1959 St. Louis Cardinals season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 St. Louis Cardinals 1959 National League Busch Stadium I St. Louis, Missouri 71–83 (.461) 7th August "Gussie" Busch Bing Devine Solly Hemus KPLR KMOX(Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola) The 1959 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 78th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 68th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 71–83 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, 16 games behind the NL pennant winner and World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They attracted 929,953 paying fans to Busch Stadium, fifth in the eight-team league.1959 National League attendance at Baseball America Offseason September 29, 1958: One day after the end of the 1958 National League regular season, Gene Freese was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Solly Hemus. The 35-year-old Hemus, a ten-year MLB veteran, had begun his career as a Cardinal, playing in 684 games between 1949 and 1956. He had appeared in 85 games as a second baseman for the 1958 Phillies, but was immediately named the Redbirds' player-manager for 1959, succeeding interim skipper Stan Hack. October 8, 1958: Hobie Landrith, Billy Muffett and Benny Valenzuela were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Marv Grissom and Ernie Broglio.Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference October 15, 1958: Marshall Bridges was purchased by the Cardinals from the Sacramento Solons.Marshall Bridges page at Baseball Reference December 1, 1958: Johnny O'Brien was drafted from the Cardinals by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1958 rule 5 draft.Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference December 3, 1958: Rubén Amaro was traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chuck Essegian.Ruben Amaro page at Baseball Reference December 4, 1958: Wally Moon and Phil Paine were traded by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Gino Cimoli.Phil Paine page at Baseball Reference March 25, 1959: Sam Jones and Don Choate were traded by the Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Jablonski and Bill White.Ray Jablonski page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown) Lee Gregory was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.Lee Gregory page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season summary The Cardinals played the league's best baseball from early May into late July, during which time they went 40–30. In the end, pitching failed the Redbirds. Their 4.34 ERA was ranked worst in the National League. There were some bright spots to the season. Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel, who found success and saved 15 games after an early-season move to the bullpen, each won a team-high 14 games. Also, third baseman Ken Boyer won a Gold Glove this year. Right fielder Joe Cunningham led the National League in on-base percentage at .453 and batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title. Season standings Record vs. opponents STL Opening Day lineup Notable transactions June 8, 1959: Jim Brosnan was traded by the Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Hal Jeffcoat.Hall Jeffcoat page at Baseball Reference June 19, 1959: Solly Hemus was released by the Cardinals as an active player; he remained the team's manager.Solly Hemus page at Baseball Reference July 25, 1959: Jay Porter was selected off waivers by the Cardinals from the Washington Senators.Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference August 4, 1959: Ray Katt was released by the Cardinals.Ray Katt page at Baseball Reference August 20, 1959: Ray Jablonski was selected off waivers from the Cardinals by the Kansas City Athletics. September 6, 1959: Phil Gagliano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cardinals.Phil Gagliano page at Baseball Reference Roster 1959 St. Louis Cardinals Roster Pitchers 24 Bob Blaylock 44 Gary Blaylock 30 Marshall Bridges 32 Ernie Broglio 37 Jim Brosnan 38 Tom Cheney 36 Phil Clark 24 Bob Duliba 58 Bob Gibson 42 Marv Grissom 38 Tom Hughes 39 Larry Jackson 36 Hal Jeffcoat 34 Alex Kellner 41 Lindy McDaniel 49 Bob Miller 33 Vinegar Bend Mizell 57 Howie Nunn 47 Dick Ricketts 30 Bill Smith 45 Dean Stone 24 Jack Urban Catchers  9 Ray Katt 51 Tim McCarver 44 J. W. Porter  2 Hal Smith Infielders 11 Don Blasingame 14 Ken Boyer 18 George Crowe 10 Alex Grammas 27 Dick Gray  7 Solly Hemus 16 Ray Jablonski  6 Stan Musial 25 Wally Shannon 19 Lee Tate Outfielders 20 Duke Carmel 22 Gino Cimoli 15 Joe Cunningham 20 Joe Durham 29 Chuck Essegian 21 Curt Flood  1 Gene Green 25 Chick King 25 Irv Noren 29 Gene Oliver 24 Bobby Gene Smith 12,26 Bill White Other batters 25 Charlie O'Rourke Manager  7 Solly Hemus Coaches  9 Ray Katt  5 Johnny Keane  4 Howie Pollet  3 Harry Walker 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 R. Smith 142 452 122 .270 13 50 1B Stan Musial 115 341 87 .255 14 44 2B Don Blasingame 150 615 178 .289 1 24 SS Alex Grammas 131 368 99 .269 3 30 3B Ken Boyer 149 563 174 .309 28 94 LF Bill White 138 517 156 .302 12 72 CF Gino Cimoli 143 519 145 .279 8 72 RF Joe Cunningham 144 458 158 .345 7 60 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 Curt Flood 121 208 53 .255 7 26 Gene Oliver 68 172 42 .244 6 28 George Crowe 77 103 31 .301 8 29 Wally Shannon 47 95 27 .284 0 5 Ray Jablonski 60 87 22 .253 3 14 Gene Green 30 74 14 .189 1 3 Bobby Smith 43 60 13 .217 1 7 Dick Gray 36 51 16 .314 1 6 Lee Tate 41 50 7 .140 1 4 Chuck Essegian 17 39 7 .179 0 5 Jay Porter 23 33 7 .212 1 2 Tim McCarver 8 24 4 .167 0 0 Ray Katt 15 24 7 .292 0 2 Duke Carmel 10 23 3 .130 0 3 Solly Hemus 24 17 4 .235 0 1 Irv Noren 8 8 1 .125 0 0 Chick King 5 7 3 .429 0 1 Joe Durham 6 5 0 .000 0 0 Charlie O'Rourke Charlie O'Rourke (baseball) 2 2 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 Larry Jackson 40 256.0 14 13 3.30 145 Vinegar Bend Mizell 31 201.1 13 10 4.20 108 Ernie Broglio 35 181.1 7 12 4.72 133 Bob Gibson 13 75.2 3 5 3.33 48 Bob Miller 11 70.2 4 3 3.31 43 Tom Hughes Tom Hughes (pitcher, born 1934) 2 4.0 0 2 15.75 2 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 Gary Blaylock 26 100.0 4 5 5.13 61 Dick Ricketts 12 55.2 1 6 5.82 25 Alex Kellner 12 37.0 2 1 3.16 19 Tom Cheney 11 11.2 0 1 6.94 8 Bob Blaylock 3 9.0 0 1 4.00 3 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 Lindy McDaniel 62 14 12 16 3.82 86 Marshall Bridges 27 6 3 1 4.26 76 Jim Brosnan 20 1 3 2 4.91 18 Dean Stone 18 0 1 1 4.20 17 Howie Nunn 16 2 2 0 7.59 20 Bob Duliba 11 0 1 1 2.78 14 Hal Jeffcoat 11 0 1 0 9.17 7 Jack Urban 8 0 0 0 9.28 4 Phil Clark 7 0 1 0 12.86 5 Bill Smith 6 0 0 1 1.08 4 Marv Grissom 3 0 0 0 22.50 0 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Omaha Cardinals American Association Joe Schultz AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Cot Deal and Clyde King AA Tulsa Oilers Texas League Vern Benson A York White Roses Eastern League Mike Ryba and Ed Lyons B Winston-Salem Red Birds Carolina League Al Unser C Winnipeg Goldeyes Northern League Chase Riddle C Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Whitey Kurowski D Dothan Cardinals Alabama–Florida League J. C. Dunn D Wytheville Cardinals Appalachian League Don Pries D Daytona Beach Islanders Florida State League Homer Ray Wilson D Keokuk Cardinals Midwest League Frank Calo D Hobbs Cardinals Sophomore League Thurman Tucker LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Winnipeg, BillingsJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 References 2 External links 1959 St. Louis Cardinals at Baseball Reference 1959 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:St. Louis Cardinals seasons Saint Louis Cardinals season Category:1959 in sports in Missouri