1958 Cleveland Indians season

1958  Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	William R. Daley
General managers	Frank Lane
Managers	Bobby Bragan, Joe Gordon
Television	WEWS-TV (Ken Coleman, Bill McColgan)
Radio	WERE (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)
←  1957 Seasons 1959  →

Offseason

• December 4, 1957: Early Wynn and Al Smith were traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Minnie Miñoso and Fred Hatfield. ^[1]
• January 29, 1958: Mickey Vernon was selected off waivers by the Indians from the Boston Red Sox. ^[2]
• February 18, 1958: Hank Aguirre and Jim Hegan were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Jay Porter and Hal Woodeshick. ^[3]
• February 25, 1958: Pete Mesa (minors) was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Milt Bolling. ^[4]
• March 27, 1958: Vito Valentinetti and Milt Bolling were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Pete Wojey and $20,000. ^[5]
• Prior to 1958 season (exact date unknown)
  • Doc Edwards was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians. ^[6]
  • Jim Weaver was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians. ^[7]

Regular season

• May 17, 1958: Carroll Hardy hit his first major league home run when he pinch hit for Roger Maris in the 11th inning of a 4–4 tie against the Chicago White Sox. ^[8]
• June 26, 1958: First-year skipper Bobby Bragan was fired after 67 games, the shortest stint (at the time) for a Cleveland Indians manager. ^[9] Cleveland was 31–36 (.463) and in sixth place at the time. Former Tribe All-Star second baseman Joe Gordon took the reins on June 27, and led the Indians to a 46–40 (.535) mark for the rest of the season.

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	92	62	0.597	—	44–33	48–29
Chicago White Sox	82	72	0.532	10	47–30	35–42
Boston Red Sox	79	75	0.513	13	49–28	30–47
Cleveland Indians	77	76	0.503	14½	42–34	35–42
Detroit Tigers	77	77	0.500	15	43–34	34–43
Baltimore Orioles	74	79	0.484	17½	46–31	28–48
Kansas City Athletics	73	81	0.474	19	43–34	30–47
Washington Senators	61	93	0.396	31	33–44	28–49

Record vs. opponents

1958 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CHW	CLE	DET	KCA	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	10–12	9–13–1	10–11	10–12	12–10	8–14	15–7
Boston	12–10	—	10–12	12–10	10–12	12–10	9–13–1	14–8
Chicago	13–9–1	12–10	—	12–10	10–12	12–10	7–15	16–6
Cleveland	11–10	10–12	10–12	—	14–8	10–12	7–15	15–7
Detroit	12–10	12–10	12–10	8–14	—	12–10	12–10	9–13
Kansas City	10–12	10–12	10–12	12–10	10–12	—	9–13	12–10–2
New York	14–8	13–9–1	15–7	15–7	10–12	13–9	—	12–10
Washington	7–15	8–14	6–16	7–15	13–9	10–12–2	10–12	—

Notable transactions

• June 12, 1958: Chico Carrasquel was traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Billy Hunter. ^[10]
• June 15, 1958: Roger Maris, Dick Tomanek and Preston Ward were traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Woodie Held and Vic Power. ^[11]
• July 2, 1958: Bob Lemon was released by the Indians. ^[12]
• July 2, 1958: Morrie Martin was selected off waivers by the Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals. ^[13]
• August 4, 1958: Randy Jackson was purchased by the Indians from the Los Angeles Dodgers. ^[14]
• August 23, 1958: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers from the Indians by the Baltimore Orioles. ^[15]

Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
17	Chico Carrasquel	SS
5	Roger Maris	RF
9	Minnie Miñoso	LF
14	Larry Doby	CF
8	Mickey Vernon	1B
15	Russ Nixon	C
7	Fred Hatfield	3B
16	Billy Moran	2B
27	Herb Score	P

^[16]

Roster

1958 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 39 Gary Bell 48 Dick Brodowski 32 Chuck Churn 37 Jim Constable 34 Don Ferrarese 25 Mike Garcia 33 Mudcat Grant 37 Bob Kelly 21 Bob Lemon 32 Morrie Martin 22 Cal McLish 12 Don Mossi 20 Ray Narleski 35 Steve Ridzik 27 Herb Score 29 Dick Tomanek 26 Hoyt Wilhelm 28 Hal Woodeshick		Catchers 11 Dick Brown 15 Russ Nixon  4 Jay Porter Infielders  2 Earl Averill, Jr.  1 Bobby Ávila 17 Chico Carrasquel 38 Billy Harrell  7 Fred Hatfield  7 Billy Hunter  2 Randy Jackson 16 Billy Moran 10 Vic Power 16 Larry Raines  8 Mickey Vernon 36 Preston Ward 23 Vic Wertz		Outfielders  6 Rocky Colavito 14 Larry Doby 31 Gary Geiger 29 Rod Graber 30 Carroll Hardy  3 Woodie Held  5 Roger Maris  9 Minnie Miñoso Other batters 18 Hal Naragon		Manager  2 Bobby Bragan 35 Joe Gordon Coaches 43 Mel Harder (Pitching) 42 Red Kress (First Base) 40 Bill Lobe (Bullpen) 44 Eddie Stanky (Third Base)

