| 1959 Chicago White Sox | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League champions | ||||
| League | American League | |||
| Ballpark | Comiskey Park | |||
| City | Chicago | |||
| Record | 94–60 (.610) | |||
| League place | 1st | |||
| Owners | Dorothy Comiskey Rigney,Bill Veeck | |||
| General managers | Chuck Comiskey/Johnny Rigney,Bill Veeck | |||
| Managers | Al López | |||
| Television | WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse,Vince Lloyd) | |||
| Radio | WCFL (Bob Elson, Don Wells) | |||
| ||||
The1959Chicago White Sox season was the team's 59th season in the major leagues, and its 60th season overall. They finished with a record of 94–60, good enough to win theAmerican League (AL) championship, five games ahead of the second placeCleveland Indians. It was the team's firstpennant since1919 and would be its last until their championship season of2005.
In 1959, the team won its first pennant in40 years, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – managerAl López,Luis Aparicio,Nellie Fox (the league MVP), and pitcherEarly Wynn, who won theCy Young Award at a time when only one award was presented for both leagues. Veteran catcherSherm Lollar provided quiet leadership on and off the field, leading the team inhome runs andRBIs.[3] The White Sox also acquired sluggerTed Kluszewski in August, a local area native, from thePittsburgh Pirates for the final pennant push. Kluszewski gave the team the needed power-hitting for the stretch run and hit nearly .300 in the final month of play for the White Sox. Lopez had also managed theCleveland Indians to the World Series in1954, making him the only manager to interrupt theNew York Yankees pennant run between 1949 and 1964.
After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago MayorRichard J. Daley, a lifelong White Sox fan, ordered his fire chief to set off the city'sair raid sirens. Many Chicagoans became fearful and confused since 1959 was the height of theCold War; however, they relaxed somewhat upon realizing it was part of the White Sox' celebration.[4] The Sox won Game 1 of theWorld Series 11–0 on the strength of Kluszewski's two home runs, their last postseason home win until2005. TheLos Angeles Dodgers, however, won three of the next four games and captured their firstWorld Series championship since moving to the west coast in 1958. 92,706 fans witnessed Game 5 of the World Series at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the most ever to attend a World Series game, or for that matter any non-exhibition major league baseball game. The White Sox won that game 1–0 over the Dodgers' 23-year-old pitcherSandy Koufax, but the Dodgers clinched the series by beating the Sox 9–3 two days later at Comiskey Park.
Fox became the last player in the 20th century to have five hits on Opening Day.[5]
| 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 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | |||||
| 1959 Chicago White Sox | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Aparicio, SS | 152 | 612 | 98 | 157 | 18 | 5 | 6 | 51 | 53 | 40 | .257 | 56 |
| Earl Battey, C | 26 | 64 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 13 | .219 | 0 |
| Ray Boone, 1B | 9 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 5 | .238 | 1 |
| Johnny Callison, LF | 49 | 104 | 12 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 20 | .173 | 0 |
| Cam Carreon, C | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Norm Cash, 1B | 58 | 104 | 16 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 18 | 9 | .240 | 1 |
| Larry Doby, OF, 1B | 21 | 58 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 13 | .241 | 1 |
| Del Ennis, LF | 26 | 96 | 10 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 10 | .219 | 0 |
| Sammy Esposito, 3B, SS | 69 | 66 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 16 | .167 | 0 |
| Nellie Fox, 2B | 156 | 624 | 84 | 191 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 70 | 71 | 13 | .306 | 5 |
| Billy Goodman, 3B | 104 | 268 | 21 | 67 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 19 | 20 | .250 | 3 |
| Joe Hicks, CF | 6 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .429 | 0 |
| Ron Jackson, 1B | 10 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .214 | 0 |
| Ted Kluszewski, 1B | 31 | 101 | 11 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 10 | .297 | 0 |
