1959 World Series

The Los Angeles Coliseum during Game 4.
Team (Wins) Manager Season Los Angeles Dodgers (4) Walt Alston 88–68, .564, GA: 2 Chicago White Sox (2) Al Lopez 94–60, .610, GA: 5
Dates:	October 1–8
MVP:	Larry Sherry (Los Angeles)
Television:	NBC
TV announcers:	Jack Brickhouse and Vin Scully
Radio:	NBC
Radio announcers:	Mel Allen and By Saam
Umpires:	Bill Summers (AL), Frank Dascoli (NL), Eddie Hurley (AL), Frank Secory (NL), Johnny Rice (AL: outfield only), Hal Dixon (NL: outfield only)
Hall of Famers:	Dodgers: Walt Alston (mgr.), Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Duke Snider. White Sox: Al Lopez (mgr.), Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, Early Wynn.
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The 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, four games to two. Each of the three games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew record crowds, Game 5's attendance of 92,706 continues to be a World Series record to this day.

It was the first pennant for the White Sox in 40 years (since the 1919 Black Sox Scandal). They would have to wait until their championship season of 2005 to win another pennant. The Dodgers won their first pennant since moving from Brooklyn in 1958 by defeating the Milwaukee Braves, two games to none, in a best-of-three-games pennant playoff. It was the Dodgers' second World Series victory in five years, their first in Los Angeles, and marked the first championship for a West Coast team.

It was the first World Series in which no pitcher for either side pitched a complete game.

Vin Scully remarked at the beginning of the official World Series film, "What a change of scenery!" This was the only Series from 1949 through 1964 in which no games were played in New York, breaking the streak of the city that documentary filmmaker Ken Burns later called the 1950s' "Capital of Baseball".

Route to the World Series[edit]

Dodgers[edit]

After finishing seventh in 1958, the Dodgers rebounded in 1959. The National League pennant race was a season-long three-way battle between the Dodgers, the two-time defending N.L. champion Milwaukee Braves and the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers never led by more than two games (and that was at the end of a tie-breaker) and never trailed by more than five. On September 20, the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep in San Francisco so that, with five games to play, they had a  ¹⁄₂ game lead on the Braves and a one-game lead over the Giants. Going into the final day, the Dodgers and Braves were tied for first and the Giants were 1 ¹⁄₂ games back; the Giants needed to sweep a doubleheader from the Cardinals and have the Dodgers and Braves both lose to force a three-way tie. But the Dodgers won in Chicago 7–1 and the Braves won at home against the Phillies 5–2; this made the fact that the Giants lost both games of their doubleheader irrelevant.

In Game 1 of the best-of-three playoff in Milwaukee, the Dodgers took a 3–2 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Dodger reliever Larry Sherry then retired 12 of the last 13 Braves hitters to secure the win.

Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) were scheduled for Los Angeles. In Game 2, the Dodgers trailed 5-2 in the ninth inning, but rallied to tie the game with five singles and a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 11th, the Braves loaded the bases with two out, but Stan Williams got pinch hitter Joe Adcock to ground out to end the threat. In the bottom of the 12th, Gil Hodges drew a walk with two out and nobody on. Joe Pignatano singled Hodges to second. Carl Furillo hit a ground ball to shortstop Felix Mantilla; Mantilla's throw to first base was in the dirt and skipped past Frank Torre, allowing Hodges to score all the way from second with the pennant-clinching run.

White Sox[edit]

Managed by Al Lopez, the White Sox were built on pitching, speed and defense. Nicknamed the "Go-go Sox", they were last in the A.L. in home runs but led the league in stolen bases, fielding percentage, and had the lowest team ERA. They battled the Cleveland Indians for the American League pennant, and after a close race, the White Sox built a 6 ¹⁄₂ game lead in early September. The Indians could get no closer than 3 ¹⁄₂ games, and when the White Sox beat Cleveland 4–2 on September 22, they clinched the pennant with three games to play. The White Sox were only the second team besides the Yankees to win the A.L. pennant between 1949 and 1964 inclusive; the other was the 1954 Indians, also managed by Al Lopez.

Summary[edit]

NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (2)

Matchups[edit]

Game 1[edit]

Thursday, October 1, 1959 at Comiskey Park (I) in Chicago, Illinois

Historic Comiskey Park is host to its first World Series in 40 years as Game 1 unfolds before a crowd of 48,103 that includes Hollywood's Joan Crawford and Orson Welles and 1956 presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson II. On the pitching mound, Early Wynn opposes Roger Craig. After scoring twice in the first inning, the Sox pound across seven runs in the third and two more in the fourth, with a pair of titanic home runs by midseason acquisition Ted Kluszewski. Banging the ball all over the park, the Sox rout the Dodgers 11–0.

Game 2[edit]

Friday, October 2, 1959 at Comiskey Park (I) in Chicago, Illinois

Game 2 features Bob Shaw vs. Johnny Podres. Again the Sox jump out to a quick 2–0 lead and hold it until the fifth when Charlie Neal homers for the first Dodger run of the series. As the ball leaves the park, Sox left fielder Al Smith gets an unexpected beer shower from a fan. With the game tied 2–2 in the seventh, Neal hits his second home run of the day to put the Dodgers ahead for the first time, 4–2. During a Sox uprising in the eighth against Larry Sherry, Smith doubles to left with two men on. However, in the bonehead play of the series, Sherm Lollar is thrown out by a mile at the plate trying to score. (Wally Moon faked a catch, fooling Lollar completely.) This is the turning point of the Series, as Sherry closes the door in the ninth to notch a save and give Podres the win.

