1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1939 Pittsburgh Pirates
1939 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Bill Benswanger
Managers	Pie Traynor
Radio	KDKA; Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock
	Seasons
	Seasons

The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 58th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 53rd in the National League. The Pirates finished sixth in the league standings with a record of 68–85.

Offseason

December 16, 1938: Johnny Dickshot, Al Todd and cash were traded by the Pirates to the Boston Bees for Ray Mueller.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	97	57	0.630	—	55–25	42–32
St. Louis Cardinals	92	61	0.601	4½	51–27	41–34
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	69	0.549	12½	51–27	33–42
Chicago Cubs	84	70	0.545	13	44–34	40–36
New York Giants	77	74	0.510	18½	41–33	36–41
Pittsburgh Pirates	68	85	0.444	28½	35–42	33–43
Boston Bees	63	88	0.417	32½	37–35	26–53
Philadelphia Phillies	45	106	0.298	50½	29–44	16–62

Record vs. opponents

1939 National League record Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12–1	6–16	6–16	10–11	13–8	9–12	9–13
Brooklyn	12–10–1	—	11–11–2	10–12	12–10	17–4–1	13–9	9–13
Chicago	16–6	11–11–2	—	10–12	11–11	12–10	14–8	10–12
Cincinnati	16–6	12–10	12–10	—	11–11	19–3	16–6	11–11–2
New York	11–10	10–12	11–11	11–11	—	14–7	11–11	9–12
Philadelphia	8–13	4–17–1	10–12	3–19	7–14	—	8–14	5–17
Pittsburgh	12–9	9–13	8–14	6–16	11–11	14–8	—	8–14
St. Louis	13–9	13–9	12–10	11–11–2	12–9	17–5	14–8	—

Game log

1939 Game Log: 68–85 (Home: 35–42; Away: 33–43)

April: 1–8 (Home: 0–2; Away: 1–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 17	@ Reds	7–5	Blanton (1–0)	Walters	Brown (1)	30,644	1–0
2	April 18	Cardinals	2–3	Weiland	Klinger (0–1)	Shoun	15,783	1–1
3	April 22	@ Reds	2–4	Derringer	Blanton (1–1)	—	—	1–2
4	April 23	@ Reds	2–7	Walters	Klinger (0–2)	—	23,339	1–3
5	April 24	@ Cubs	2–6	Whitehill	Tobin (0–1)	Russell	15,844	1–4
6	April 25	@ Cubs	3–5	Lee	Sewell (0–1)	—	9,913	1–5
7	April 26	@ Cubs	1–3	Lillard	Blanton (1–2)	—	9,516	1–6
8	April 27	@ Cardinals	5–6 (11)	McGee	Brown (0–1)	—	1,994	1–7
9	April 29	Reds	3–5	Walters	Tobin (0–2)	—	5,913	1–8

