# 1920 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1920 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 39th in franchise history; the 34th in the National League.

## Regular season

* Pirates pitcher Babe Adams had outstanding control, allowing only 18 bases on balls in 263 innings pitched.
* October 2, 1920: The Cincinnati Reds and the Pirates played in the last tripleheader to date and the only one in the modern World Series era (post-1903). Umpire Peter Harrison officiated all three games.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Robins | 93 | 61 | .604 | — | 49‍–‍29 | 44‍–‍32 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 68 | .558 | 7 | 45‍–‍35 | 41‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 82 | 71 | .536 | 10½ | 42‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 79 | 75 | .513 | 14 | 42‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 79 | .487 | 18 | 38‍–‍38 | 37‍–‍41 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 18 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Boston Braves | 62 | 90 | .408 | 30 | 36‍–‍37 | 26‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | 91 | .405 | 30½ | 32‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1920 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 8–14–1 | 7–15 | 9–12 | 10–12 | 10–11 | 7–15 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 14–8–1 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 15–7 | 9–13 | — | 9–13 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 12–9 | 12–10 | 13–9 | — | 6–16–1 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 13–9 |
| New York | 12–10 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 16–6–1 | — | 12–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 11–10 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 10–12 | — | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Pittsburgh | 15–7 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 13–9 | — | 11–11–1 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | — |

### Game log

1920 Game Log: 79–75 (Home: 42–35; Away: 37–40) :
April: 6–5 (Home: 0–3; Away: 6–2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 14@ Cardinals5–4 (10)Adams (1–0)GoodwinHamilton (1)—1–0
2April 15@ Cardinals2–3SchuppCooper (0–1)——1–1
3April 16@ Cardinals5–0Carlson (1–0)Sherdel——2–1
4April 17@ Cardinals3–0 (13)Ponder (1–0)Haines——3–1
5April 18@ Reds2–1Adams (2–0)Ruether——4–1
6April 21@ Reds5–3Cooper (1–1)Ring——5–1
7April 23Cardinals7–9JacobsHamilton (0–1)——5–2
8April 24Cardinals0–6DoakPonder (1–1)——5–3
9April 25@ Cubs4–1 (15)Adams (3–0)Hendrix——6–3
10April 28@ Cubs1–11AlexanderCooper (1–2)——6–4
11April 29Reds2–8RingCarlson (1–1)——6–5 :
May: 13–12 (Home: 11–8; Away: 2–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
12May 1Reds1–7RuetherAdams (3–1)——6–6
13May 2@ Reds3–0Cooper (2–2)Sallee——7–6
14May 5Cubs2–0Adams (4–1)Martin——8–6
15May 6Cubs3–1Cooper (3–2)Hendrix——9–6
16May 7Cubs4–6AlexanderCarlson (1–2)——9–7
17May 8Cubs1–4VaughnHamilton (0–2)——9–8
18May 9@ Cubs7–8MartinAdams (4–2)Carter—9–9
19May 10Phillies3–1Cooper (4–2)Causey——10–9
20May 12Phillies5–3Hamilton (1–2)Rixey——11–9
