# 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season was a season in American baseball which involved the Pirates finishing fourth in the National League.
The roster featured five future Hall of Famers: player-manager Pie Traynor, pitcher Waite Hoyt, shortstop Arky Vaughan, center fielder Lloyd Waner, and right fielder Paul Waner.

## Offseason

* December 12, 1934: Leon Chagnon was traded by the Pirates to the New York Giants for Jack Salveson.

## Regular season

Vaughan hit .385 on his way to being named the NL's Most Valuable Player by The Sporting News. It is considered the best offensive season ever by a shortstop other than Honus Wagner.
On May 25, 1935, Babe Ruth of the Boston Braves hit the final three home runs of his career in one game against the Pirates at Forbes Field.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 100 | 54 | .649 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 44‍–‍33 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 96 | 58 | .623 | 4 | 53‍–‍24 | 43‍–‍34 |
| New York Giants | 91 | 62 | .595 | 8½ | 50‍–‍27 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 86 | 67 | .562 | 13½ | 46‍–‍31 | 40‍–‍36 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 70 | 83 | .458 | 29½ | 38‍–‍38 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 68 | 85 | .444 | 31½ | 41‍–‍35 | 27‍–‍50 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 64 | 89 | .418 | 35½ | 35‍–‍43 | 29‍–‍46 |
| Boston Braves | 38 | 115 | .248 | 61½ | 25‍–‍50 | 13‍–‍65 |

### Record vs. opponents

1935 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 6–16 | 3–19 | 10–12 | 5–16 | 8–14 | 2–20 | 4–18 |
| Brooklyn | 16–6 | — | 5–17 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 12–9–1 | 11–11 | 6–16 |
| Chicago | 19–3 | 17–5 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 8–14 |
| Cincinnati | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 | — | 8–14–1 | 13–9 | 8–13 | 8–14 |
| New York | 16–5 | 13–9 | 8–14 | 14–8–1 | — | 12–10–2 | 14–8 | 14–8 |
| Philadelphia | 14–8 | 9–12–1 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 10–12–2 | — | 6–16 | 7–15 |
| Pittsburgh | 20–2 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 13–8 | 8–14 | 16–6 | — | 11–11 |
| St. Louis | 18–4 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 8–14 | 15–7 | 11–11 | — |

