# 1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 76th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 71st in the National League. The Pirates finished tied with the Chicago Cubs for eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 62–92.
The first season to be broadcast on television, the games were aired on KDKA-TV, making them the last of the original MLB teams to debut television broadcasts of its home and away games.

## Regular season

The Pittsburgh Pirates played the Brooklyn Dodgers in the final game at Ebbets Field. The game was contested on September 24, 1957, and Brooklyn pitcher Danny McDevitt pitched a complete-game shutout, winning 2–0. He had nine strikeouts while allowing just five hits.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Milwaukee Braves | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 45‍–‍32 | 50‍–‍27 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | .565 | 8 | 42‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 11 | 43‍–‍34 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 80 | 74 | .519 | 15 | 45‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 18 | 38‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍38 |
| New York Giants | 69 | 85 | .448 | 26 | 37‍–‍40 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 36‍–‍41 | 26‍–‍51 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 33 | 31‍–‍46 | 31‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1957 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BRO | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 17–5 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 8–14–1 | 12–10–1 | 12–10 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 4–18 | 12–10 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 9–13 |
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 18–4 | — | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 16–6 | 11–11 |
| New York | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9 | 14–8–1 | 6–16 | 10–12–1 | 12–10 | — | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | — | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 16–6 | — |

### Game log

1957 Game Log: 62–92 (Home: 36–41; Away: 26–51) :
April: 4–8 (Home: 3–2; Away: 1–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 16Giants9–2Friend (1–0)Antonelli—33,4051–0
2April 18@ Dodgers1–6MaglieArroyo (0–1)—11,2021–1
3April 20@ Dodgers0–2PodresFriend (1–1)—11,0831–2
4April 21@ Dodgers6–3Purkey (1–0)NewcombeFace (1)2–2
5April 21@ Dodgers4–7DrysdaleKline (0–1)Labine19,6352–3
6April 22@ Giants1–3GomezArroyo (0–2)—5,4032–4
7April 23@ Giants0–1BurnsideKline (0–2)—3,4452–5
8April 24@ Phillies5–8SimmonsFriend (1–2)Miller15,8492–6
9April 26Dodgers7–1Purkey (2–0)Podres—26,9183–6
10April 27Dodgers2–6NewcombeKline (0–3)—12,9263–7
11April 28Dodgers3–0Friend (2–2)Craig—17,3174–7
12April 30Cardinals5–6 (13)JacksonFace (0–1)—19,2914–8 :
May: 7–19 (Home: 4–13; Away: 3–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
13May 1Cardinals2–9SchmidtPurkey (2–1)Smith4,9194–9
14May 2Braves5–8 (10)BurdetteFace (0–2)Murff14,1314–10
15May 3Braves7–8 (11)MurffFace (0–3)Spahn16,6214–11
16May 4Braves1–0Law (1–0)Pizarro—6,3985–11
17May 5Redlegs2–6LawrenceArroyo (0–3)—5–12
18May 5Redlegs3–7GrossPurkey (2–2)—23,6295–13
19May 7Cubs8–10 (14)LownPepper (0–1)Collum9,9575–14
20May 8Cubs1–7DrottLaw (1–1)—7,8965–15
21May 10Phillies1–3SanfordKline (0–4)—10,0275–16
22May 11Phillies2–7HaddixFriend (2–3)—4,9945–17
23May 12Phillies2–6SimmonsArroyo (0–4)Miller5–18
24May 12Phillies6–1Law (2–1)Roberts—10,4576–18
25May 14@ Cubs8–6Arroyo (1–4)DrottFace (2)2,4787–18
26May 16@ Braves2–1Friend (3–3)Pizarro—15,6228–18
27May 18@ Braves5–6BurdetteSmith (0–1)—18,8508–19
