On May 25, 1959, the Pirates announced that 15,000 tickets for the All-Star Game at Forbes Field would be available by mail order starting June 15. Reserved seats cost $6.60, and bleachers $2.20. (Box seats, which cost $8.80, were all spoken for by season ticketholders and VIPs.) The game was scheduled for 1:00 on July 7, with alternate times of 8:00 that evening, then 10:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. the next day. Two days of rain would result in a cancellation.
The next night, the Bucs started a three-game series in Milwaukee. They had won their last five games, and were in third place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves, who were about to start a 15-game homestand.
Pittsburgh had just put Roberto Clemente on the disabled list for 30 days with an injured right elbow, and Joe Christopher was called up from Columbus. Since baseball rules of the time limited the DL to two players, the Pirates waived Gene Baker, whose right knee wasn't fully recovered, for the purpose of releasing him. The club offered Baker a job in the organization, which he accepted. His knee came around enough for him to return to the roster in 1960, and Baker even pinch-hit three times in the World Series. When his playing career ended in 1961, he stayed with the organization as a coach, minor-league manager, and a long-time scout.
Manager Danny Murtaugh temporarily benched Dick Groat, who was slumping.
An ad for Amoco gasoline in the May 26 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette included this at the bottom: "See your Amoco dealer for 49-star American flag. Will be a collector's item!"
The game that night matched Lew Burdette (7-2) and Harvey Haddix (3-2). 19,194 were in the stands.
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