# 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 70th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 65th in the National League. The Pirates finished seventh in the league standings with a record of 64–90.

## Offseason

* November 16, 1950: Catfish Metkovich was drafted by the Pirates from the Oakland Oaks in the 1950 rule 5 draft.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 98 | 59 | .624 | — | 50‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍31 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 97 | 60 | .618 | 1 | 49‍–‍29 | 48‍–‍31 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 73 | .526 | 15½ | 44‍–‍34 | 37‍–‍39 |
| Boston Braves | 76 | 78 | .494 | 20½ | 42‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | 81 | .474 | 23½ | 38‍–‍39 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 68 | 86 | .442 | 28½ | 35‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 64 | 90 | .416 | 32½ | 32‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 34½ | 32‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 14–11 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 18–4 |
| Chicago | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 |
| Cincinnati | 12–10 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 5–17 | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 |
| New York | 14–8 | 11–14 | 15–7 | 17–5 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 6–16 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–13 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 9–13 | 4–18 | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 17–5 | — |

### Game log

1951 Game Log: 64–90 (Home: 32–45; Away: 32–45) :
April: 5–5 (Home: 2–2; Away: 3–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 16@ Reds4–3Chambers (1–0)BlackwellWerle (1)30,4411–0
2April 17Cardinals5–4Dickson (1–0)PoholskyWerle (2)25,8942–0
3April 21@ Reds3–8FoxChambers (1–1)—4,1802–1
4April 22@ Reds7–5Werle (1–0)Blackwell—7,2543–1
5April 23@ Cubs1–2HillerQueen (0–1)—7,8993–2
6April 24@ Cubs6–4Law (1–0)LownWerle (3)7,7504–2
7April 25@ Cardinals0–4PoholskyChambers (1–2)—9,6284–3
8April 27Reds5–7BlackwellMuir (0–1)Fox27,1354–4
9April 28Reds2–4WehmeierDempsey (0–1)Smith10,6574–5
10April 29Reds9–8 (13)Dickson (2–0)Smith—5–5
11April 29Reds1–1 (10)—23,6015–5 :
May: 10–18 (Home: 3–10; Away: 7–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
12May 1@ Dodgers6–2Chambers (2–2)Palica—6,7166–5
13May 2@ Dodgers4–3Dickson (3–0)Newcombe—6,2387–5
14May 3@ Giants7–4 (10)Queen (1–1)JonesWerle (4)9,6498–5
15May 4@ Giants1–5MaglieDempsey (0–2)—3,9478–6
16May 5@ Giants3–8BowmanKoski (0–1)—10,2658–7
17May 6@ Braves0–6SpahnDickson (3–1)—8–8
18May 6@ Braves3–0Chambers (3–2)Estock—15,4929–8
19May 8@ Phillies9–3Queen (2–1)HeintzelmanWerle (5)13,70010–8
20May 9@ Phillies5–6 (10)KonstantyMuir (0–2)—14,13410–9
21May 10@ Phillies2–0Dickson (4–1)Church—3,56211–9
22May 11Cubs4–10RushChambers (3–3)—22,76011–10
23May 12Cubs4–8HillerLaw (1–1)Minner7,52811–11
24May 13Cubs2–1Queen (3–1)Schultz—12–11
25May 13Cubs0–6KlippsteinDickson (4–2)—25,43412–12
26May 15Giants7–3Werle (2–0)SpencerLaw (1)25,83813–12
27May 16Giants1–2HearnWalsh (0–1)—24,10313–13
28May 17Giants12–7Dickson (5–2)Kennedy—13,92614–13
29May 18Braves3–12SurkontQueen (3–2)—30,89014–14
30May 19Braves2–6BickfordLaw (1–2)—13,21714–15
31May 20Phillies0–17MeyerDickson (5–3)—14–16
32May 20Phillies4–12RobertsDusak (0–1)—36,16614–17
33May 22Dodgers8–17ErskineFriend (0–1)Branca22,36014–18
34May 23Dodgers4–11NewcombeQueen (3–3)—15,75914–19
