YEAR IN REVIEW : 1959 American League

Off the field...

The United States expanded its borders as both Alaska and Hawaii were officially admitted to the Union. Despite an overwhelming vote by Alaskans in 1956, it took more than two years for the Senate to finally agree to make Alaska the forty-ninth state. On March 18, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower added Hawaii, the Aloha State, and commissioned a new fifty star U.S. Flag.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), and Ritchie Valens died when their Beechcraft plane crashed just outside Clear Lake, Iowa, during a stormy winter night. Holly was famous for many hits including "Peggy Sue." The Big Bopper had one big hit, "Chantilly Lace." And Valens was best known for his hit, "La Bamba." The tragic accident was penned in the papers as "The Day the Music Died".

Scandal rocked America's most popular Game Show "Twenty-One" after former champion Herbert Stempel confessed to being given the answers to questions, told which questions to miss, and coached in presentation. After he blew the whistle, public outrage was so great that in 1959 Congress opened hearings on the great American quiz show fix and later formally outlawed all future quiz show deceptions.

In the American League...

The Boston Red Sox remained as the only Major League team not to include minority players in its line-up. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a grievance against the franchise charging them with racial discrimination and calling for an official investigation into the team's signing policies.

Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox managed five hits in seven at bats on Opening Day (including a two-run home run off pitcher Don Mossi to win the game) during a fourteen-inning, 9-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers. His five hits in a season opener tied a Major League record that would not be matched for forty years.

Cleveland's Rocky Colavito hit four consecutive home runs at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium en route to an 11-8 victory over the home team Orioles. The Indian slugger joined Lou Gehrig and Bobby Lowe as the only Major League players ever to hit four consecutive round-trippers.

In the National League...

On May 26, Pirates ace Harvey Haddix pitched a perfect game against Milwaukee for twelve innings, only to lose in the 13th. After Felix Mantilla managed to reach base on a fielding error, Hank Aaron was intentionally walked. Pittsburgh's strategy proved meaningless though as Joe Adcock maintained the Braves newfound momentum with a three-run blast for the comeback win. The following day National League President Warren Giles ruled that the final score should be amended to 1-0, since both runners Henry Aaron and Joe Adcock were both ruled out. (Aaron had been called for leaving the field during play, and Adcock had passed him in the base path.)

Seven pitchers combined to tie a National League record with twenty-three strikeouts during a May 31 outing between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. Sandy Koufax led the effort with nine "K's" for the 5-3 win.

The San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs set a new record for the longest nine-inning game in history after playing for three hours and fifty minutes. The home team finally won the "marathon at Wrigley" with a score of 20-9 after tallying nineteen hits and five home runs.

Around the League...

The Rules Committee finally permitted inter-league trading for a limited, three-and-a-half-week period during Major League Baseball's winter meetings.

The Players Association fired lawyer J. Norman Lewis and replaced him with Judge Robert C. Cannon, the son of Wisconsin Congressman Raymond J. Cannon, who had attempted to unionize the players during the 1920 season.

Controversy erupted over the American League batting title as the Cleveland Indians' Tito Francona finished the season with a league leading .363 average, but fell one at-bat short (three-hundred ninety-nine) of the required total (four-hundred). As a result, Harvey Kuenn of the Detroit Tigers was crowned the American League batting champion.

Washington D.C. Senator Estes Kefauver warned Major League Baseball that they were closely monitoring the "attitudes of organized baseball" toward the Continental League in an effort to prevent any antitrust issues.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"It takes all winter to train them (the insects which caused a 28 minute delay on June 2, 1959) and now, poof, on lousy bomb (fireworks) and they're all blown-up." - White Sox owner Bill Veeck

1959 American League Player Review

1958 | 1959 Hitting Statistics League Leaders | 1960

Base on Balls Eddie Yost Detroit 135 Top 25
Batting Average Harvey Kuenn Detroit .353 Top 25
Doubles Harvey Kuenn Detroit 42 Top 25
Hits Harvey Kuenn Detroit 198 Top 25
Home Runs Rocky Colavito Cleveland 42 Top 25
Harmon Killebrew Washington
On Base Percentage Eddie Yost Detroit .437 Top 25
RBI Jackie Jensen Boston 112 Top 25
Runs Eddie Yost Detroit 115 Top 25
Slugging Average Al Kaline Detroit .530 Top 25
Stolen Bases Luis Aparacio Chicago 56 Top 25
Total Bases Rocky Colavito Cleveland 301 Top 25
Triples Bob Allison Washington 9 Top 25
1959 A.L. History | 1959 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1959 American League Pitcher Review

1958 | 1959 Pitching Statistics League Leaders | 1960

Complete Games Camilo Pascual Washington 17 Top 25
ERA Hoyt Wilhelm Baltimore 2.19 Top 25
Games Gerry Staley Chicago 67 Top 25
Saves Turk Lown Chicago 15 Top 25
Shutouts Camilo Pascual Washington 6 Top 25
Strikeouts Jim Bunning Detroit 201 Top 25
Winning Percentage Bob Shaw Chicago .750 Top 25
Wins Early Wynn Chicago 22 Top 25
1959 A.L. History | 1959 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1959 American League Team Standings

1959 All-Star Game | 1959 Team Standings | 1959 World Series

Chicago White Sox 94 60 .610 0
Cleveland Indians 89 65 .578 5
New York Yankees 79 75 .513 15
Detroit Tigers 76 78 .494 18
Boston Red Sox 75 79 .487 19
Baltimore Orioles 74 80 .481 20
Kansas City Athletics 66 88 .429 28
Washington Senators 63 91 .409 31

1959 American League Team Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Boston 626
Batting Average Kansas City .263
Doubles Boston 248
Hits New York 1,397
Home Runs Cleveland 167
On Base Percentage Detroit .338
Runs Cleveland 745
Slugging Average Cleveland .408
Stolen Bases Chicago 113
Triples Chicago 46

1959 American League Team Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Cleveland 58
ERA Chicago 3.29
Fewest Hits Allowed Cleveland 1,230
Fewest Home Runs Allowed Baltimore 111
Fewest Walks Allowed Detroit 432
Saves Chicago 36
Shutouts Baltimore 15
New York
Strikeouts New York 836
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

On June 10, 1958, Rocky Colavito joined Lou Gehrig as only the second player in American League history to hit four consecutive home runs during the same game.

On July 21, 1958, the Boston Red Sox became the last Major League team to break the color line - twelve years after the debut of Jackie Robinson. Follow the link if you do not remember the player's name OR if you want to see the first black Major League player for every Major League team.

Some significant hits during 1958 included: April 21 - Mickey Mantle's 250th home run, June 2 - Ted Williams' 2,500th career hit, and August 11 - Al Kaline's 1,000th career hit.