The 1959 major league baseball season began on April 9, 1959. The regular season ended on September 29, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Braves in a regular season best-of-three tiebreaker, for the National League title, after both teams finished their 154-game schedules with identical 86âÂÂ68 records. This was the fourth regular season tie-breaker. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 56th World Series on October 1 and ended with Game 6 on October 8. The Dodgers defeated the White Sox, four games to two, capturing their second championship in franchise history, their first since in , and first in Los Angeles. This was the first appearance of the White Sox in the "Fall Classic" since the infamous Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 World Series and interrupted a Yankees' dynasty that dominated the American League between 1949 and 1964. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the New York Yankees from the season.
For the first time in professional baseball history, there were two separate All-Star Games played. The first, the 26th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The National League won, 5âÂÂ1. The second, the 27th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on August 3 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The American League won, 5âÂÂ3.
In the National League, the Cincinnati Redlegs reverted to their â name, the Cincinnati Reds.
On July 21, the Boston Red Sox became the 16th and final team in professional baseball to break the color line when they fielded Pumpsie Green, 12 years after Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers broke the professional baseball color line in 1947. The Red Sox were notably resistant to integration due to team owner Tom Yawkey, and only did so following a lawsuit charging Yawkey and general manager Bucky Harris with discrimination and the deliberate barring of black players from the Red Sox. The NAACP issued charges of "following an anti-Negro policy", and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination announced a public hearing on racial bias against the Red Sox.
The season is notable as the only one between 1950 and 1981 where no pitcher pitched a no-hitter.
The 1959 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the season (except for ) and would be used until in the American League and in the National League.
Opening Day took place on April 9, featuring four teams. The final day of the scheduled regular season was on September 27, which saw all sixteen teams play, the first time since . Due to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves finishing with the same record of 86âÂÂ68, a best-of-three tie-breaker was scheduled, to be considered an extension of the regular season. The World Series took place between October 1 and October 8.
The 1959 season saw the following rule changes:
The postseason began on September 28 and ended on October 8 with the Los Angeles Dodgers defeating the Chicago White Sox in the 1959 World Series in six games.
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The San Francisco Giants would play their final game at Seals Stadium on September 20 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, moving into Candlestick Park for the start of the season.
CBS and NBC aired weekend Game of the Week broadcasts. The All-Star Game and World Series also aired on NBC. The rights to air the 1959 National League tie-breaker series were awarded to ABC.
<span style="font-size:90%">Other Major League Baseball seasons since 1901 without a no-hitter pitched are , , , –, –, , , –, , , , , , and .</span>