1959 Pittsburgh Pirates season
The 1959 Major League Baseball season saw the Pittsburgh Pirates finish in fourth place in the National League at 78-76, nine games behind the NL and World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pirates set the record for most extra innings victories in a season, winning 19 of their 21 extra inning games.
Offseason
- January 30, 1959: Whammy Douglas, Jim Pendleton, Frank Thomas, and John Powers were traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Smoky Burgess, Harvey Haddix and Don Hoak.
- Prior to 1959 season: Dick Rand was traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tom Burgess.
Regular season
- May 26, 1959: Harvey Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th inning of a game against the Milwaukee Braves. Haddix retired 36 consecutive batters in 12 innings, but lost the game 1-0. Braves pitcher Lew Burdette also pitched a shutout for 13 full innings, giving up 12 hits. NOTE: On September 4, 1991, MLB redefined no-hitters to no longer include games in which the first hit was surrendered in extra innings. Until then, Haddix had been credited with a perfect game.
Notable transactions
- May 29, 1959: Gene Baker was released by the Pirates.
- June 13, 1959: Bob Smith was selected off waivers from the Pirates by the Detroit Tigers.
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 | 114 | 377 | 112 | .297 | 11 | 59 | |
| 1B | Dick Stuart | 118 | 397 | 118 | .297 | 27 | 78 |
| 2B | 135 | 493 | 119 | .241 | 7 | 59 | |
| SS | Dick Groat | 147 | 593 | 163 | .275 | 5 | 51 |
| 3B | 155 | 564 | 166 | .294 | 8 | 65 | |
| LF | Bob Skinner | 143 | 547 | 153 | .280 | 13 | 61 |
| CF | Bill Virdon | 144 | 519 | 132 | .254 | 8 | 41 |
| RF | 105 | 432 | 128 | .296 | 4 | 50 |
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 |
| 96 | 276 | 65 | .236 | 7 | 28 | |
| Rocky Nelson | 98 | 175 | 51 | .291 | 6 | 32 |
| Danny Kravitz | 52 | 162 | 41 | .253 | 3 | 21 |
| 81 | 145 | 31 | .234 | 1 | 9 | |
| Ted Kluszewski | 60 | 122 | 32 | .262 | 2 | 17 |
| Hank Foiles | 53 | 80 | 18 | .225 | 3 | 4 |
| Harry Bright | 40 | 48 | 12 | .250 | 3 | 8 |
| Harry Simpson | 9 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Christopher | 15 | 12 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 2 | |
| R.C. Stevens | 3 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 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 |
| Vern Law | 34 | 266.0 | 18 | 9 | 2.98 | 110 |
| 35 | 234.2 | 8 | 19 | 4.03 | 104 | |
| 31 | 224.1 | 12 | 12 | 3.13 | 149 | |
| Ron Kline | 33 | 186.0 | 11 | 13 | 4.26 | 91 |
| George Witt | 15 | 50.2 | 0 | 7 | 6.93 | 30 |
| Jim Umbricht | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.43 | 3 |
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 |
| 34 | 100.2 | 7 | 9 | 5.45 | 67 | |
| Al Jackson | 8 | 18.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.50 | 13 |
| 2 | 8.2 | 0 | 0 | 3.12 | 3 |
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 |
| 57 | 18 | 1 | 10 | 2.70 | 69 | |
| Bob Porterfield | 36 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.35 | 19 |
| 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.65 | 19 | |
| 21 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3.55 | 15 | |
| 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.49 | 12 | |
| 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.13 | 20 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.09 | 3 |
Awards and honors
Records
- Roy Face, major league record, most wins in one season by a relief pitcher
- Harvey Haddix, major league record, Most consecutive batters retired in one game