# 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 66th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 61st in the National League. The Pirates finished tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 62–92.

## Offseason

* October 2, 1946: Steve Nagy was purchased by the Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodgers.
* Prior to 1947 season (exact date unknown)
** Joe Muir was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.
** Tod Davis was returned by the Pirates to the Hollywood Stars after the expiration of their minor league working agreement.

## Regular season

* June 24: Against the Pirates, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers stole home plate for the first time in his career. The Pirates catcher was Dixie Howell.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 94 | 60 | .610 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 42‍–‍35 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 89 | 65 | .578 | 5 | 46‍–‍31 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Boston Braves | 86 | 68 | .558 | 8 | 50‍–‍27 | 36‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 81 | 73 | .526 | 13 | 45‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 73 | 81 | .474 | 21 | 42‍–‍35 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 69 | 85 | .448 | 25 | 36‍–‍43 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 62 | 92 | .403 | 32 | 38‍–‍38 | 24‍–‍54 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 62 | 92 | .403 | 32 | 32‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1947 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 10–12 | — | 15–7 | 15–7 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 11–11–1 |
| Chicago | 9–13 | 7–15 | — | 12–10 | 7–15 | 16–6–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 9–13 | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 13–9 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 8–14 |
| New York | 9–13 | 8–14 | 15–7 | 9–13 | — | 12–10 | 15–7–1 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 8–14 | 6–16–1 | 9–13 | 10–12 | — | 13–9 | 8–14 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 7–15–1 | 9–13 | — | 6–16–1 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 11–11–1 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 14–8 | 16–6–1 | — |

