# 1953 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1953 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 72nd in franchise history. In April 1953, the New York Yankees visited Forbes Field and played two preseason games against the Pirates. Mickey Mantle hit a 500-foot home run that landed on the roof.

## Offseason

* October 14, 1952: Gus Bell was traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Reds for Cal Abrams, Joe Rossi, and Gail Henley.
* Prior to 1953 season: Don Williams was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.
* March 19, 1953: Johnny O'Brien was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent (bonus baby).
* March 19, 1953: Eddie O'Brien was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent (bonus baby).

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 105 | 49 | .682 | — | 60‍–‍17 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | 13 | 45‍–‍31 | 47‍–‍31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 83 | 71 | .539 | 22 | 48‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 71 | .539 | 22 | 48‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 70 | 84 | .455 | 35 | 38‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 68 | 86 | .442 | 37 | 38‍–‍39 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Chicago Cubs | 65 | 89 | .422 | 40 | 43‍–‍34 | 22‍–‍55 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 50 | 104 | .325 | 55 | 26‍–‍51 | 24‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1953 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 20–2 | 15–7 |
| Chicago | 9–13–1 | — | 12–10 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 5–17 | 11–11 | 11–11 |
| Cincinnati | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 8–14 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 7–15–1 |
| Milwaukee | 9–13 | 14–8 | 14–8 | — | 14–8–1 | 13–9–1 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 |
| New York | 7–15 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 8–14–1 | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 9–13 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | — | 15–7 | 11–11–1 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–20 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 7–15 | 11–11 | 15–7–1 | 9–13–1 | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 17–5 | — |

