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]
1953 Pittsburgh Pirates | ||
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League | National League | |
Ballpark | Forbes Field | |
City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] | |
Owners | John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders) | |
General managers | Branch Rickey | |
Managers | Fred Haney | |
Radio | WWSW Rosey Rowswell, Bob Prince | |
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Offseason
edit- 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
editSeason standings
editNational League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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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
editSources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | |||||||||||||
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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
edit1953 Game Log: 50–104 (Home: 26–51; Away: 24–53) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April: 5–9 (Home: 5–3; Away: 0–6)
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May: 8–19 (Home: 6–8; Away: 2–11)
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June: 12–22 (Home: 6–11; Away: 6–11)
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July: 8–23 (Home: 5–15; Away: 3–8)
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August: 8–22 (Home: 2–11; Away: 6–11)
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September: 9–9 (Home: 2–3; Away: 7–6)
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Legend: = Win = Loss Bold = Pirates team member |
Notable transactions
edit- 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
edit1953 Pittsburgh Pirates | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: 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 | Mike Sandlock | 64 | 186 | 43 | .231 | 0 | 12 |
1B | Preston Ward | 88 | 281 | 59 | .210 | 8 | 27 |
2B | Johnny O'Brien | 89 | 279 | 69 | .247 | 2 | 22 |
SS | Eddie O'Brien | 89 | 261 | 62 | .238 | 0 | 14 |
3B | Danny O'Connell | 149 | 588 | 173 | .294 | 7 | 55 |
OF | Cal Abrams | 119 | 448 | 128 | .286 | 15 | 43 |
OF | Frank Thomas | 128 | 455 | 116 | .255 | 30 | 102 |
OF | Carlos Bernier | 105 | 310 | 66 | .213 | 3 | 31 |
Other batters
editNote: 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Smith | 118 | 389 | 110 | .283 | 4 | 44 |
Hal Rice | 78 | 286 | 89 | .311 | 4 | 42 |
Dick Cole | 97 | 235 | 64 | .272 | 0 | 23 |
Eddie Pellagrini | 78 | 174 | 44 | .253 | 4 | 19 |
Pete Castiglione | 45 | 159 | 33 | .208 | 4 | 21 |
Ralph Kiner | 41 | 148 | 40 | .270 | 7 | 29 |
Toby Atwell | 53 | 139 | 34 | .245 | 0 | 17 |
Vic Janowicz | 42 | 123 | 31 | .252 | 2 | 8 |
Joe Garagiola | 27 | 73 | 17 | .233 | 2 | 14 |
Gene Hermanski | 41 | 62 | 11 | .177 | 1 | 4 |
Felipe Montemayor | 28 | 55 | 6 | .109 | 0 | 2 |
Dick Smith | 13 | 43 | 7 | .163 | 0 | 2 |
Catfish Metkovich | 26 | 41 | 6 | .146 | 1 | 7 |
Brandy Davis | 12 | 39 | 8 | .205 | 0 | 2 |
Dick Hall | 7 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
Ed Fitz Gerald | 6 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 1 |
Nick Koback | 7 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
Pete Naton | 6 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
Jack Shepard | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
Bob Addis | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Clem Koshorek | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editStarting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul LaPalme | 35 | 176.1 | 8 | 16 | 4.59 | 86 |
Johnny Lindell | 27 | 175.2 | 5 | 16 | 4.71 | 102 |
Bob Friend | 32 | 170.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.90 | 66 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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Murry Dickson | 45 | 200.2 | 10 | 19 | 4.53 | 88 |
Bob Hall | 37 | 152.0 | 3 | 12 | 5.39 | 68 |
Roy Face | 41 | 119.0 | 6 | 8 | 6.58 | 56 |
Jim Waugh | 29 | 90.1 | 4 | 5 | 6.48 | 23 |
Paul Pettit | 10 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.71 | 14 |
Cal Hogue | 3 | 19.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.21 | 10 |
Howie Pollet | 5 | 12.2 | 1 | 1 | 10.66 | 8 |
Bill Macdonald | 4 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 12.27 | 4 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnny Hetki | 54 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3.95 | 37 |
Roger Bowman | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.82 | 36 |
Bob Schultz | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.20 | 5 |
Woody Main | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.25 | 4 |
Farm system
editWaco franchise transferred to Longview, May 22, 1953
References
edit- ^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side 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 traded to Cubs". Lodi News-Sentinel. June 4, 1953. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Hal Rice page at Baseball Reference