May: 18–10 (Home: 8–6; Away: 10–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
10	May 1	Reds	2–1	Sewell (1–1)	Moore	—	2,724	2–8
11	May 2	@ Dodgers	3–2	Klinger (1–2)	Fitzsimmons	—	9,269	3–8
12	May 4	@ Phillies	6–4	Bauers (1–0)	Butcher	—	3,500	4–8
13	May 5	@ Phillies	10–7	Sewell (2–1)	Hollingsworth	Brown (2)	2,000	5–8
14	May 6	@ Phillies	0–1	Passeau	Brown (0–2)	—	7,000	5–9
15	May 7	@ Bees	9–2	Klinger (2–2)	Posedel	—	21,336	6–9
16	May 8	@ Bees	3–2	Tobin (1–2)	Frankhouse	—	2,303	7–9
17	May 10	@ Giants	5–0	Sewell (3–1)	Gumbert	—	6,030	8–9
18	May 11	@ Giants	1–4	Melton	Bowman (0–1)	—	4,041	8–10
19	May 13	Cubs	2–6	Lee	Klinger (2–3)	—	6,948	8–11
20	May 14	Cubs	5–2	Tobin (2–2)	Lillard	—	15,397	9–11
21	May 15	Cubs	2–6	French	Sewell (3–2)	—	3,941	9–12
22	May 16	Phillies	8–5	Bowman (1–1)	Passeau	—	1,823	10–12
23	May 17	Phillies	3–7	Mulcahy	Klinger (2–4)	—	2,075	10–13
24	May 18	Phillies	5–4 (10)	Tobin (3–2)	Hollingsworth	—	2,183	11–13
25	May 19	Bees	2–5	Errickson	Sewell (3–3)	—	2,672	11–14
26	May 20	Bees	12–6	Bowman (2–1)	Earley	Brown (3)	4,643	12–14
27	May 21	Giants	4–1	Klinger (3–4)	Hubbell	—	20,976	13–14
28	May 22	Giants	2–9	Schumacher	Tobin (3–3)	—	2,886	13–15
29	May 23	Giants	13–4	Sewell (4–3)	Melton	—	3,823	14–15
30	May 24	Dodgers	6–3	Bowman (3–1)	Tamulis	—	2,490	15–15
31	May 25	Dodgers	2–8	Pressnell	Klinger (3–5)	—	5,600	15–16
32	May 26	@ Cubs	14–5	Tobin (4–3)	Lee	Brown (4)	5,982	16–16
33	May 27	@ Cubs	9–1	Sewell (5–3)	Higbe	—	8,035	17–16
34	May 28	@ Cubs	2–6	Dean	Bowman (3–2)	—	26,511	17–17
35	May 29	@ Cardinals	7–0	Klinger (4–5)	Weiland	—	1,736	18–17
36	May 30	@ Cardinals	2–7	Warneke	Tobin (4–4)	—	—	18–18
37	May 30	@ Cardinals	14–8	Swift (1–0)	Davis	—	14,178	19–18

June: 8–13 (Home: 4–4; Away: 4–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
38	June 1	@ Phillies	5–2	Sewell (6–3)	Higbe	—	—	20–18
39	June 3	@ Phillies	10–7	Brown (1–2)	Hollingsworth	Swift (1)	2,000	21–18
40	June 4	@ Dodgers	7–3	Tobin (5–4)	Hamlin	—	—	22–18
41	June 4	@ Dodgers	1–14	Casey	Klinger (4–6)	—	24,257	22–19
42	June 5	@ Dodgers	2–6	Tamulis	Sewell (6–4)	—	6,680	22–20
43	June 6	@ Dodgers	2–5	Fitzsimmons	Bowman (3–3)	—	6,907	22–21
44	June 7	@ Bees	2–0	Swift (2–0)	MacFayden	—	2,795	23–21
45	June 8	@ Bees	0–2	Fette	Tobin (5–5)	—	1,894	23–22
46	June 9	@ Bees	1–4	Posedel	Klinger (4–7)	—	2,062	23–23
47	June 10	@ Giants	2–6	Schumacher	Sewell (6–5)	—	6,815	23–24
48	June 11	@ Giants	3–7	Gumbert	Bowman (3–4)	—	—	23–25
49	June 11	@ Giants	4–5	Melton	Klinger (4–8)	Coffman	34,749	23–26
50	June 15	Bees	5–6 (11)	Lanning	Tobin (5–6)	—	2,900	23–27
51	June 16	Bees	4–2	Klinger (5–8)	Posedel	Brown (5)	2,491	24–27
52	June 17	Phillies	2–11	Johnson	Sewell (6–6)	—	3,741	24–28
53	June 21	Giants	4–6	Melton	Tobin (5–7)	Hubbell	5,194	24–29
54	June 22	Giants	8–7	Bowman (4–4)	Coffman	—	3,869	25–29
55	June 23	Dodgers	2–1	Bauers (2–0)	Hamlin	—	2,419	26–29
56	June 24	Dodgers	6–2	Tobin (6–7)	Pressnell	—	5,582	27–29
57	June 25	Dodgers	5–6	Hamlin	Klinger (5–9)	Fitzsimmons	14,543	27–30
58	June 27	@ Reds	0–6	Derringer	Bauers (2–1)	—	5,181	27–31

