1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
1st season in Los Angeles
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (since 1958)
Los Angeles (since 1958)
Other information
Owner(s)	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
General manager(s)	Buzzie Bavasi
Manager(s)	Walter Alston
Local television	KTTV (11)
Local radio	KMPC Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW René Cárdenas, Miguel Alonzo, Milt Nava
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The Los Angeles Dodgers took the field before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 18, 1958, to usher in the beginning of the team's new life in Los Angeles. It was a rough season, as the Dodgers finished 21 games in back of the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves in the National League standings, but it was the beginning of the second phase for the team.

Offseason

Spring training

The Dodgers played their first exhibition game as the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 8, 1958. The team faced the Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Stadium. Ron Negray started for the Dodgers and gave up four runs in a 7 to 4 Dodgers loss. The New York Times noted that as much as the game was a historic milestone for the franchise, it was a chance for manager Walter Alston to evaluate players under game conditions, especially catchers, following Roy Campanella's offseason auto accident that ended his career before he could ever play for Los Angeles.

Regular season

• April 23, 1958: Gil Hodges hit his 300th home run, and Pee Wee Reese played his 2,000th game, on the same day that Duke Snider injured his arm before the game trying to throw a ball out of the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	0.597	—	48–29	44–33
Pittsburgh Pirates	84	70	0.545	8	49–28	35–42
San Francisco Giants	80	74	0.519	12	44–33	36–41
Cincinnati Redlegs	76	78	0.494	16	40–37	36–41
Chicago Cubs	72	82	0.468	20	35–42	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	0.468	20	39–38	33–44
Los Angeles Dodgers	71	83	0.461	21	39–38	32–45
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	0.448	23	35–42	34–43

Record vs. opponents

1958 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	10–12	11–11	10–12	13–9	9–13	12–10	7–15
Cincinnati	12–10	—	11–11	5–17	15–7	10–12	11–11	12–10
Los Angeles	11–11	11–11	—	14–8	10–12	8–14	6–16	11–11
Milwaukee	12–10	17–5	8–14	—	13–9	11–11	16–6	15–7
Philadelphia	9–13	7–15	12–10	9–13	—	12–10	8–14	12–10
Pittsburgh	13–9	12–10	14–8	11–11	10–12	—	12–10	12–10
San Francisco	10–12	11–11	16–6	6–16	14–8	10–12	—	13–9
St. Louis	15–7	10–12	11–11	7–15	10–12	10–12	9–13	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Gino Cimoli	Center fielder
Pee Wee Reese	Shortstop
Duke Snider	Left fielder
Gil Hodges	First baseman
Charlie Neal	Second baseman
Dick Gray	Third baseman
Carl Furillo	Right fielder
Rube Walker	Catcher
Don Drysdale	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• June 15, 1958: The Dodgers traded Don Newcombe to Cincinnati Redlegs for Steve Bilko, Johnny Klippstein and players to be named later. The Redlegs completed the deal by sending Art Fowler and Charlie Rabe to the Dodgers on June 23.
• August 4, 1958: Randy Jackson was purchased from the Dodgers by the Cleveland Indians.
• August 15, 1958: Ramón Conde was purchased by the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies.

Roster

1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Bessent 12,37 Babe Birrer 55 Jackie Collum 40 Roger Craig 53 Don Drysdale 17 Carl Erskine 16 Bob Giallombardo 26 Fred Kipp 35 Johnny Klippstein 32 Sandy Koufax 41 Clem Labine 29 Ralph Mauriello 16 Danny McDevitt 38 Ron Negray 36 Don Newcombe 22 Johnny Podres 37 Ed Roebuck 35,51 Larry Sherry 40 Stan Williams		Catchers 58 Joe Pignatano  8 Johnny Roseboro 10 Rube Walker Infielders 33,36 Steve Bilko 27 Jim Gentile 11 Dick Gray 14 Gil Hodges  2 Randy Jackson 11,30 Bob Lillis 43 Charlie Neal  1 Pee Wee Reese 61 Earl Robinson 23 Don Zimmer		Outfielders  9 Gino Cimoli 2,27 Don Demeter 55 Ron Fairly  6 Carl Furillo 19 Jim Gilliam 25 Frank Howard  5 Norm Larker 45 Don Miles  4 Duke Snider  3 Elmer Valo 16 Bob Wilson		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 33 Joe Becker  7 Charlie Dressen 31 Greg Mulleavy 10 Rube Walker

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	Gil Hodges	141	475	123	.259	22	64
C	John Roseboro	114	384	104	.271	14	43

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

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

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
Don Bessent	19	1	0	0	3.33	13
Ron Negray	4	0	0	0	7.15	2

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Gil Hodges

All-stars

• 1958 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Johnny Podres reserve
  • Johnny Roseboro reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Montreal Royals	International League	Clay Bryant
AAA	St. Paul Saints	American Association	Max Macon
AA	Victoria Rosebuds	Texas League	Lou Rochelli
A	Macon Dodgers	South Atlantic League	Danny Ozark
A	Pueblo Dodgers	Western League	Ray Mueller
B	Green Bay Bluejays	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Pete Reiser
C	Great Falls Electrics	Pioneer League	Stan Wasiak
C	Reno Silver Sox	California League	Ray Perry
D	Columbus Foxes	Alabama–Florida League	Brandy Davis
D	Kokomo Dodgers	Midwest League	Edward Serrano
D	Thomasville Dodgers	Georgia–Florida League	Rudy Rufer Sam Suplizio

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Montreal

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site