### Game log

1953 Game Log: 50–104 (Home: 26–51; Away: 24–53) :
April: 5–9 (Home: 5–3; Away: 0–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 14@ Dodgers5–8BlackDickson (0–1)—12,4330–1
2April 15@ Dodgers2–4MeyerLindell (0–1)—3,1490–2
3April 16Phillies14–12Dickson (1–1)Hansen—16,2201–2
4April 19Dodgers4–12ErskineDickson (1–2)—8,8011–3
5April 21Giants5–4Friend (1–0)Maglie—2–3
6April 22Giants2–4HearnLaPalme (0–1)Wilhelm10,6032–4
7April 23Giants6–5Pollet (1–0)KosloHetki (1)4,3723–4
8April 24@ Phillies3–5KonstantyHall (0–1)—6,5063–5
9April 25@ Phillies6–7SimmonsLindell (0–2)Hansen6,2653–6
10April 26@ Phillies5–7RobertsFriend (1–1)—3–7
11April 26@ Phillies1–8DrewsMacdonald (0–1)—18,4903–8
12April 28Cubs3–5RushLaPalme (0–2)Leonard5,8703–9
13April 29Cubs4–3Dickson (2–2)Hacker—8,7444–9
14April 30Cubs4–2Face (1–0)Minner—2,9305–9 :
May: 8–19 (Home: 6–8; Away: 2–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
15May 1Reds8–3Pettit (1–0)PerkowskiDickson (1)14,8266–9
16May 2Reds12–4LaPalme (1–2)Podbielan—7,4377–9
17May 3Cardinals8–2Lindell (1–2)Haddix—26,0018–9
18May 4Cardinals0–5MizellDickson (2–3)—18,7788–10
19May 9@ Giants2–0Lindell (2–2)Jansen—9–10
20May 9@ Giants4–6WilhelmPettit (1–1)—9,8899–11
21May 10@ Giants0–4MaglieDickson (2–4)—9–12
22May 10@ Giants2–3HillerPollet (1–1)—17,9409–13
23May 14@ Braves2–3WilsonLindell (2–3)—15,4389–14
24May 15@ Braves3–4SurkontFriend (1–2)—8,7449–15
25May 16@ Cubs3–2Dickson (3–4)RushHetki (2)9,72810–15
26May 17@ Cubs2–6MinnerLaPalme (1–3)—10–16
27May 17@ Cubs3–7 (7)KlippsteinPettit (1–2)Hacker7,74510–17
28May 19@ Cardinals1–2StaleyLindell (2–4)Miller7,60710–18
29May 20@ Cardinals6–11PreskoFriend (1–3)Brazle5,71510–19
30May 21Phillies7–2Dickson (4–4)Drews—7,50711–19
31May 23Giants8–4LaPalme (2–3)Gomez—7,44412–19
32May 24Giants3–11JansenLindell (2–5)Wilhelm20,96612–20
33May 25Giants3–6HillerFriend (1–4)—2,36912–21
34May 27Phillies2–14RobertsDickson (4–5)—12–22
35May 27Phillies8–6Face (2–0)DrewsDickson (2)16,93513–22
36May 28Phillies8–9KonstantyLaPalme (2–4)—2,43713–23
37May 29Dodgers4–7MeyerLindell (2–6)Hughes3,90213–24
38May 30Dodgers4–7WadeDickson (4–6)—13–25
39May 30Dodgers1–4PodresFriend (1–5)Erskine31,02913–26
40May 31@ Dodgers3–4LoesLaPalme (2–5)Hughes25,27713–27
41May 31@ Dodgers1–4 (7)MillikenHetki (0–1)—25,27713–28 :
June: 12–22 (Home: 6–11; Away: 6–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
42June 2Cubs4–3 (11)Hetki (1–1)Klippstein—8,15814–28
43June 3Cubs1–0LaPalme (3–5)Hacker—8,16515–28
44June 4Cubs6–1Hall (1–1)Minner—3,18216–28
45June 5Reds4–7WehmeierBowman (0–1)—12,22916–29
46June 6Reds7–15SmithFriend (1–6)Collum6,68516–30
47June 7Reds1–6PodbielanSchultz (0–1)—16–31
48June 7Reds6–11NuxhallLindell (2–7)Perkowski9,02116–32
49June 8Cardinals3–5 (12)BrazleHetki (1–2)Miller7,64316–33
50June 9Cardinals7–4Hall (2–1)Haddix—1,89417–33
51June 10Cardinals1–5PreskoFriend (1–7)White8,93717–34
52June 11Cardinals3–5MillerLindell (2–8)White2,17817–35
53June 12Braves4–2Dickson (5–6)Antonelli—18–35
54June 12Braves2–11SurkontSchultz (0–2)—17,34418–36
55June 13Braves4–5BurdetteLaPalme (3–6)—5,13418–37
56June 14Braves3–7LiddleHall (2–2)—18–38
57June 14Braves0–8BuhlBowman (0–2)—15,08318–39
58June 15Braves3–2 (10)Friend (2–7)Wilson—6,54819–39
59June 16@ Cubs6–5Lindell (3–8)Minner—20–39
60June 16@ Cubs2–3PolletDickson (5–7)Klippstein11,42720–40
61June 17@ Cubs4–5 (16)LownHetki (1–3)—5,42220–41
62June 18@ Cubs4–8RushHall (2–3)Leonard3,96920–42
63June 19@ Cardinals2–10MizellLaPalme (3–7)—7,55220–43
64June 20@ Cardinals1–2PreskoFriend (2–8)—9,01920–44
65June 21@ Cardinals5–2Dickson (6–7)Miller—10,45121–44
66June 22@ Cardinals3–6StaleyLindell (3–9)—5,62521–45
67June 23@ Braves1–0Hall (3–3)Spahn—26,29922–45
68June 24@ Braves10–1Face (3–0)Bickford—21,43823–45
69June 25@ Braves6–4 (12)Hetki (2–3)Buhl—14,84124–45
70June 26@ Reds4–8NuxhallDickson (6–8)King24–46
71June 26@ Reds1–4CollumLaPalme (3–8)—7,75824–47
72June 27@ Reds5–15PerkowskiFace (3–1)—2,59924–48
73June 28@ Reds1–4BaczewskiHall (3–4)—24–49
74June 28@ Reds2–9RaffensbergerBowman (0–3)—10,43224–50
75June 30@ Giants3–1Dickson (7–8)Gomez—13,80525–50 :
July: 8–23 (Home: 5–15; Away: 3–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
76July 1@ Giants5–3 (11)Hetki (3–3)Wilhelm—4,42926–50
77July 4@ Dodgers5–6HughesHall (3–5)Wade30,02926–51
78July 4@ Dodgers5–2Friend (3–8)Loes—30,02927–51
79July 5Phillies0–2 (10)RobertsDickson (7–9)—27–52
80July 5Phillies7–4Waugh (1–0)RidzikLaPalme (1)11,40428–52
81July 6Dodgers2–14MeyerLaPalme (3–9)Hughes13,49728–53
82July 7Dodgers4–5ErskineLindell (3–10)Wade28–54
