The following are the baseball events of the year 1959 throughout the world.  

Leland "Lee" Corso (born August 7, 1935) is a sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN's College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football through NCAA Football 11. In the off season, Corso serves as Director of Business Development for Dixon Ticonderoga, a Florida based pencil manufacturing company. Corso played college football at Florida State University. He served as the head football coach at the University of Louisville (1969–1972), Indiana University (1973–1982), and Northern Illinois University (1984), compiling a career college football record of 73–85–6. Corso was also the head coach of the United States Football League's Orlando Renegades in 1985.

Corso was born in Miami, Florida, and attended Miami Jackson Senior High where he played quarterback. He played college football at Florida State University, where he was a roommate of football player and actor Burt Reynolds and former University of Miami baseball coach Ron Fraser. As a defensive player, he set the school record for most career interceptions (14), a record that stood for more than two decades until it was broken by Monk Bonasorte. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Corso was the starting quarterback for the South in the 1956 Blue-Gray Game, though his squad lost to the Len Dawson-led North team, 14–0. Corso was also an important baseball player for FSU.

Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995) was an American baseball center fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Mantle was noted for his hitting ability, both for average and for power.^{[citation needed]} He won the Triple Crown in 1956, leading MLB in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI). He received three American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards and played in twenty All-Star games. Mantle appeared in 12 World Series, winning 7 of them. He holds the records for most World Series home runs (18), RBIs (40), runs (42), walks (43), extra-base hits (26), and total bases (123). He is also the career leader in walk-off home runs, with a combined thirteen, twelve in the regular season and one in the postseason.