35May 25@ Cubs10–1Dickson (6–3)Hiller—8,14315–19
36May 26@ Cubs4–5 (10)SchmitzWalsh (0–2)—9,00615–20
37May 28@ Cardinals5–6 (10)PoholskyLaPalme (0–1)—9,75715–21
38May 30@ Cardinals3–4PreskoDickson (6–4)Wilks15–22
39May 30@ Cardinals3–7MungerQueen (3–4)—26,95215–23 :
June: 10–18 (Home: 4–9; Away: 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
40June 1@ Giants2–8MaglieChambers (3–4)—16,87515–24
41June 2@ Giants3–14HearnLaPalme (0–2)—7,00315–25
42June 3@ Phillies2–11RobertsQueen (3–5)—15–26
43June 3@ Phillies3–8ChurchDickson (6–5)—19,32515–27
44June 4@ Phillies12–4Friend (1–1)MeyerDickson (1)2,34316–27
45June 5@ Braves8–0LaPalme (1–2)Sain—4,30217–27
46June 6@ Braves2–5SpahnChambers (3–5)—5,03017–28
47June 7@ Braves0–5BickfordQueen (3–6)—4,91617–29
48June 9@ Dodgers4–1Dickson (7–5)Newcombe—11,46218–29
49June 10@ Dodgers1–2BrancaFriend (1–2)—18–30
50June 10@ Dodgers5–4 (11)Werle (3–0)Erskine—24,60219–30
51June 12Braves3–13SainChambers (3–6)—16,05419–31
52June 14Braves9–4Dickson (8–5)Bickford—4,27720–31
53June 15Giants6–11HearnFriend (1–3)—22,74620–32
54June 16Giants1–6MaglieLaPalme (1–3)—8,67320–33
55June 17Giants11–5Pollet (1–0)BowmanWerle (6)21–33
56June 17Giants6–7 (10)JansenDickson (8–6)—25,09021–34
57June 19Phillies2–9MeyerDickson (8–7)—16,60121–35
58June 20Phillies0–1ChurchFriend (1–4)—12,75121–36
59June 21Phillies5–10RobertsLaPalme (1–4)—5,68221–37
60June 22Dodgers4–8KingWilks (0–1)—24,96621–38
61June 23Dodgers1–13NewcombeWerle (3–1)—9,93721–39
62June 24Dodgers10–7Dickson (9–7)Erskine—22–39
63June 24Dodgers5–4Wilks (1–1)King—31,43523–39
64June 26@ Reds3–2Pollet (2–0)Perkowski—8,31324–39
65June 27@ Reds1–2RamsdellFriend (1–5)—5,78824–40
66June 28@ Reds7–5Werle (4–1)RaffensbergerWilks (2)7,56825–40
67June 30@ Cardinals4–8ChambersDickson (9–8)—13,47925–41 :
July: 14–16 (Home: 10–7; Away: 4–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
68July 1@ Cardinals4–5 (12)StaleyPollet (2–1)—21,19525–42
69July 2Cubs7–2Dickson (10–8)Hiller—12,66126–42
70July 3Cubs2–0Law (2–2)Rush—4,65027–42
71July 4Reds4–1Friend (2–5)BlackwellWilks (3)28–42
72July 4Reds16–4 (6)Werle (5–1)Ramsdell—16,06129–42
73July 5Reds0–4FoxPollet (2–2)—2,21229–43
74July 6Cardinals2–3MungerDickson (10–9)—24,53229–44
75July 7Cardinals5–1Law (3–2)Lanier—10,12730–44
76July 8Cardinals6–2Friend (3–5)StaleyWilks (4)31–44
77July 8Cardinals8–9ChambersWilks (1–2)Staley31,08531–45
78July 12@ Phillies6–11MeyerDickson (10–10)—10,61831–46
79July 13@ Phillies2–3RobertsPollet (2–3)—7,78631–47
80July 14@ Phillies0–2ChurchLaw (3–3)—4,10631–48
81July 15@ Giants7–6 (12)Dickson (11–10)Koslo—32–48
82July 15@ Giants3–8HearnWerle (5–2)—17,94532–49
83July 16@ Giants6–7SpencerWerle (5–3)—3,39032–50
84July 17@ Dodgers4–3Pollet (3–3)PodbielanWilks (5)18,09733–50
85July 18@ Dodgers13–12Walsh (1–2)PalicaWilks (6)7,08334–50
86July 20@ Braves6–11SpahnLaw (3–4)—5,76734–51
87July 21@ Braves6–11BickfordLaw (3–5)—3,26334–52
88July 22@ Braves3–5ChipmanWilks (1–3)—34–53
89July 22@ Braves5–2Dickson (12–10)Wilson—8,51435–53
90July 23Braves14–15PaineLaw (3–6)Chipman8,11235–54
91July 24Giants3–4 (10)MaglieFriend (3–6)—17,85835–55
92July 25Giants5–4Wilks (2–3)Spencer—8,71836–55
93July 27Braves8–4Pollet (4–3)Surkont—17,25637–55
94July 28Braves8–4Dickson (13–10)Spahn—6,84838–55
95July 29Braves6–2Friend (4–6)Sain—39–55
96July 29Braves4–5WilsonQueen (3–7)Estock17,88139–56
97July 31Dodgers3–8NewcombePollet (4–4)—26,13239–57 :
August: 16–17 (Home: 6–6; Away: 10–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
98August 1Dodgers12–9Werle (6–3)KingWilks (7)19,50240–57
99August 2Dodgers5–10ErskineFriend (4–7)—10,98640–58
100August 3Phillies4–5RobertsLaw (3–7)—13,60740–59
101August 4Phillies7–3Dickson (14–10)Johnson—7,20641–59
102August 5Phillies1–5ChurchFriend (4–8)—41–60
103August 5Phillies7–12HeintzelmanWilks (2–4)Konstanty20,04941–61
104August 7@ Cardinals7–16BoyerLaPalme (1–5)Brazle7,46541–62
105August 8@ Cardinals10–7Dickson (15–10)PoholskyWilks (8)7,48242–62
106August 9@ Cardinals0–4ChambersPollet (4–5)—6,85542–63
107August 10@ Cubs3–0Queen (4–7)McLish—7,70343–63
108August 11@ Cubs3–4KellyLaw (3–8)—43–64
109August 11@ Cubs2–1Friend (5–8)Rush—20,52244–64
110August 12@ Cubs1–0Dickson (16–10)Hatten—45–64
111August 12@ Cubs0–6MinnerWerle (6–4)—25,89145–65
112August 13@ Reds0–2FoxPollet (4–6)—45–66
113August 13@ Reds1–7BlackwellWalsh (1–3)—9,99245–67
114August 15Cardinals7–0Friend (6–8)Staley—17,85346–67
115August 16Cardinals6–9StaleyDickson (16–11)—6,61946–68
116August 17Cubs8–3Queen (5–7)Minner—10,00747–68
117August 18Cubs5–11KellyPollet (4–7)Leonard6,21247–69
118August 19Cubs4–2Carlsen (1–0)Hatten—48–69
119August 19Cubs5–4Law (4–8)Leonard—16,43449–69
120August 21@ Braves1–3WilsonFriend (6–9)—3,28949–70
121August 22@ Braves4–5 (10)ChipmanWerle (6–5)—4,58549–71
122August 24@ Phillies5–1Dickson (17–11)Thompson—8,84750–71
123August 25@ Phillies3–2 (12)Carlsen (2–0)Konstanty—5,27651–71
124August 26@ Dodgers12–11Law (5–8)KingDickson (2)52–71
125August 26@ Dodgers3–4 (10)RoeWilks (2–5)—30,18952–72
126August 27@ Dodgers0–5BrancaQueen (5–8)—52–73
127August 27@ Dodgers5–2Werle (7–5)PalicaLaw (2)32,56153–73
128August 28@ Giants2–0Pollet (5–7)Jones—8,80354–73
129August 29@ Giants1–3HearnDickson (17–12)—7,67854–74
130August 30@ Giants10–9Dickson (18–12)Jansen—8,23055–74 :
September: 9–16 (Home: 7–11; Away: 2–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
131September 1@ Cardinals2–6ChambersCarlsen (2–1)—11,63755–75
132September 2@ Cardinals1–6PoholskyPollet (5–8)—12,85255–76
133September 3@ Cubs10–11 (12)DubielLaw (5–9)—55–77
134September 3@ Cubs4–3 (7)Wilks (3–5)Lown—20,24256–77
135September 5Reds3–6WehmeierWerle (7–6)Raffensberger9,08656–78
136September 6Reds7–4Pollet (6–8)FoxWilks (9)4,22257–78
137September 7Cardinals4–11BokelmannCarlsen (2–2)—7,37157–79
138September 8Cardinals2–4BrazleQueen (5–9)—5,51157–80
139September 9Cardinals1–2 (10)LanierDickson (18–13)—57–81
140September 9Cardinals4–7BokelmannWalsh (1–4)—17,45657–82
141September 11Phillies2–3RobertsCarlsen (2–3)—8,15257–83
142September 12Phillies8–6Law (6–9)HansenWilks (10)2,36458–83
143September 14Dodgers1–3RoeDickson (18–14)—18,05058–84
144September 15Dodgers11–4Queen (6–9)BrancaWilks (11)11,09859–84
145September 16Giants1–7JansenPollet (6–9)—59–85
146September 16Giants4–6MaglieDickson (18–15)—24,99059–86
147September 18Braves6–5Yochim (1–0)WilsonWilks (12)8,03660–86
148September 19Braves7–3Dickson (19–15)Nichols—2,79361–86
149September 22@ Reds0–9WehmeierFriend (6–10)—1,09361–87
150September 23@ Reds3–0Dickson (20–15)Blackwell—62–87
151September 23@ Reds0–2FoxPollet (6–10)—6,15262–88
152September 25Cubs6–3Queen (7–9)LownWilks (13)6,06363–88
153September 28Reds3–4WehmeierYochim (1–1)—4,25063–89
154September 29Reds2–4BlackwellDickson (20–16)Smith13,84363–90
155September 30Reds8–4 (11)Werle (8–6)Smith—9,06864–90 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* June 15, 1951: Cliff Chambers and Wally Westlake were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Garagiola, Dick Cole, Bill Howerton, Howie Pollet, and Ted Wilks.

