1947 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1947 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	Frank E. McKinney, John W. Galbreath, Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson
General manager(s)	Roy Hamey
Manager(s)	Billy Herman, Bill Burwell
Local radio	WWSW Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock
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The 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 66th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 61st in the National League. The Pirates finished tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 62–92.

Offseason

• October 2, 1946: Steve Nagy was purchased by the Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodgers.^[2]
• Prior to 1947 season (exact date unknown)
  • Joe Muir was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[3]
  • Tod Davis was returned by the Pirates to the Hollywood Stars after the expiration of their minor league working agreement.^[4]

Regular season

• June 24: Against the Pirates, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers stole home plate for the first time in his career.^[5] The Pirates catcher was Dixie Howell.

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Brooklyn Dodgers	94	60	--	.610
St. Louis Cardinals	89	65	5	.578
Boston Braves	86	68	8	.558
New York Giants	81	73	13	.526
Cincinnati Reds	73	81	21	.474
Chicago Cubs	69	85	25	.448
Philadelphia Phillies	62	92	32	.403
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	32	.403

Record vs. opponents

1947 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	12–10	13–9	13–9	13–9	14–8	12–10	9–13
Brooklyn	10–12	—	15–7	15–7	14–8	14–8	15–7	11–11–1
Chicago	9–13	7–15	—	12–10	7–15	16–6–1	8–14	10–12
Cincinnati	9–13	7–15	10–12	—	13–9	13–9	13–9	8–14
New York	9–13	8–14	15–7	9–13	—	12–10	15–7–1	13–9
Philadelphia	8–14	8–14	6–16–1	9–13	10–12	—	13–9	8–14
Pittsburgh	10–12	7–15	14–8	9–13	7–15–1	9–13	—	6–16–1
St. Louis	13–9	11–11–1	12–10	14–8	9–13	14–8	16–6–1	—

Notable transactions

• July 23, 1947: Frank Thomas was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[6]
• September 23, 1947: Joe Grace was selected off waivers by the Pirates from the Washington Senators.^[7]

Roster

1947 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 36 Jim Bagby 24 Ed Bahr 18 Hank Behrman 35 Tiny Bonham 25 Ken Gables 20 Ken Heintzelman 27 Art Herring 13 Kirby Higbe -- Lee Howard  2 Al Lyons 28,40 Cal McLish 19 Hugh Mulcahy 28 Steve Nagy 21 Fritz Ostermueller 23 Mel Queen 29 Preacher Roe 30 Rip Sewell 26 Elmer Singleton 22 Nick Strincevich 23 Lou Tost 32 Roger Wolff		Catchers  1 Dixie Howell 31 Roy Jarvis 10 Clyde Kluttz 1,2 Bill Salkeld 14,42 Billy Sullivan Infielders  8 Eddie Basinski 2,19 Jimmy Bloodworth  9 Pete Castiglione  6 Billy Cox  3 Elbie Fletcher  5 Hank Greenberg 16 Frankie Gustine 11 Billy Herman 19,42 Gene Mauch  7 Whitey Wietelmann		Outfielders  4 Ralph Kiner 12 Culley Rikard 17 Jim Russell 15 Wally Westlake 14 Gene Woodling Other batters 18 Al Gionfriddo		Manager 39 Bill Burwell 11 Billy Herman Coaches 39 Bill Burwell 37 Johnny McKee 38 Zack Taylor 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	Howell, DixieDixie Howell	76	214	59	.276	4	25
1B	Greenberg, HankHank Greenberg	125	402	100	.249	25	74
2B	Bloodworth, JimmyJimmy Bloodworth	88	316	79	.250	7	48
3B	Gustine, FrankieFrankie Gustine	156	616	183	.297	9	67
SS	Cox, BillyBilly Cox	132	529	145	.274	15	54
OF	Kiner, RalphRalph Kiner	152	565	177	.313	51	127
OF	Westlake, WallyWally Westlake	112	407	111	.273	17	69
OF	Russell, JimJim Russell	128	478	121	.253	8	51

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
Sullivan, BillyBilly Sullivan	38	55	14	.255	0	8
Herman, BillyBilly Herman	15	47	10	.213	0	6
Gionfriddo, AlAl Gionfriddo	1	1	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
Queen, MelMel Queen	14	74	3	7	4.01	34

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
Bahr, EdEd Bahr	19	82.1	3	5	4.59	25
Behrman, HankHank Behrman	10	24.2	0	2	9.12	11
Nagy, SteveSteve Nagy	6	14	1	3	5.79	4

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
Bagby, JimJim Bagby	37	5	4	0	4.67	23

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Jimmy Brown
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Pinky May
B	York White Roses	Interstate League	Ed Turchin
B	Selma Cloverleafs	Southeastern League	Carl Fischer and Boom-Boom Beck
C	Keokuk Pirates	Central Association	Frank Oceak
C	Uniontown Coal Barons	Middle Atlantic League	Alex Stutzke
C	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League	Bruno Haas
C	Riverside Dons	Sunset League	Norm DeWeese and Jack Rothrock
D	Rehoboth Beach Pirates	Eastern Shore League	Gordon McKinnon and Doug Peden
D	Leesburg Pirates	Florida State League	Wilbur Good, Jr.
D	Tallahassee Pirates	Georgia–Florida League	Phil Seghi
D	Bartlesville Oilers	Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League	Charles Marleau
D	Salisbury Pirates	North Carolina State League	Edgar Leip
D	Hornell Pirates	PONY League	Art Doll

Notes

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Steve Nagy at Baseball-Reference
3. Joe Muir at Baseball-Reference
4. Tod Davis at Baseball-Reference
5. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, p. 167, Jonathan Eig, Simon & Schuster, 2007, New York, ISBN 978-0-7432-9461-4
6. Frank Thomas at Baseball-Reference
7. Joe Grace at Baseball-Reference

References

• 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates team at Baseball-Reference
• 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates 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.