28May 19@ Redlegs7–8AckerPurkey (2–3)—8–20
29May 19@ Redlegs4–5AckerKline (0–5)—24,5648–21
30May 24@ Phillies3–7SanfordFriend (3–4)Farrell17,3408–22
31May 25@ Phillies6–8HaddixKline (0–6)Farrell6,4458–23
32May 26@ Phillies13–5Face (1–3)Simmons—9–23
33May 26@ Phillies3–6CardwellArroyo (1–5)—13,5579–24
34May 28Dodgers3–2 (11)Face (2–3)Newcombe—13,25910–24
35May 29Dodgers0–1PodresKline (0–7)—3,61010–25
36May 30Dodgers3–4MaglieLaw (2–2)Labine10–26
37May 30Dodgers2–1Purkey (3–3)Koufax—24,26311–26
38May 31Giants2–3WorthingtonFace (2–4)—13,07011–27 :
June: 15–19 (Home: 10–8; Away: 5–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
39June 1Giants2–3WorthingtonFriend (3–5)—5,30111–28
40June 2Giants3–2Kline (1–7)BarclayArroyo (1)12–28
41June 2Giants2–0Purkey (4–3)Burnside—12,79213–28
42June 3Giants6–5King (1–0)MargoneriFace (3)7,50414–28
43June 4Cardinals5–4Arroyo (2–5)WilhelmFace (4)12,17815–28
44June 5Cardinals1–5McDanielFriend (3–6)—12,57015–29
45June 6Cardinals0–6DicksonKline (1–8)—4,01715–30
46June 7Braves0–5SpahnPurkey (4–4)—21,76215–31
47June 9Braves1–2 (11)TrowbridgeFriend (3–7)Johnson15–32
48June 9Braves5–3Kline (2–8)PizarroFace (5)21,88816–32
49June 10Redlegs5–2Law (3–2)Nuxhall—11,47117–32
50June 11Redlegs8–1Purkey (5–4)Gross—10,65318–32
51June 12Redlegs4–3 (10)Face (3–4)Acker—14,92019–32
52June 13Redlegs3–2Friend (4–7)Jeffcoat—7,34620–32
53June 14Cubs5–11DrottKline (2–9)Elston17,08820–33
54June 15Cubs1–5DrabowskyLaw (3–3)—7,49520–34
55June 16Cubs1–4KaiserArroyo (2–6)Lown20–35
56June 16Cubs5–4Law (4–3)Brosnan—18,52521–35
57June 17@ Braves7–5Purkey (6–4)JollyLaw (1)26,66422–35
58June 18@ Cardinals8–1Swanson (1–0)Jackson—17,69423–35
59June 19@ Cardinals2–5JonesKline (2–10)—23–36
60June 19@ Cardinals1–5McDanielPurkey (6–5)Wilhelm25,88023–37
61June 20@ Cardinals4–7DicksonArroyo (2–7)Merritt11,22323–38
62June 21@ Redlegs3–2 (11)Purkey (7–5)Jeffcoat—19,64824–38
63June 22@ Redlegs3–6 (11)LawrencePurkey (7–6)—9,29924–39
64June 23@ Redlegs3–5JeffcoatSwanson (1–1)—24–40
65June 23@ Redlegs2–5AckerKline (2–11)Sanchez22,18824–41
66June 25@ Cubs3–5HillmanFriend (4–8)Lown5,00224–42
67June 26@ Cubs15–5Law (5–3)Poholsky—25–42
68June 26@ Cubs5–5 (11)—7,46025–42
69June 27@ Cubs5–4 (10)King (2–0)Lown—4,90026–42
70June 28@ Braves2–4SpahnFriend (4–9)—27,08726–43
71June 29@ Braves6–13PizarroO'Brien (0–1)—22,38326–44
72June 30@ Braves4–7JohnsonLaw (5–4)—26–45
73June 30@ Braves5–6 (13)JollyArroyo (2–8)—36,28326–46 :
July: 10–20 (Home: 4–10; Away: 6–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
74July 1Phillies4–5HearnSmith (0–2)Morehead14,68026–47
75July 4@ Dodgers5–1Friend (5–9)Erskine—27–47
76July 4@ Dodgers2–8NewcombePurkey (7–7)—20,66427–48
77July 5@ Giants6–11AntonelliTrimble (0–1)Grissom4,99827–49
78July 6@ Giants3–2 (13)Purkey (8–7)Miller—5,33428–49
79July 7@ Giants10–6Swanson (2–1)WorthingtonKing (1)29–49
80July 7@ Giants8–1Friend (6–9)Gomez—10,82530–49
81July 10Braves5–2Purkey (9–7)Buhl—18,73131–49
82July 11Braves2–7TrowbridgeFriend (6–10)—17,27831–50
83July 12Braves4–5SpahnFace (3–5)McMahon20,07831–51
84July 13Braves3–4BurdetteKline (2–12)—9,33031–52
85July 14Redlegs6–9FreemanFriend (6–11)—31–53
86July 14Redlegs4–12NuxhallTrimble (0–2)—24,54031–54
87July 16Cubs5–3Friend (7–11)Rush—11,30032–54
88July 17Cubs3–4DrabowskyKline (2–13)Littlefield8,53432–55
89July 18Cubs6–5Arroyo (3–8)Lown—3,87733–55
90July 19Cardinals7–0Law (6–4)McDaniel—25,77434–55
91July 20Cardinals4–9DicksonFriend (7–12)Merritt9,23034–56
92July 21Cardinals3–7 (10)SchmidtArroyo (3–9)Wilhelm34–57
93July 21Cardinals2–11McDanielPurkey (9–8)—20,28034–58
94July 23@ Redlegs6–3 (15)Law (7–4)LawrencePurkey (1)17,55135–58
95July 24@ Redlegs0–2NuxhallFriend (7–13)—11,96135–59
96July 25@ Redlegs1–9FowlerKline (2–14)—10,99735–60
