Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
1959 Major League Baseball season
| 1959 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 9 – October 9, 1959 |
| Number of games | 154 |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| TV partner(s) | NBC, CBS |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Nellie Fox (CWS) NL: Ernie Banks (CHC) |
| AL champions | Chicago White Sox |
| AL runners-up | Cleveland Indians |
| NL champions | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| NL runners-up | Milwaukee Braves |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Runners-up | Chicago White Sox |
| World Series MVP | Larry Sherry (LA) |
The 1959 Major League Baseball season was played from April 9 to October 9, 1959. It saw the Los Angeles Dodgers, free of the strife produced by their move from Brooklyn the previous season, rebound to win the National League pennant after a two-game playoff against the Milwaukee Braves, who themselves had moved from Boston in 1953. The Dodgers won the World Series against a Chicago White Sox team that had not played in the "Fall Classic" since 1919 and was interrupting a Yankees' dynasty that dominated the American League between 1949 and 1964.
On July 21, the Boston Red Sox became the 16th and final team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Pumpsie Green, 12 years after Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers broke the professional baseball color line in 1947.[1] The Red Sox were notably resistant to integration due to team owner Tom Yawkey, and only did so following a lawsuit charging Yawkey and general manager Bucky Harris with discrimination and the deliberate barring of black players from the Red Sox.[2] The NAACP issued charges of "following an anti-Negro policy", and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination announced a public hearing on racial bias against the Red Sox.[3]
The season is notable as the only one between 1950 and 1981 where no pitcher pitched a no-hitter.[4][a]
- ^ "These players integrated each MLB team". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- ^ New York Times April 7, 1959
- ^ Friend, Harold. "Pumpsie Green and the Boston Red Sox's Racism". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
- ^ No-Hitters in chronological Order by Retro Sheet
Previous Page Next Page
