1959 Baltimore Orioles season

1959  Baltimore Orioles
League	American League
Ballpark	Memorial Stadium
City	Baltimore
Record	74–80 (.481)
League place	6th
Owners	Jerold Hoffberger, Joseph Iglehart
General managers	Lee MacPhail
Managers	Paul Richards
Television	WJZ-TV
Radio	WBAL (AM) (Ernie Harwell, Herb Carneal)
←  1958 Seasons 1960  →

The 1959 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's sixth season in Baltimore, Maryland, and its 59th overall. It resulted with the Orioles finishing sixth in the American League with a record of 74 wins and 80 losses, 22 games behind the AL champion Chicago White Sox.

Offseason

• October 2, 1958: Dick Williams was traded by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics for Chico Carrasquel. ^[1]
• Prior to 1959 season (exact date unknown)
  • John Anderson was obtained by the Orioles from the Miami Marlins after expiration of minor league working agreement. ^[2]
  • Bob Saverine was signed as an amateur free agent by the Orioles. ^[3]

Regular season

• June 10, 1959: Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians hit four home runs in one game against the Orioles. ^[4]

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	94	60	0.610	—	47–30	47–30
Cleveland Indians	89	65	0.578	5	43–34	46–31
New York Yankees	79	75	0.513	15	40–37	39–38
Detroit Tigers	76	78	0.494	18	41–36	35–42
Boston Red Sox	75	79	0.487	19	43–34	32–45
Baltimore Orioles	74	80	0.481	20	38–39	36–41
Kansas City Athletics	66	88	0.429	28	37–40	29–48
Washington Senators	63	91	0.409	31	34–43	29–48

Record vs. opponents

1959 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CHW	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	—

Opening Day starters

• Bob Boyd
• Billy Gardner
• Ron Hansen
• Al Pilarcik
• Arnie Portocarrero
• Brooks Robinson
• Willie Tasby
• Gus Triandos
• Gene Woodling ^[5]

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1959: Vito Valentinetti was acquired by the Orioles from the Washington Senators in exchange for Billy Loes. The trade was voided and the players returned to their original teams on April 8. ^[6]
• May 21, 1959: Bobby Ávila was acquired by the Boston Red Sox from the Orioles off waivers. ^[7]
• May 26, 1959: Albie Pearson was acquired by the Orioles from the Washington Senators in exchange for Lenny Green. ^[8]
• June 15, 1959: Billy Hoeft was acquired by the Orioles from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Jack Harshman. ^[9]
• June 23, 1959: Whitey Lockman was traded by the Orioles to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Walt Dropo. ^[10]
• September 6, 1959: Rip Coleman was acquired by the Orioles off waivers from the Kansas City Athletics. ^[11]

Roster

1959 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers 16 George Bamberger 28 Hal Brown 35 Rip Coleman 48 Jack Fisher 29 Jack Harshman 29 Billy Hoeft 46 Ernie Johnson 18 Billy Loes 41 Billy O'Dell 32 Milt Pappas 24 Arnie Portocarrero 27 Wes Stock 38 Jerry Walker 15 Hoyt Wilhelm 35 George Zuverink		Catchers 22 Joe Ginsberg 11 Gus Triandos Infielders  8 Jerry Adair  1 Bob Boyd 23 Leo Burke 17 Chico Carrasquel 37 Walt Dropo 33 Jim Finigan  9 Billy Gardner 10 Bob Hale  3 Ron Hansen  6 Billy Klaus 25 Whitey Lockman  7 Willy Miranda  5 Brooks Robinson		Outfielders  8 Bobby Ávila 21 Lenny Green  4 Bob Nieman 21 Albie Pearson  2 Al Pilarcik 40 Barry Shetrone 44 Willie Tasby 27 Joe Taylor 27 Fred Valentine 14 Gene Woodling Other batters 33 Bob Saverine		Manager 12 Paul Richards Coaches 45 Jimmy Adair 31 Harry Brecheen 26 Lum Harris 30 Al Vincent

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	Gus Triandos	126	393	85	.216	25	73
1B	Bob Boyd	128	415	110	.265	3	41
2B	Billy Gardner	140	401	87	.217	6	27
3B	Brooks Robinson	88	313	89	.284	4	24
SS	Chico Carrasquel	114	346	77	.223	4	28
LF	Bob Nieman	118	360	105	.292	21	60
CF	Willie Tasby	142	505	126	.250	13	48
RF	Al Pilarcik	130	273	77	.282	3	16

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
Gene Woodling	140	440	132	.300	14	77
Billy Klaus	104	321	80	.249	3	25
Joe Ginsberg	65	166	30	.181	1	14
Walt Dropo	62	151	42	.278	6	21
Albie Pearson	80	138	32	.232	0	6
Jim Finigan	48	119	30	.252	1	10
Willy Miranda	65	88	14	.159	0	7
Barry Shetrone	33	79	16	.203	0	5
Whitey Lockman	38	69	15	.217	0	2
Bob Hale	40	54	10	.185	0	7
Bobby Ávila	20	47	8	.170	0	0
Jerry Adair	12	35	11	.314	0	2
Joe Taylor	14	32	5	.156	1	2
Lenny Green	27	24	7	.292	2	15
Fred Valentine	12	19	6	.316	0	1
Leo Burke	5	10	2	.200	0	1
Ron Hansen	2	4	0	.000	0	0
Bob Saverine	1	0	0	----	0	0

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
Hoyt Wilhelm	32	226.0	15	11	2.19	139
Milt Pappas	33	209.1	15	9	3.27	120
Jerry Walker	30	182.0	11	10	2.92	100
Hal Brown	31	164.0	11	9	3.79	81

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
Billy O'Dell	38	199.1	10	12	2.93	88
Arnie Portocarrero	27	90.0	2	7	6.80	23
Jack Fisher	27	88.2	1	6	3.05	52
Jack Harshman	14	47.1	0	6	6.85	24
George Bamberger	3	8.1	0	0	7.56	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
Billy Loes	37	4	7	14	4.06	34
Ernie Johnson	31	4	1	1	4.11	29
Billy Hoeft	16	1	1	0	5.71	30
Wes Stock	7	0	0	1	3.55	8
George Zuverink	6	0	1	0	4.15	1
Rip Coleman	3	0	0	0	0.00	4

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Miami Marlins	International League	Pepper Martin
AAA	Vancouver Mounties	Pacific Coast League	Charlie Metro
AA	Amarillo Gold Sox	Texas League	Barney Lutz and George Staller
C	Stockton Ports	California League	Billy DeMars
C	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	Earl Weaver
D	Pensacola Dons	Alabama–Florida League	Lou Fitzgerald
D	Bluefield Orioles	Appalachian League	Bob Hooper

Notes

1. Chico Carrasquel page at Baseball Reference
2. John Anderson page at Baseball Reference
3. Bob Saverine page at Baseball Reference
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 258, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
5. "1959 Baltimore Orioles Roster by Baseball Almanac".
6. Vito Valentinetti page at Baseball Reference
7. Bobby Avila transactions at Baseball-Reference
8. Albie Pearson transactions at Baseball-Reference
9. Billy Hoeft page at Baseball-Reference
10. Walt Dropo page at Baseball-Reference
11. Rip Coleman page at Baseball-Reference

References

• 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 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 1959 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com