21May 15Giants0–2NehfAdams (4–3)—12,00011–10
22May 17Giants7–6 (15)Ponder (2–1)Douglas—6,00012–10
23May 18Braves7–2Hamilton (2–2)Oeschger——13–10
24May 19Braves2–1Cooper (5–2)McQuillan——14–10
25May 20Braves5–1Adams (5–3)Fillingim——15–10
26May 21Braves9–0Carlson (2–2)Eayrs——16–10
27May 22Robins1–4GrimesCooper (5–3)—18,00016–11
28May 23@ Robins1–0Ponder (3–1)Pfeffer—10,00017–11
29May 24Robins0–1MamauxAdams (5–4)—2,50017–12
30May 25Robins2–0Carlson (3–2)Cadore—3,00018–12
31May 26Robins2–3GrimesWisner (0–1)——18–13
32May 28@ Reds1–6RuetherCooper (5–4)——18–14
33May 29@ Reds2–3LuqueCarlson (3–3)——18–15
34May 30@ Reds3–5SalleeWisner (0–2)——18–16
35May 31Cardinals4–5SherdelPonder (3–2)Jacobs—18–17
36May 31Cardinals7–4Cooper (6–4)DoakCarlson (1)—19–17 :
June: 10–13 (Home: 2–2; Away: 8–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
37June 1Cardinals4–5 (15)HainesPonder (3–3)——19–18
38June 2Cardinals2–6SchuppCarlson (3–4)——19–19
39June 6@ Reds3–1 (10)Cooper (7–4)Ruether——20–19
40June 9@ Braves6–7 (10)FillingimAdams (5–5)——20–20
41June 10@ Braves1–2ScottCooper (7–5)——20–21
42June 11@ Braves0–3FillingimHamilton (2–3)——20–22
43June 12@ Phillies6–4Carlson (4–4)Rixey—4,00021–22
44June 14@ Phillies6–1Cooper (8–5)Gallia——22–22
45June 15@ Phillies7–6 (10)Ponder (4–3)Causey——23–22
46June 18@ Giants4–5BarnesCooper (8–6)—1,00023–23
47June 19@ Giants3–0Adams (6–5)Nehf—15,00024–23
48June 20@ Giants0–8DouglasCarlson (4–5)—23,00024–24
49June 22@ Robins9–7Cooper (9–6)Pfeffer—5,00025–24
50June 23@ Robins2–5MarquardCarlson (4–6)——25–25
51June 24@ Robins2–6MamauxAdams (6–6)—3,50025–26
52June 25Cubs6–3Cooper (10–6)Hendrix——26–26
53June 26Cubs9–4Ponder (5–3)Vaughn——27–26
54June 27@ Cubs8–3Carlson (5–6)AlexanderCooper (1)—28–26
55June 28@ Cubs2–5TylerAdams (6–7)——28–27
56June 28@ Cubs4–5GawPonder (5–4)——28–28
57June 29@ Cubs4–3 (11)Cooper (11–6)Martin——29–28
58June 29@ Cubs3–14HendrixMeador (0–1)——29–29
59June 30@ Cubs0–1VaughnPonder (5–5)——29–30 :
July: 18–15 (Home: 12–8; Away: 6–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
60July 1@ Cardinals6–2 (10)Carlson (6–6)SherdelAdams (1)—30–30
61July 2@ Cardinals0–3DoakHamilton (2–4)——30–31
62July 3@ Cardinals3–1Cooper (12–6)Goodwin——31–31
63July 4@ Reds0–5RuetherAdams (6–8)——31–32
64July 5Reds4–1Carlson (7–6)Fisher——32–32
65July 5Reds6–5 (11)Hamilton (3–4)Luque——33–32
66July 6Reds2–7RingMeador (0–2)——33–33
67July 7Phillies2–1Cooper (13–6)Smith——34–33
68July 8Phillies1–0Adams (7–8)Meadows——35–33
69July 9Phillies1–4RixeyCarlson (7–7)——35–34
70July 10Phillies7–8 (11)MeadowsCooper (13–7)——35–35
71July 10Phillies1–3HubbellPonder (5–6)——35–36
72July 12Braves3–2 (11)Adams (8–8)Fillingim——36–36
73July 13Braves5–2Carlson (8–7)Scott——37–36
74July 14Braves4–3Cooper (14–7)Oeschger——38–36
75July 15Braves9–8Carlson (9–7)Watson——39–36
76July 16Giants0–7 (17)BentonHamilton (3–5)—4,00039–37
77July 17Giants2–0Adams (9–8)Toney——40–37
78July 17Giants2–4BarnesCarlson (9–8)—25,00040–38
79July 20Giants2–5NehfCooper (14–8)—3,00040–39
80July 21Robins4–3Ponder (6–6)Marquard—3,80041–39
81July 22Robins5–2Carlson (10–8)Cadore—4,00042–39
82July 23Robins5–6SmithAdams (9–9)—4,00042–40
83July 24Robins5–1Cooper (15–8)Grimes—15,00043–40
