# 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 55th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 50th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the league standings with a record of 84–70.

## Offseason

* November 21, 1935: Claude Passeau and Earl Grace were traded by the Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies for Al Todd.
* December 12, 1935: Tommy Thevenow was purchased from the Pirates by the Cincinnati Reds.

## Regular season

* July 10, 1936: Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four home runs in a ten inning game against the Pirates at Forbes Field.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 92 | 62 | .597 | — | 52‍–‍26 | 40‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5 | 43‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍34 |
| Chicago Cubs | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5 | 50‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 70 | .545 | 8 | 46‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 80 | .481 | 18 | 42‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍46 |
| Boston Bees | 71 | 83 | .461 | 21 | 35‍–‍43 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 67 | 87 | .435 | 25 | 37‍–‍40 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38 | 30‍–‍48 | 24‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1936 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12–2 | 6–16 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 8–14–1 | 13–9 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10–2 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 9–13 |
| Chicago | 16–6 | 15–7 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 9–13 |
| Cincinnati | 9–13 | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 9–13 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 10–12 |
| New York | 13–9 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 13–9 | — | 17–5 | 15–7 | 10–12 |
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 10–12 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 5–17 | — | 7–15 | 7–15 |
| Pittsburgh | 14–8–1 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 7–15 | 15–7 | — | 9–13–1 |
| St. Louis | 9–13 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9–1 | — |

