Post War Baseball League (PWBL) - 1959
1959 season will begin shortly
Actual 1959 Events
| January 31 | Former Senators and Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin signs a seven-year pact to become head of the A.L. |
| February 1 | Zack Wheat, a Brooklyn favorite of the teens and twenties, is unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Wheat, a .317 hitter over his 19-year career, batted .300 or better 14 times. |
| February 7 | White Sox president Mrs. Dorothy Rigney agrees to sell the team to Bill Veeck for a reported $2.7 million. Chicago insurance broker Charles O. Finley allows that he can match the price. Charles Comiskey will try to stop Veeck from buying the Sox, but will be unsuccessful. |
| March 10 | Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, granddaughter of the Old Roman, Charles Comiskey, sells her 54 percent ownership in the White Sox to Bill Veeck's syndicate for $2.7 million. Brother Chuck fails in his attempt to match or improve the bid. Comiskey control of the franchise ends after 60 years. |
| March 25 | Future N.L. President Bill White comes to St. Louis along with third baseman Ray Jablonski from the Giants for pitchers Sam Jones and Don Choate. White will win six consecutive Gold Gloves with the Cardinals plus one more later in Philadelphia. |
| April 9 | In the fifth inning against Washington, the Orioles become the first team in history to turn a triple play on Opening Day. Vice President Richard Nixon, a right-hander, substitutes for President Dwight D. Eisenhower and watches the Senators breeze to a 9-2 win. |
| April 11 | Don Drysdale hits his second Opening Day home run to become the first pitcher with two career home runs on Opening Day. Unfortunately, his home run is the only Dodgers score as he loses to the Cubs 6-1. |
| April 22 | The Chicago White Sox scored 11 runs with only one hit in the seventh inning of a 20-6 rout of the Kansas City A's. Johnny Callison had the hit a single. In the inning, Chicago was the recipients of 10 walks five with the bases loaded three Kansas City errors and one hit batsman. |
| May 1 | Early Wynn of the Chicago White Sox pitched a one-hitter, struck out 14, and hit a double and home run for a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at the age of 39. |
| May 7 | A crowd of 93,103 came to the Los Angeles Coliseum on "Roy Campanella Night" to show their affection for the paralyzed Dodger catcher. The Dodgers were beaten by the New York Yankees, 6-2, in an exhibition game that followed the ceremonies. |
| May 10 | Philadelphia's Jim Hearn allows two earned runs before the game is suspended with the Pirates ahead 6-4. Hearn is released before the game is completed in July and is charged with the loss two months after his retirement. |
| May 11 | At Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games comes to an end when he makes an error in a 7-6 loss to the Indians. |
| May 26 | In a singular performance, Harvey Haddix of the Pirates pitches a perfect game against Milwaukee for 12 innings, only to lose in the 13th. Felix Mantilla opens the last inning by reaching base on an error. A sacrifice and an intentional walk to Hank Aaron brings up Joe Adcock, who hits one out of the park in right-center field for an apparent 3-0 victory. Aaron leaves the field, and Adcock passes him on the basepaths. Both are called out as Mantilla scores. Lew Burdette goes all the way for his eighth win, scattering 12 hits. |
| June 1 | Two-time champ Monterrey, Mexico is barred from 1959 Little League competition for its failure to comply with the rule that specifies using only players from a predetermined geographical area. |
| June 10 | Rocky Colavito hits four consecutive home runs in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium to lead the Indians to an 11-8 win. Colavito joins Lou Gehrig and Bobby Lowe as the only major-league players to hit four consecutive four-baggers. |
| June 27 | With the players voting, Henry Aaron gets a unanimous vote for the All-Star Game, making him the first player so selected. |
| June 30 | In Chicago, two balls are in play at the same time. On a wild pitch from pitcher Bob Anderson, Stan Musial draws a walk. As the pitch gets by catcher Sammy Taylor, Musial tries for second base. Umpire Vic Delmore puts another ball in play by mistake. Taylor promptly throws the ball into center field. Third baseman Al Dark, who chased down the original ball, throws to shortstop Ernie Banks, who tags out a confused Musial. After a 10-minute conference, the umpires agree that Musial is out. Delmore will be fired because of the boner. |
| July 7 | The N.L. defeats the AL 5-4 in the All-Star Game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays knocks in Hank Aaron with the deciding run. Don Drysdale pitches perfect ball the first three innings. |
| July 25 | Fidel Castro supporters bring a halt to the International League contest between the Rochester Red Wings and Havana Sugar Kings with random gunshots from the grandstand. Red Wings third base coach Frank Verdi and Havana shortstop Leo Cardenas both suffer minor flesh wounds. The team is pulled from the field and Havana cancels the rest of the homestand, eventually relocating the franchise in Newark for the 1960 season. |
| July 30 | Willie McCovey had four hits in four at-bats in his Major League debut with the San Francisco Giants. He had two triples in a 7-2 win over Philadelphia. |