### Game log

1935 Game Log: 86–67 (Home: 46–31; Away: 40–36) :
April: 6–8 (Home: 1–4; Away: 5–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 16@ Reds12–6Hoyt (1–0)Freitas—27,4001–0
2April 17Reds4–7DerringerBush (0–1)——1–1
3April 18Reds4–9FreyWeaver (0–1)—1,5601–2
4April 19Cardinals3–0Blanton (1–0)Hallahan——2–2
5April 20Cardinals1–4WalkerHoyt (1–1)——2–3
6April 21Cardinals1–6DeanBush (0–2)—28,0002–4
7April 23@ Reds4–3Weaver (1–1)FreitasSwift (1)8,8363–4
8April 24@ Reds5–2Blanton (2–0)Hollingsworth—4,0364–4
9April 25@ Reds0–6FreyHoyt (1–2)—2,5904–5
10April 26@ Cardinals2–3 (11)HeusserSwift (0–1)——4–6
11April 27@ Cardinals8–5Weaver (2–1)Hallahan—10,0005–6
12April 28@ Cardinals3–2Blanton (3–0)Dean—12,0006–6
13April 29@ Cubs11–12KowalikSalveson (0–1)Bryant—6–7
14April 30@ Cubs0–3HenshawBirkofer (0–1)——6–8 :
May: 17–11 (Home: 9–6; Away: 8–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
15May 3@ Dodgers1–2MungoWeaver (2–2)——6–9
16May 4@ Dodgers1–0Blanton (4–0)Zachary——7–9
17May 5@ Dodgers9–2Bush (1–2)Clark—13,0008–9
18May 6@ Braves8–6Hoyt (2–2)BentonBlanton (1)—9–9
19May 8@ Braves3–12FrankhouseWeaver (2–3)——9–10
20May 9@ Giants1–3HubbellBlanton (4–1)—6,0009–11
21May 11@ Giants4–1Bush (2–2)Schumacher——10–11
22May 11@ Giants0–3FitzsimmonsHoyt (2–3)—40,00010–12
23May 12@ Giants1–3ParmeleeWeaver (2–4)—20,00010–13
24May 13@ Phillies10–1Blanton (5–1)Bivin——11–13
25May 14@ Phillies8–1Birkofer (1–1)Walters—1,50012–13
26May 15@ Phillies20–5Swift (1–1)Jorgens——13–13
27May 16Dodgers0–2 (13)ZacharyHoyt (2–4)—6,00013–14
28May 17Dodgers1–7BengeWeaver (2–5)——13–15
29May 18Dodgers8–2Blanton (6–1)Mungo—8,00014–15
30May 19Dodgers9–6Swift (2–1)EisenstatHoyt (1)10,00015–15
31May 20Giants11–4Lucas (1–0)Hubbell——16–15
32May 21Giants4–9CastlemanHoyt (2–5)Smith—16–16
33May 22Giants2–5ParmeleeBlanton (6–2)—6,00016–17
34May 23Braves7–1Swift (3–1)Cantwell—10,00017–17
35May 24Braves7–6Weaver (3–5)Brandt——18–17
36May 25Braves11–7Hoyt (3–5)Cantwell——19–17
37May 26Phillies3–1Blanton (7–2)Prim—10,00020–17
38May 27Phillies2–4PezzulloSwift (3–2)Moore—20–18
39May 28Phillies3–1Weaver (4–5)Pezzullo——21–18
40May 30Cubs4–6HenshawBlanton (7–3)—40,43021–19
41May 30Cubs4–1Lucas (2–0)French—40,43022–19
42May 31@ Reds4–1Swift (4–2)Hollingsworth—19,42923–19 :
June: 16–11 (Home: 5–1; Away: 11–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
43June 2@ Reds8–0Weaver (5–5)Derringer—2,97324–19
44June 4Cardinals9–5Blanton (8–3)Dean—4,00025–19
45June 6Cardinals2–1Bush (3–2)Haines——26–19
46June 7Reds4–13 (7)DerringerWeaver (5–6)—1,11026–20
47June 8Reds14–8Hoyt (4–5)BrennanBush (1)5,80027–20
48June 9Reds7–4Blanton (9–3)Johnson—5,04628–20
49June 10Reds14–1Swift (5–2)Hollingsworth—1,18629–20
50June 11@ Dodgers4–0Bush (4–2)Zachary—3,00030–20
51June 12@ Dodgers7–3Birkofer (2–1)Leonard——31–20
52June 13@ Dodgers0–3MungoBlanton (9–4)——31–21
53June 14@ Dodgers1–0Swift (6–2)Clark——32–21
54June 15@ Phillies5–6JohnsonBlanton (9–5)——32–22
55June 16@ Phillies4–12PezzulloBirkofer (2–2)——32–23
56June 17@ Phillies12–5Swift (7–2)Walters——33–23
57June 20@ Giants2–6SmithBush (4–3)——33–24
58June 21@ Giants4–11CastlemanLucas (2–1)——33–25
59June 22@ Giants5–4 (11)Hoyt (5–5)Smith——34–25
60June 22@ Giants3–7SchumacherWeaver (5–7)—10,00034–26
61June 23@ Braves4–3Weaver (6–7)MacFayden——35–26
62June 23@ Braves7–4Bush (5–3)Smith——36–26
63June 25@ Braves2–7MacFaydenBirkofer (2–3)——36–27
64June 26@ Braves4–2Bush (6–3)Cantwell——37–27
65June 26@ Braves5–1Swift (8–2)Betts——38–27
66June 28@ Cubs0–8HenshawWeaver (6–8)——38–28
67June 29@ Cubs0–1 (12)FrenchHoyt (5–6)——38–29
68June 29@ Cubs1–2WarnekeLucas (2–2)—17,40038–30
69June 30@ Cubs9–7Blanton (10–5)Root—10,40039–30 :
July: 15–14 (Home: 14–12; Away: 1–2)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
70July 2@ Cardinals0–7HallahanBush (6–4)——39–31
71July 4@ Reds9–5Hoyt (6–6)Frey——40–31
72July 4@ Reds4–5BrennanBlanton (10–6)Freitas13,00040–32
73July 5Cubs4–0Lucas (3–2)Henshaw—10,00041–32
74July 6Cubs8–10 (13)WarnekeSwift (8–3)——41–33
75July 7Cubs1–13LeeBlanton (10–7)——41–34
76July 10Giants3–10SchumacherHoyt (6–7)——41–35
77July 11Giants2–4ParmeleeLucas (3–3)——41–36
78July 13Giants6–7HubbellHoyt (6–8)——41–37
79July 14Giants4–2Blanton (11–7)Smith—12,00042–37
80July 16Dodgers3–9ZacharySwift (8–4)—2,00042–38
81July 17Dodgers4–5ClarkBush (6–5)Leonard—42–39
82July 17Dodgers0–5EarnshawHoyt (6–9)——42–40
83July 18Dodgers3–5BengeBlanton (11–8)Leonard—42–41