97July 26@ Cardinals3–4 (10)SchmidtKline (2–15)—15,35235–61
98July 27@ Cardinals4–2Purkey (10–8)Dickson—9,63336–61
99July 28@ Cardinals0–4McDanielLaw (7–5)—36–62
100July 28@ Cardinals8–9 (11)WilhelmKing (2–1)—21,31936–63
101July 29@ Cardinals0–4MizellDouglas (0–1)—10,30236–64
102July 30@ Braves2–5BurdetteSwanson (2–2)—23,67036–65
103July 31@ Braves2–4BuhlPurkey (10–9)—24,52236–66 :
August: 12–13 (Home: 8–6; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
104August 2@ Cubs4–6HillmanLaw (7–6)—5,41436–67
105August 4@ Cubs0–6DrabowskyFriend (7–14)—36–68
106August 4@ Cubs2–3 (11)HillmanArroyo (3–10)—14,75736–69
107August 6Phillies5–3Kline (3–15)Sanford—11,13637–69
108August 8Phillies3–6SimmonsLaw (7–7)Miller5,23837–70
109August 9Dodgers2–4McDevittFriend (7–15)Labine14,10037–71
110August 10Dodgers0–3DrysdalePurkey (10–10)—7,75137–72
111August 11Dodgers4–3 (10)Law (8–7)Labine—38–72
112August 11Dodgers6–2Douglas (1–1)CraigFace (6)18,35039–72
113August 13@ Phillies6–0Friend (8–15)Hacker—14,12940–72
114August 14@ Phillies10–3Law (9–7)Simmons—8,64141–72
115August 16@ Dodgers1–4PodresPurkey (10–11)Roebuck9,59241–73
116August 17@ Dodgers7–3Kline (4–15)Koufax—6,83042–73
117August 18@ Dodgers1–2MaglieFriend (8–16)—14,41642–74
118August 18@ Dodgers8–6Face (4–5)LabinePurkey (2)14,41643–74
119August 20Braves1–3SpahnArroyo (3–11)—21,32843–75
120August 22Redlegs8–3Friend (9–16)Gross—10,02744–75
121August 23Redlegs0–6NuxhallPurkey (10–12)—13,22344–76
122August 24Redlegs4–1Kline (5–15)Lawrence—7,03745–76
123August 25Cubs3–0Law (10–7)Drabowsky—46–76
124August 25Cubs2–8ElstonDouglas (1–2)Lown11,77046–77
125August 27Cardinals2–1Friend (10–16)McDaniel—12,84547–77
126August 28Cardinals2–0Kline (6–15)Jackson—10,36748–77
127August 30@ Phillies3–4SanfordLaw (10–8)—8,15748–78
128August 31@ Phillies1–7CardwellFriend (10–17)—5,14148–79 :
September: 14–13 (Home: 7–2; Away: 7–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
129September 1@ Phillies3–11RobertsPurkey (10–13)—48–80
130September 1@ Phillies6–3Douglas (2–2)SimmonsFace (7)11,29449–80
131September 2@ Giants5–11MonzantFace (4–6)—49–81
132September 2@ Giants3–4AntonelliO'Brien (0–2)Grissom10,31049–82
133September 3@ Giants5–6 (12)MillerSmith (0–3)—49–83
134September 4Giants2–0Friend (11–17)McCormick—8,90950–83
135September 5Giants4–2Douglas (3–2)WorthingtonFace (8)5,18951–83
136September 6Phillies3–2Kline (7–15)Haddix—6,91552–83
137September 7Phillies6–3Swanson (3–2)SanfordFace (9)4,61253–83
138September 8Phillies4–7FarrellPurkey (10–14)Roberts53–84
139September 8Phillies6–2Smith (1–3)Hacker—12,02154–84
140September 10@ Braves3–4BurdetteDouglas (3–3)—22,25754–85
141September 11@ Braves2–1Kline (8–15)Spahn—14,71355–85
142September 13@ Cubs4–1Friend (12–17)Elston—56–85
143September 13@ Cubs2–1Smith (2–3)DrabowskyFace (10)2,19757–85
144September 14@ Cubs3–1O'Brien (1–2)Brosnan—58–85
145September 14@ Cubs3–7BrosnanO'Brien (1–3)Lown6,17058–86
146September 15@ Cardinals6–9WehmeierKline (8–16)Muffett58–87
147September 15@ Cardinals3–11JonesSwanson (3–3)Muffett24,57758–88
148September 17@ Redlegs5–9NuxhallFriend (12–18)Kennedy3,67658–89
149September 18@ Redlegs1–2LawrenceSmith (2–4)—3,60758–90
150September 21Giants5–4Purkey (11–14)Worthington—59–90
151September 21Giants5–9GomezWitt (0–1)Grissom8,11059–91
152September 22Giants5–1Friend (13–18)Monzant—19,57460–91
153September 24@ Dodgers0–2McDevittDaniels (0–1)—6,70260–92
154September 28@ Giants1–0Kline (9–16)Gomez—61–92
155September 29@ Giants9–1Friend (14–18)Antonelli—11,60662–92 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* May 1, 1957: Dale Long and Lee Walls were traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Dee Fondy and Gene Baker.
