The 1958 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's first season in San Francisco, California, and 76th season overall. The Giants' home ballpark was Seals Stadium. The team had a record of 80–74 finishing in third place in the National League standings, twelve games behind the NL Champion Milwaukee Braves.
Of the broadcast team, Russ Hodges left his former broadcasting partners in New York and for that season was joined on both KTVU and KSFO by Lon Simmons.
Offseason December 2, 1957: Tony Taylor was drafted from the Giants by the Chicago Cubs in the 1957 rule 5 draft.Tony Taylor page at Baseball Reference December 2, 1957: 1957 minor league draft Lee Tate was drafted from the Giants by the St. Louis Cardinals.Lee Tate page at Baseball Reference Ramón Conde was drafted from the Giants by the Kansas City Athletics.Ramón Conde page at Baseball Reference December 10, 1957: Freddy Rodríguez was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Tom Poholsky.Tom Poholsky page at Baseball Reference March 24, 1958: Foster Castleman was purchased from the Giants by the Baltimore Orioles for $30,000.Foster Castleman page at Baseball-Reference Prior to 1958 season: Dick LeMay was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.Dick LeMay page at Baseball Reference Eddie Fisher was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent.
Regular season
Opening day The Giants and the now-Los Angeles Dodgers, arch-rivals for 68 years in New York, faced each other in their respective first-ever game on the West Coast. On Tuesday afternoon, April 15, 1958, at Seals Stadium, the Giants' temporary home park, San Francisco blanked Los Angeles, 8–0, behind Rubén Gómez' complete game, six-hit shutout. Gómez fanned six, issued no bases on balls, and went two for four at the plate. Daryl Spencer hit the first home run in San Francisco's MLB history with a solo shot in the fourth inning, and rookie Orlando Cepeda followed with another solo blast one inning later. Willie Mays had two runs batted in. Don Drysdale took the loss for the Dodgers. Attendance at the longtime minor league stadium was a sellout, 23,448.
Starting lineup 12 Jim Davenport 3B22 Jim King LF24 Willie Mays CF29 Willie Kirkland RF30 Orlando Cepeda 1B20 Daryl Spencer SS19 Danny O'Connell 2B 7 Valmy Thomas C28 Rubén Gómez PRetrosheet box score: 1958-04-15Baseball Almanac
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 2, 1958: Ray Katt was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jim King.Ray Katt page at Baseball Reference April 3, 1958: Bobby Thomson was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Speake and cash.Bob Speake page at Baseball Reference May 17, 1958: Nick Testa was released by the Giants.Nick Testa page at Baseball Reference June 3, 1958: Gaylord Perry was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.Gaylord Perry page at Baseball Reference July 15, 1958: Jim King was acquired from the Giants by the Toronto Maple Leafs.Jim King page at Baseball Reference August 25, 1958: Jesús Alou was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.Jesús Alou page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1958 San Francisco Giants Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader
= Indicates league 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; SB = Stolen bases Pos. Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB C 127 393 96 .244 14 540 1B 148 603 188 .312 25 9615 2B 107 306 71 .232 3 232 SS 148 539 138 .256 17 741 3B 134 434 111 .256 12 411 LF 88 236 59 .250 12 460 CF 152 600 208 .347 29 96 31 RF 122 418 108 .258 14 563
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 86 230 53 .230 12 46 74 221 70 .317 13 35 75 182 46 .253 4 16 63 143 37 .259 3 16 66 137 36 .263 0 8 92 122 29 .238 2 7 66 71 15 .211 3 10 22 63 13 .206 2 11 34 56 12 .214 2 8 18 52 13 .250 0 3 39 50 10 .200 1 4 26 29 7 .241 1 4 23 25 5 .200 0 1 1 0 0 ---- 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 41 241.2 16 13 3.28 143 42 207.2 10 12 4.38 112 42 178.1 11 8 4.59 82 1 3.0 0 0 3.00 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 41 182.0 6 9 2.47 119 54 151.1 11 7 3.63 76 43 150.2 8 11 4.72 93 29 92.0 4 5 4.70 55 6 16.0 0 1 2.81 6 6 10.2 0 0 6.75 4
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 51 7 5 11 3.99 46 17 0 1 1 6.26 14 14 1 2 0 6.75 7 11 3 1 1 2.37 8 9 1 0 1 5.63 4 1 1 0 0 2.25 3 1 0 0 0 33.75 0
Awards and honors Orlando Cepeda – National League Rookie of the Year
All-Star Game
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Phoenix, Corpus Christi, FresnoJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
Notes
References 1958 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference 1958 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac