1958 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1958 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)	Joe L. Brown
Manager(s)	Danny Murtaugh
Local television	KDKA-TV Bob Prince
Local radio	KDKA Bob Prince, Paul Long, Jim Woods
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The 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 77th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 72nd in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 84–70.

Offseason

• December 2, 1957: Ellis Burton was drafted from the Pirates by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1957 minor league draft.^[2]
• December 28, 1957: Dee Fondy was traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Ted Kluszewski.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	--	.597
Pittsburgh Pirates	84	70	8	.545
San Francisco Giants	80	74	12	.519
Cincinnati Redlegs	76	78	16	.494
Chicago Cubs	72	82	20	.468
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	20	.468
Los Angeles Dodgers	71	83	21	.461
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	23	.448

Record vs. opponents

1958 National League Records Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	10–12	11–11	10–12	13–9	9–13	12–10	7–15
Cincinnati	12–10	—	11–11	5–17	15–7	10–12	11–11	12–10
Los Angeles	11–11	11–11	—	14–8	10–12	8–14	6–16	11–11
Milwaukee	12–10	17–5	8–14	—	13–9	11–11	16–6	15–7
Philadelphia	9–13	7–15	12–10	9–13	—	12–10	8–14	12–10
Pittsburgh	13–9	12–10	14–8	11–11	10–12	—	12–10	12–10
San Francisco	10–12	11–11	16–6	6–16	14–8	10–12	—	13–9
St. Louis	15–7	10–12	11–11	7–15	10–12	10–12	9–13	—

Notable transactions

• June 15, 1958: Johnny O'Brien and Gene Freese were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dick Schofield and cash.^[4]

Roster

1958 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 48 Ron Blackburn 30 Bennie Daniels 26 Roy Face 19 Bob Friend 38 Don Gross 22 Ron Kline 32 Vern Law 16 Eddie O'Brien 47 George Perez 16 Bob Porterfield 34 Curt Raydon 37 Bob Smith 35 Don Williams 29,30 George Witt		Catchers 20 Hank Foiles 11 Bill Hall 28 Danny Kravitz 17 Hardy Peterson Infielders 23 Gene Baker  8 Harry Bright  8 Gene Freese 24 Dick Groat  3 Ted Kluszewski  9 Bill Mazeroski  6 Dick Schofield  7 R. C. Stevens  7 Dick Stuart 15 Frank Thomas		Outfielders 21 Roberto Clemente 25 Román Mejías 14 John Powers  4 Bob Skinner 18 Bill Virdon Other batters  6 Johnny O'Brien 12 Jim Pendleton 11 Paul Smith		Manager 40 Danny Murtaugh Coaches 41 Bill Burwell 42 Lenny Levy 43 Sam Narron 44 Frank Oceak

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	Foiles, HankHank Foiles	104	264	54	.205	8	50
1B	Kluszewski, TedTed Kluszewski	100	301	88	.292	4	37
2B	Mazeroski, BillBill Mazeroski	152	567	156	.275	19	68
3B	Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	149	562	158	.281	35	109
SS	Groat, DickDick Groat	151	584	175	.300	3	66
LF	Skinner, BobBob Skinner	144	529	170	.321	13	70
CF	Virdon, BillBill Virdon	144	604	161	.267	9	46
RF	Clemente, RobertoRoberto Clemente	140	519	150	.289	6	50

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
Mejías, RománRomán Mejías	76	157	42	.268	5	19
Hall, BillBill Hall	51	116	33	.284	1	15
Powers, JohnJohn Powers	57	82	15	.183	2	2
Schofield, DickDick Schofield	26	27	4	.148	0	2
Peterson, HardyHardy Peterson	2	6	2	.333	0	0
Smith, PaulPaul Smith	6	3	1	.333	0	0
O'Brien, JohnnyJohnny O'Brien	3	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
Friend, BobBob Friend	38	274	22	14	3.68	135
Kline, RonRon Kline	32	237.1	13	16	3.53	109
Law, VernVern Law	35	202.1	14	12	3.96	56

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
Daniels, BennieBennie Daniels	8	27.2	0	3	5.53	7

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
Face, RoyRoy Face	57	5	2	20	2.89	47
Gross, DonDon Gross	40	5	7	7	3.98	59
Blackburn, RonRon Blackburn	38	2	1	3	3.39	31
Smith, BobBob Smith	35	2	2	1	4.43	24
Perez, GeorgeGeorge Perez	4	0	1	1	5.40	2
Williams, DonDon Williams	2	0	0	0	6.75	3
O'Brien, EddieEddie O'Brien	1	0	0	0	13.50	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Clyde King
AAA	Salt Lake City Bees	Pacific Coast League	Larry Shepard
A	Lincoln Chiefs	Western League	Monty Basgall
B	Tri-City Braves	Northwest League	Ray Hathaway
C	Douglas Copper Kings	Arizona–Mexico League	Bob Clear
C	San Jose Pirates/Las Vegas Wranglers	California League	Jack Paepke
C	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	James Adlam
D	Salem Rebels	Appalachian League	Larry Dorton
D	Clinton Pirates	Midwest League	Stan Wentzel and Wally Millies
D	San Angelo Pirates	Sophomore League	Al Kubski

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Douglas

San Jose franchised transferred to Las Vegas and renamed, May 26, 1958

Notes

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Ellis Burton page at Baseball Reference
3. Ted Kluszewski page at Baseball Reference
4. Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference

References

• 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.