1959 National League tie-breaker series
The tiebreaker series was necessary after the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves finished the season with identical win–loss records of 86–68 (.558) on Sunday, September 27, three games ahead of the San Francisco Giants.
[2] The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season that gave them home field advantage for the series (games two and three).
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 2–2 tie 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 6–5 in extra innings.
A year earlier in 1958, their first in Los Angeles, the Dodgers posted a 71–83 (.461) win–loss record for seventh place in the eight-team NL, and never held a lead.
[6][7] By contrast, the Braves repeated as NL champions that year with a 92–62 (.597) record and returned to the World Series, where the New York Yankees turned the tables and defeated them in seven games.
[9] The Braves then traded with the Philadelphia Phillies for Ted Kazanski, Stan Lopata, and Johnny O'Brien just prior to the season.
[10][11][12] 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.
[28] 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.
[22][30] 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.
[33] 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.
[38] Chicago White Sox manager Al López watched the game along with his pitching coach to scout their potential NL opponents for the World Series.
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.
Roseboro had also hit a home run the day before against the Chicago Cubs, a game the Dodgers won to force the tie-breaker.
[39] 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.
The Dodgers had proposed playing Game 2 at night to allow a longer rest period following the travel from Milwaukee to southern California.
[35] 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 day.
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.
Dodgers' starter Don Drysdale recorded the first out of the top of the fifth but then gave up a home run to Mathews and walked Aaron before being relieved by Johnny Podres.
Don Demeter pinch hit for Churn, the pitcher, in the bottom half of the inning but the Dodgers were put out in order.
Sandy Koufax pitched the top of the ninth for the Dodgers and though he loaded the bases with three successive walks to Aaron, Torre, and DeMerit he did not allow any runs.
Don McMahon relieved Burdette, but allowed a fourth consecutive single to Norm Larker which scored Moon, Lillis, and advanced Hodges to third leaving it 5–4.
Al Spangler then drew a pinch hit walk to load the bases, but Joe Adcock grounded out to end the half-inning.
Finally, he scored on a single by Furillo followed by a throwing error by the shortstop Mantilla to give the Dodgers a 6–5 walk-off victory and the National League pennant.
[45] The Dodgers' win earned the franchise its tenth playoff berth, the first since the team moved to Los Angeles the previous year.
For example, Eddie Mathews overtook Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs for the league lead in home runs, hitting his 46th of the season in Game 2.
[49] Banks won the NL Most Valuable Player Award but Mathews, Hank Aaron, and Wally Moon finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in the voting.
[51] Five future Hall of Famers were on the Braves roster in 1959 (Aaron, Mathews, Schoendienst, Slaughter, Spahn) while the Dodgers had four (Drysdale, Koufax, Snider, Hodges).