July: 19–11 (Home: 8–6; Away: 11–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
59	July 1	@ Cardinals	4–3	Brown (2–2)	Davis	—	2,336	28–31
60	July 2	@ Cardinals	8–5	Klinger (6–9)	Weiland	Bauers (1)	—	29–31
61	July 2	@ Cardinals	6–3	Tobin (7–7)	Warneke	—	10,449	30–31
62	July 4	Reds	4–7	Grissom	Swift (2–1)	—	—	30–32
63	July 4	Reds	4–3	Brown (3–2)	Vander Meer	—	41,937	31–32
64	July 5	Cubs	10–1	Bowman (5–4)	Root	—	2,201	32–32
65	July 6	Cubs	7–2	Klinger (7–9)	Dean	—	6,257	33–32
66	July 7	Cubs	4–5 (11)	Lee	Bauers (2–2)	—	4,438	33–33
67	July 9	Cardinals	3–7	Cooper	Brown (3–3)	—	—	33–34
68	July 9	Cardinals	8–6	Tobin (8–7)	Weiland	—	29,000	34–34
69	July 12	@ Dodgers	3–0	Brown (4–3)	Wyatt	—	29,481	35–34
70	July 14	@ Dodgers	4–14	Hamlin	Bowman (5–5)	—	20,735	35–35
71	July 15	@ Dodgers	2–6	Fitzsimmons	Tobin (8–8)	—	6,814	35–36
72	July 16	@ Phillies	2–3	Mulcahy	Brown (4–4)	—	—	35–37
73	July 16	@ Phillies	7–3	Klinger (8–9)	Butcher	Swift (2)	12,958	36–37
74	July 17	@ Phillies	7–4	Bowman (6–5)	Harrell	—	2,500	37–37
75	July 18	@ Phillies	3–8	Johnson	Swift (2–2)	—	6,000	37–38
76	July 19	@ Giants	10–3	Brown (5–4)	Lohrman	—	3,331	38–38
77	July 20	@ Giants	8–4	Klinger (9–9)	Gumbert	Bowman (1)	4,310	39–38
78	July 21	@ Giants	4–3	Sewell (7–6)	Melton	Swift (3)	5,355	40–38
79	July 22	@ Bees	9–3	Swift (3–2)	MacFayden	—	2,583	41–38
80	July 23	@ Bees	3–2	Brown (6–4)	Shoffner	Sewell (1)	—	42–38
81	July 23	@ Bees	0–1	Fette	Klinger (9–10)	—	15,558	42–39
82	July 25	Phillies	5–4 (10)	Klinger (10–10)	Pearson	—	2,539	43–39
83	July 26	Phillies	3–1	Swift (4–2)	Higbe	Brown (6)	—	44–39
84	July 26	Phillies	5–3	Bowman (7–5)	Beck	—	10,611	45–39
85	July 27	Phillies	8–9	Harrell	Sewell (7–7)	Higbe	2,610	45–40
86	July 28	Bees	1–7	Turner	Brown (6–5)	—	3,137	45–41
87	July 29	Bees	6–5	Bowman (8–5)	Shoffner	Brown (7)	4,962	46–41
88	July 30	Bees	5–7	Posedel	Swift (4–3)	Sullivan	27,099	46–42

