1959 World Series

1959 World Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season
Los Angeles Dodgers (4) Walter Alston 88–68, .564, GA: 2
Chicago White Sox (2) Al López 94–60, .610, GA: 5
DatesOctober 1–9
VenueComiskey Park (Chicago)
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles)
MVPLarry Sherry (Los Angeles)
UmpiresBill Summers (AL), Frank Dascoli (NL), Eddie Hurley (AL), Frank Secory (NL), Johnny Rice (AL: outfield only), Hal Dixon (NL: outfield only)
Hall of FamersDodgers:
Walt Alston (manager)
Don Drysdale
Gil Hodges
Sandy Koufax
Duke Snider
White Sox:
Al López (manager)
Luis Aparicio
Nellie Fox
Early Wynn
Broadcast
TelevisionNBC
TV announcersJack Brickhouse and Vin Scully
RadioNBC
Radio announcersMel Allen and By Saam
← 1958 World Series 1960 →

The 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, 4–2. Each of the three games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew record crowds, Game 5's attendance of 92,706 continues to be a World Series record to this day, and one that cannot feasibly be broken in any modern ballpark.

This was the first World Series played on the West Coast, outside Major League Baseball's traditional territory that stretched from Boston to Washington, D.C. in the East and to St. Louis in the Midwest from 1876 through 1955, when the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City. A West Coast World Series had become a possibility only a year before, when the Dodgers and the Giants had relocated to Los Angeles and San Francisco (from Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively) prior to the 1958 season.

For the White Sox, who had last won a championship in 1917, it was their first World Series appearance since 1919, when the team's unexpected loss to the Cincinnati Reds coincided with the Black Sox Scandal. They would have to wait until their championship season of 2005 to win another pennant. This was also the only World Series to be played in the city of Chicago in the between the Cubs' loss in 1945 and the White Sox next (and, to date, last) appearance in 2005.

It would also be just one of two World Series played in the Windy City between 1945 and 2016.

The Dodgers won their first National League pennant since moving from Brooklyn after the 1957 season by defeating the Milwaukee Braves (another franchise that had relocated from their original city, Boston, in 1953[1]) 2–0 in a best-of-three pennant playoff. The Dodgers' first world championship in Los Angeles, the win was their second World Series victory in franchise history and their second in five seasons, after beating the New York Yankees in 1955.

1955 was also their first win in the Fall Classic after seven consecutive losses between 1916 and 1953. While the Brooklyn Dodgers had gone 1–8 in the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers have split their 12 appearances, going 6-6 between 1959 and 2020.

It was the first championship for a West Coast team, and it was also the first World Series in which no pitcher for either side pitched a complete game.[2] As Vin Scully remarked in his narration for the official World Series film, "What a change of scenery!" This was the only Fall Classic played during the period from 1949 through 1964 in which no games were played in New York City.

  1. ^ Mulder, Craig. "Braves' move to Milwaukee shook baseball's world". The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  2. ^ Wilks, Ed (October 9, 1959). "Dodgers World Champs By Downing White Sox 9-3". Times-Argus. Barre, Vermont. AP. p. 2. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via newspapers.com.