The 1959

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

season was the team's 59th season in the major leagues, and its 60th season overall. They finished with a record of 94–60, good enough to win the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) championship, five games ahead of the second place

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. It was the team's first pennant since

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

and would be its last until their championship season of .

Offseason

* December 1, 1958: 1958 rule 5 draft ** Claude Raymond was drafted by the White Sox from the Milwaukee Braves.Claude Raymond
at ''Baseball Reference'' **

Lou Skizas Louis Peter Skizas (born June 2, 1932) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and third baseman in Major League Baseball from 1956 through 1959 for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox. ...

was drafted by the White Sox from the Detroit Tigers.Lou Skizas
at ''Baseball Reference''

Regular season

In 1959, the team won its first pennant in

40 years ''40 Years'' is an album by The Dubliners, released in 2002. To celebrate 40 years together, the band recorded an album and undertook a European tour. Ronnie Drew and Jim McCann rejoined the group on both the album and the tour. Twelve new tra ...

, thanks to the efforts of several eventual Hall of Famers – manager

Al López Alfonso Ramón López (August 20, 1908 – October 30, 2005) was a Spanish-American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Robins / Dodgers, Boston Bees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cle ...

Luis Aparicio Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1956 to 1973 for three American League (AL) teams, m ...

Nellie Fox Jacob Nelson “Nellie” Fox (December 25, 1927 – December 1, 1975) was an American professional baseball player. Fox was one of the best second basemen of all time, and the third-most difficult hitter to strike out in Major League Baseball (M ...

(the league MVP), and pitcher

Early Wynn Early Wynn Jr. (January 6, 1920 – April 4, 1999), nicknamed "Gus", was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, dur ...

, who won the Cy Young Award at a time when only one award was presented for both leagues. Veteran catcher

Sherm Lollar Sherm is a shortened version of the given name Sherman and may refer to: People *Sherm Chavoor (1919-1992), American swimming coach *Sherm Cohen (born 1965), American storyboard artist *Sherm Feller (1918–1994), American musician and sports an ...

provided quiet leadership on and off the field, leading the team in home runs and

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. The White Sox also acquired slugger Ted Kluszewski in August, a local area native, from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final pennant push. Kluszewski gave the team the needed power-hitting for the stretch run and hit nearly .300 in the final month of play for the White Sox. Lopez had also managed the

to the World Series in , making him the only manager to interrupt the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

pennant run between 1949 and 1964. After the pennant-clinching victory, Chicago Mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

, a lifelong 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 The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

11–0 on the strength of Kluszewski's two home runs, their last postseason home win until 2005. The

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, however, won three of the next four games and captured their first

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 Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

, but the Dodgers clinched the series by beating the Sox 9–3 two days later at Comiskey Park. Fox became the last player in the 20th century to have five hits on Opening Day.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* May 1, 1959:

and

Don Rudolph Frederick Donald Rudolph (August 16, 1931 – September 12, 1968) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He appeared in 124 games pitched over all or parts of six major league seasons for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati ...

were traded by the White Sox to the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

for

Del Ennis Delmer Ennis (June 8, 1925 – February 8, 1996) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1946 to 1959 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Whit ...

. * May 2, 1959: Ray Boone was traded by the White Sox to the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

for

Harry Simpson Harry Leon "Suitcase" Simpson (November 30, 1924 – April 3, 1979) was an American outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Pitts ...

. * May 11, 1959: Claude Raymond was returned by the White Sox to the Milwaukee Braves. * August 25, 1959: Ted Kluszewski was traded to the White Sox from Pittsburgh for outfielder Harry Simpson and minor league pitcher Bob Sagers.

Opening Day lineup

, SS *

, 2B *

Jim Landis James Henry Landis (March 9, 1934 – October 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball player. Landis played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder on six teams from 1957 through 1967. While playing eight seasons for the Chicago ...

, CF *

, C * Norm Cash, 1B * Al Smith, RF * Johnny Callison, LF *

Bubba Phillips John Melvin "Bubba" Phillips (February 24, 1928 – June 22, 1993) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman from Macon, Mississippi. He played for ten seasons on the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians, fro ...

, 3B *

Billy Pierce Walter William Pierce (April 2, 1927 – July 31, 2015) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 19 ...

, P

Roster

Player stats

Batting

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases''

Pitching

''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts''

1959 World Series

(4) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (2)

Awards and honors

, American League

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

.1959 MVP award voting results at Baseball Reference
/ref>

, second place in MVP voting. *

, Cy Young Award *

, Gold Glove AwardAmerican League Gold Glove winners at Baseball Reference
/ref> *

, Gold Glove Award *

, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References

1959 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference
{{Chicago White Sox Chicago White Sox seasons Chicago White Sox season American League champion seasons Chicago White