1959 Chicago Cubs season

Major League Baseball team season

1959 Chicago Cubs

League| National League
Ballpark| Wrigley Field
City| Chicago
Record| 74–80 (.481)
League place| 5th
Owners| Philip K. Wrigley
General managers| John Holland
Managers| Bob Scheffing
Television| WGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
Radio| WGN
(Jack Quinlan, Lou Boudreau)
| ← 1958 | Seasons | 1960 →

|
|

The 1959 Chicago Cubs season was the 88th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 84th in the National League and the 44th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs tied the Cincinnati Reds for fifth in the National League with a record of 74–80, thirteen games behind the NL and World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

## Offseason

[edit]

* January 23, 1959: Jim Bolger and John Briggs were traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Earl Averill and Morrie Martin.[1]
* March 9, 1959: Chuck Tanner was traded by the Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Bob Smith.[2]
* Prior to 1959 season: Dick Burwell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.[3]

## Regular season

[edit]

Ernie Banks became the first shortstop in the history of the NL to win the MVP award in back to back seasons.[4]

One of baseball history's weirdest plays took place on June 30, 1959, when the St. Louis Cardinals played the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Stan Musial was at the plate facing Bob Anderson with a count of 3–1. Anderson's next pitch was errant, the ball evaded catcher Sammy Taylor and rolled all the way to the backstop. Umpire Vic Delmore called "ball four", but Anderson and Taylor contended that Musial foul tipped the ball. Because the ball was still in play and Delmore was embroiled in an argument with Anderson and Taylor, Musial tried to run for second base. Seeing that Musial was running to second, third baseman Alvin Dark ran to the backstop to retrieve the ball. The ball wound up in the hands of field announcer Pat Pieper, but Dark ended up getting it back anyway. Absentmindedly, however, Delmore pulled out a new baseball and gave it to Taylor. When Anderson noticed that Musial was trying for second, he took the new ball from Sammy Taylor and threw it towards Tony Taylor covering second base, and the ball went over Taylor's head into the outfield. At the same time that Anderson threw the new ball towards second baseman Taylor, Dark threw the original ball to shortstop Ernie Banks. Musial did not see the throw and he was declared out when the tag was made.[5]

### Season standings

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

National League Team  | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

|
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|
|

Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 68  | .564  | —  | 46‍–‍32  | 42‍–‍36
Milwaukee Braves | 86 | 70  | .551  | 2  | 49‍–‍29  | 37‍–‍41
San Francisco Giants | 83 | 71  | .539  | 4  | 42‍–‍35  | 41‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 76  | .506  | 9  | 47‍–‍30  | 31‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs | 74 | 80  | .481  | 13  | 38‍–‍39  | 36‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 80  | .481  | 13  | 43‍–‍34  | 31‍–‍46
St. Louis Cardinals | 71 | 83  | .461  | 16  | 42‍–‍35  | 29‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies | 64 | 90  | .416  | 23  | 37‍–‍40  | 27‍–‍50

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1959 National League record

* v
* t
* e

Sources: [1] [2][3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Team  | CHC  | CIN  | LAD  | MIL  | PHI  | PIT  | SF  | STL
Chicago | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 10–12
Cincinnati | 13–9 | — | 13–9 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 11–11
Los Angeles | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 14–10 | 17–5 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 12–10
Milwaukee | 12–10 | 11–11 | 10–14 | — | 13–9 | 15–7–1 | 12–10 | 13–9
Philadelphia | 12–10–1 | 13–9 | 5–17 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 7–15
Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 7–15–1 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 14–8
San Francisco | 10–12 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 16–6
St. Louis | 12–10 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 6–16 | —

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* May 4, 1959: Bob Smith was traded by the Cubs to the Cleveland Indians for Randy Jackson.[6]

### Roster

[edit]

1959 Chicago Cubs

Roster
Pitchers

* 32 Bob Anderson
* 38 John Buzhardt
* 41 Art Ceccarelli
* 22 Ed Donnelly
* 39 Moe Drabowsky
* 30 Dick Drott
* 36 Don Elston
* 37 Bill Henry
* 31 Dave Hillman
* 40 Glen Hobbie
* 45 Ben Johnson
* 45 Morrie Martin
* 41 Seth Morehead
* 41 Taylor Phillips
* 43 Bob Porterfield
* 46 Joe Schaffernoth
* 42 Elmer Singleton
* 43 Bob Smith

|  | Catchers

*  6 Earl Averill
* 11 Cal Neeman
* 15 Sammy Taylor

Infielders

* 16 Bobby Adams
* 14 Ernie Banks
* 17 Alvin Dark
* 18 Don Eaddy
*  4 Johnny Goryl
* 16 Randy Jackson
*  8 Dale Long
* 12 Jim Marshall
* 43 Art Schult
*  5 Tony Taylor

|  | Outfielders

* 21 George Altman
* 20 Chick King
*  7 Walt Moryn
* 20 Irv Noren
*  9 Bobby Thomson
*  2 Lee Walls
*  4 Billy Williams

