Burnside | 6 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marv Grissom | 51 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 3.99 | 46 |
| Don Johnson | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.26 | 14 |
| Ray Crone | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.75 | 7 |
| Gordon Jones | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.37 | 8 |
| Jim Constable | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.63 | 4 |
| Dom Zanni | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 3 |
| Joe Shipley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.75 | 0 |
Awards and honors
- Orlando Cepeda – National League Rookie of the Year
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 | Danville Leafs | Carolina League | Bobby Hofman |
| C | Fresno Giants | California League | Mike McCormick |
| C | St. Cloud Rox | Northern League | Richie Klaus |
| D | Panama City Fliers | Alabama–Florida League | Bill Brightwell, Charles Clark, Joe Tipton and Charley Grant |
| 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: Phoenix, Corpus Christi, Fresno[16]