83July 7Dodgers5–9RoeHall (3–6)Milliken9,68728–55
84July 8Giants7–10 (11)JansenHetki (3–4)Koslo7,09528–56
85July 9Giants0–4GomezFace (3–2)—3,39128–57
86July 10@ Phillies3–13SimmonsDickson (7–10)—6,46628–58
87July 11@ Phillies4–8RidzikDickson (7–11)—3,60828–59
88July 12@ Phillies4–6RobertsFace (3–3)—28–60
89July 12@ Phillies5–6RidzikLaPalme (3–10)—10,80628–61
90July 16Braves5–2Friend (4–8)Antonelli—11,77529–61
91July 17Braves2–8SpahnHall (3–7)—11,56529–62
92July 18Braves3–4LiddleWaugh (1–1)Burdette4,67429–63
93July 19Cardinals2–8HaddixDickson (7–12)—29–64
94July 19Cardinals6–4LaPalme (4–10)Mizell—9,04530–64
95July 20Cardinals4–9ChambersFriend (4–9)White9,04530–65
96July 21Reds2–7RaffensbergerWaugh (1–2)—7,59430–66
97July 22Reds3–2LaPalme (5–10)Collum—1,56731–66
98July 23Reds0–7PerkowskiDickson (7–13)—1,80731–67
99July 24Cubs1–7MinnerHall (3–8)—10,40631–68
100July 25Cubs4–5LownLindell (3–11)Leonard4,21731–69
101July 26Cubs3–2Face (4–3)Leonard—32–69
102July 26Cubs3–7HackerWaugh (1–3)Klippstein11,35832–70
103July 28@ Cardinals4–6ChambersLaPalme (5–11)Presko7,97332–71
104July 29@ Cardinals2–8HaddixLindell (3–12)—7,41832–72
105July 30@ Cardinals4–10ErauttHetki (3–5)—3,40232–73
106July 31@ Cubs4–0Dickson (8–13)Minner—5,41233–73 :
August: 8–22 (Home: 2–11; Away: 6–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
107August 1@ Cubs10–3Lindell (4–12)Pollet—8,01734–73
108August 2@ Cubs6–7 (11)LownDickson (8–14)—14,11034–74
109August 3@ Reds0–5NuxhallLaPalme (5–12)—3,49934–75
110August 4@ Reds2–1Face (5–3)CollumDickson (3)4,46335–75
111August 5@ Reds6–4Waugh (2–3)PodbielanHetki (3)1,79736–75
112August 6@ Reds4–3Lindell (5–12)KingLaPalme (2)2,05437–75
113August 7@ Braves2–9BickfordDickson (8–15)—26,90237–76
114August 8@ Braves4–7BurdetteHall (3–9)—17,16337–77
115August 9@ Braves4–7JohnsonLaPalme (5–13)Liddle37–78
116August 9@ Braves3–10WilsonFace (5–4)—33,37637–79
117August 11Phillies0–3SimmonsDickson (8–16)—8,98537–80
118August 12Phillies4–8RobertsLindell (5–13)—6,50537–81
119August 13Phillies4–3LaPalme (6–13)Miller—2,37338–81
120August 15@ Dodgers6–14WadeFace (5–5)—12,84238–82
121August 16@ Dodgers1–3RoeHall (3–10)—18,55038–83
122August 16@ Dodgers5–9ErskineDickson (8–17)Labine18,55038–84
123August 17@ Dodgers2–5 (11)LabineLindell (5–14)—9,94338–85
124August 18@ Phillies0–1RidzikLaPalme (6–14)Roberts3,94538–86
125August 19@ Phillies5–3Face (6–5)Simmons—4,55439–86
126August 20@ Phillies5–2Waugh (3–3)Roberts—4,37640–86
127August 21Dodgers7–1Dickson (9–17)Podres—12,45941–86
128August 22Dodgers3–5RoeHall (3–11)Labine7,03341–87
129August 23Dodgers4–10MeyerLindell (5–15)—1,84841–88
130August 23Dodgers7–9LabineFriend (4–10)—1,84841–89
131August 25Reds6–8CollumHetki (3–6)Kelly41–90
132August 25Reds8–9BaczewskiBowman (0–4)—8,37041–91
133August 28Cardinals9–10WhiteHall (3–12)Staley7,02141–92
134August 29Cardinals4–5MizellDickson (9–18)Brazle3,14541–93
135August 30Braves4–19AntonelliLindell (5–16)—41–94
136August 30Braves5–11LiddleLaPalme (6–15)—9,45841–95 :
September: 9–9 (Home: 2–3; Away: 7–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
137September 2Cubs8–1Friend (5–10)Simpson—5,65942–95
138September 6Phillies2–7DrewsFace (6–6)—5,89042–96
139September 7@ Giants9–7Friend (6–10)Worthington—43–96
140September 7@ Giants5–3LaPalme (7–15)Hearn—6,90344–96
141September 9@ Cubs7–8SimpsonFace (6–7)—2,31944–97
142September 11@ Cardinals3–5MizellWaugh (3–4)Brazle4,72844–98
143September 12@ Cardinals8–7 (12)Dickson (10–18)Chambers—4,11945–98
144September 13@ Reds5–4LaPalme (8–15)Raffensberger—46–98
145September 13@ Reds6–8SmithDickson (10–19)—7,45446–99
146September 15@ Braves7–5Friend (7–10)BurdetteHall (1)32,14547–99
147September 16@ Braves3–7BuhlFace (6–8)—18,91247–100
148September 19@ Giants1–4WorthingtonLaPalme (8–16)Jansen47–101
149September 19@ Giants6–5Waugh (4–4)HearnDickson (4)2,74448–101
150September 20@ Giants8–4Friend (8–10)Gomez—4,71749–101
151September 22@ Dodgers4–5PodresHogue (0–1)Labine2,36549–102
152September 25Giants2–6WorthingtonFriend (8–11)—3,36749–103
153September 26Giants3–5JansenWaugh (4–5)—1,38549–104
154September 27Giants6–4Hogue (1–1)Corwin—17,36750–104 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1953: Ralph Kiner, Joe Garagiola, Catfish Metkovich, and Howie Pollet were traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Toby Atwell, Bob Schultz, Preston Ward, George Freese, Bob Addis, Gene Hermanski, and $150,000.
* June 14, 1953: Pete Castiglione was traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Hal Rice.

