1959 Baltimore Orioles season
Major League Baseball season
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The 1959 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's sixth season in Baltimore, Maryland, and its 59th overall. It resulted with the Orioles finishing sixth in the American League with a record of 74 wins and 80 losses, 22 games behind the AL champion Chicago White Sox.
| 1959 Baltimore Orioles | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Memorial Stadium |
| City | Baltimore |
| Record | 74–80 (.481) |
| League place | 6th |
| Owners | Jerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart |
| General managers | Lee MacPhail |
| Managers | Paul Richards |
| Television | WJZ-TV |
| Radio | WBAL (AM) (Ernie Harwell, Herb Carneal) |
Offseason
- October 2, 1958: Dick Williams was traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Chico Carrasquel.[1]
- Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown)
- John Anderson was obtained by the Orioles from the Miami Marlins after expiration of minor league working agreement.[2]
- Bob Saverine was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles.[3]
Regular season
- June 10, 1959: Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians hit four home runs in one game against the Orioles.[4]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | — | 47–30 | 47–30 |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 5 | 43–34 | 46–31 |
| New York Yankees | 79 | 75 | .513 | 15 | 40–37 | 39–38 |
| Detroit Tigers | 76 | 78 | .494 | 18 | 41–36 | 35–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | .487 | 19 | 43–34 | 32–45 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 80 | .481 | 20 | 38–39 | 36–41 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 66 | 88 | .429 | 28 | 37–40 | 29–48 |
| Washington Senators | 63 | 91 | .409 | 31 | 34–43 | 29–48 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | NYY | WSH | |||||
| Baltimore | — | 8–14 | 11–11–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 12–10 | |||||
| Boston | 14–8 | — | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12 | |||||
| Chicago | 11–11–1 | 14–8 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 13–9–1 | 16–6 | |||||
| Cleveland | 12–10 | 14–8 | 7–15 | — | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 16–6 | |||||
| Detroit | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 8–14 | — | 15–7 | 14–8 | 10–12 | |||||
| Kansas City | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 10–12 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 17–5 | — | 15–7 | |||||
| Washington | 10–12 | 12–10 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 7–15 | — | |||||
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- April 1, 1959: Vito Valentinetti was acquired by the Orioles from the Washington Senators in exchange for Billy Loes. The trade was voided and the players returned to their original teams on April 8.[6]
- May 21, 1959: Bobby Ávila was acquired by the Boston Red Sox from the Orioles off waivers.[7]
- May 26, 1959: Albie Pearson was acquired by the Orioles from the Washington Senators in exchange for Lenny Green.[8]
- June 15, 1959: Billy Hoeft was acquired by the Orioles from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Jack Harshman.[9]
- June 23, 1959: Whitey Lockman was traded by the Orioles to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Walt Dropo.[10]
- September 6, 1959: Rip Coleman was acquired by the Orioles off waivers from the Kansas City Athletics.[11]
Roster
| 1959 Baltimore Orioles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Gus Triandos | 126 | 393 | 85 | .216 | 25 | 73 |
| 1B | Bob Boyd | 128 | 415 | 110 | .265 | 3 | 41 |
| 2B | Billy Gardner | 140 | 401 | 87 | .217 | 6 | 27 |
| 3B | Brooks Robinson | 88 | 313 | 89 | .284 | 4 | 24 |
| SS | Chico Carrasquel | 114 | 346 | 77 | .223 | 4 | 28 |
| LF | Bob Nieman | 118 | 360 | 105 | .292 | 21 | 60 |
| CF | Willie Tasby | 142 | 505 | 126 | .250 | 13 | 48 |
| RF | Al Pilarcik | 130 | 273 | 77 | .282 | 3 | 16 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gene Woodling | 140 | 440 | 132 | .300 | 14 | 77 |
| Billy Klaus | 104 | 321 | 80 | .249 | 3 | 25 |
| Joe Ginsberg | 65 | 166 | 30 | .181 | 1 | 14 |
| Walt Dropo | 62 | 151 | 42 | .278 | 6 | 21 |
| Albie Pearson | 80 | 138 | 32 | .232 | 0 | 6 |
| Jim Finigan | 48 | 119 | 30 | .252 | 1 | 10 |
| Willy Miranda | 65 | 88 | 14 | .159 | 0 | 7 |
| Barry Shetrone | 33 | 79 | 16 | .203 | 0 | 5 |
| Whitey Lockman | 38 | 69 | 15 | .217 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Hale | 40 | 54 | 10 | .185 | 0 | 7 |
| Bobby Ávila | 20 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Adair | 12 | 35 | 11 | .314 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Taylor | 14 | 32 | 5 | .156 | 1 | 2 |
| Lenny Green | 27 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 2 | 15 |
| Fred Valentine | 12 | 19 | 6 | .316 | 0 | 1 |
| Leo Burke | 5 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Ron Hansen | 2 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Saverine | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 32 | 226.0 | 15 | 11 | 2.19 | 139 |
| Milt Pappas | 33 | 209.1 | 15 | 9 | 3.27 | 120 |
| Jerry Walker | 30 | 182.0 | 11 | 10 | 2.92 | 100 |
| Hal Brown | 31 | 164.0 | 11 | 9 | 3.79 | 81 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy O'Dell | 38 | 199.1 | 10 | 12 | 2.93 | 88 |
| Arnie Portocarrero | 27 | 90.0 | 2 | 7 | 6.80 | 23 |
| Jack Fisher | 27 | 88.2 | 1 | 6 | 3.05 | 52 |
| Jack Harshman | 14 | 47.1 | 0 | 6 | 6.85 | 24 |
| George Bamberger | 3 | 8.1 | 0 | 0 | 7.56 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Loes | 37 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 4.06 | 34 |
| Ernie Johnson | 31 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.11 | 29 |
| Billy Hoeft | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.71 | 30 |
| Wes Stock | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.55 | 8 |
| George Zuverink | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 | 1 |
| Rip Coleman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |