1953 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1953 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1887);
Location
	Forbes Field (since 1909); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907);
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Branch Rickey
Manager(s)	Fred Haney
Local television	none
Local radio	WWSW; Rosey Rowswell, Bob Prince
	< Previous season Next season >

The 1953 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 72nd in franchise history. In April 1953, the New York Yankees visited Forbes Field and played two preseason games against the Pirates. Mickey Mantle hit a 500-foot home run that landed on the roof.^[2]

Offseason

October 14, 1952: Gus Bell was traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Cal Abrams, Joe Rossi, and Gail Henley.^[3]
Prior to 1953 season: Don Williams was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[4]
March 19, 1953: Johnny O'Brien was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent (bonus baby).^[5]
March 19, 1953: Eddie O'Brien was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent (bonus baby).^[6]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	105	49	0.682	—	60–17	45–32
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	0.597	13	45–31	47–31
Philadelphia Phillies	83	71	0.539	22	48–29	35–42
St. Louis Cardinals	83	71	0.539	22	48–30	35–41
New York Giants	70	84	0.455	35	38–39	32–45
Cincinnati Redlegs	68	86	0.442	37	38–39	30–47
Chicago Cubs	65	89	0.422	40	43–34	22–55
Pittsburgh Pirates	50	104	0.325	55	26–51	24–53

Record vs. opponents

1953 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	13–9–1	15–7	13–9	15–7	14–8	20–2	15–7
Chicago	9–13–1	—	12–10	8–14	9–13	5–17	11–11	11–11
Cincinnati	7–15	10–12	—	8–14	9–13	12–10	15–7	7–15–1
Milwaukee	9–13	14–8	14–8	—	14–8–1	13–9–1	15–7	13–9–1
New York	7–15	13–9	13–9	8–14–1	—	9–13	11–11	9–13
Philadelphia	8–14	17–5	10–12	9–13–1	13–9	—	15–7	11–11–1
Pittsburgh	2–20	11–11	7–15	7–15	11–11	7–15	—	5–17
St. Louis	7–15	11–11	15–7–1	9–13–1	13–9	11–11–1	17–5	—

Game log

1953 Game Log: 50–104 (Home: 26–51; Away: 24–53)

April: 5–9 (Home: 5–3; Away: 0–6)

May: 8–19 (Home: 6–8; Away: 2–11)

June: 12–22 (Home: 6–11; Away: 6–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
42	June 2	Cubs	4–3 (11)	Hetki (1–1)	Klippstein	—	8,158	14–28
43	June 3	Cubs	1–0	LaPalme (3–5)	Hacker	—	8,165	15–28
44	June 4	Cubs	6–1	Hall (1–1)	Minner	—	3,182	16–28
45	June 5	Reds	4–7	Wehmeier	Bowman (0–1)	—	12,229	16–29
46	June 6	Reds	7–15	Smith	Friend (1–6)	Collum	6,685	16–30
47	June 7	Reds	1–6	Podbielan	Schultz (0–1)	—		16–31
48	June 7	Reds	6–11	Nuxhall	Lindell (2–7)	Perkowski	9,021	16–32
49	June 8	Cardinals	3–5 (12)	Brazle	Hetki (1–2)	Miller	7,643	16–33
50	June 9	Cardinals	7–4	Hall (2–1)	Haddix	—	1,894	17–33
51	June 10	Cardinals	1–5	Presko	Friend (1–7)	White	8,937	17–34
52	June 11	Cardinals	3–5	Miller	Lindell (2–8)	White	2,178	17–35
53	June 12	Braves	4–2	Dickson (5–6)	Antonelli	—		18–35
54	June 12	Braves	2–11	Surkont	Schultz (0–2)	—	17,344	18–36
55	June 13	Braves	4–5	Burdette	LaPalme (3–6)	—	5,134	18–37
56	June 14	Braves	3–7	Liddle	Hall (2–2)	—		18–38
57	June 14	Braves	0–8	Buhl	Bowman (0–2)	—	15,083	18–39
58	June 15	Braves	3–2 (10)	Friend (2–7)	Wilson	—	6,548	19–39
59	June 16	@ Cubs	6–5	Lindell (3–8)	Minner	—		20–39
60	June 16	@ Cubs	2–3	Pollet	Dickson (5–7)	Klippstein	11,427	20–40
61	June 17	@ Cubs	4–5 (16)	Lown	Hetki (1–3)	—	5,422	20–41
62	June 18	@ Cubs	4–8	Rush	Hall (2–3)	Leonard	3,969	20–42
63	June 19	@ Cardinals	2–10	Mizell	LaPalme (3–7)	—	7,552	20–43
64	June 20	@ Cardinals	1–2	Presko	Friend (2–8)	—	9,019	20–44
65	June 21	@ Cardinals	5–2	Dickson (6–7)	Miller	—	10,451	21–44
66	June 22	@ Cardinals	3–6	Staley	Lindell (3–9)	—	5,625	21–45
67	June 23	@ Braves	1–0	Hall (3–3)	Spahn	—	26,299	22–45
68	June 24	@ Braves	10–1	Face (3–0)	Bickford	—	21,438	23–45
69	June 25	@ Braves	6–4 (12)	Hetki (2–3)	Buhl	—	14,841	24–45
70	June 26	@ Reds	4–8	Nuxhall	Dickson (6–8)	King		24–46
71	June 26	@ Reds	1–4	Collum	LaPalme (3–8)	—	7,758	24–47
72	June 27	@ Reds	5–15	Perkowski	Face (3–1)	—	2,599	24–48
73	June 28	@ Reds	1–4	Baczewski	Hall (3–4)	—		24–49
74	June 28	@ Reds	2–9	Raffensberger	Bowman (0–3)	—	10,432	24–50
75	June 30	@ Giants	3–1	Dickson (7–8)	Gomez	—	13,805	25–50

July: 8–23 (Home: 5–15; Away: 3–8)

August: 8–22 (Home: 2–11; Away: 6–11)

September: 9–9 (Home: 2–3; Away: 7–6)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Notable transactions

June 4, 1953: Ralph Kiner, Joe Garagiola, Catfish Metkovich, and Howie Pollet were traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Toby Atwell, Bob Schultz, Preston Ward, George Freese, Bob Addis, Gene Hermanski, and $150,000.^[7]
June 14, 1953: Pete Castiglione was traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Hal Rice.^[8]

Roster

1953 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

32 Roger Bowman

22 Murry Dickson

26 Roy Face

19 Bob Friend

36 Bob Hall

29 Johnny Hetki

32 Cal Hogue

24 Paul LaPalme

28 Johnny Lindell

25 Bill Macdonald

35 Woody Main

20 Paul Pettit

11 Howie Pollet

37 Bob Schultz

23 Jim Waugh

Catchers

11 Toby Atwell

9 Ed Fitz Gerald

3 Joe Garagiola

31 Vic Janowicz

9 Nick Koback

14 Pete Naton

6 Mike Sandlock

10 Jack Shepard

Infielders

16 Pete Castiglione

12 Dick Cole

5 Dick Hall

44 Catfish Metkovich

27 Eddie O'Brien

30 Johnny O'Brien

10 Danny O'Connell

13 Eddie Pellagrini

7 Dick Smith

21 Paul Smith

5 Preston Ward

Outfielders

18 Cal Abrams

17 Carlos Bernier

16 Brandy Davis

7 Gene Hermanski

4 Ralph Kiner

14 Felipe Montemayor

44 Hal Rice

15 Frank Thomas

Other batters

39 Bob Addis

37 Clem Koshorek

Manager

2 Fred Haney

Coaches

40 John Fitzpatrick

43 Sam Narron

42 Bill Posedel

41 Clyde Sukeforth

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
2B	Johnny O'Brien	89	279	69	.247	2	22
SS	Eddie O'Brien	89	261	62	.238	0	14
OF	Cal Abrams	119	448	128	.286	15	43
OF	Frank Thomas	128	455	116	.255	30	102

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
Hal Rice	78	286	89	.311	4	42
Ralph Kiner	41	148	40	.270	7	29
Joe Garagiola	27	73	17	.233	2	14
Dick Smith	13	43	7	.163	0	2
Catfish Metkovich	26	41	6	.146	1	7

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 Friend	32	170.2	8	11	4.90	66

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
Murry Dickson	45	200.2	10	19	4.53	88
Roy Face	41	119	6	8	6.58	56
Howie Pollet	5	12.2	1	1	10.66	8

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
Roger Bowman	30	0	4	0	4.82	36

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Danny Murtaugh
A	Charleston Rebels	Sally League	Frank Oceak, Norm Shope and Larry Shepard
A	Denver Bears	Western League	Andy Cohen
B	Waco/Longview Pirates	Big State League	Buster Chatham
B	Burlington-Graham Pirates	Carolina League	Stan Wentzel
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Cliff Dapper
C	St. Jean Canadiens	Provincial League	George Genovese
C	Hutchinson Elks	Western Association	Wes Griffin
D	Bristol Twins	Appalachian League	George Detore
D	Dublin Irish	Georgia State League	John George and Frank Oceak
D	Brunswick Pirates	Georgia–Florida League	Jack Paepke
D	Batavia Clippers	PONY League	George Kinnamon

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hutchinson, Brunswick

Waco franchise transferred to Longview, May 22, 1953

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
↑ The Best Game Ever, Prologue, p. xx, Jim Reisler, Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7867-1943-3
↑ Gus Bell page at Baseball Reference
↑ Don Williams page at Baseball Reference
↑ Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
↑ Eddie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
↑ Ralph Kiner page at Baseball Reference
↑ Hal Rice page at Baseball Reference

References

1953 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1953 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 Shore in 1907.

[2] The Best Game Ever, Prologue, p. xx, Jim Reisler, Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7867-1943-3

[3] Gus Bell page at Baseball Reference

[4] Don Williams page at Baseball Reference

[5] Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference

[6] Eddie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference

[7] Ralph Kiner page at Baseball Reference

[8] Hal Rice page at Baseball Reference

1953 MLB season by team
American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1953 All-Star Game 1953 World Series

1953 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania^[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Branch Rickey
Manager(s)	Fred Haney
Local television	none
Local radio	WWSW Rosey Rowswell, Bob Prince
< Previous season Next season >