### 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 | Clyde McCullough | 92 | 259 | 77 | .297 | 8 | 39 |
| 1B | Jack Phillips | 70 | 156 | 37 | .237 | 0 | 12 |
| 2B | Monty Basgall | 55 | 153 | 32 | .209 | 0 | 9 |
| SS | George Strickland | 138 | 454 | 98 | .216 | 9 | 47 |
| 3B | Pete Castiglione | 132 | 482 | 126 | .261 | 7 | 42 |
| OF | Catfish Metkovich | 120 | 423 | 124 | .293 | 3 | 40 |
| OF | Gus Bell | 149 | 600 | 167 | .278 | 16 | 89 |
| OF | Ralph Kiner | 151 | 531 | 164 | .309 | 42 | 109 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Howerton | 80 | 219 | 60 | .274 | 11 | 37 |
| Joe Garagiola | 72 | 212 | 54 | .255 | 9 | 35 |
| Rocky Nelson | 71 | 195 | 52 | .267 | 1 | 14 |
| Wally Westlake | 50 | 181 | 51 | .282 | 16 | 45 |
| Danny Murtaugh | 77 | 151 | 30 | .199 | 1 | 11 |
| Frank Thomas | 39 | 148 | 39 | .264 | 2 | 16 |
| Pete Reiser | 74 | 140 | 38 | .271 | 2 | 13 |
| Dick Cole | 42 | 106 | 25 | .236 | 1 | 11 |
| Ed Fitz Gerald | 55 | 97 | 22 | .227 | 0 | 13 |
| Tom Saffell | 49 | 65 | 13 | .200 | 1 | 5 |
| Hank Schenz | 25 | 61 | 13 | .213 | 0 | 3 |
| Jack Merson | 13 | 50 | 18 | .360 | 1 | 14 |
| Ted Beard | 22 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 1 | 3 |
| Dick Smith | 12 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 0 | 4 |
| Bob Dillinger | 12 | 43 | 10 | .233 | 0 | 0 |
| Erv Dusak | 21 | 39 | 12 | .308 | 1 | 7 |
| Dino Restelli | 21 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 1 | 3 |
| Stan Rojek | 8 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 0 | 0 |
| Dale Long | 10 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 1 | 1 |
| Jack Maguire | 8 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Harry Fisher | 3 | 3 | 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 |
| Murry Dickson | 45 | 288.2 | 20 | 16 | 4.02 | 112 |
| Howie Pollet | 21 | 128.2 | 6 | 10 | 5.04 | 47 |
| Cliff Chambers | 10 | 59.2 | 3 | 6 | 5.58 | 19 |
| Don Carlsen | 7 | 43.2 | 2 | 3 | 4.19 | 20 |
| Len Yochim | 2 | 8.2 | 1 | 1 | 8.31 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Mel Queen | 39 | 168.1 | 7 | 9 | 4.44 | 123 |
| Bob Friend | 34 | 149.2 | 6 | 10 | 4.27 | 41 |
| Vern Law | 28 | 114.0 | 6 | 9 | 4.50 | 41 |
| Paul LaPalme | 22 | 54.1 | 1 | 5 | 6.29 | 24 |
| Con Dempsey | 3 | 7.0 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 | 3 |
| Erv Dusak | 3 | 6.2 | 0 | 1 | 12.15 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Ted Wilks | 48 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 2.83 | 43 |
| Bill Werle | 59 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5.65 | 57 |
| Junior Walsh | 36 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6.87 | 32 |
| Bill Koski | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.67 | 6 |
| Joe Muir | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.76 | 5 |
| Paul Pettit | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Don Gutteridge |
| AAA | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Fred Haney |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Rip Sewell |
| A | Charleston Rebels | Sally League | Frank Oceak |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Walt Tauscher |
| B | Burlington Bees | Carolina League | Frank Barrett and Mike Kash |
| C | Modesto Reds | California League | Tony Freitas |
| C | Butler Tigers | Middle Atlantic League | Norm Gerdeman, William Allen and Frank Barrett |
| C | Hutchinson Elks | Western Association | Wes Griffin |
| D | Eugene Larks | Far West League | Duster Mails, George Matile and Cliff Dapper |
| D | Brunswick Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Mickey O'Neil |
| D | Bartlesville Pirates | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Tedd Gullic |
| D | Mayfield Clothiers | KITTY League | Jerry Gardner |
| D | Salisbury Pirates | North Carolina State League | George Detore |