* May 14, 1957: Bob Smith was purchased by the Pirates from the St. Louis Cardinals.

### 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 | Hank Foiles | 109 | 281 | 76 | .270 | 9 | 36 |
| 1B | Dee Fondy | 95 | 323 | 101 | .313 | 2 | 35 |
| 2B | Bill Mazeroski | 148 | 526 | 149 | .283 | 8 | 54 |
| SS | Dick Groat | 125 | 501 | 158 | .315 | 7 | 54 |
| 3B | Gene Freese | 114 | 346 | 98 | .283 | 6 | 31 |
| LF | Bob Skinner | 126 | 387 | 118 | .305 | 13 | 45 |
| CF | Bill Virdon | 144 | 561 | 141 | .251 | 8 | 50 |
| RF | Roberto Clemente | 111 | 451 | 114 | .253 | 4 | 30 |

#### 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 |
| Frank Thomas | 151 | 594 | 172 | .290 | 23 | 89 |
| Gene Baker | 111 | 365 | 97 | .266 | 2 | 36 |
| Paul Smith | 81 | 150 | 38 | .253 | 3 | 11 |
| Román Mejías | 58 | 142 | 39 | .275 | 2 | 15 |
| Dick Rand | 60 | 105 | 23 | .219 | 1 | 9 |
| Hardy Peterson | 30 | 73 | 22 | .301 | 2 | 11 |
| Jim Pendleton | 46 | 59 | 18 | .305 | 0 | 9 |
| Danny Kravitz | 19 | 41 | 6 | .146 | 0 | 4 |
| Johnny O'Brien | 34 | 35 | 11 | .314 | 0 | 1 |
| John Powers | 20 | 35 | 10 | .286 | 2 | 8 |
| Dale Long | 7 | 22 | 4 | .182 | 0 | 5 |
| Lee Walls | 8 | 22 | 4 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Buddy Pritchard | 23 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Hamlin | 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 |
| Bob Friend | 40 | 277.0 | 14 | 18 | 3.38 | 143 |
| Ron Kline | 40 | 205.0 | 9 | 16 | 4.04 | 88 |
| Vern Law | 31 | 172.2 | 10 | 8 | 2.87 | 55 |
| Whammy Douglas | 11 | 47.0 | 3 | 3 | 3.26 | 28 |
| Bennie Daniels | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 1.29 | 101 |
| George Witt | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 1 | 40.50 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Purkey | 48 | 179.2 | 11 | 14 | 3.86 | 51 |
| Luis Arroyo | 54 | 130.2 | 3 | 11 | 4.68 | 2 |
| Red Swanson | 32 | 72.2 | 3 | 3 | 3.72 | 29 |
| Joe Trimble | 5 | 19.2 | 0 | 2 | 8.24 | 9 |
| Eddie O'Brien | 3 | 12.1 | 1 | 0 | 2.19 | 10 |
| Laurin Pepper | 5 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 8.00 | 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 |
| Roy Face | 59 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3.07 | 53 |
| Nellie King | 36 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4.50 | 23 |
| Bob Smith | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3.11 | 35 |
| Johnny O'Brien | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.08 | 19 |
| Dick Hall | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 7 |
| Chuck Churn | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.32 | 4 |
| Bob Kuzava | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Open | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Clyde King |
| AAA | Columbus Jets | International League | Frank Oceak |
| A | Lincoln Chiefs | Western League | Larry Shepard |
| B | Beaumont Pirates | Big State League | Monty Basgall |
| C | Douglas Copper Kings | Arizona–Mexico League | Bob Clear |
| C | San Jose JoSox | California League | Dick Whitman |
| C | Grand Forks Chiefs | Northern League | Al Kubski and Jack Paepke |
| D | Salem Rebels | Appalachian League | Lamar Dorton |
| D | Clinton Pirates | Midwest League | Stan Wentzel |
| D | Jamestown Falcons | New York–Penn League | Jack Paepke |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lincoln Jamestown club folded, June 25, 1957