| Jim Landis, CF | 149 | 515 | 78 | 140 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 60 | 78 | 68 | .272 | 20 |
| Sherm Lollar, C | 140 | 505 | 63 | 134 | 22 | 3 | 22 | 84 | 55 | 49 | .269 | 4 |
| J. C. Martin, 3B | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .250 | 0 |
| Jim McAnany, RF | 67 | 210 | 22 | 58 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 19 | 26 | .276 | 2 |
| Don Mueller, PH | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 |
| Bubba Phillips, 3B, OF | 117 | 379 | 43 | 100 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 40 | 27 | 28 | .264 | 1 |
| Jim Rivera, RF, LF | 80 | 177 | 18 | 39 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 11 | 19 | .220 | 5 |
| John Romano, C | 53 | 126 | 20 | 37 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 23 | 18 | .294 | 0 |
| Harry Simpson, RF | 38 | 75 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 14 | .187 | 0 |
| Lou Skizas, LF | 8 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .077 | 0 |
| Al Smith, LF, RF | 129 | 472 | 65 | 112 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 55 | 46 | 74 | .237 | 7 |
| Earl Torgeson, 1B | 127 | 277 | 40 | 61 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 45 | 62 | 55 | .220 | 7 |
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudy Árias, P | 34 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 |
| Dick Donovan, P | 31 | 61 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 32 | .131 | 0 |
| Barry Latman, P | 37 | 47 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | .128 | 0 |
| Turk Lown, P | 60 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 0 |
| Ken McBride, P | 11 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .167 | 0 |
| Ray Moore, P | 29 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | .087 | 0 |
| Billy Pierce, P | 34 | 68 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 13 | .191 | 0 |
| Bob Shaw, P | 47 | 73 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 19 | .123 | 0 |
| Gerry Staley, P | 67 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | .154 | 0 |
| Joe Stanka, P | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | 0 |
| Early Wynn, P | 37 | 90 | 11 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 18 | .244 | 0 |
Team Totals | 156 | 5297 | 669 | 1325 | 220 | 46 | 97 | 620 | 580 | 634 | .250 | 113 |
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudy Árias | 2 | 0 | 4.09 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 44.0 | 49 | 23 | 20 | 7 | 27 | 28 |
| Dick Donovan | 9 | 10 | 3.66 | 31 | 29 | 0 | 179.2 | 171 | 84 | 73 | 15 | 61 | 71 |
| Barry Latman | 8 | 5 | 3.75 | 37 | 21 | 0 | 156.0 | 138 | 71 | 65 | 15 | 75 | 97 |
| Turk Lown | 9 | 2 | 2.89 | 60 | 0 | 15 | 93.1 | 73 | 32 | 30 | 12 | 46 | 63 |
| Ken McBride | 0 | 1 | 3.18 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 22.2 | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 12 |
| Ray Moore | 3 | 6 | 4.12 | 29 | 8 | 0 | 89.2 | 86 | 46 | 41 | 10 | 49 | 50 |
| Gary Peters | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Billy Pierce | 14 | 15 | 3.62 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 224.0 | 217 | 98 | 90 | 26 | 66 | 114 |
| Claude Raymond | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Don Rudolph | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Bob Shaw | 18 | 6 | 2.69 | 47 | 26 | 3 | 230.2 | 217 | 72 | 69 | 15 | 59 | 89 |
| Gerry Staley | 8 | 5 | 2.24 | 67 | 0 | 14 | 116.1 | 111 | 39 | 29 | 5 | 34 | 54 |
| Joe Stanka | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Early Wynn | 22 | 10 | 3.17 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 255.2 | 202 | 106 | 90 | 20 | 124 | 179 |
Team Totals | 94 | 60 | 3.29 | 156 | 156 | 36 | 1425.1 | 1297 | 588 | 521 | 129 | 570 | 761 |
NLLos Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodgers – 0,White Sox – 11 | October 1 | Comiskey Park | 48,013 |
| 2 | Dodgers – 4, White Sox – 3 | October 2 | Comiskey Park | 47,368 |
| 3 | White Sox – 1,Dodgers – 3 | October 4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,394 |
| 4 | White Sox – 4,Dodgers – 5 | October 5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,650 |
| 5 | White Sox – 1, Dodgers – 0 | October 6 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,706 |
| 6 | Dodgers – 9, White Sox – 3 | October 8 | Comiskey Park | 47,653 |