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	Russ Nixon	113	376	113	.301	9	46
1B	Mickey Vernon	119	355	104	.293	8	55
2B	Bobby Ávila	113	375	95	.253	5	30
SS	Billy Hunter	76	190	37	.195	0	9
3B	Vic Power	93	385	122	.317	12	53
LF	Minnie Miñoso	149	556	168	.302	24	80
CF	Larry Doby	89	247	70	.285	13	45
RF	Rocky Colavito	143	489	148	.303	41	113

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
Billy Moran	115	257	58	.226	1	18
Billy Harrell	101	229	50	.218	7	19
Gary Geiger	91	195	45	.231	1	6
Roger Maris	51	182	41	.225	9	27
Dick Brown	68	173	41	.237	7	20
Chico Carrasquel	49	156	40	.225	9	27
Preston Ward	48	148	50	.338	4	21
Woodie Held	67	144	28	.194	3	17
Randy Jackson	29	91	22	.242	4	13
Jay Porter	40	85	17	.200	4	19
Earl Averill Jr.	17	55	10	.182	2	7
Carroll Hardy	27	49	10	.204	1	6
Vic Wertz	25	43	12	.279	3	12
Larry Raines	7	9	0	.000	0	0
Hal Naragon	9	9	3	.333	0	0
Rod Graber	4	8	1	.125	0	0
Fred Hatfield	3	8	1	.125	0	1

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
Cal McLish	39	225.2	16	8	2.99	97
Gary Bell	33	182.0	12	10	3.31	110

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
Mudcat Grant	44	204.0	10	11	3.84	111
Ray Narleski	44	183.1	13	10	4.07	102
Don Ferrarese	28	94.2	3	4	3.71	62
Hal Woodeshick	14	71.2	6	6	3.64	27
Dick Tomanek	18	57.2	2	3	5.62	42
Herb Score	12	41.0	2	3	3.95	48
Bob Kelly	13	27.2	0	2	5.20	12
Jim Constable	6	9.1	0	1	11.57	3
Mike Garcia	6	8.0	1	0	9.00	2

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
Hoyt Wilhelm	30	2	7	5	2.49	57
Don Mossi	43	7	8	3	3.90	55
Morrie Martin	14	2	0	1	2.41	5
Bob Lemon	11	0	1	0	5.33	8
Steve Ridzik	6	0	2	0	2.08	6
Chuck Churn	6	0	0	0	6.23	4
Dick Brodowski	5	1	0	0	0.00	12
Rocky Colavito	1	0	0	0	0.00	1
Gary Geiger	1	0	0	0	9.00	2

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Diego Padres	Pacific Coast League	Catfish Metkovich
AA	Mobile Bears	Southern Association	Mel McGaha
A	Reading Indians	Eastern League	Clyde McCullough
B	Burlington Indians	Carolina League	Pinky May
C	Minot Mallards	Northern League	Ken Landenberger
D	Cocoa Indians	Florida State League	Paul O'Dea
D	North Platte Indians	Nebraska State League	Mark Wylie
D	Batavia Indians	New York–Penn League	Don Richmond

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington, North Platte ^[17]

Notes

1. Minnie Miñoso page at Baseball-Reference
2. Mickey Vernon page at Baseball-Reference
3. Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference
4. Milt Bolling page at Baseball-Reference
5. Vito Valentinetti page at Baseball-Reference
6. Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
7. Jim Weaver page at Baseball-Reference
8. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 96, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN   978-1-4165-8928-0
9. Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 97
10. Hunter goes to Indians for Chico
11. Roger Maris page at Baseball Reference
12. Bob Lemon page at Baseball Reference
13. Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference
14. Randy Jackson page at Baseball Reference
15. Hoyt Wilhelm page at Baseball Reference
16. "1958 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference"
17. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1958 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
• 1958 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

External links

• 1958 Cleveland Indians Schedule and Statistics Archived February 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at MLB.com