1959 Chicago White Sox season
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| 1959 Chicago White Sox 1959 American League Champions |
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| 1959 Information | |
| Owner(s) | Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, Bill Veeck |
| General Manager(s) | Johnny Rigney,Chuck Comiskey |
| Manager(s) | Al Lopez |
| Local television | WGN-TV Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd) |
| Local radio | WCFL (Bob Elson, Don Wells) |
The 1959 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 60th season. They finished with a record 94-60, good enough for 1st place in the American League, 5 games ahead of the 2nd place Cleveland Indians.
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[edit] Regular season
In 1959, the team won its first pennant in 40 years, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – Lopez, Aparicio, Fox (the league MVP), and pitcher Early Wynn, who won the Cy Young Award at a time when only one award was presented for both leagues. The White Sox would also acquire slugger Ted Kluszewski, a local area native, from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final pennant push. Kluszewski gave the team a much-needed slugger for the stretch run, and he hit nearly .300 for the White Sox in the final month. Lopez had also managed the Cleveland Indians to the World Series in 1954, making him the only manager to interrupt the New York Yankees pennant run between 1949 and 1964.
After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, a life-long White Sox fan, ordered his fire chief to set off the city's air raid sirens. Many Chicagoans became fearful and confused since 1959 was the height of the Cold War; however, they relaxed somewhat upon realizing it was part of the White Sox' celebration. The Sox won Game 1 of the World Series 11-0 on the strength of Kluszewski's two home runs, their last postseason home win until 2005. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, won three of the next four games and captured their first World Series championship since moving to the west coast in 1958. 92,706 fans witnessed Game 5 of the World Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the most ever to attend a World Series game, or for that matter any non-exhibition major league baseball game. The White Sox won that game 1-0 over the Dodgers' 23-year-old pitcher Sandy Koufax, but the Dodgers clinched the series by beating the Sox 9-3 two days later at Comiskey Park.
[edit] Season standings
| American League | W | L | Pct. | GB |
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| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 60 | .610 | -- |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 65 | .578 | 5 |
| New York Yankees | 79 | 75 | .513 | 15 |
| Detroit Tigers | 76 | 78 | .494 | 18 |
| Boston Red Sox | 75 | 79 | .487 | 19 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 74 | 80 | .481 | 20 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 66 | 88 | .429 | 28 |
| Washington Senators | 63 | 91 | .409 | 31 |
[edit] Roster
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1959 Chicago White Sox roster
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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[edit] 1959 Opening Day Lineup
Luis Aparicio, ss
Nellie Fox, 2b
Jim Landis, cf
Sherm Lollar, c
Norm Cash, 1b
Al Smith, rf
Johnny Callison, lf
Bubba Phillips, 3b
Billy Pierce, p
[edit] World Series
NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
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| 1 | Dodgers – 0, White Sox – 11 | October 1 | Comiskey Park | 48,013 |
| 2 | Dodgers – 4, White Sox – 3 | October 2 | Comiskey Park | 47,368 |
| 3 | White Sox – 1, Dodgers – 3 | October 4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,394 |
| 4 | White Sox – 4, Dodgers – 5 | October 5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,650 |
| 5 | White Sox – 1, Dodgers – 0 | October 6 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,706 |
| 6 | Dodgers – 9, White Sox – 3 | October 8 | Comiskey Park | 47,653 |
[edit] Awards and Honors
- Nellie Fox, Second Base, American League MVP
- Al Lopez, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year
[edit] External links
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| Preceded by New York Yankees 1958 |
American League Champions 1959 |
Succeeded by New York Yankees 1960 |
