The 1959 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 77th season in the history of the franchise. During spring training, manager Eddie Sawyer told the press, "We're definitely not a last place club... I think the biggest thing we've accomplished is getting rid of the losing complex. That alone makes us not a last place club." The Phillies finished in last place in 1959, seven games behind seventh-place St. Louis and 23 games behind the pennant and World Series winning Dodgers. They attracted 802,515 fans to Connie Mack Stadium, seventh in the eight-team league. Offseason In early 1959, Phillies owner Bob Carpenter proposed building a new ballpark for the Phillies on adjacent to the Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Connie Mack Stadium was 50 years old, did not have sufficient parking, and the sale of alcohol was banned at sports venues in Pennsylvania. Beer sales were legal in New Jersey. The proposed ballpark would have seated 45,000 fans, been expandable to 60,000, and would have had 15,000 parking spaces. The Phillies would eventually move to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex in 1971. On January 13, Carpenter also changed general managers, replacing Roy Hamey with John J. Quinn, recruited from the defending two-time National League champion Milwaukee Braves. Quinn would run the Phils' front office for almost 14 full seasons. Notable transactions December 1, 1958: Johnny O'Brien was drafted by the Phillies from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1958 rule 5 draft. December 2, 1958: John Herrnstein was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies. December 3, 1958: Chuck Essegian was traded by the Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rubén Amaro. December 3, 1958: Jack Sanford was traded by the Phillies to the San Francisco Giants for Rubén Gómez and Valmy Thomas. December 23, 1958: Rip Repulski, Jim Golden and Gene Snyder were traded by the Phillies to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Sparky Anderson. March 31, 1959: Johnny O'Brien, Ted Kazanski and Stan Lopata were traded by the Phillies to the Milwaukee Braves for Gene Conley, Harry Hanebrink and Joe Koppe. Prior to 1959 season: John Anderson was returned by the Phillies to the Miami Marlins after expiration of their minor league working agreement. Regular season On April 11, coach Benny Bengough was removed from the coaching staff and reassigned to the front office where he worked in team public relations. Season standings