1951 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1951 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 Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Branch Rickey
Manager(s)	Billy Meyer
Local television	none
Local radio	WWSW Rosey Rowswell, Bob Prince
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The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 70th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 65th in the National League . The Pirates finished seventh in the league standings with a record of 64–90.

Offseason

• November 16, 1950: Catfish Metkovich was drafted by the Pirates from the Oakland Oaks in the 1950 rule 5 draft.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
New York Giants	98	59	--	.624
Brooklyn Dodgers	97	60	1	.618
St. Louis Cardinals	81	73	15.5	.526
Boston Braves	76	78	20.5	.494
Philadelphia Phillies	73	81	23.5	.474
Cincinnati Reds	68	86	28.5	.442
Pittsburgh Pirates	64	90	32.5	.416
Chicago Cubs	62	92	34.5	.403

Record vs. opponents

1951 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12–1	10–12	10–12	8–14	12–10	13–9	13–9
Brooklyn	12–10–1	—	14–8	14–8	14–11	15–7	10–12	18–4
Chicago	12–10	8–14	—	10–12	7–15	7–15	9–13	9–13–1
Cincinnati	12–10	8–14	12–10	—	5–17	11–11	12–10–1	8–14
New York	14–8	11–14	15–7	17–5	—	16–6	14–8	11–11
Philadelphia	10–12	7–15	15–7	11–11	6–16	—	15–7	9–13
Pittsburgh	9–13	12–10	13–9	10–12–1	8–14	7–15	—	5–17
St. Louis	9–13	4–18	13–9–1	14–8	11–11	13–9	17–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 15, 1951: Cliff Chambers and Wally Westlake were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Garagiola, Dick Cole, Bill Howerton, Howie Pollet, and Ted Wilks.^[3]

Roster

1951 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 24 Don Carlsen 23 Cliff Chambers 30 Con Dempsey 21,22 Murry Dickson 25 Bob Friend 26 Bill Koski 24 Paul LaPalme 20 Vern Law 31 Joe Muir 23 Paul Pettit 30 Howie Pollet 36 Mel Queen 29 Junior Walsh 19 Bill Werle 28 Ted Wilks 23 Len Yochim		Catchers  9 Ed Fitz Gerald  2 Joe Garagiola 3,8 Clyde McCullough Infielders 10,12 Monty Basgall 16 Pete Castiglione 12 Dick Cole  3 Bob Dillinger  2 Dale Long 12 Jack Maguire 10 Jack Merson  7 Danny Murtaugh  6 Rocky Nelson  5 Jack Phillips  6 Stan Rojek 10 Hank Schenz  6 Dick Smith 14 George Strickland 15 Wally Westlake		Outfielders 13 Ted Beard 18 Gus Bell 15 Erv Dusak  8 Bill Howerton  4 Ralph Kiner 11 Catfish Metkovich 27 Pete Reiser 21 Dino Restelli 17 Tom Saffell 27 Frank Thomas Other batters 35,39 Harry Fisher		Manager  1 Billy Meyer Coaches -- Babe Herman 43 Sam Narron 42 Bill Posedel 40 Milt Stock 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
OF	Metkovich, CatfishCatfish Metkovich	120	423	124	.293	3	40
OF	Howerton, BillBill Howerton	80	219	60	.274	11	37

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
Garagiola, JoeJoe Garagiola	72	212	54	.255	9	35
Westlake, WallyWally Westlake	51	181	51	.282	16	45
Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	39	148	39	.264	2	16
Cole, DickDick Cole	42	106	25	.236	1	11
Smith, DickDick Smith	12	46	8	.174	0	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
Dickson, MurryMurry Dickson	45	288.2	20	16	4.02	112
Pollet, HowieHowie Pollet	21	128.2	6	10	5.04	47
Chambers, CliffCliff Chambers	10	59.2	3	6	5.58	19
Carlsen, DonDon Carlsen	7	43	2	3	4.19	20

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
Queen, MelMel Queen	39	168.1	7	9	4.44	123
Friend, BobBob Friend	34	149.2	6	10	4.27	41
Dempsey, ConCon Dempsey	3	7	0	2	9.00	3

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
Wilks, TedTed Wilks	48	3	5	12	2.83	43
Koski, BillBill Koski	13	0	1	0	6.67	6
Muir, JoeJoe Muir	9	0	2	0	2.76	5

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Don Gutteridge
AAA	Hollywood Stars	Pacific Coast League	Fred Haney
AA	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Rip Sewell
A	Charleston Rebels	Sally League	Frank Oceak
B	Waco Pirates	Big State League	Walt Tauscher
B	Burlington Bees	Carolina League	Frank Barrett and Mike Kash
C	Modesto Reds	California League	Tony Freitas
C	Butler Tigers	Middle Atlantic League	Norm Gerdeman, William Allen and Frank Barrett
C	Hutchinson Elks	Western Association	Wes Griffin
D	Eugene Larks	Far West League	Duster Mails, George Matile and Cliff Dapper
D	Brunswick Pirates	Georgia–Florida League	Mickey O'Neil
D	Bartlesville Pirates	Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League	Tedd Gullic
D	Mayfield Clothiers	KITTY League	Jerry Gardner
D	Salisbury Pirates	North Carolina State League	George Detore

References

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Catfish Metkovich page at Baseball-Reference
3. Joe Garagiola page at Baseball-Reference

External links

• 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac