1959 Washington Senators season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1959 Washington Senators won 63 games, lost 91, and finished in eighth place in the American League, 31 games behind the AL Champion Chicago White Sox in their penultimate season in The Nation's Capital. They were managed by Cookie Lavagetto and played home games at Griffith Stadium.
| 1959 Washington Senators | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Griffith Stadium |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Record | 63–91 (.409) |
| League place | 8th |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith |
| Managers | Cookie Lavagetto |
| Television | WTOP |
| Radio | WTOP (Chuck Thompson, Bob Wolff, Jack Guinan) |
Regular season
On September 7, Ron Samford hit a home run in the last at bat of his career.[1]
Pedro Ramos led the American League in losses.[2]
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 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 1, 1959: Vito Valentinetti was traded by the Senators to the Baltimore Orioles for Billy Loes. The trade was voided and the players returned to their original teams on April 8.[3]
- July 25, 1959: Jay Porter was selected off waivers from the Senators by the St. Louis Cardinals.[4]
Roster
| 1959 Washington Senators | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Hal Naragon | 71 | 195 | 47 | .241 | 0 | 11 |
| 1B | Roy Sievers | 115 | 385 | 93 | .242 | 21 | 49 |
| 2B | Reno Bertoia | 90 | 308 | 73 | .237 | 8 | 29 |
| SS | Billy Consolo | 79 | 202 | 43 | .213 | 0 | 10 |
| 3B | Harmon Killebrew | 153 | 546 | 132 | .242 | 42 | 105 |
| LF | Jim Lemon | 147 | 531 | 148 | .279 | 33 | 100 |
| CF | Bob Allison | 150 | 570 | 149 | .261 | 30 | 85 |
| RF | Faye Throneberry | 117 | 327 | 82 | .251 | 10 | 42 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Samford | 91 | 237 | 53 | .224 | 5 | 22 |
| Ken Aspromonte | 70 | 225 | 55 | .244 | 2 | 14 |
| Julio Bécquer | 108 | 220 | 59 | .268 | 1 | 26 |
| Lenny Green | 88 | 190 | 46 | .242 | 2 | 15 |
| Clint Courtney | 72 | 189 | 44 | .233 | 2 | 18 |
| Jay Porter | 37 | 106 | 24 | .226 | 1 | 10 |
| Albie Pearson | 25 | 80 | 15 | .188 | 0 | 2 |
| Norm Zauchin | 19 | 71 | 15 | .211 | 3 | 4 |
| Ed Fitz Gerald | 19 | 62 | 12 | .194 | 0 | 5 |
| Dan Dobbek | 16 | 60 | 15 | .250 | 1 | 5 |
| Zoilo Versalles | 29 | 59 | 9 | .153 | 1 | 1 |
| Johnny Schaive | 16 | 59 | 9 | .153 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Korcheck | 22 | 51 | 8 | .157 | 0 | 4 |
| Herb Plews | 27 | 40 | 9 | .225 | 0 | 2 |
| José Valdivielso | 24 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Malkmus | 6 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camilo Pascual | 32 | 238.2 | 17 | 10 | 2.64 | 185 |
| Pedro Ramos | 37 | 233.2 | 13 | 19 | 4.16 | 95 |
| Russ Kemmerer | 37 | 206.0 | 8 | 17 | 4.50 | 89 |
| Bill Fischer | 34 | 187.1 | 9 | 11 | 4.28 | 62 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hal Griggs | 37 | 97.2 | 2 | 8 | 5.25 | 43 |
| Chuck Stobbs | 41 | 90.2 | 1 | 8 | 2.98 | 50 |
| John Romonosky | 12 | 38.1 | 1 | 0 | 3.29 | 22 |
| Vito Valentinetti | 7 | 10.2 | 0 | 2 | 10.13 | 7 |
| Jim Kaat | 3 | 5.0 | 0 | 2 | 12.60 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tex Clevenger | 50 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 3.91 | 71 |
| Dick Hyde | 37 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4.97 | 29 |
| Hal Woodeshick | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3.69 | 30 |
| Jack Kralick | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.57 | 7 |
| Ralph Lumenti | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Tom McAvoy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Murray Wall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 0 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern Association | Red Marion |
| A | Charlotte Hornets | Sally League | Gene Verble |
| B | Fox Cities Foxes | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Jack McKeon |
| C | Missoula Timberjacks | Pioneer League | Ralph Rowe |
| D | Fort Walton Beach Jets | Alabama–Florida League | Vince Magi |
| D | Lynchburg Senators | Appalachian League | Chick Payne |
| D | Sanford Greyhounds | Florida State League | Packy Rogers, Ed Barberito and Joe Abernethy |