1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season

This article is about the baseball team. For the NFL team, see 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season.

1939 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania^[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Benswanger
Manager(s)	Pie Traynor
Local radio	KDKA Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock
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The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 58th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 53rd in 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 Records 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)

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)

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)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Roster

1939 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

51 Russ Bauers

46 Cy Blanton

48 Joe Bowman

47 Mace Brown

40 Max Butcher

40 Bill Clemensen

24 Johnny Gee

53 Ken Heintzelman

41 Bob Klinger

-- Pep Rambert

44 Rip Sewell

45 Bill Swift

-- Oad Swigart

50 Jim Tobin

Catchers

32 Ray Berres

30 Ray Mueller

-- Joe Schultz

31 George Susce

Infielders

25 Bill Brubaker

16 Elbie Fletcher

-- Frankie Gustine

20 Lee Handley

22 Red Juelich

24 Gus Suhr

21 Arky Vaughan

26 Pep Young

Outfielders

17 Fern Bell

-- Bob Elliott

16 Woody Jensen

14 Chuck Klein

14 Heinie Manush

12 Johnny Rizzo

-- Maurice Van Robays

10 Lloyd Waner

11 Paul Waner

Other batters

-- Eddie Yount

Manager

35 Pie Traynor

Coaches

36 Jewel Ens

34 Johnny Gooch

33 Honus Wagner

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	Mueller, RayRay Mueller	86	180	42	.233	2	18

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
Susce, GeorgeGeorge Susce	31	75	17	.227	1	4

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

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
Bauers, RussRuss Bauers	15	53.2	2	4	3.35	12

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

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

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore 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.

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

Pittsburgh Pirates

Formerly the Pittsburgh Alleghenys
Founded in 1882
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring training: Whittington Park; Riverside Park; Fogel Field; Barrs Field; Rickwood Field; Whittington Park; Perris Hill Park; Tech Field; Perris Hill Park; McCulloch Park; Perris Hill Park; Flamingo Field; Gilmore Field; Gran Stadium; Jaycee Park; Terry Park; Pirate City/McKechnie Field

Culture

Lore

Pittsburgh Allegheny
Pirates' lore
Wagner donates uniforms
Lou Bierbauer
Temple Cup
Chronicle-Telegraph Cup
Pittsburgh Stars
Homer in the Gloamin'
1960 Game 7
1985 drug trials
Francisco Cabrera game
National League Wild Card Games
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015

Rivalries

Philadelphia Phillies

Minors

AAA: Indianapolis Indians
AA: Altoona Curve
A Adv.: Bradenton Marauders
A: West Virginia Power
Short A: West Virginia Black Bears
Rookie Adv.: Bristol Pirates
Rookie: GCL Pirates; DSL Pirates
All-time: Minor league affiliate history

World Series
Championships (5)

1909
1925
1960
1971
1979

League pennants (9)

American Association: none
National League: 1901; 1902; 1903; 1909; 1925; 1927; 1960; 1971; 1979

Division titles (9)

East: 1970; 1971; 1972; 1974; 1975; 1979; 1990; 1991; 1992
Central: none

Wild Card berths (3)

Media

Seasons (136)

1880s	1880 · 1881 · 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890s	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

1900s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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