1959 World Series

The 1959 World Series, the 56th edition of Major League Baseball’s championship, pitted the National League’s Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League’s Chicago White Sox in a best-of-seven series. The Dodgers took the title in six games, securing their second championship overall and their first since relocating from Brooklyn to Los Angeles the previous year. This marked the first World Series ever played on the West Coast, breaking MLB’s traditional geographic bounds that had stretched from Boston to Washington, D.C., and as far west as St. Louis since 1876. That old territory had only shifted when the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955, but a West Coast Fall Classic became possible only after the Dodgers and Giants moved to Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1958.

For the White Sox, this was their first World Series appearance since the 1919 series, when their unexpected loss to the Cincinnati Reds was tainted by the Black Sox Scandal. They had not won a championship since 1917. This series was also the only one played in Chicago between the Cubs’ loss in 1945 and the White Sox’s 2005 victory.

The Dodgers clinched the National League pennant by defeating the Milwaukee Braves—another relocated franchise, originally from Boston—2–0 in a best-of-three tiebreaker. This championship was the Dodgers’ second World Series win in five seasons, following their 1955 victory over the New York Yankees, and their first as a Los Angeles team. It would also be their only title while playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; future wins would come at Dodger Stadium. The 1955 win had ended a string of seven consecutive World Series losses for the Brooklyn Dodgers between 1916 and 1953, leaving the franchise with a 1–8 record in the Fall Classic as Brooklyn. Since moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have gone 8–6 in their 14 World Series appearances through 2025.

This was the first championship for any West Coast team, and the first World Series where no pitcher threw a complete game. As broadcaster Vin Scully noted in the official series film, “What a change of scenery!” It was also the only Fall Classic between 1949 and 1964 without a game in New York City.

After finishing seventh in 1958, the Dodgers rebounded in a tight three-way pennant race with the Milwaukee Braves and San Francisco Giants. They never led by more than two games (and that only after a tiebreaker) and never trailed by more than five. On September 20, a three-game sweep in San Francisco gave them a half-game lead over the Braves and a one-game lead over the Giants with five games left. On the final day, the Dodgers and Braves were tied for first, with the Giants 1.5 games back. The Giants needed a doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals and losses by both the Dodgers and Braves to force a three-way tie, but the Dodgers beat the White Sox 7–1 and the Braves beat the Phillies 5–2, rendering the Giants’ doubleheader losses irrelevant.

In Game 1 of the best-of-three playoff in Milwaukee, the Dodgers took a 3–2 lead in the sixth inning, and reliever Larry Sherry retired 12 of the last 13 Braves to secure the win. Games 2 and 3 were scheduled for Los Angeles. In Game 2, the Dodgers trailed 5–2 in the ninth but rallied with five singles and a sacrifice fly to tie. In the top of the 11th, the Braves loaded the bases with two outs, but Stan Williams got pinch hitter Joe Adcock to ground out. In the bottom of the 12th, Gil Hodges walked with two outs, Joe Pignatano singled, and Carl Furillo hit a grounder to shortstop Félix Mantilla. Mantilla’s throw to first went in the dirt and past Frank Torre, allowing Hodges to score from second for the pennant-clinching run.

Managed by Al López, the White Sox relied on pitching, speed, and defense. Nicknamed the “Go-go Sox,” they finished last in the AL in home runs but led the league in stolen bases, fielding percentage, and lowest team ERA. They battled the Cleveland Indians for the pennant, building a 6.5-game lead by early September. The Indians never got closer than 3.5 games, and when the White Sox beat Cleveland 4–2 on September 22, they clinched with three games left. They were only the second team besides the Yankees to win the AL pennant between 1949 and 1964; the other was the 1954 Indians, also managed by López.

Historic Comiskey Park hosted 48,103 fans, including Hollywood stars Joan Crawford and Orson Welles, and former Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson. It was the White Sox’s first championship game in 40 years and Chicago’s first postseason game in 14 years, since the Cubs lost Game 7 of the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers. On the mound, Early Wynn faced Roger Craig. The Dodgers scored twice in the first inning on back-to-back RBI singles.