| August 2 | Bill Bruton of Milwaukee hit two bases-loaded triples to lead the Braves to an 11-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the nightcap of a doubleheader. |
| August 2 | Giants first baseman Willie McCovey hits the first of his 521 major league home runs, off Ron Kline, as San Francisco downs the Pirates 5-3. Johnny Antonelli wins his 15th game. |
| August 3 | For the first time, there are two All-Star Games in the same year. With the managers picking the starting lineup, the American League wins this second contest 5-3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. |
| August 18 | Branch Rickey resigns as chairman of the Pirates to become president of the Continental League, which never plays a game. |
| August 31 | Sandy Koufax breaks Dizzy Dean's National League mark and ties Bob Feller's major league record of 18 strikeouts in a game against the Giants as 82,974 fans watch. He also totals 31 strikeouts for two consecutive games to set a new major league mark. (The major league record for strikeouts in a game is now shared by Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood, while Wood holds the record with 33 strikeouts over two games.) |
| September 11 | The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, ending reliever Roy Face's winning streak at twenty-two games. It was Face's only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record. |
| September 21 | Warren Spahn notches his 20th win and his 266th National League victory to tie Eppa Rixey of the Phils and Reds for the career high in wins by a left-hander. The Braves and the Dodgers are now tied for the lead in the three-team pennant race. |
| September 22 | The White Sox clinch their first pennant in 40 years with a 4-2 win over the second-place Indians. Early Wynn gets the win, with Gerry Staley saving the game in the ninth. |
| September 26 | At Milwaukee the Braves beat the Phillies 3-2 behind Spahn's 21st win. He is now ahead of Eppa Rixey as the winningest National League lefty. |
| September 28 | In the first game of a best-of-three playoff, the Dodgers beat the Braves 3-2 in a cold Milwaukee drizzle. Rookie Larry Sherry pitches 7 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. In a losing cause, Eddie Mathews hits his 46th home run to win the title. Ernie Banks finishes with 45. |
| September 29 | The Dodgers win Game Two of the playoff, 6-5, and take the National League pennant. Los Angeles overcomes a 5-2, ninth-inning deficit to tie the game they win it in the 12th inning when Gil Hodges scores from second on Felix Mantilla's off-balance heave past first base after a difficult chance on Carl Furillo's grounder. |
| October 4 | In Los Angeles, the Dodgers beat the White Sox 3-1 behind the pitching of Don Drysdale and Larry Sherry in Game Two of the World Series. Carl Furillo's pinch two-run single in the seventh is the difference. The attendance of 92,234 sets a new World Series mark. |
| October 8 | The Los Angeles Dodgers win 9-3 to take the World Series over the White Sox. Larry Sherry wins in relief of Johnny Podres in Game Six. |
| November 4 | Ernie Banks wins his second Most Valuable Player award in a row on the strength of his forty-five home runs and one-hundred forty-three runs batted in for the Cubs. Eddie Mathews finishes second. |
| November 12 | White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox wins the American League's Most Valuable Player award. Teammates Luis Aparicio and Early Wynn finish second and third in the voting. |
| November 17 | Giants slugger Willie McCovey is the National League Rookie of the Year. McCovey gets all 24 votes to make him the second Giant in a row to win the award unanimously. Teammate Orlando Cepeda ran away with the award in 1958. |
| November 18 | Outfielder Bob Allison of Washington is voted the American League Rookie of the Year. Cleveland's Jim Perry is a distant second. |
| December 11 | Arnold Johnson of the Kansas City A's gives the New York Yankees an early Christmas present when he gift wraps Roger Maris in pinstripes. The Yankees acquire the slugger in a seven-player deal that sends pitcher Don Larsen, right fielder Hank Bauer, first baseman Marv Throneberry, and left fielder Norm Siebern to the Athletics. |
| December 22 | The fledgling Continental League awards its last franchise to Dallas / Ft. Worth. |
Regular Season Statistics | Transactions | 1959 MLB History
|
|
All PWBL Trades | All Free Agent Transactions
Recent Birthdays:
 | Ron Blackburn Born: 1935 Apr 23 Died: 1998 Apr 29 Age: 63 Debut: 1958 Apr 15 Last G: 1959 Jul 28 |
 | Duke Carmel Born: 1937 Apr 23 Died: 2021 Aug 03 Age: 84 Debut: 1959 Sep 10 Last G: 1965 May 02 |
 | Don Gile Born: 1935 Apr 19 Died: 2021 Mar 05 Age: 85 Debut: 1959 Sep 25 Last G: 1962 Sep 30 |
 | Glen Hobbie Born: 1936 Apr 24 Died: 2013 Aug 09 Age: 77 Debut: 1957 Sep 20 Last G: 1964 Jul 25 |
 | Gary Peters Born: 1937 Apr 21 Died: 2023 Jan 26 Age: 85 Debut: 1959 Sep 10 Last G: 1972 Sep 23 |
 | Bob Schmidt Born: 1933 Apr 22 Died: 2015 May 02 Age: 82 Debut: 1958 Apr 16 Last G: 1965 Jun 09 |
 | Warren Spahn Born: 1921 Apr 23 Died: 2003 Nov 24 Age: 82 Debut: 1942 Apr 19 Last G: 1965 Oct 01 |
 | Mickey Vernon Born: 1918 Apr 22 Died: 2008 Sep 24 Age: 90 Debut: 1939 Jul 08 Last G: 1960 Sep 27 |