84July 19Braves6–5Bush (7–5)Cantwell——43–41
85July 20Braves14–2Brown (1–0)Frankhouse——44–41
86July 20Braves6–3Weaver (7–8)MacFayden——45–41
87July 21Braves7–0Swift (9–4)Brandt——46–41
88July 22Phillies5–4Bush (8–5)Pezzullo——47–41
89July 24Phillies8–6Birkofer (3–3)PrimBush (2)—48–41
90July 24Phillies4–3Brown (2–0)JohnsonHoyt (2)—49–41
91July 25Phillies9–8Bush (9–5)Davis——50–41
92July 27Cardinals10–4Blanton (12–8)Collins——51–41
93July 28Cardinals3–4DeanBush (9–6)—36,00051–42
94July 28Cardinals5–4Swift (10–4)Walker—36,00052–42
95July 29Cardinals3–2Lucas (4–3)Hallahan——53–42
96July 30Cubs6–9LeeBrown (2–1)——53–43
97July 31Cubs2–4HenshawBlanton (12–9)French—53–44
98July 31Cubs6–5 (11)Birkofer (4–3)Root——54–44 :
August: 20–11 (Home: 7–2; Away: 13–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
99August 1Cubs6–5Swift (11–4)WarnekeHoyt (3)—55–44
100August 3@ Cardinals0–6WalkerLucas (4–4)——55–45
101August 4@ Cardinals3–4 (10)DeanHoyt (6–10)—17,00055–46
102August 4@ Cardinals5–6WalkerSwift (11–5)—17,00055–47
103August 6@ Cubs1–2HenshawBirkofer (4–4)—16,00055–48
104August 7@ Cubs6–0Blanton (13–9)French——56–48
105August 8@ Cubs5–9CarletonBush (9–7)——56–49
106August 9Reds1–0Swift (12–5)Hollingsworth——57–49
107August 10Reds0–2DerringerBirkofer (4–5)——57–50
108August 11Reds5–4Blanton (14–9)Freitas——58–50
109August 11Reds3–4SchottBush (9–8)Derringer—58–51
110August 12Reds7–4Lucas (5–4)HollingsworthBirkofer (1)—59–51
111August 14@ Phillies8–1Swift (13–5)Davis——60–51
112August 14@ Phillies7–4Weaver (8–8)Pezzullo——61–51
113August 15@ Phillies1–9BowmanBush (9–9)——61–52
114August 17@ Phillies2–0Lucas (6–4)Jorgens——62–52
115August 17@ Phillies5–1Birkofer (5–5)Walters——63–52
116August 18@ Dodgers0–3ClarkSwift (13–6)——63–53
117August 18@ Dodgers3–9BengeBush (9–10)Reis—63–54
118August 20@ Dodgers2–0Weaver (9–8)Zachary——64–54
119August 21@ Dodgers0–5EarnshawBirkofer (5–6)——64–55
120August 23@ Braves7–5Swift (14–6)CantwellHoyt (4)—65–55
121August 24@ Braves3–2Blanton (15–9)Frankhouse—2,00066–55
122August 25@ Braves9–2Weaver (10–8)Smith——67–55
123August 25@ Braves6–5 (11)Lucas (7–4)Betts——68–55
124August 26@ Giants10–2Birkofer (6–6)Smith——69–55
125August 28@ Giants6–1Blanton (16–9)Hubbell——70–55
126August 28@ Giants9–5Swift (15–6)Parmelee—15,00071–55
127August 29Cardinals5–1Weaver (11–8)Dean—7,00072–55
128August 30Cardinals9–3Lucas (8–4)Hallahan——73–55
129August 31Cubs5–0Birkofer (7–6)French——74–55 :
September: 12–12 (Home: 10–6; Away: 2–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
130September 1Cubs2–8HenshawBlanton (16–10)——74–56
131September 2@ Cardinals3–4 (16)DeanHoyt (6–11)—31,00074–57
132September 2@ Cardinals1–4 (5)DeanSwift (15–7)—31,00074–58
133September 5Dodgers5–4Birkofer (8–6)LeonardHoyt (5)1,00075–58
134September 6Dodgers13–0Blanton (17–10)Zachary——76–58
135September 7Dodgers5–4Bush (10–10)Benge——77–58
136September 8Giants1–3HubbellLucas (8–5)—18,00077–59
137September 10Giants3–4CastlemanBlanton (17–11)Stout—77–60
138September 10Giants2–4SmithBirkofer (8–7)—4,00077–61
139September 11Giants10–7Bush (11–10)Parmelee——78–61
140September 12Phillies11–0Weaver (12–8)Pezzullo——79–61
141September 13Phillies1–5DavisSwift (15–8)——79–62
142September 14Phillies5–7PrimBlanton (17–12)——79–63
143September 15Phillies5–3Birkofer (9–7)Jorgens——80–63
144September 16Braves5–3Brown (3–1)Brown——81–63
145September 17Braves6–4Weaver (13–8)BrandtHoyt (6)—82–63
146September 18Braves5–2Blanton (18–12)Frankhouse——83–63
147September 19Braves7–6Hoyt (7–11)Cantwell——84–63
148September 21@ Cubs3–4HenshawBush (11–11)Warneke39,00084–64
149September 22@ Cubs0–2FrenchBlanton (18–13)—40,55884–65
150September 23@ Cardinals12–0Weaver (14–8)Heusser—7,50085–65
151September 24@ Cardinals2–11HallahanLucas (8–6)——85–66
152September 29@ Reds5–1Brown (4–1)Hollingsworth——86–66
153September 29@ Reds6–9DerringerPasseau (0–1)—8,02186–67 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss 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 | 97 | 302 | 82 | .272 | 1 | 30 |
| 1B | Gus Suhr | 153 | 529 | 144 | .272 | 10 | 81 |
| 2B | Pep Young | 128 | 494 | 131 | .265 | 7 | 82 |
| 3B | Tommy Thevenow | 110 | 408 | 97 | .238 | 0 | 47 |
| SS | Arky Vaughan | 137 | 499 | 192 | .385 | 19 | 99 |
| LF | Woody Jensen | 143 | 627 | 203 | .324 | 8 | 62 |
| CF | Lloyd Waner | 122 | 537 | 166 | .309 | 0 | 46 |
| RF | Paul Waner | 139 | 549 | 176 | .321 | 11 | 78 |

#### 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 |
| Cookie Lavagetto | 78 | 231 | 67 | .290 | 0 | 19 |
| Earl Grace | 77 | 224 | 59 | .263 | 3 | 29 |
| Pie Traynor | 57 | 204 | 57 | .279 | 1 | 36 |
| Bud Hafey | 58 | 184 | 42 | .228 | 6 | 16 |
| Babe Herman | 26 | 81 | 19 | .235 | 0 | 7 |
| Earl Browne | 9 | 32 | 8 | .250 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Brubaker | 6 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Aubrey Epps | 1 | 4 | 3 | .750 | 0 | 3 |
| Steve Swetonic | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Cy Blanton | 35 | 254.1 | 18 | 13 | 2.58 | 142 |
| Jim Weaver | 33 | 176.1 | 14 | 8 | 3.42 | 87 |
| Red Lucas | 20 | 125.2 | 8 | 6 | 3.44 | 29 |
| Claude Passeau | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 12.00 | 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 |
| Guy Bush | 41 | 204.1 | 11 | 11 | 4.32 | 42 |
| Bill Swift | 39 | 203.2 | 15 | 8 | .270 | 74 |
| Waite Hoyt | 39 | 164.0 | 7 | 11 | 3.40 | 63 |
| Ralph Birkofer | 37 | 150.1 | 9 | 7 | 4.07 | 80 |
| Mace Brown | 18 | 72.2 | 4 | 1 | 3.59 | 28 |

#### 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 Salveson | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
| Wayne Osborne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 |
| Hal Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Arky Vaughan, The Sporting News NL MVP
1935 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Arky Vaughan, SS, starter
* Paul Waner, reserve

### League top five finishers

Cy Blanton
* MLB leader in ERA (2.58)
Bill Swift
* #2 in NL in ERA (2.70)
Arky Vaughan
* MLB leader in batting average (.385)
* MLB leader in on-base percentage (.491)
* NL leader in slugging percentage (.607)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Kansas City Blues | American Association | Dutch Zwilling |
| A | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Clyde Milan and Bill Pierre |
| C | Portsmouth Pirates | Middle Atlantic League | Jake Pitler |