1959 American League

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The 1959 season of the American League was the fifty-ninth season of the league.

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Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
1 Chicago White Sox 156 94 60 2 .603 -.- 669 (4.29) 588 (3.77) 0.250 0.324 0.364 3.29 0.979
2 Cleveland Indians 154 89 65 0 .578 5.0 745 (4.84) 646 (4.19) 0.263 0.319 0.408 3.75 0.978
3 New York Yankees 155 79 75 1 .510 15.0 687 (4.43) 647 (4.17) 0.260 0.318 0.402 3.60 0.978
4 Detroit Tigers 154 76 78 0 .494 18.0 713 (4.63) 732 (4.75) 0.258 0.333 0.400 4.20 0.978
5 Boston Red Sox 154 75 79 0 .487 19.0 726 (4.71) 696 (4.52) 0.256 0.335 0.385 4.17 0.978
6 Baltimore Orioles 155 74 80 1 .477 20.0 551 (3.55) 621 (4.01) 0.238 0.309 0.345 3.56 0.976
7 Kansas City Athletics 154 66 88 0 .429 28.0 681 (4.42) 760 (4.94) 0.263 0.324 0.390 4.35 0.973
8 Washington Senators 154 63 91 0 .409 31.0 619 (4.02) 701 (4.55) 0.237 0.307 0.379 4.01 0.973

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Nellie Fox Chicago White Sox 156
At Bats Nellie Fox Chicago White Sox 624
Runs Scored Eddie Yost Detroit Tigers 115
Hits Harvey Kuenn Detroit Tigers 198
Doubles Harvey Kuenn Detroit Tigers 42
Triples Bob Allison Washington Senators 9
Home Runs Rocky Colavito
Harmon Killebrew
Cleveland Indians
Washington Senators
42
Total Bases Rocky Colavito Cleveland Indians 301
Runs Batted In Jackie Jensen Boston Red Sox 112
Stolen Bases Luis Aparicio Chicago White Sox 56
Caught Stealing Luis Aparicio
Vic Power
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
13
Walks Eddie Yost Detroit Tigers 135
Intentional Base-on-Balls Al Kaline Detroit Tigers 12
Hit by Pitch Minnie Minoso Cleveland Indians 17
Strikeouts Mickey Mantle New York Yankees 126
Sacrifice Hits Tony Kubek
Jim Landis
Al Pilarcik
New York Yankees
Chicago White Sox
Baltimore Orioles
13
Sacrifice Flies Jackie Jensen Boston Red Sox 12
Grounded into Double Plays Sherm Lollar Chicago White Sox 27
Batting Average Harvey Kuenn Detroit Tigers 0.353
On-Base Percentage Eddie Yost Detroit Tigers 0.435
Slugging Percentage Al Kaline Detroit Tigers 0.530
On-Base plus Slugging Al Kaline Detroit Tigers 0.940
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Al Kaline Detroit Tigers 152

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Early Wynn Chicago White Sox 22
Losses Pedro Ramos Washington Senators 19
Win-Loss Percentage Bob Shaw Chicago White Sox 0.750
Appearances Gerry Staley Chicago White Sox 67
Games Started Paul Foytack
Early Wynn
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
37
Complete Games Camilo Pascual Washington Senators 17
Shutouts Camilo Pascual Washington Senators 6
Games Finished Turk Lown
Gerry Staley
Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
37
Saves Turk Lown Chicago White Sox 15
Innings Pitched Early Wynn Chicago White Sox 255.2
Batters Faced Early Wynn Chicago White Sox 1076
Hits Allowed Cal McLish Cleveland Indians 253
Home Runs Allowed Jim Bunning Detroit Tigers 37
Base-on-Balls Allowed Early Wynn Chicago White Sox 119
Intentional Base-on-Balls Gerry Staley
Jerry Walker
Chicago White Sox
Baltimore Orioles
9
Hit Batsmen Johnny Kucks New York Yankees/Kansas City Athletics 12
Strikeouts Jim Bunning Detroit Tigers 201
Wild Pitches Milt Pappas
Herb Score
Baltimore Orioles
Cleveland Indians
14
Balks Camilo Pascual Washington Senators 3
Runs Allowed Paul Foytack Detroit Tigers 137
Earned Runs Allowed Paul Foytack Detroit Tigers 124
Earned Run Average Hoyt Wilhelm Baltimore Orioles 2.19
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Art Ditmar New York Yankees 1.030

All-Star Game[edit]

The 1959 season featured two All-Star Games. In the first game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA on Tuesday, July 7, 1959, the American League lost by a score of 5 to 4. In the second game at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA on Monday, August 3, 1959, the American League won by a score of 5 to 3. For both games, the league's manager was Casey Stengel.

Postseason[edit]

In the World Series, the American League champion Chicago White Sox were defeated by the National League's Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to 2.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Nellie Fox, a second baseman with the Chicago White Sox. In the award's voting, he had 295 out of a possible 336 points and 16 first place votes.

The winner of the Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball irrespective of league, was Early Wynn of the Chicago White Sox (AL). In the award's voting, he had 13 out of a possible 16 points and 13 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Bob Allison, an outfielder with the Washington Senators. In the award's voting, he had 18 out of a possible 24 points and 18 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by sportswriters, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Bobby Shantz New York Yankees
C Sherm Lollar Chicago White Sox
1B Vic Power Cleveland Indians
2B Nellie Fox Chicago White Sox
3B Frank Malzone Boston Red Sox
SS Luis Aparicio Chicago White Sox
LF Minnie Minoso Cleveland Indians
CF Al Kaline Detroit Tigers
RF Jackie Jensen Boston Red Sox

All-Star Games[edit]

In the First All-Star Game of 1959, the National League defeated the American League, 5-4, on July 7th at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA. In the Second Al-Star Game played on August 3rd at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA, the American League won 5-3 over the National League. In both games, the American League team was managed by Casey Stengel of the New York Yankees.

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The eighteenth annual Hall of Fame Game was played on July 20 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The game ended in a 5 - 5 tie between the Kansas City Athletics of the American League and Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. The game was stopped by rain with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]