1958 Milwaukee Braves season

1958 Milwaukee Braves
National League Champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Milwaukee County Stadium
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Record	92–62 (.597)
League place	1st
Owners	Louis R. Perini
General managers	John J. Quinn
Managers	Fred Haney
Radio	WEMP WTMJ (Earl Gillespie, Blaine Walsh)

The 1958 Milwaukee Braves season was the sixth in Milwaukee and the 88th overall season of the franchise. The Braves finished first in the National League with a 92–62 record and returned to the World Series for the second consecutive year, losing to the New York Yankees in seven games. The Braves set a Major League record which still stands for the fewest players caught stealing in a season, with 8.

Offseason

• December 1, 1958: Claude Raymond was drafted from the Braves by the Chicago White Sox in the 1958 rule 5 draft.
• Prior to 1958 season: Manny Jiménez was acquired by the Braves from Ciudad Juárez.
• Prior to 1958 season: In an unusual turn of events for a World Series champion, Braves' manager Fred Haney replaced all four members of his 1957 coaching staff after the Fall Classic triumph: third-base coach Connie Ryan, first-base coach Johnny Riddle, pitching coach Charlie Root, and bullpen coach Bob Keely. Root and Keely were holdovers from Charlie Grimm's staff, while Ryan was a former infielder and minor league manager for the Braves. Haney replaced them with Billy Herman, John Fitzpatrick, Whit Wyatt and George Susce. Herman and Wyatt were recruited from the Dodgers and Phillies respectively, and Susce was a veteran bullpen coach from the American League. Fitzpatrick had previously coached for Haney with the Pirates and in the Pacific Coast League.

Regular season

Season summary

The core of the Braves team was once again Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Joe Adcock, Warren Spahn, and Lew Burdette. Also, outfielder Bill Bruton came back from his season-ending injury in 1957 to play in 100 games. Aaron led the team with 196 hits, 109 runs scored, .326 batting average and 95 runs batted in, and Mathews led the team with 31 home runs.

However, in 1958 the Braves' third starting pitcher, Bob Buhl, was injured after pitching in just 11 games (winning five), which put even more pressure on Spahn, Burdette, and their manager Fred Haney to be able to win. Also, because of injuries, Adcock played in only 105 games, and Wes Covington played in just 90. Red Schoendienst played in just 106 games, including many as just a pinch hitter, and it was discovered the next year that he had tuberculosis. In this difficult situation, Spahn posted a 22–11 record in 290 innings pitched and 23 complete games, and Burdette had a 20–10 record in 275.1 innings.

The Braves repeated as the National League champions, this time by a margin of eight games over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The New York Yankees again won the American League, hence the two teams faced off against each other again in the World Series. The Braves roared ahead by winning three of the first four games for a 3–1 lead in the series. However, the Yankees regrouped and won games five, six, and seven—the final two in Milwaukee County Stadium, the Braves' home stadium—to win the World Championship.

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	.597	—	48‍–‍29	44‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	84	70	.545	8	49‍–‍28	35‍–‍42
San Francisco Giants	80	74	.519	12	44‍–‍33	36‍–‍41
Cincinnati Redlegs	76	78	.494	16	40‍–‍37	36‍–‍41
Chicago Cubs	72	82	.468	20	35‍–‍42	37‍–‍40
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	.468	20	39‍–‍38	33‍–‍44
Los Angeles Dodgers	71	83	.461	21	39‍–‍38	32‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	.448	23	35‍–‍42	34‍–‍43

Record vs. opponents

1958 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SFG	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

Red Schoendienst	2B
Bob Hazle	RF
Eddie Mathews	3B
Hank Aaron	CF
Frank Torre	1B
Harry Hanebrink	LF
Johnny Logan	SS
Del Crandall	C
Warren Spahn	P

Notable transactions

• June 13, 1958: Carl Sawatski was traded by the Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies for Joe Lonnett.

Roster

1958 Milwaukee Braves
Roster
Pitchers 10 Bob Buhl 33 Lew Burdette 22 Gene Conley 47 Joey Jay 32 Ernie Johnson 25 Dick Littlefield 20 Don McMahon 34 Juan Pizarro 49 Humberto Robinson 17 Bob Rush 21 Warren Spahn 30 Bob Trowbridge 16 Carl Willey		Catchers  1 Del Crandall  7 Del Rice 15 Carl Sawatski Infielders  9 Joe Adcock 11 Joe Koppe 23 Johnny Logan 41 Eddie Mathews 12 Mel Roach  4 Red Schoendienst 14 Frank Torre 27 Casey Wise		Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 38 Bill Bruton 43 Wes Covington 18 John DeMerit 11 Eddie Haas 6,26 Harry Hanebrink 12 Bob Hazle  5 Félix Mantilla 48 Andy Pafko 19 Hawk Taylor Other batters 24 Bob Roselli		Manager  2 Fred Haney Coaches  3 John Fitzpatrick  8 Billy Herman 35 George Susce 31 Whit Wyatt

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
C	Del Crandall	131	427	116	.272	18	63
1B	Frank Torre	138	372	115	.309	6	55
2B	Red Schoendienst	106	427	112	.262	1	24
SS	Johnny Logan	145	530	120	.226	11	53
3B	Eddie Mathews	149	536	137	.251	31	77
LF	Wes Covington	90	294	97	.330	24	74
CF	Bill Bruton	100	325	91	.280	3	28
RF	Hank Aaron	153	601	196	.326	30	95

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
Joe Adcock	105	320	88	.275	19	54
Félix Mantilla	85	226	50	.221	7	19
Andy Pafko	95	164	39	.238	3	23
Mel Roach	44	136	42	.309	3	10
Harry Hanebrink	63	133	25	.188	4	10
Del Rice	43	121	27	.223	1	8
Casey Wise	31	71	14	.197	0	0
Bob Hazle	20	56	10	.179	0	5
Eddie Haas	9	14	5	.357	0	1
Carl Sawatski	10	10	1	.100	0	1
Joe Koppe	16	9	4	.444	0	0
Hawk Taylor	4	8	1	.125	0	0
John DeMerit	3	3	2	.667	0	0
Bob Roselli	1	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Warren Spahn	38	290.0	22	11	3.07	150
Lew Burdette	40	275.1	20	10	2.91	113
Bob Buhl	11	73.0	5	2	3.45	27

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
Bob Rush	28	147.1	10	6	3.42	84
Carl Willey	23	140.0	9	7	2.70	74
Juan Pizarro	16	96.2	6	4	2.70	84
Joey Jay	18	96.2	7	5	2.14	74
Gene Conley	26	72.0	0	6	4.88	53
Bob Trowbridge	27	55.0	1	3	3.93	31

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 McMahon	38	7	2	8	3.68	37
Humberto Robinson	19	2	4	1	3.02	26
Ernie Johnson	15	3	1	1	8.10	13
Dick Littlefield	4	0	1	1	4.26	7

1958 World Series

Main article: 1958 World Series

Game 1

October 1, 1958, at Milwaukee County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York (A)	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	1
Milwaukee (N)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	10	0
W: Warren Spahn (1–0)  L: Ryne Duren (0–1)
HR: NYY – Bill Skowron (1), Hank Bauer (1)

Game 2

October 2, 1958, at Milwaukee County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	5	7	0
Milwaukee (N)	7	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	x	13	15	1
W: Lew Burdette (1–0)  L: Bob Turley (0–1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1, 2), Hank Bauer (2)    MIL – Bill Bruton (1), Lew Burdette (1)

Game 3

October 4, 1958, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Milwaukee (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
New York (A)	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	x	4	4	0
W: Don Larsen (1–0)   L: Bob Rush (0–1)
HR: NYY – Hank Bauer (3)

Game 4

October 5, 1958, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Milwaukee (N)	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	3	9	0
New York (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
W: Warren Spahn (2–0)   L: Whitey Ford (0–1)

Game 5

October 6, 1958, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Milwaukee (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
New York (A)	0	0	1	0	0	6	0	0	x	7	10	0
W: Bob Turley (1–1)   L: Lew Burdette (1–1)
HR: NYY – Gil McDougald (1)

Game 6

October 8, 1958, at Milwaukee County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York (A)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	4	10	1
Milwaukee (N)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	10	4
W: Ryne Duren (1–1)  L: Warren Spahn (2–1)   S: Bob Turley (1)
HR: NYY – Hank Bauer (4), Gil McDougald (2)

Game 7

October 9, 1958, at Milwaukee County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	6	8	0
Milwaukee (N)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	2
W: Bob Turley (2–1)  L: Lew Burdette (1–2)
HR: NYY – Bill Skowron (2)    MIL – Del Crandall (1)

Awards and honors

1958 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Starters: Hank Aaron, Del Crandall, and Warren Spahn
Reserves: Eddie Mathews, Don McMahon

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Wichita Braves	American Association	Ben Geraghty
AAA	Sacramento Solons	Pacific Coast League	Sibby Sisti
AA	Atlanta Crackers	Southern Association	Bud Bates
AA	Austin Senators	Texas League	Peanuts Lowrey
A	Jacksonville Braves	Sally League	Joe Just and Chuck Buheller
A	Topeka Hawks	Western League	George McQuinn
B	Cedar Rapids Braves	Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League	Alex Monchak
B	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	Hub Kittle
C	Salinas Packers	California League	Vic Marasco and Al Forthmann
C	Eau Claire Braves	Northern League	Gordon Maltzberger
C	Boise Braves	Pioneer League	Billy Smith
D	Waycross Braves	Georgia–Florida League	Everett Robinson
D	McCook Braves	Nebraska State League	Bill Steinecke
D	Wellsville Braves	New York–Penn League	Harry Minor
D	Midland Braves	Sophomore League	Travis Jackson, Earle Halstead and Ernie White

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Cedar Rapids, Yakima, Boise, Midland

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• Milwaukee Braves team page at Baseball Reference