84July 25@ Robins5–4Ponder (7–6)Mitchell—22,00044–40
85July 26@ Robins4–6SmithCarlson (10–9)——44–41
86July 27@ Phillies7–1Hamilton (4–5)Meadows——45–41
87July 28@ Phillies6–3Cooper (16–8)Smith——46–41
88July 28@ Phillies4–5CauseyAdams (9–10)Gallia—46–42
89July 29@ Phillies3–7RixeyPonder (7–7)——46–43
90July 30@ Phillies2–7HubbellCarlson (10–10)——46–44
91July 31@ Braves4–2Cooper (17–8)Rudolph——47–44
92July 31@ Braves1–6FillingimHamilton (4–6)——47–45 :
August: 16–13 (Home: 7–8; Away: 9–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
93August 2@ Braves3–2Adams (10–10)OeschgerCarlson (2)—48–45
94August 3@ Braves3–2Ponder (8–7)McQuillan——49–45
95August 4@ Braves3–0Cooper (18–8)Fillingim——50–45
96August 5@ Robins8–5 (10)Hamilton (5–6)Grimes—7,00051–45
97August 7@ Robins7–0Adams (11–10)Smith—12,00052–45
98August 8@ Robins1–2CadorePonder (8–8)—20,00052–46
99August 9@ Giants0–9NehfCooper (18–9)—12,00052–47
100August 11@ Giants1–5BentonHamilton (5–7)——52–48
101August 11@ Giants3–6DouglasCarlson (10–11)—20,00052–49
102August 12@ Giants2–0Adams (12–10)Barnes—15,00053–49
103August 13Cardinals2–4SchuppCooper (18–10)——53–50
104August 14Cardinals0–1DoakPonder (8–9)——53–51
105August 14Cardinals1–1 (8)——53–51
106August 15@ Cardinals4–2 (11)Hamilton (6–7)May——54–51
107August 15@ Cardinals2–3KircherWisner (0–3)——54–52
108August 16@ Cardinals3–2Adams (13–10)Haines——55–52
109August 17@ Cardinals10–6Cooper (19–10)SchuppCarlson (3)—56–52
110August 19Phillies2–5 (12)EnzmannHamilton (6–8)——56–53
111August 20Phillies2–4 (11)BettsPonder (8–10)——56–54
112August 21Phillies1–3RixeyCooper (19–11)——56–55
113August 21Phillies5–0Adams (14–10)Hubbell——57–55
114August 23Robins0–3PfefferHamilton (6–9)—3,50057–56
115August 24Robins4–3Carlson (11–11)Grimes—3,00058–56
116August 25Robins3–4MamauxPonder (8–11)—4,00058–57
117August 26Braves2–1Adams (15–10)McQuillan——59–57
118August 27Braves8–1Cooper (20–11)Oeschger——60–57
119August 28Braves1–5FillingimHamilton (6–10)——60–58
120August 30Giants4–2Carlson (12–11)Douglas——61–58
121August 30Giants2–1Ponder (9–11)Toney—5,00062–58
122August 31Giants6–5Wisner (1–3)NehfHamilton (2)—63–58 :
September: 14–15 (Home: 9–4; Away: 5–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
123September 1Giants4–3Cooper (21–11)Benton——64–58
124September 2Giants1–5BarnesHamilton (6–11)—5,00064–59
125September 3Cubs2–4 (13)VaughnCarlson (12–12)——64–60
126September 4Cubs3–2Adams (16–10)TylerCooper (2)—65–60
127September 5@ Cubs0–2AlexanderPonder (9–12)——65–61
128September 6Cubs2–5MartinCooper (21–12)——65–62
129September 6Cubs12–1Hamilton (7–11)Bailey——66–62
130September 7Cubs7–4Carlson (13–12)VaughnAdams (2)—67–62
131September 9@ Phillies7–6Ponder (10–12)CauseyHamilton (3)—68–62
132September 10@ Phillies8–3Cooper (22–12)Hubbell——69–62
133September 11@ Phillies3–2Hamilton (8–11)Meadows——70–62
134September 13@ Braves0–3ScottAdams (16–11)——70–63
135September 15@ Braves2–1Cooper (23–12)McQuillan——71–63
136September 15@ Braves1–4FillingimCarlson (13–13)——71–64
137September 16@ Giants3–1Hamilton (9–11)Barnes——72–64
138September 16@ Giants0–4NehfPonder (10–13)—10,00072–65
139September 17@ Giants3–4 (10)ToneyAdams (16–12)—6,00072–66
