1958 Cleveland Indians season

1958 Cleveland Indians
1958 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	William R. Daley
General managers	Frank Lane
Managers	Bobby Bragan, Joe Gordon
Television	WEWS-TV; (Ken Coleman, Bill McColgan)
Radio	WERE; (Jimmy Dudley, Bob Neal)

The 1958 Cleveland Indians season was the 58th season for the franchise, the 44th as the Indians and the 27th season at Cleveland Stadium. They improved upon their 76–77 campaign from the previous season, but missed the playoffs for the 4th consecutive season, finishing the season at 77–76.

Offseason

December 4, 1957: Early Wynn and Al Smith were traded by the Indians to the Chicago White Sox for Minnie Miñoso and Fred Hatfield.^[1]
January 29, 1958: Mickey Vernon was selected off waivers by the Indians from the Boston Red Sox.^[2]
February 18, 1958: Hank Aguirre and Jim Hegan were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Jay Porter and Hal Woodeshick.^[3]
February 25, 1958: Pete Mesa (minors) was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Milt Bolling.^[4]
March 27, 1958: Vito Valentinetti and Milt Bolling were traded by the Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Pete Wojey and $20,000.^[5]
Prior to 1958 season (exact date unknown)
- Doc Edwards was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.^[6]
- Jim Weaver was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians.^[7]

Regular season

May 17, 1958: Carroll Hardy hit his first major league home run when he pinch hit for Roger Maris in the 11th inning of a 4–4 tie against the Chicago White Sox.^[8]
June 26, 1958: First-year skipper Bobby Bragan was fired after 67 games, the shortest stint (at the time) for a Cleveland Indians manager.^[9] Cleveland was 31–36 (.463) and in sixth place at the time. Former Tribe All-Star second baseman Joe Gordon took the reins on June 27, and led the Indians to a 46–40 (.535) mark for the rest of the season.

Season standings

v
t
e
American League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	92	62	.597	—	44‍–‍33	48‍–‍29
Chicago White Sox	82	72	.532	10	47‍–‍30	35‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	79	75	.513	13	49‍–‍28	30‍–‍47
Cleveland Indians	77	76	.503	14½	42‍–‍34	35‍–‍42
Detroit Tigers	77	77	.500	15	43‍–‍34	34‍–‍43
Baltimore Orioles	74	79	.484	17½	46‍–‍31	28‍–‍48
Kansas City Athletics	73	81	.474	19	43‍–‍34	30‍–‍47
Washington Senators	61	93	.396	31	33‍–‍44	28‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1958 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BAL	BOS	CHW	CLE	DET	KCA	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	10–12	9–13–1	10–11	10–12	12–10	8–14	15–7
Boston	12–10	—	10–12	12–10	10–12	12–10	9–13–1	14–8
Chicago	13–9–1	12–10	—	12–10	10–12	12–10	7–15	16–6
Cleveland	11–10	10–12	10–12	—	14–8	10–12	7–15	15–7
Detroit	12–10	12–10	12–10	8–14	—	12–10	12–10	9–13
Kansas City	10–12	10–12	10–12	12–10	10–12	—	9–13	12–10–2
New York	14–8	13–9–1	15–7	15–7	10–12	13–9	—	12–10
Washington	7–15	8–14	6–16	7–15	13–9	10–12–2	10–12	—

Notable transactions

June 12, 1958: Chico Carrasquel was traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Billy Hunter.^[10]
June 15, 1958: Roger Maris, Dick Tomanek and Preston Ward were traded by the Indians to the Kansas City Athletics for Woodie Held and Vic Power.^[11]
July 2, 1958: Bob Lemon was released by the Indians.^[12]
July 2, 1958: Morrie Martin was selected off waivers by the Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[13]
August 4, 1958: Randy Jackson was purchased by the Indians from the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[14]
August 23, 1958: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers from the Indians by the Baltimore Orioles.^[15]

Opening Day Lineup


Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
17	Chico Carrasquel	SS
5	Roger Maris	RF
9	Minnie Miñoso	LF
14	Larry Doby	CF
8	Mickey Vernon	1B
15	Russ Nixon	C
7	Fred Hatfield	3B
16	Billy Moran	2B
27	Herb Score	P

^[16]

Roster

1958 Cleveland Indians

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

18 Hal Naragon

Manager

2 Bobby Bragan
35 Joe Gordon

Coaches

43 Mel Harder (Pitching)
42 Red Kress (First Base)
40 Bill Lobe (Bullpen)
44 Eddie Stanky (Third Base)

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
C	Russ Nixon	113	376	113	.301	9	46
1B	Mickey Vernon	119	355	104	.293	8	55
2B	Bobby Ávila	113	375	95	.253	5	30
SS	Billy Hunter	76	190	37	.195	0	9
3B	Vic Power	93	385	122	.317	12	53
LF	Minnie Miñoso	149	556	168	.302	24	80
CF	Larry Doby	89	247	70	.285	13	45
RF	Rocky Colavito	143	489	148	.303	41	113