### Game log

1936 Game Log: 84–70 (Home: 46–30; Away: 38–40) :
April: 6–6 (Home: 3–2; Away: 3–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 14@ Reds8–6Hoyt (1–0)Derringer—32,2431–0
2April 15@ Reds7–6Birkofer (1–0)Freitas—2,8682–0
3April 16@ Reds4–7HollingsworthWeaver (0–1)—1,8362–1
4April 19Cardinals3–7HallahanLucas (0–1)—17,5002–2
5April 20Cubs9–8Swift (1–0)Henshaw——3–2
6April 23@ Cubs1–2FrenchBirkofer (1–1)——3–3
7April 24@ Cubs1–6WarnekeBlanton (0–1)——3–4
8April 25@ Cardinals12–5Weaver (1–1)Hallahan——4–4
9April 26@ Cardinals2–3 (10)DeanSwift (1–1)—5,5004–5
10April 28Phillies7–9JohnsonBrown (0–1)——4–6
11April 29Phillies10–9 (11)Lucas (1–1)Walters——5–6
12April 30Phillies6–5Weaver (2–1)JorgensBrown (1)—6–6 :
May: 15–14 (Home: 6–4; Away: 9–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
13May 1Bees4–6OsborneSwift (1–2)Smith2,0006–7
14May 2Bees6–1Tising (1–0)Chaplin—5,0007–7
15May 3Dodgers6–5Hoyt (2–0)Mungo—10,0008–7
16May 5Dodgers4–0Weaver (3–1)Clark—1,6009–7
17May 6Giants5–6 (10)GablerHoyt (2–1)——9–8
18May 7Giants6–2Birkofer (2–1)Castleman—10,00010–8
19May 8Reds9–6Swift (2–2)StineBlanton (1)—11–8
20May 9Reds10–6Blanton (1–1)Brennan——12–8
21May 10Reds0–6DerringerTising (1–1)—13,95512–9
22May 12@ Bees6–6 (10)—2,00012–9
23May 13@ Bees3–4 (10)MacFaydenHoyt (2–2)—2,50012–10
24May 14@ Bees5–2Bush (1–0)Benge—1,60013–10
25May 15@ Dodgers6–2Weaver (4–1)Mungo—4,00014–10
26May 16@ Dodgers0–3ClarkBlanton (1–2)—8,00014–11
27May 17@ Giants6–8CastlemanBush (1–1)Gabler29,00014–12
28May 18@ Giants2–4HubbellTising (1–2)——14–13
29May 20@ Phillies9–3Weaver (5–1)Zachary——15–13
30May 21@ Phillies7–4Birkofer (3–1)Jorgens——16–13
31May 22Cardinals4–11DeanTising (1–3)——16–14
32May 23@ Reds3–4BrennanBlanton (1–3)——16–15
33May 24@ Reds1–12HollingsworthWeaver (5–2)—11,52616–16
34May 25@ Reds9–2Lucas (2–1)Schott—1,86917–16
35May 26@ Cardinals2–6DeanBlanton (1–4)——17–17
36May 26@ Cardinals2–6WinfordBirkofer (3–2)——17–18
37May 27@ Cardinals11–2Swift (3–2)Hallahan——18–18
38May 28@ Cardinals7–2Weaver (6–2)Walker——19–18
39May 29@ Cardinals7–9DeanBush (1–2)——19–19
40May 30@ Cubs7–5Swift (4–2)Root——20–19
41May 30@ Cubs11–7Brown (1–1)BryantBush (1)43,33221–19
42May 31@ Cubs7–8 (10)CarletonBush (1–3)——21–20 :
June: 17–11 (Home: 10–5; Away: 7–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
43June 2Bees5–4Weaver (7–2)ChaplinBrown (2)2,50022–20
44June 3Bees3–4 (11)ReisSwift (4–3)—2,00022–21
45June 4Bees7–5Blanton (2–4)LanningBrown (3)—23–21
46June 5Phillies14–8Brown (2–1)Bowman——24–21
47June 6Phillies1–5JorgensWeaver (7–3)——24–22
48June 7Phillies6–2Swift (5–3)Moore——25–22
49June 8Dodgers2–1Blanton (3–4)Brandt——26–22
50June 9Dodgers4–1Weaver (8–3)Earnshaw——27–22
51June 9Dodgers7–5Brown (3–1)Mungo—8,00028–22
52June 10Dodgers6–3Lucas (3–1)ClarkBush (2)—29–22
53June 12Giants3–2Swift (6–3)Hubbell——30–22
54June 13Giants6–2Blanton (4–4)Smith——31–22
55June 14Giants0–8SchumacherWeaver (8–4)—32,00031–23
56June 16@ Dodgers9–2Lucas (4–1)Mungo—3,50032–23
57June 17@ Dodgers14–5Swift (7–3)Baker——33–23
58June 20@ Phillies6–0Blanton (5–4)Bowman——34–23
59June 20@ Phillies1–2JorgensWeaver (8–5)Johnson—34–24
60June 21@ Phillies7–6Lucas (5–1)Kowalik—5,00035–24
61June 22@ Giants5–11SchumacherSwift (7–4)—5,31435–25
62June 23@ Giants2–3GumbertBrown (3–2)Smith5,50035–26
63June 24@ Giants3–4HubbellBirkofer (3–3)——35–27
64June 24@ Giants4–1Weaver (9–5)Fitzsimmons—15,00036–27
65June 25@ Giants4–5CoffmanSwift (7–5)—5,00036–28
66June 26@ Bees2–1Lucas (6–1)MacFayden—5,35237–28
67June 28@ Bees11–2Blanton (6–4)Benge——38–28
68June 28@ Bees4–6CantwellWeaver (9–6)Smith18,13338–29
69June 30Cardinals1–2HainesBrown (3–3)——38–30
70June 30Cardinals3–4RhemBlanton (6–5)Dean20,00038–31 :
July: 13–15 (Home: 6–10; Away: 7–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
71July 1Cardinals9–4Lucas (7–1)WalkerSwift (1)—39–31
72July 2Cardinals2–4DeanWeaver (9–7)——39–32
73July 4Cubs2–3 (10)FrenchBlanton (6–6)——39–33
74July 4Cubs7–4Brown (4–3)LeeWelch (1)33,00040–33
75July 5Cubs4–2Swift (8–5)Warneke——41–33
76July 9Phillies16–5Birkofer (4–3)Kowalik——42–33
77July 10Phillies6–9 (10)WaltersSwift (8–6)——42–34
78July 12Bees2–6 (10)CantwellBlanton (6–7)—5,00042–35
79July 13Bees1–4ChaplinSwift (8–7)—1,20042–36
80July 14Bees2–1Brown (5–3)MacFayden—2,00043–36
81July 15Giants5–4 (10)Birkofer (5–3)Fitzsimmons——44–36
82July 15Giants4–14SmithWeaver (9–8)—15,00044–37
83July 16Giants6–7CoffmanBrown (5–4)Schumacher6,00044–38
84July 17Giants0–6HubbellSwift (8–8)——44–39
85July 18Dodgers5–6JeffcoatBrown (5–5)Clark8,00044–40
86July 19Dodgers2–4ClarkBlanton (6–8)Mungo4,00044–41
87July 21@ Phillies17–6Swift (9–8)Moore——45–41
88July 22@ Phillies4–16BowmanBrown (5–6)——45–42
89July 23@ Phillies10–1Blanton (7–8)Passeau——46–42
90July 25@ Dodgers7–4Swift (10–8)Clark—4,70047–42
91July 26@ Dodgers0–1MungoLucas (7–2)——47–43
92July 26@ Dodgers3–4BrandtBrown (5–7)—15,00047–44
93July 27@ Dodgers3–6FrankhouseBlanton (7–9)—48547–45
94July 28@ Dodgers9–8 (10)Lucas (8–2)Brandt——48–45
95July 29@ Bees1–4MacFaydenSwift (10–9)—9,28448–46
96July 29@ Bees10–4Brown (6–7)Smith—9,28449–46
97July 30@ Bees5–3 (11)Brown (7–7)Cantwell—2,61250–46
98July 31@ Bees10–5Weaver (10–8)ChaplinHoyt (1)3,21651–46 :
August: 15–15 (Home: 11–7; Away: 4–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
99August 1@ Giants0–6SmithBlanton (7–10)——51–47
100August 2@ Giants2–3HubbellSwift (10–10)—15,00051–48
101August 5@ Reds4–6SchottBrown (7–8)—6,37351–49
102August 7@ Reds5–1Lucas (9–2)Hollingsworth——52–49
103August 7@ Reds1–0Blanton (8–10)Hallahan—3,96953–49
104August 8@ Cubs2–3FrenchSwift (10–11)——53–50
105August 9@ Cubs2–9LeeBrown (7–9)——53–51
106August 9@ Cubs1–10DavisBirkofer (5–4)—40,00053–52
107August 11Reds6–3Lucas (10–2)Derringer——54–52
108August 11Reds3–7HallahanBlanton (8–11)——54–53
109August 12Reds6–1Swift (11–11)Schott——55–53
110August 13Reds5–4Hoyt (3–2)Hollingsworth——56–53
111August 15Cardinals7–1Weaver (11–8)Haines——57–53
112August 16Cardinals3–4WinfordLucas (10–3)Parmelee—57–54
113August 16Cardinals2–7DeanSwift (11–12)—35,00057–55
114August 18Cubs4–5FrenchBlanton (8–12)——57–56
115August 18Cubs3–1Hoyt (4–2)Lee——58–56
116August 19Cubs5–4Swift (12–12)Root——59–56
117August 20Cubs8–7 (11)Birkofer (6–4)Warneke——60–56
118August 21@ Cardinals5–4Lucas (11–3)Haines——61–56
119August 22@ Cardinals3–4WinfordSwift (12–13)——61–57
120August 23@ Cardinals3–7HeusserBlanton (8–13)——61–58
121August 23@ Cardinals6–6 (10)——61–58
122August 24@ Cardinals17–5Brown (8–9)Heusser——62–58
123August 25Dodgers1–4 (8)ButcherBirkofer (6–5)——62–59
124August 26Dodgers3–10BrandtSwift (12–14)——62–60
125August 27Dodgers6–3Weaver (12–8)MungoBlanton (2)2,50063–60
126August 28Giants2–7 (14)FitzsimmonsHoyt (4–3)Gabler5,00063–61
127August 29Giants7–4Lucas (12–3)Smith——64–61
128August 30Bees4–2Swift (13–14)Chaplin——65–61
129August 30Bees3–1Blanton (9–13)Smith—8,00066–61 :
September: 18–9 (Home: 10–2; Away: 8–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
130September 1Bees3–1Weaver (13–8)MacFayden—1,00067–61
131September 3Phillies3–4BowmanLucas (12–4)——67–62
132September 3Phillies5–1Hoyt (5–3)Passeau—5,00068–62
133September 4Cubs0–8FrenchSwift (13–15)——68–63
134September 5Cubs1–0Blanton (10–13)Henshaw——69–63
135September 6Cubs5–4Weaver (14–8)DavisSwift (2)—70–63
136September 7Cardinals4–1Hoyt (6–3)Dean——71–63
137September 7Cardinals14–1Brown (9–9)Parmelee——72–63
138September 9@ Dodgers7–8BrandtBlanton (10–14)——72–64
139September 10@ Dodgers11–5Swift (14–15)Frankhouse—5,00073–64
140September 11@ Bees10–3Blanton (11–14)Weir—1,59474–64
141September 12@ Bees2–3BushHoyt (6–4)—1,50074–65
142September 13@ Phillies5–3Birkofer (7–5)SivessBlanton (3)—75–65
143September 13@ Phillies3–4JorgensBrown (9–10)——75–66
144September 14@ Phillies11–4Swift (15–15)Benge——76–66
145September 14@ Phillies6–5 (10)Lucas (13–4)Bowman——77–66
146September 16@ Giants1–2SmithBlanton (11–15)Coffman—77–67
147September 16@ Giants4–3Hoyt (7–4)Schumacher—22,00078–67
148September 17Reds14–10Brown (10–10)Hollingsworth——79–67
149September 19Reds7–6 (11)Swift (16–15)Hallahan——80–67
150September 20Reds5–1Blanton (12–15)Derringer——81–67
151September 20Reds6–4Lucas (14–4)Davis—10,00082–67
152September 22@ Cubs4–11DavisHoyt (7–5)—3,90082–68
153September 23@ Cubs7–6 (10)Lucas (15–4)Warneke——83–68
154September 24@ Cubs4–0Blanton (13–15)French—13,00084–68
155September 26@ Reds1–5HallahanSwift (16–16)——84–69
156September 27@ Reds5–6MooreBrown (10–11)Mooty5,37784–70 :
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 | Tom Padden | 88 | 281 | 70 | .249 | 1 | 31 |
| 1B | Gus Suhr | 156 | 583 | 182 | .312 | 11 | 118 |
| 2B | Pep Young | 125 | 475 | 118 | .248 | 6 | 77 |
| 3B | Bill Brubaker | 145 | 554 | 160 | .289 | 6 | 102 |
| SS | Arky Vaughan | 156 | 568 | 190 | .335 | 9 | 78 |
| LF | Woody Jensen | 153 | 696 | 197 | .283 | 10 | 58 |
| CF | Lloyd Waner | 106 | 414 | 133 | .321 | 1 | 31 |
| RF | Paul Waner | 148 | 585 | 218 | .373 | 5 | 94 |