August: 8–22 (Home: 4–10; Away: 4–12)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
89	August 1	Dodgers	3–5	Fitzsimmons	Brown (6–6)	Tamulis	3,392	46–43
90	August 2	Dodgers	6–0	Bowman (9–5)	Hamlin	—	3,240	47–43
91	August 3	Dodgers	1–4	Pressnell	Butcher (0–1)	—	3,112	47–44
92	August 4	Giants	3–2 (11)	Sewell (8–7)	Melton	—	3,477	48–44
93	August 5	Giants	3–4	Hubbell	Brown (6–7)	—	8,932	48–45
94	August 6	Giants	5–9	Schumacher	Bowman (9–6)	Melton	—	48–46
95	August 6	Giants	6–0 (8)	Klinger (11–10)	Salvo	—	37,665	49–46
96	August 9	@ Cardinals	3–5	Sunkel	Bauers (2–3)	Shoun	3,334	49–47
97	August 11	@ Cubs	2–3	Lee	Sewell (8–8)	—	7,296	49–48
98	August 12	@ Cubs	4–6	Bryant	Swift (4–4)	Passeau	9,223	49–49
99	August 13	@ Cubs	4–5	Dean	Klinger (11–11)	—	25,180	49–50
100	August 14	@ Reds	8–9	Thompson	Brown (6–8)	—	23,044	49–51
101	August 15	@ Reds	5–6	Niggeling	Bowman (9–7)	—	7,941	49–52
102	August 16	Cardinals	3–4	Bowman	Klinger (11–12)	Shoun	—	49–53
103	August 16	Cardinals	0–3	McGee	Butcher (0–2)	—	7,855	49–54
104	August 17	Cardinals	2–4	Davis	Brown (6–9)	—	2,737	49–55
105	August 18	Cardinals	0–3	Bowman	Bauers (2–4)	—	2,586	49–56
106	August 19	Cubs	0–5	Lee	Tobin (8–9)	—	3,126	49–57
107	August 20	Cubs	5–9	Passeau	Klinger (11–13)	—	—	49–58
108	August 20	Cubs	5–0 (6)	Butcher (1–2)	Whitehill	—	13,076	50–58
109	August 22	@ Bees	8–2	Bowman (10–7)	Fette	Swift (4)	1,767	51–58
110	August 23	@ Bees	0–1	Posedel	Brown (6–10)	—	4,691	51–59
111	August 23	@ Bees	1–3	MacFayden	Heintzelman (0–1)	—	4,691	51–60
112	August 24	@ Giants	4–3	Butcher (2–2)	Salvo	—	4,341	52–60
113	August 26	@ Giants	2–6	Schumacher	Klinger (11–14)	Brown	—	52–61
114	August 26	@ Giants	0–8	Melton	Bowman (10–8)	—	10,756	52–62
115	August 27	@ Dodgers	2–3	Fitzsimmons	Brown (6–11)	Tamulis	—	52–63
116	August 27	@ Dodgers	9–5	Blanton (2–2)	Hollingsworth	—	20,119	53–63
117	August 31	@ Phillies	1–0	Butcher (3–2)	Higbe	—	—	54–63
118	August 31	@ Phillies	6–11	Beck	Klinger (11–15)	—	8,000	54–64

September: 13–20 (Home: 10–13; Away: 3–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
119	September 2	@ Cardinals	11–3	Brown (7–11)	Bowman	—	2,636	55–64
120	September 3	@ Cardinals	6–14	Davis	Bowman (10–9)	Shoun	—	55–65
121	September 3	@ Cardinals	0–3	Weiland	Blanton (2–3)	—	11,066	55–66
122	September 4	@ Cubs	2–1	Butcher (4–2)	Dean	—	—	56–66
123	September 4	@ Cubs	6–3	Klinger (12–15)	Page	—	32,974	57–66
124	September 6	Reds	5–4 (11)	Swift (5–4)	Johnson	—	—	58–66
125	September 6	Reds	3–4 (10)	Derringer	Bowman (10–10)	—	7,548	58–67
126	September 7	Reds	8–7 (11)	Sewell (9–8)	Johnson	—	2,484	59–67
127	September 8	Reds	2–5	Walters	Butcher (4–3)	—	4,479	59–68
128	September 9	Cardinals	2–12	Weiland	Brown (7–12)	—	3,817	59–69
129	September 10	Cardinals	3–9	Davis	Klinger (12–16)	—	—	59–70
130	September 10	Cardinals	4–11	Bowman	Bowman (10–11)	—	12,588	59–71
131	September 11	Cardinals	8–6	Tobin (9–9)	Andrews	—	1,134	60–71
132	September 13	Giants	0–2	Gumbert	Swift (5–5)	—	—	60–72
133	September 13	Giants	7–4	Klinger (13–16)	Melton	Sewell (2)	3,426	61–72
134	September 14	Dodgers	4–3	Brown (8–12)	Tamulis	—	—	62–72
135	September 14	Dodgers	4–8	Crouch	Swigart (0–1)	—	3,637	62–73
136	September 15	Dodgers	2–4 (10)	Hutchinson	Butcher (4–4)	—	1,548	62–74
137	September 16	Dodgers	2–3	Fitzsimmons	Bowman (10–12)	Tamulis	2,457	62–75
138	September 17	Phillies	3–7	Johnson	Gee (0–1)	—	—	62–76
139	September 17	Phillies	10–1	Klinger (14–16)	Pearson	—	8,008	63–76
140	September 18	Phillies	7–4	Brown (9–12)	Bruner	—	688	64–76
141	September 19	Bees	5–3	Sewell (10–8)	Turner	—	702	65–76
142	September 21	Bees	6–4	Gee (1–1)	Veigel	—	1,980	66–76
143	September 21	Bees	7–0	Swigart (1–1)	Posedel	—	1,980	67–76
144	September 22	@ Reds	0–6	Thompson	Brown (9–13)	—	—	67–77
145	September 22	@ Reds	9–10	Shoffner	Klinger (14–17)	—	5,841	67–78
146	September 23	@ Reds	5–6	Walters	Swift (5–6)	—	—	67–79
147	September 23	@ Reds	1–6	Grissom	Bowman (10–13)	—	20,951	67–80
148	September 24	@ Reds	2–11	Derringer	Gee (1–2)	—	19,929	67–81
149	September 27	Cubs	8–9 (10)	French	Sewell (10–9)	—	—	67–82
150	September 27	Cubs	5–9 (10)	Russell	Swift (5–7)	Whitehill	1,483	67–83
151	September 29	Reds	1–2	Grissom	Bowman (10–14)	—	1,477	67–84