### 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 | Mike Sandlock | 64 | 186 | 43 | .231 | 0 | 12 |
| 1B | Preston Ward | 88 | 281 | 59 | .210 | 8 | 27 |
| 2B | Johnny O'Brien | 89 | 279 | 69 | .247 | 2 | 22 |
| SS | Eddie O'Brien | 89 | 261 | 62 | .238 | 0 | 14 |
| 3B | Danny O'Connell | 149 | 588 | 173 | .294 | 7 | 55 |
| OF | Cal Abrams | 119 | 448 | 128 | .286 | 15 | 43 |
| OF | Frank Thomas | 128 | 455 | 116 | .255 | 30 | 102 |
| OF | Carlos Bernier | 105 | 310 | 66 | .213 | 3 | 31 |

#### 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 |
| Paul Smith | 118 | 389 | 110 | .283 | 4 | 44 |
| Hal Rice | 78 | 286 | 89 | .311 | 4 | 42 |
| Dick Cole | 97 | 235 | 64 | .272 | 0 | 23 |
| Eddie Pellagrini | 78 | 174 | 44 | .253 | 4 | 19 |
| Pete Castiglione | 45 | 159 | 33 | .208 | 4 | 21 |
| Ralph Kiner | 41 | 148 | 40 | .270 | 7 | 29 |
| Toby Atwell | 53 | 139 | 34 | .245 | 0 | 17 |
| Vic Janowicz | 42 | 123 | 31 | .252 | 2 | 8 |
| Joe Garagiola | 27 | 73 | 17 | .233 | 2 | 14 |
| Gene Hermanski | 41 | 62 | 11 | .177 | 1 | 4 |
| Felipe Montemayor | 28 | 55 | 6 | .109 | 0 | 2 |
| Dick Smith | 13 | 43 | 7 | .163 | 0 | 2 |
| Catfish Metkovich | 26 | 41 | 6 | .146 | 1 | 7 |
| Brandy Davis | 12 | 39 | 8 | .205 | 0 | 2 |
| Dick Hall | 7 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Fitz Gerald | 6 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Koback | 7 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Pete Naton | 6 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Jack Shepard | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Addis | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Clem Koshorek | 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 |
| Paul LaPalme | 35 | 176.1 | 8 | 16 | 4.59 | 86 |
| Johnny Lindell | 27 | 175.2 | 5 | 16 | 4.71 | 102 |
| Bob Friend | 32 | 170.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.90 | 66 |

#### 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 |
| Murry Dickson | 45 | 200.2 | 10 | 19 | 4.53 | 88 |
| Bob Hall | 37 | 152.0 | 3 | 12 | 5.39 | 68 |
| Roy Face | 41 | 119.0 | 6 | 8 | 6.58 | 56 |
| Jim Waugh | 29 | 90.1 | 4 | 5 | 6.48 | 23 |
| Paul Pettit | 10 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.71 | 14 |
| Cal Hogue | 3 | 19.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.21 | 10 |
| Howie Pollet | 5 | 12.2 | 1 | 1 | 10.66 | 8 |
| Bill Macdonald | 4 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 12.27 | 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 |
| Johnny Hetki | 54 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3.95 | 37 |
| Roger Bowman | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.82 | 36 |
| Bob Schultz | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.20 | 5 |
| Woody Main | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.25 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Danny Murtaugh |
| A | Charleston Rebels | Sally League | Frank Oceak, Norm Shope and Larry Shepard |
| A | Denver Bears | Western League | Andy Cohen |
| B | Waco/Longview Pirates | Big State League | Buster Chatham |
| B | Burlington-Graham Pirates | Carolina League | Stan Wentzel |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Cliff Dapper |
| C | St. Jean Canadiens | Provincial League | George Genovese |
| C | Hutchinson Elks | Western Association | Wes Griffin |
| D | Bristol Twins | Appalachian League | George Detore |
| D | Dublin Irish | Georgia State League | John George and Frank Oceak |
| D | Brunswick Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Jack Paepke |
| D | Batavia Clippers | PONY League | George Kinnamon |