#### 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 |
| Al Todd | 76 | 267 | 73 | .273 | 2 | 28 |
| Fred Schulte | 74 | 238 | 62 | .261 | 1 | 17 |
| Cookie Lavagetto | 60 | 197 | 48 | .244 | 2 | 26 |
| Bud Hafey | 39 | 118 | 25 | .212 | 4 | 13 |
| Hal Finney | 21 | 35 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 3 |
| Earl Browne | 8 | 23 | 7 | .304 | 0 | 3 |
| Johnny Dickshot | 9 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Bill Swift | 45 | 262.1 | 16 | 16 | 4.01 | 92 |
| Cy Blanton | 44 | 235.2 | 13 | 15 | 3.51 | 127 |
| Jim Weaver | 38 | 225.2 | 14 | 8 | 4.31 | 108 |
| Red Lucas | 27 | 175.2 | 15 | 4 | 3.18 | 53 |
| Russ Bauers | 1 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 33.75 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Mace Brown | 47 | 165.0 | 10 | 11 | 3.87 | 56 |
| Waite Hoyt | 22 | 116.2 | 7 | 5 | 2.70 | 37 |
| Ralph Birkofer | 34 | 109.1 | 7 | 5 | 4.69 | 44 |
| Jack Tising | 10 | 47.0 | 1 | 3 | 4.21 | 27 |