Other batters

* 22,42 Lou Jackson

|  | Manager

* 25 Bob Scheffing

Coaches

* 33 Fred Fitzsimmons
* 35 Rogers Hornsby
* 34 George Myatt
* 10 El Tappe

## Player stats

[edit]

### Batting

[edit]

#### Starters by position

[edit]

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

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C | Sammy Taylor | 110 | 353 | 95 | .269 | 13 | 43
1B | Dale Long | 110 | 296 | 70 | .236 | 14 | 37
2B | Tony Taylor | 150 | 624 | 175 | .280 | 8 | 38
3B | Alvin Dark | 136 | 477 | 126 | .264 | 6 | 45
SS | Ernie Banks | 155 | 589 | 179 | .304 | 45 | 143
LF | Walt Moryn | 117 | 381 | 89 | .234 | 14 | 48
CF | George Altman | 135 | 420 | 103 | .245 | 12 | 47
RF | Lee Walls | 120 | 354 | 91 | .257 | 8 | 33

#### Other batters

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Bobby Thomson | 122 | 374 | 97 | .259 | 11 | 52
Jim Marshall | 108 | 294 | 74 | .252 | 11 | 40
Earl Averill | 74 | 186 | 44 | .237 | 10 | 34
Irv Noren | 65 | 156 | 50 | .321 | 4 | 19
Art Schult | 42 | 118 | 32 | .271 | 2 | 14
Cal Neeman | 44 | 105 | 17 | .162 | 3 | 9
Randy Jackson | 41 | 74 | 18 | .243 | 1 | 10
Johnny Goryl | 25 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 1 | 6
Billy Williams | 18 | 33 | 5 | .152 | 0 | 2
Lou Jackson | 6 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1
Chick King | 7 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0
Bobby Adams | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0
Don Eaddy | 15 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0

### Pitching

[edit]

#### Starting pitchers

[edit]

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 Anderson | 37 | 235.1 | 12 | 13 | 4.13 | 113
Glen Hobbie | 46 | 234.0 | 16 | 13 | 3.69 | 138
Moe Drabowsky | 31 | 141.2 | 5 | 10 | 4.13 | 70
Art Ceccarelli | 18 | 102.0 | 5 | 5 | 4.76 | 56
Dick Drott | 8 | 27.1 | 1 | 2 | 5.93 | 15

#### Other pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
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Dave Hillman | 39 | 191.0 | 8 | 11 | 3.53 | 88
John Buzhardt | 31 | 101.1 | 4 | 5 | 4.97 | 33
Seth Morehead | 11 | 18.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.82 | 9
Ben Johnson | 4 | 16.2 | 0 | 0 | 2.16 | 6
Taylor Phillips | 7 | 16.2 | 0 | 2 | 7.56 | 5
Joe Schaffernoth | 5 | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 8.22 | 3

#### Relief pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
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Don Elston | 65 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 3.32 | 82
Bill Henry | 65 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 2.68 | 115
Elmer Singleton | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.72 | 25
Ed Donnelly | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.14 | 6
Bob Porterfield | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.37 | 0
Morrie Martin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.29 | 1
Bob Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81.00 | 0

## Awards and records

[edit]

* Ernie Banks, National League MVP

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

|
|
|

AAA | Fort Worth Cats | American Association | Lou Klein
AA | San Antonio Missions | Texas League | Grady Hatton
A | Lancaster Red Roses | Eastern League | Nick Cullop
B | Burlington Bees | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Ray Mueller
D | Morristown Cubs | Appalachian League | Red Hayworth
D | Paris Lakers | Midwest League | Verlon Walker
D | Carlsbad Potashers | Sophomore League | Walt Dixon

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Morristown

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Jim Bolger page at Baseball Reference
2. ^ Chuck Tanner Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
3. ^ Dick Burwell page at Baseball Reference
4. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
5. ^ Musial Is First in History Put Out By 2 Baseballs!
6. ^ Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference

## References

[edit]

* Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
* 1959 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference

* v
* t
* e

1959 MLB season by team

American League|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Chicago
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Kansas City
* New York
* Washington

National League|

* Chicago
* Cincinnati
* Los Angeles
* Milwaukee
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis
* San Francisco

