The 1959 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series that extended Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1959 regular season to decide the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The tiebreaker series was necessary after the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves finished the season with identical win–loss records of on September 27, three games ahead of the It was the first tie-breaker in the majors in eight years, also in the
The tie-breaker games were played on September 28 and 29. All the games were scheduled as day games, the opener on Monday was at Milwaukee County Stadium and the second on Tuesday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season that gave them home field advantage for the series (games two and three). If needed, the third game was scheduled for Wednesday, September 30. The Dodgers had hoped for night games in Los Angeles to take advantage of the Coliseum's seating capacity. The series was broadcast nationally by ABC television, with George Kell and Bob DeLaney announcing, and ABC radio, with Bob Finnegan and Tony Flynn announcing.
Following a rain-delayed start in Milwaukee, the Dodgers won the first game 3–2, with a solo home run in the sixth by John Roseboro breaking a and providing the margin of victory. The next day in Los Angeles, the Dodgers took the series and the pennant with another one-run win; they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie and prevailed in extra innings. This victory advanced the Dodgers to the World Series, in which they defeated the Chicago White Sox in six games.
In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker series counted as the 155th and 156th regular season games for both teams.
Background
A year earlier in 1958, their first in Los Angeles, the Dodgers posted a win–loss record for seventh place in the eight-team NL, and never held By contrast, the Braves repeated as NL champions with a record and returned to the World Series, where the New York Yankees turned the tables and defeated them in seven games. Despite their success, the Braves made several changes leading into the 1959 season. First, they selected Jim Pisoni in the Rule 5 draft from the Yankees in December 1958, although he returned to the Yankees by May 1959. The Braves then traded with the Philadelphia Phillies for Ted Kazanski, Stan Lopata, and Johnny O'Brien just prior to the season. Finally, the Braves traded for Mickey Vernon from the Cleveland Indians and selected Bobby Ávila, Ray Boone, and Enos Slaughter off of waivers during the 1959 season. The Dodgers traded for Rip Repulski and Wally Moon during the offseason and then acquired Chuck Churn, Solly Drake, and Chuck Essegian during the year.
The NL race was tight throughout the 1959 season between the Braves, Dodgers, and Giants. Neither the Giants nor the Braves ever fell five or more games back of the league leader, and the Dodgers never faced a deficit of six or more. The Dodgers had the best record in games played amongst the three, posting a combined 26–18 record against the other two before the tie-breaker. However, the Dodgers spent just 21 days with at least a share of the lead while the Braves and Giants each led the league for 86 days.
With eight games remaining on Friday morning, September 18, the Giants were at with a two-game lead over the Dodgers However, the visiting Dodgers swept the next three games at including a Saturday doubleheader which the Los Angeles Times described as a "breeze" for Los Angeles. Giants' starting pitcher Sam Jones threw a no-hitter on Saturday, September 26, which was cut short by rain in the eighth inning for his 21st win of the season. The Giants had considered pitching Jack Sanford in that game due to Jones' recent heavy pitching workload. Because the game was shortened to less than nine innings it is no longer considered an official no-hitter. The rain also forced the second game of the Giants' scheduled doubleheader that day to be moved, leaving them with two games to play on the final day of the season. The Giants needed to win both games and have the Braves and Dodgers both lose to tie for the lead, but the Giants lost both. Jones' no-hitter was the Giants' only win for the season after September 17 as the team went 1–7 in their final eight games, going from a two-game lead to a three-game deficit. The Braves and Dodgers both went in that span to maintain their tie. This included a five-hit complete game by Warren Spahn to win the Braves' final game of the This was Spahn's 21st win of the season and 267th of his career, breaking Eppa Rixey's record for most wins by a left-handed pitcher.
Both the Dodgers and Braves finished the regularly scheduled 154-game season tied with records of 86–68, forcing a tie-breaker to decide the pennant winner. The two teams' managers flipped a coin to decide home field advantage and Dodgers' manager Walt Alston won. The Dodgers opted to play the second and third (if necessary) games at home, choosing to play Game 1 in Milwaukee. The tie-breaker was scheduled for the 28th, 29th, and the 30th if necessary, which required moving the start of the World Series from September 30 to October 1. The Giants' falling out of the pennant race avoided a potentially disruptive situation involving their home field. Candlestick Park was under construction during the 1959 season and the Giants did not play there until 1960. However, Giants vice president Chub Feeney had said earlier in the season that if the Giants won the pennant they would play their World Series home games in Candlestick. Several potential problems were suggested with this move including a lack of seating, lack of toilet facilities, and insufficient access roads to the stadium.