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
Billy Moran	115	257	58	.226	1	18
Billy Harrell	101	229	50	.218	7	19
Gary Geiger	91	195	45	.231	1	6
Roger Maris	51	182	41	.225	9	27
Dick Brown	68	173	41	.237	7	20
Chico Carrasquel	49	156	40	.225	9	27
Preston Ward	48	148	50	.338	4	21
Woodie Held	67	144	28	.194	3	17
Randy Jackson	29	91	22	.242	4	13
Jay Porter	40	85	17	.200	4	19
Earl Averill Jr.	17	55	10	.182	2	7
Carroll Hardy	27	49	10	.204	1	6
Vic Wertz	25	43	12	.279	3	12
Larry Raines	7	9	0	.000	0	0
Hal Naragon	9	9	3	.333	0	0
Rod Graber	4	8	1	.125	0	0
Fred Hatfield	3	8	1	.125	0	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
Cal McLish	39	225.2	16	8	2.99	97
Gary Bell	33	182.0	12	10	3.31	110

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
Mudcat Grant	44	204.0	10	11	3.84	111
Ray Narleski	44	183.1	13	10	4.07	102
Don Ferrarese	28	94.2	3	4	3.71	62
Hal Woodeshick	14	71.2	6	6	3.64	27
Dick Tomanek	18	57.2	2	3	5.62	42
Herb Score	12	41.0	2	3	3.95	48
Bob Kelly	13	27.2	0	2	5.20	12
Jim Constable	6	9.1	0	1	11.57	3
Mike Garcia	6	8.0	1	0	9.00	2

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
Hoyt Wilhelm	30	2	7	5	2.49	57
Don Mossi	43	7	8	3	3.90	55
Morrie Martin	14	2	0	1	2.41	5
Bob Lemon	11	0	1	0	5.33	8
Steve Ridzik	6	0	2	0	2.08	6
Chuck Churn	6	0	0	0	6.23	4
Dick Brodowski	5	1	0	0	0.00	12
Rocky Colavito	1	0	0	0	0.00	1
Gary Geiger	1	0	0	0	9.00	2

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	San Diego Padres	Pacific Coast League	Catfish Metkovich
AA	Mobile Bears	Southern Association	Mel McGaha
A	Reading Indians	Eastern League	Clyde McCullough
B	Burlington Indians	Carolina League	Pinky May
C	Minot Mallards	Northern League	Ken Landenberger
D	Cocoa Indians	Florida State League	Paul O'Dea
D	North Platte Indians	Nebraska State League	Mark Wylie
D	Batavia Indians	New York–Penn League	Don Richmond

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Burlington, North Platte^[17]

Notes

^ Minnie Miñoso page at Baseball-Reference
^ Mickey Vernon page at Baseball-Reference
^ Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference
^ Milt Bolling page at Baseball-Reference
^ Vito Valentinetti page at Baseball-Reference
^ Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference
^ Jim Weaver page at Baseball-Reference
^ Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 96, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4165-8928-0
^ Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 97
^ Hunter goes to Indians for Chico
^ Roger Maris page at Baseball Reference
^ Bob Lemon page at Baseball Reference
^ Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference
^ Randy Jackson page at Baseball Reference
^ Hoyt Wilhelm page at Baseball Reference
^ "1958 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference"
^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links

1958 Cleveland Indians Schedule and Statistics Archived February 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at MLB.com

[1] Minnie Miñoso page at Baseball-Reference

[2] Mickey Vernon page at Baseball-Reference

[3] Jay Porter page at Baseball-Reference

[4] Milt Bolling page at Baseball-Reference

[5] Vito Valentinetti page at Baseball-Reference

[6] Doc Edwards page at Baseball-Reference

[7] Jim Weaver page at Baseball-Reference

[8] Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 96, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4165-8928-0

[9] Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero, p. 97

[10] Hunter goes to Indians for Chico

[11] Roger Maris page at Baseball Reference

[12] Bob Lemon page at Baseball Reference

[13] Morrie Martin page at Baseball Reference

[14] Randy Jackson page at Baseball Reference

[15] Hoyt Wilhelm page at Baseball Reference

[16] "1958 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference"

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

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v t e 1958 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City New York Washington
National League	Chicago Cincinnati Los Angeles Milwaukee Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San Francisco
1958 All-Star Game 1958 World Series