140September 18@ Giants7–8DouglasPonder (10–14)—12,00072–67
141September 19@ Robins3–4PfefferCooper (23–13)—25,00072–68
142September 20@ Robins1–2 (10)MamauxHamilton (9–12)—6,00072–69
143September 22Reds2–0Adams (17–12)Luque——73–69
144September 22Reds3–1Ponder (11–14)Ruether——74–69
145September 23Reds4–0Cooper (24–13)Eller——75–69
146September 24Cardinals12–7Hamilton (10–12)Schupp——76–69
147September 25Cardinals2–1 (12)Zinn (1–0)Sherdel——77–69
148September 25Cardinals1–3HainesPonder (11–15)——77–70
149September 26@ Reds0–8NapierAdams (17–13)——77–71
150September 28@ Reds0–2EllerCooper (24–14)——77–72
151September 28@ Reds3–5BrentonHamilton (10–13)——77–73 :
October: 2–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
152October 2Reds4–13FisherCooper (24–15)——77–74
153October 2Reds3–7BrentonZinn (1–1)——77–75
154October 2Reds6–0 (6)Morrison (1–0)Napier——78–75
155October 3@ Cubs4–3Carlson (14–13)Tyler——79–75 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

### Roster
## 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 | Walter Schmidt | 94 | 310 | 86 | .277 | 0 | 20 |
| 1B | Charlie Grimm | 148 | 533 | 121 | .227 | 2 | 54 |
| 2B | George Cutshaw | 131 | 488 | 123 | .252 | 0 | 47 |
| SS | Howdy Caton | 98 | 352 | 83 | .236 | 0 | 27 |
| 3B | Possum Whitted | 134 | 494 | 129 | .261 | 1 | 74 |
| OF | Billy Southworth | 146 | 546 | 155 | .284 | 2 | 53 |
| OF | Carson Bigbee | 137 | 550 | 154 | .280 | 4 | 32 |
| OF | Max Carey | 130 | 485 | 140 | .289 | 1 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Fred Nicholson | 99 | 247 | 89 | .360 | 4 | 30 |
| Walter Barbare | 57 | 186 | 51 | .274 | 0 | 12 |
| Bill Haeffner | 54 | 175 | 34 | .194 | 0 | 14 |
| Bill McKechnie | 40 | 133 | 29 | .218 | 1 | 13 |
| Cliff Lee | 37 | 76 | 18 | .237 | 0 | 8 |
| Pie Traynor | 17 | 52 | 11 | .212 | 0 | 2 |
| Cotton Tierney | 12 | 46 | 11 | .239 | 0 | 8 |
| Clyde Barnhart | 12 | 46 | 15 | .326 | 0 | 5 |
| Homer Summa | 10 | 22 | 7 | .318 | 0 | 1 |
| Bill Hinchman | 18 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 0 | 1 |
| Nig Clarke | 3 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Wally Hood | 2 | 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 |
| Wilbur Cooper | 44 | 327.0 | 24 | 15 | 2.39 | 114 |
| Babe Adams | 35 | 263.0 | 17 | 13 | 2.16 | 84 |
| Hal Carlson | 39 | 246.2 | 14 | 13 | 3.36 | 62 |
| Elmer Ponder | 33 | 196.0 | 11 | 15 | 2.62 | 62 |

#### 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 |
| Earl Hamilton | 39 | 230.1 | 10 | 13 | 3.24 | 74 |
| Johnny Meador | 12 | 36.1 | 0 | 2 | 4.21 | 5 |
| Jimmy Zinn | 6 | 31.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.48 | 18 |
| Johnny Morrison | 2 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 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 |
| Jack Wisner | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.43 | 13 |
| Sheriff Blake | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 7 |
| Mule Watson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.74 | 1 |
| Whitey Glazner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.12 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| B | Wichita Falls Spudders | Texas League | Walter Salm |