#### 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 |
| Guy Bush | 16 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5.97 | 10 |
| Johnny Welch | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 5 |

## Awards and honors

1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Gus Suhr, reserve
* Arky Vaughan, reserve

### League top five finishers

Cy Blanton
* #3 in NL in strikeouts (127)
Red Lucas
* #5 in NL in ERA (3.18)
Gus Suhr
* #3 in NL in RBI (118)
* #5 in NL in runs scored (111)
Bill Swift
* #5 in NL in losses (16)
Arky Vaughan
* NL leader in runs scored (122)
* NL leader in on-base percentage (.453)
* #5 in NL in batting average (.335)
Paul Waner
* NL leader in batting average (.373)
* #2 in NL in hits (218)
* #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.446)
* #5 in NL in slugging percentage (.520)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| A | Scranton Miners | New York–Pennsylvania League | Elmer Yoter |
| B | Savannah Indians | Sally League | Bill Gould and Bob LaMotte |
| C | Hutchinson Larks | Western Association | Dick Goldberg |
| D | Jeannette Little Pirates | Pennsylvania State Association | Wilbur Cooper |
| D | Portageville-Owensboro Pirates | Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League | Hughie Wise |
| D | Winnipeg Maroons | Northern League | Wes Griffin |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Scranton, Jeannette