1957 New York Giants (MLB) season

1957 New York Giants
Final Season in New York
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1883)
Location
Polo Grounds (since 1911)
New York City (since 1883)
Other information
Owner(s)	Horace Stoneham
General manager(s)	Chub Feeney
Manager(s)	Bill Rigney
Local television	WPIX (Russ Hodges, Bob DeLaney, Jim Woods)
Local radio	WMCA (Russ Hodges, Bob DeLaney, Jim Woods)
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The 1957 New York Giants season involved the team finishing in sixth place in the National League with a 69–85 record, 26 games behind the NL and World Champion Milwaukee Braves. It was the team's 75th and final season in New York City before its relocation to San Francisco, California for the following season. The last game at their stadium, the Polo Grounds, was played on September 29 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Offseason

• October 26, 1956: Hank Sauer was signed as a free agent by the Giants.
• February 21, 1957: Manny Mota was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.
• February 26, 1957: Hoyt Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman.
• March 27, 1957: Bill Sarni was released by the Giants.
• Prior to 1957 season: John Orsino was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.

Regular season

Relocation to San Francisco

While seeking a new stadium to replace the crumbling Polo Grounds, the Giants began to contemplate a move from New York, initially considering Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which was home to their top farm team, the Minneapolis Millers. Under the rules of the time, the Giants' ownership of the Millers gave them priority rights to a major league team in the area.

At this time, the Giants were approached by San Francisco mayor George Christopher. Despite objections from shareholders such as Joan Whitney Payson (who later owned the expansion Mets), majority owner Horace Stoneham entered into negotiations with San Francisco officials around the same time that Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley was courting the city of Los Angeles. O'Malley had been told that the Dodgers would not be allowed to move to Los Angeles unless a second team moved to California as well. He pushed Stoneham toward relocation. In the summer of 1957, both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers announced their moves to California, and the golden age of baseball in the New York area ended.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	95	59	0.617	—	45–32	50–27
St. Louis Cardinals	87	67	0.565	8	42–35	45–32
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	0.545	11	43–34	41–36
Cincinnati Redlegs	80	74	0.519	15	45–32	35–42
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	0.500	18	38–39	39–38
New York Giants	69	85	0.448	26	37–40	32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	0.403	33	36–41	26–51
Chicago Cubs	62	92	0.403	33	31–46	31–46

Record vs. opponents

1957 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	17–5	12–10	10–12	12–10	9–13	12–10	12–10
Chicago	5–17	—	7–15	9–13	9–13	8–14–1	12–10–1	12–10
Cincinnati	10–12	15–7	—	4–18	12–10	16–6	14–8	9–13
Milwaukee	12–10	13–9	18–4	—	13–9	12–10–1	16–6	11–11
New York	10–12	13–9	10–12	9–13	—	10–12	9–13	8–14
Philadelphia	13–9	14–8–1	6–16	10–12–1	12–10	—	13–9	9–13
Pittsburgh	10–12	10–12–1	8–14	6–16	13–9	9–13	—	6–16
St. Louis	10–12	10–12	13–9	11–11	14–8	13–9	16–6	—

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1957: Dick Littlefield and Bob Lennon were traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Ray Katt and Ray Jablonski.
• June 15, 1957: Red Schoendienst was traded by the Giants to the Milwaukee Braves for Danny O'Connell, Ray Crone, and Bobby Thomson.

Roster

1957 New York Giants
Roster
Pitchers 43 Johnny Antonelli 39 Curt Barclay 35 Pete Burnside 46 Jim Constable 49 Sandy Consuegra 44 Ray Crone 38 Jim Davis 28 Rubén Gómez 42 Marv Grissom 47 Gordon Jones 38 Joe Margoneri 40 Windy McCall 29 Mike McCormick 23 Stu Miller 41 Ramón Monzant 44 Steve Ridzik 36 Max Surkont 32 Al Worthington		Catchers  8 Ray Katt 16 Valmy Thomas  9 Wes Westrum Infielders 15 Eddie Bressoud 12 Foster Castleman 14 Gail Harris 10,46 Ray Jablonski 25 Whitey Lockman  2 Danny O'Connell 15 Andre Rodgers  7 Red Schoendienst 20 Daryl Spencer 17 Ozzie Virgil		Outfielders 24 Willie Mays 22 Don Mueller 26 Dusty Rhodes  6 Hank Sauer 21 Bobby Thomson Other batters 23 Bobby Hofman 21 Bill Taylor		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  2,7 Tommy Henrich  3 Bucky Walters  1 Davey Williams

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
1B	Whitey Lockman	133	456	113	.248	7	30
3B	Ray Jablonski	107	305	88	.289	9	57
LF	Hank Sauer	127	378	98	.259	26	76

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Red Schoendienst	57	254	78	.307	9	33
Dusty Rhodes	92	190	39	.205	4	19
Ray Katt	72	165	38	.230	2	17
Foster Castleman	14	37	6	.162	1	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Johnny Antonelli	40	212.1	12	18	3.77	144
Curt Barclay	37	183	9	9	3.44	67
Pete Burnside	10	31.2	1	4	8.80	18

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Jim Constable	16	1	1	0	2.86	13

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Willie Mays, National League leader, triples, (20).

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Minneapolis Millers	American Association	Red Davis
AA	Dallas Eagles	Texas League	Salty Parker
A	Springfield Giants	Eastern League	Mike McCormick and Ray Murray
B	Danville Leafs	Carolina League	Dave Garcia and Mike McCormick
C	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Pete Pavlick
D	Selma Cloverleafs	Alabama–Florida League	Buddy Kerr
D	Michigan City White Caps	Midwest League	Richie Klaus
D	Hastings Giants	Nebraska State League	Leo Schrall
D	Muskogee Giants	Sooner State League	Andy Gilbert

References

• 1957 New York Giants team page at Baseball Reference
• 1957 New York Giants team page at Baseball Almanac