October: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
152	October 1	Reds	1–9	Thompson	Clemensen (0–1)	—	—	67–85
153	October 1	Reds	8–0	Heintzelman (1–1)	Moore	—	3,859	68–85

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1939 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

-- Eddie Yount

Manager

35 Pie Traynor

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Ray Berres	81	231	53	.229	0	16
1B	Elbie Fletcher	102	370	112	.303	12	71
2B	Pep Young	84	293	81	.276	3	29
SS	Arky Vaughn	152	595	182	.306	6	62
3B	Lee Handley	101	376	107	.285	1	42
OF	Johnny Rizzo	94	330	86	.261	6	55
OF	Lloyd Waner	112	379	108	.285	0	24
OF	Paul Waner	125	461	151	.328	3	45

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Bill Brubaker	100	345	80	.232	7	43
Chuck Klein	85	270	81	.300	11	47
Fern Bell	83	262	75	.286	2	34
Gus Suhr	63	204	59	.289	1	31
Ray Mueller	86	180	42	.233	2	18
Bob Elliott	32	129	43	.333	3	19
Maurice Van Robays	27	105	33	.314	2	16
George Susce	31	75	17	.227	1	4
Frankie Gustine	22	70	13	.186	0	3
Red Juelich	17	46	11	.239	0	4
Joe Schultz Jr.	4	14	4	.286	0	2
Heinie Manush	10	12	0	.000	0	1
Woody Jensen	12	12	2	.167	0	1
Eddie Yount	2	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Klinger	37	225.0	14	17	4.36	64
Joe Bowman	37	184.2	10	14	4.48	58
Jim Tobin	25	145.1	9	9	4.52	43
Max Butcher	14	86.2	4	4	3.43	21
Oad Swigart	3	24.1	1	1	4.44	8
Johnny Gee	3	19.2	1	2	4.12	16

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mace Brown	47	200.1	9	13	3.37	71
Rip Sewell	52	176.1	10	9	4.08	69
Bill Swift	36	129.2	5	7	3.89	56
Russ Bauers	15	53.2	2	4	3.35	12
Cy Blanton	10	42.0	2	3	4.29	11

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	ERA	SO
Ken Heintzelman	17	1	1	5.05	18
Bill Clemensen	12	0	1	7.33	13
Pep Rambert	2	0	0	8.82	4

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A1	Knoxville Smokies	Southern Association	Neil Caldwell
B	Gadsden Pilots	Southeastern League	Yam Yaryan
C	Hutchinson Pirates	Western Association	Jimmy Jordan
D	Carthage Pirates	Arkansas–Missouri League	Buzz Arlitt
D	Valdosta Trojans	Georgia–Florida League	Bill Morrell
D	McKeesport Little Pirates	Pennsylvania State Association	Leo Mackey and Joe Agee
D	Jamestown Jaguars	PONY League	Mickey LaLange

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Carthage

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
↑ Johnny Dickshot page at Baseball Reference

References

1939 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1939 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.

[2] Johnny Dickshot page at Baseball Reference

[1]

[2]

1939 MLB season by team
American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1939 All-Star Game 1939 World Series