| 1958 Milwaukee Braves | |
|---|---|
| National League champions | |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Milwaukee County Stadium |
| City | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Record | 92–62 (.597) |
| League place | 1st |
| Owners | Louis R. Perini |
| General managers | John J. Quinn |
| Managers | Fred Haney |
| Radio | WEMP WTMJ (Earl Gillespie,Blaine Walsh) |
The1958Milwaukee Braves season was the sixth inMilwaukee and the 88th overall season of the franchise. The Braves finished first in theNational League with a 92–62 record and returned to theWorld Series for the second consecutive year, losing to theNew York Yankees in seven games. The Braves set a Major League record which still stands for the fewest playerscaught stealing in a season, with 8.[1]
The core of the Braves team was once againHank Aaron,Eddie Mathews,Joe Adcock,Warren Spahn, andLew Burdette. Also, outfielderBill Bruton came back from his season-ending injury in 1957 to play in 100 games. Aaron led the team with 196hits, 109runs scored, .326batting average and 95runs batted in, and Mathews led the team with 31home runs.
However, in 1958 the Braves' thirdstarting pitcher,Bob Buhl, was injured after pitching in just 11 games (winning five), which put even more pressure on Spahn, Burdette, and their managerFred Haney to be able to win. Also, because of injuries, Adcock played in only 105 games, andWes Covington played in just 90.Red Schoendienst played in just 106 games, including many as just a pinch hitter, and it was discovered the next year that he hadtuberculosis. In this difficult situation, Spahn posted a 22–11record in 290innings pitched and 23 complete games, and Burdette had a 20–10 record in 275.1 innings.
The Braves repeated as the National League champions, this time by a margin of eight games over thePittsburgh Pirates. The New York Yankees again won theAmerican League, hence the two teams faced off against each other again in theWorld Series. The Braves roared ahead by winning three of the first four games for a 3–1 lead in the series. However, the Yankees regrouped and won games five, six, and seven—the final two inMilwaukee County Stadium, the Braves' home stadium—to win the World Championship.
| 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 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | |||||
| Red Schoendienst | 2B |
| Bob Hazle | RF |
| Eddie Mathews | 3B |
| Hank Aaron | CF |
| Frank Torre | 1B |
| Harry Hanebrink | LF |
| Johnny Logan | SS |
| Del Crandall | C |
| Warren Spahn | P |
| 1958 Milwaukee Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 | Del Crandall | 131 | 427 | 116 | .272 | 18 | 63 |
| 1B | Frank Torre | 138 | 372 | 115 | .309 | 6 | 55 |
| 2B | Red Schoendienst | 106 | 427 | 112 | .262 | 1 | 24 |
| SS | Johnny Logan | 145 | 530 | 120 | .226 | 11 | 53 |
| 3B | Eddie Mathews | 149 | 536 | 137 | .251 | 31 | 77 |
| LF | Wes Covington | 90 | 294 | 97 | .330 | 24 | 74 |
| CF | Bill Bruton | 100 | 325 | 91 | .280 | 3 | 28 |
| RF | Hank Aaron | 153 | 601 | 196 | .326 | 30 | 95 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Adcock | 105 | 320 | 88 | .275 | 19 | 54 |
| Félix Mantilla | 85 | 226 | 50 | .221 | 7 | 19 |
| Andy Pafko | 95 | 164 | 39 | .238 | 3 | 23 |
| Mel Roach | 44 | 136 | 42 | .309 | 3 | 10 |
| Harry Hanebrink | 63 | 133 | 25 | .188 | 4 | 10 |
| Del Rice | 43 | 121 | 27 | .223 | 1 | 8 |
| Casey Wise | 31 | 71 | 14 | .197 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Hazle | 20 | 56 | 10 | .179 | 0 | 5 |
| Eddie Haas | 9 | 14 | 5 | .357 | 0 | 1 |
| Carl Sawatski | 10 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Koppe | 16 | 9 | 4 | .444 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawk Taylor | 4 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| John DeMerit | 3 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Roselli | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Spahn | 38 | 290.0 | 22 | 11 | 3.07 | 150 |
| Lew Burdette | 40 | 275.1 | 20 | 10 | 2.91 | 113 |
| Bob Buhl | 11 | 73.0 | 5 | 2 | 3.45 | 27 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Rush | 28 | 147.1 | 10 | 6 | 3.42 | 84 |
| Carl Willey | 23 | 140.0 | 9 | 7 | 2.70 | 74 |
| Juan Pizarro | 16 | 96.2 | 6 | 4 | 2.70 | 84 |
| Joey Jay | 18 | 96.2 | 7 | 5 | 2.14 | 74 |
| Gene Conley | 26 | 72.0 | 0 | 6 | 4.88 | 53 |
| Bob Trowbridge | 27 | 55.0 | 1 | 3 | 3.93 | 31 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don McMahon | 38 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 3.68 | 37 |
| Humberto Robinson | 19 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3.02 | 26 |
| Ernie Johnson | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8.10 | 13 |
| Dick Littlefield | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.26 | 7 |
October 1, 1958, atMilwaukee County Stadium inMilwaukee, Wisconsin
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| Milwaukee (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| W:Warren Spahn (1–0) L:Ryne Duren (0–1) | |||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Bill Skowron (1),Hank Bauer (1) | |||||||||||||
October 2, 1958, atMilwaukee County Stadium inMilwaukee, Wisconsin
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| Milwaukee (N) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | x | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| W:Lew Burdette (1–0) L:Bob Turley (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Mickey Mantle (1, 2),Hank Bauer (2) MIL –Bill Bruton (1),Lew Burdette (1) | ||||||||||||
October 4, 1958, atYankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| W:Don Larsen (1–0) L:Bob Rush (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Hank Bauer (3) | ||||||||||||
October 5, 1958, atYankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| W:Warren Spahn (2–0) L:Whitey Ford (0–1) | ||||||||||||
October 6, 1958, atYankee Stadium in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| New York (A) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | x | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| W:Bob Turley (1–1) L:Lew Burdette (1–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Gil McDougald (1) | ||||||||||||
October 8, 1958, atMilwaukee County Stadium inMilwaukee, Wisconsin
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| Milwaukee (N) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| W:Ryne Duren (1–1) L:Warren Spahn (2–1) S:Bob Turley (1) | |||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Hank Bauer (4),Gil McDougald (2) | |||||||||||||
October 9, 1958, atMilwaukee County Stadium inMilwaukee, Wisconsin
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (A) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | |
| Milwaukee (N) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| W:Bob Turley (2–1) L:Lew Burdette (1–2) | |||||||||||||
| HR:NYY –Bill Skowron (2) MIL –Del Crandall (1) | |||||||||||||
1958 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Starters:Hank Aaron,Del Crandall, andWarren Spahn
Reserves:Eddie Mathews,Don McMahon
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Cedar Rapids, Yakima, Boise, Midland