The Dodgers were 12–10 against the Braves overall for the season, though the Braves outscored them by a single run (96–95) in those games. The Braves were a 5–8 betting favorite in Las Vegas on September 25 to win the pennant while the Dodgers had 6–5 odds. The World Series odds were evenly split, with 11–10 odds available at that time for either the Chicago White Sox (the American League champion) or the eventual NL pennant winner.
Series summary
Game 1
Chicago White Sox manager Al López watched the game along with his pitching coach to scout their potential NL opponents for the World Series. The start was delayed 45 minutes due to rain, leaving only 18,297 fans in the stadium once the game was underway. The Dodgers opened the game quickly as Charlie Neal singled with one out, advanced to second base on a ground out, and scored on a single by Norm Larker to give the Dodgers an early 1–0 lead. Dodgers starter Danny McDevitt held the Braves scoreless in the first inning, but was driven from the game in the second. After a line out to open the inning Johnny Logan walked, Del Crandall singled, and Bill Bruton singled to bring home Logan and tie the game at 1. Larry Sherry entered in relief of McDevitt, who pitched just innings. Carl Willey, the Braves' pitcher, reached base on an error to load the bases. Crandall then scored on a ground out by Bobby Ávila to give the Braves a 2–1 lead before Sherry finished out the second.
The Dodgers re-tied the game the next inning, however. Neal singled with one out and Wally Moon grounded into a force out at second base. Moon then advanced to second on a Larker single and scored on a Gil Hodges single to tie it at 2. Don Demeter hit a single, the third consecutive and fourth of the inning, to load the bases but John Roseboro flew out to end the inning without further scoring. Sherry held the Braves scoreless in the bottom of the third, opening the inning with a walk but then inducing a double play and a foul out to quickly close it. Sherry and Willey traded scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth although the Braves threatened against Sherry in both innings, allowing two base-runners each time but escaping with no runs. Roseboro led off the top of the sixth inning with a home run to give the Dodgers a 3–2 lead. Roseboro had also hit a home run the day before against the Chicago Cubs, a game the Dodgers won to force the tie-breaker. Willey put out the next three batters to quickly end the inning, but the damage had been done.
Sherry pitched a perfect top of the sixth and Don McMahon relieved Willey in the bottom of the frame. The Dodgers could not add to their lead in facing McMahon, he held their run total at three. Sherry, however, was nearly perfect for the remainder of the game, allowing just one single to the Braves over the final three innings. The Los Angeles Times labeled Sherry and Roseboro the "heroes" of the game. Sherry's only "horrible moment", according to the Times, was a long fly ball by Bill Bruton to the deepest part of center field which Demeter managed to haul in for the first out of the bottom of the ninth.
Game 2
The Dodgers had proposed playing Game 2 at night to allow a longer rest period following the travel from Milwaukee to southern The Braves took issue with this prior to the start of the series, however, and NL president Warren Giles insisted that all the games were to be played during The afternoon crowd was 36,528, well below the seating capacity of the Coliseum, which
The Braves opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. Eddie Mathews drew a one out walk and Hank Aaron followed that with a double. Aaron's double drew some argument, however, as outfielder Duke Snider recovered Aaron's ball quickly and threw to second. Dodgers' second baseman Charlie Neal believed he had easily tagged out Aaron, but umpire Augie Donatelli said Neal had missed the tag entirely. Frank Torre then singled to score the two runners and give the Braves the early 2–0 lead. The Dodgers responded in their half of the inning, however. Neal hit a deep fly ball to right center field with one out, reaching third base "easily" for a triple as outfielder Bill Bruton missed catching the ball on a difficult play. Wally Moon then singled to score Neal, but was caught stealing for the second out and Snider struck out to end the first inning. Johnny Logan led off the second for the Braves with a single. Then, after two outs, Logan scored on an odd error charged to Snider in center field. The Braves' starting pitcher Lew Burdette hit a single up the middle and Logan had attempted to advance from first to third base on the play. Snider threw the ball in from center to third baseman Jim Gilliam, but Gilliam's vision was "obstructed" and the throw "escaped" him, allowing Logan to score and Burdette to advance to third. Bruton grounded out to end the inning with the Braves in a 3–1 lead.