Game 3[edit]

Sunday, October 4, 1959 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California

The tie-breaker playoff crowd at the Los Angeles Coliseum (36,528) had fallen well short of the stadium's baseball seating capacity of 92,000-plus. In contrast, the three World Series games in the Coliseum would draw Series record crowds that will likely never be equalled. It's Dick Donovan vs. Don Drysdale in Game 3 and both pitchers throw goose eggs through six, with Donovan giving up only one hit. However, Donovan's control deserts him in the seventh inning, and with the bases loaded, Carl Furillo bats against reliever Gerry Staley and singles in two runs to put the Dodgers in front. Drysdale gives up a run in the eighth, but Sherry shuts down the Sox as the Dodgers win, 3–1.

Game 4[edit]

Monday, October 5, 1959 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California

Opening game pitchers Wynn and Craig face each other again in Game 4, a 5–4 Dodger victory. Lollar's homer caps a game-tying seventh inning for the Sox, but Gil Hodges blasts one only an inning later to give the Dodgers and relief pitcher Larry Sherry the win.

Game 5[edit]

Tuesday, October 6, 1959 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California

A record-breaking crowd of 92,706 turns out, a majority hoping to celebrate a Los Angeles championship. For the first time in World Series history, however, three pitchers combine for a shutout as Bob Shaw, Billy Pierce and Dick Donovan quiet the Dodgers and their fans 1–0 in Game 5, which sends the series back to Chicago. The game's only run scores in the fourth off starter Sandy Koufax, coming when Nellie Fox scores as Lollar grounds into a double play. To date, this remains the largest crowd in World Series history.

Game 6[edit]

Thursday, October 8, 1959 at Comiskey Park (I) in Chicago, Illinois

The victory in Game 5 gives the Sox hope heading home to again play in a "real ballpark," as opposed to L.A.'s converted football stadium. But the change in scenery is no help. Wynn starts with only two days rest, and after surrendering two runs in the third inning, the Dodgers break open the game with six more in the fourth for an 8–0 lead. Podres is also knocked out in the fourth by Chicago's last gasp, another towering home run by the hottest Sox hitter of the series, Ted Kluszewski. In the ninth inning, Chuck Essegian sets a World Series record with his second pinch-hit homer of the series, and the Dodgers capture the championship, four games to two. Larry Sherry is voted Most Valuable Player of the series.

Composite line score[edit]

1959 World Series (4–2): Los Angeles Dodgers (N.L.) over Chicago White Sox (A.L.)

Notes[edit]

The Dodgers found an unlikely hero when Chuck Essegian, who hit only one home run in 1959 and had only six in his career to that point, set a World Series record with two pinch-hit home runs.

Due to the best-of-three N.L. playoff, Game 1 was deferred from Wednesday, September 30, to Thursday, October 1. The normal travel days were retained between Games 2 and 3, and Games 5 and 6, resulting in the rare event of a Series with no Saturday game scheduled.

Games 3, 4 and 5 were:

• The first World Series games ever played on the West Coast;
• The first and only played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum;
• The only games in World Series history to exceed 90,000 in attendance: Game 5 drew 92,706 fans (a major league record as of 2014, unlikely to be broken under current arrangements, as no current MLB stadium has a capacity of even 60,000 - Dodger Stadium currently has the largest capacity in MLB with 56,000)

This was the first World Series to draw more than 400,000 fans.

Larry Sherry of the Dodgers was the fifth consecutive pitcher to win the World Series Most Valuable Player Award (in only the fifth year it was awarded), following Johnny Podres (Brooklyn, 1955), Don Larsen (New York, 1956), Lew Burdette (Milwaukee, 1957), and Bob Turley (New York, 1958). Sherry, who had been born with club feet, finished all four games the Dodgers won, winning two and saving two. His brother Norm was the Dodgers' backup catcher.

Although he was not voted MVP, Dodger second baseman Charlie Neal batted .370 for the Series, and his two-homer performance in Game 2 came after Chicago's pitching had held L.A. scoreless for 13 consecutive innings.

Ted Kluszewski played for the losing "Pale Hose" but still managed to drive in a World Series record-tying ten runs, joining Yogi Berra, who drove in ten in the 1956 World Series. "Big Klu" did so in just six games, and his 10 RBIs in the 1959 World Series remain a record for a 6-game World Series, as Berra's 10 RBIs in 1956 came in a 7-game World Series. (However, Bobby Richardson would break the record for RBIs in a World Series, regardless of length, the next year with 12 against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series.)^{[citation needed]}

The Dodgers became the second National League team to win a World Series after relocating (the 1957 Milwaukee Braves being the first).

The Dodgers became the first team to go from 7th place in one season to World Champion the next.

The 1959 World Series was the last one for Comiskey Park, and the only one for Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The White Sox would move into U.S. Cellular Field, originally "New Comiskey", in 1991; the Dodgers would move into Dodger Stadium in 1962. This was the most recent World Series to host the final World Series games of both its host venues, a "distinction" it lost to the 2003 World Series after the original Yankee Stadium (1923) closed following the 2008 Major League Baseball season and the Florida Marlins moved out of Sun Life Stadium after the 2011 season.

References[edit]

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-312-03960-3. 
• Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2167. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. 

External links[edit]

• 1959 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1959 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1959 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1959 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1959 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.

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