1939 Pittsburgh Pirates 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	GB	Pct.
Cincinnati Reds	97	57	--	.630
St. Louis Cardinals	92	61	4.5	.601
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	69	12.5	.549
Chicago Cubs	84	70	13	.545
New York Giants	77	74	18.5	.510
Pittsburgh Pirates	68	85	28.5	.444
Boston Bees	63	88	32.5	.417
Philadelphia Phillies	45	106	50.5	.298

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	—

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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Carthage

Notes

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. 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.