* 1959 All-Star Game (1st, 2nd)
* 1959 World Series

* v
* t
* e

Chicago Cubs

* Established in 1874
* Formerly the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Colts and the Chicago Orphans
* Based in Chicago, Illinois

Franchise|

* History
* Seasons
* Awards
* Records
* No-hitters
* Players
* Managers
* Owners and executives
* Broadcasters
* Opening Day starting pitchers
* First-round draft picks

Ballparks|

* 23rd Street Grounds
* Lakefront Park
* West Side Park I
* South Side Park
* West Side Park II
* Wrigley Field
* History
* List of events
* Renovations
* Wrigley Rooftops

Culture|

* Tinker to Evers to Chance
* Bleacher Bums
* The Dugout
* Wayne Messmer
* Ronnie Woo Woo
* Jerry Pritikin
* Yosh Kawano
* Life's Greatest Game
* Alibi Ike
* Mike Royko
* Holy Cow!
* Grant DePorter
* Wrigley Company
* Wrigley Field ivy
* Hey Hey Holy Mackerel
* Bill Holden
* The Heckler
* The Curse: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Or Do They?
* We Believe: Chicago and Its Cubs
* Arne Harris
* "Go, Cubs, Go"
* "Sweet Home Chicago"
* "All the Way"
* "Jump"
* Cubs Win Flag
* Eamus Catuli
* Addison Red Line Station
* Sheridan Red Line Station
* Clark Street
* Addison Street
* The Winning Team
* Elmer, the Great
* Ferris Bueller's Day Off
* Rookie of the Year
* This Old Cub
* The Natural
* Taking Care of Business
* A League of Their Own
* The Cubs Fan's Guide To Happiness
* Pat Pieper
* The Cubby Bear
* Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse
* Bohemian National Cemetery Columbarium
* Clark
* Back to the Future Part II

Lore|

* Curse of the Billy Goat
* Ex-Cubs Factor
* Babe Ruth's called shot
* Steve Bartman incident
* Homer in the Gloamin'
* 1998 home run chase
* Brock for Broglio
* Merkle's Boner
* College of Coaches
* Ken Hubbs
* Billy Jurges incident
* June 23, 1984 game
* 1998 NL Wild Card tie-breaker game
* 2015 NL Wild Card Game
* 2015 NL Division Series
* 2016 NL Championship Series
* 2016 World Series
* 2018 NL Central tie-breaker game
* 2019 MLB Little League Classic
* MLB at Field of Dreams
* 2023 MLB London Series
* MLB Tokyo Series 2025

Rivalries|

* Chicago White Sox
* Milwaukee Brewers
* St. Louis Cardinals

Key personnel|

* Owner: Joe Ricketts family
* Chairman: Tom Ricketts
* President of Baseball Operations: Jed Hoyer
* General Manager: Carter Hawkins
* Manager: Craig Counsell

World Series
championships (3)|

* 1907
* 1908
* 2016

National League
championships (17)|

* 1876
* 1880
* 1881
* 1882
* 1885
* 1886
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1910
* 1918
* 1929
* 1932
* 1935
* 1938
* 1945
* 2016

Division
championships|

| East (2)|

* 1984
* 1989

|

Central (6)|

* 2003
* 2007
* 2008
* 2016
* 2017
* 2020

Wild Card (3)|

* 1998
* 2015
* 2018

Minor league
affiliates|

* Iowa Cubs (Triple-A)
* Knoxville Smokies (Double-A)
* South Bend Cubs (High-A)
* Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Single-A)
* ACL Cubs (Rookie)
* DSL Cubs Blue (Rookie)
* DSL Cubs Red (Rookie)

Broadcasting|

| Television|

* Marquee Sports Network

|

Radio|

* Radio network
* WSCR

Broadcasters|

| Television|

* Jon Sciambi
* Jim Deshaies
* Alex Cohen

|

Radio|

* Pat Hughes
* Ron Coomer
* Zach Zaidman

Seasons (151)

1870s|

* 1870 ·  1871
* 1872 · 1873 ·  1874
* 1875
* 1876
* 1877
* 1878
* 1879

1880s|

* 1880
* 1881
* 1882
* 1883
* 1884
* 1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889

1890s|

* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899

1900s|

* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909

1910s|

* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919

1920s|

* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929

1930s|

* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939

1940s|

* 1940
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* 1942
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* 1949

1950s|

* 1950
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* 1955
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* 1959

1960s|

* 1960
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* 1962
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* 1965
* 1966
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* 1968
* 1969

1970s|

* 1970
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* 1972
* 1973
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* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
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* 1982
* 1983
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* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
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2000s|

* 2000
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* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
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* 2012
* 2013
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* 2015
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* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
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* 2025

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