### Game log

1947 Game Log: 62–92 (Home: 32–45; Away: 30–47) :
April: 8–5 (Home: 3–2; Away: 5–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 15@ Cubs1–0Sewell (1–0)Borowy—29,4271–0
2April 17@ Cubs7–1Roe (1–0)Wyse—9,7492–0
3April 18Reds12–11Ostermueller (1–0)BeggsBonham (1)38,2163–0
4April 19Reds6–1Strincevich (1–0)Lively—21,8914–0
5April 20Reds5–13BlackwellBahr (0–1)—4–1
6April 20Reds7–3 (6)Sewell (2–0)Erautt—40,7845–1
7April 23@ Cardinals8–5Bahr (1–1)Burkhart—6,8326–1
8April 24Cubs5–6BorowyRoe (1–1)Kush6,8896–2
9April 26@ Reds2–3GumbertNagy (0–1)—11,3166–3
10April 27@ Reds1–6WaltersSewell (2–1)—6–4
11April 27@ Reds1–2 (12)HetkiOstermueller (1–1)—36,9616–5
12April 29@ Phillies6–2Bahr (2–1)Raffensberger—7,3867–5
13April 30@ Phillies11–4Bonham (1–0)Hughes—6,5768–5 :
May: 9–12 (Home: 7–4; Away: 2–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
14May 6@ Braves0–6SainHigbe (0–1)—29,6318–6
15May 7@ Braves2–3KarlBehrman (0–1)—11,1758–7
16May 8@ Braves5–12BeazleyStrincevich (1–1)—4,5608–8
17May 10Cardinals3–0Ostermueller (2–1)Dickson—12,5799–8
18May 11Cardinals6–10 (10)HearnNagy (0–2)—9–9
19May 11Cardinals3–3 (7)—29,3159–9
20May 15Dodgers7–3Bahr (3–1)LombardiBonham (2)13,47110–9
21May 16Dodgers1–3BrancaHigbe (0–2)Casey34,18410–10
22May 17Dodgers4–0Ostermueller (3–1)Melton—17,67311–10
23May 18Giants7–6Singleton (1–0)Trinkle—12–10
24May 18Giants6–11 (7)ThompsonStrincevich (1–2)Ayers32,99612–11
25May 20Braves4–3 (10)Bonham (2–0)Karl—37,17513–11
26May 22@ Cardinals1–4PolletHigbe (0–3)—14,03513–12
27May 23@ Cardinals0–2MungerRoe (1–2)—12,72213–13
28May 25@ Cardinals5–10BrazleBehrman (0–2)—13–14
29May 25@ Cardinals2–1Ostermueller (4–1)Hearn—26,81714–14
30May 26@ Reds5–1Higbe (1–3)WaltersHerring (1)19,96715–14
31May 27@ Reds1–6BlackwellBahr (3–2)—2,97415–15
32May 28Cubs7–6Herring (1–0)Kush—30,33916–15
33May 30Cubs2–1 (10)Roe (2–2)Erickson—17–15
34May 30Cubs2–5BorowyHigbe (1–4)—37,45117–16
35May 31@ Giants9–10TrinkleHerring (1–1)—32,90517–17 :
June: 8–21 (Home: 2–9; Away: 6–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
36June 1@ Braves0–2SainBahr (3–3)—17–18
37June 1@ Braves7–8 (10)CooperBagby (0–1)—30,65617–19
38June 2@ Braves4–3Sewell (3–1)JohnsonHerring (2)5,83118–19
39June 3@ Dodgers6–11BarneyHigbe (1–5)Casey18–20
40June 3@ Dodgers7–8BarneyRoe (2–3)—27,24418–21
41June 4@ Dodgers4–9BrancaSingleton (1–1)—32,28718–22
42June 5@ Dodgers0–3TaylorOstermueller (4–2)—24,97718–23
43June 6@ Phillies3–4SchmidtHerring (1–2)—12,42118–24
44June 8@ Phillies2–5LeonardStrincevich (1–3)—18–25
45June 8@ Phillies5–4Bonham (3–0)Donnelly—18,55119–25
46June 9@ Giants10–13JansenHerring (1–3)—13,06919–26
47June 10@ Giants2–3 (12)ThompsonBonham (3–1)—39,69019–27
48June 11@ Giants8–7Ostermueller (5–2)BeggsHigbe (1)13,22220–27
49June 12Cubs3–7EricksonBahr (3–4)Schmitz32,13220–28
50June 13Braves2–6BarrettSewell (3–2)—6,31420–29
51June 15Braves4–13SpahnStrincevich (1–4)—20–30
52June 15Braves3–12SainRoe (2–4)—29,06220–31
53June 18Giants5–12JansenOstermueller (5–3)—3,66120–32
54June 19Giants12–2Higbe (2–5)Cooper—8,77921–32
55June 20Phillies6–0Bonham (4–1)Rowe—27,68322–32
56June 21Phillies1–5LeonardBagby (0–2)—11,14422–33
57June 22Phillies3–4 (13)JurisichHigbe (2–6)Mauney25,39222–34
58June 24Dodgers2–4BrancaOstermueller (5–4)—35,33122–35
59June 25Dodgers2–6TaylorHigbe (2–7)—10,31322–36
60June 26@ Cubs8–0Bonham (5–1)Lade—10,65423–36
61June 27@ Cubs12–8Bagby (1–2)LeeHigbe (2)9,72524–36
62June 28@ Cubs2–6MeyerRoe (2–5)—24–37
63June 28@ Cubs5–6LadeWolff (0–1)—37,11124–38
64June 29@ Cubs10–4Higbe (3–7)Passeau—27,38525–38 :
July: 15–18 (Home: 8–9; Away: 7–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
65July 1Cardinals1–2HearnBonham (5–2)—37,84425–39
66July 2Reds6–8GumbertOstermueller (5–5)—23,38425–40
67July 3Reds7–3Bagby (2–2)Hetki—8,61026–40
68July 4@ Reds0–8BlackwellRoe (2–6)—26–41
69July 4@ Reds4–6GumbertBahr (3–5)—19,28226–42
70July 5Cubs3–4LadeSewell (3–3)—12,34026–43
71July 6Cubs6–2Bonham (6–2)EricksonHigbe (3)27–43
72July 6Cubs10–0Ostermueller (6–5)Meyer—25,77628–43
73July 10@ Phillies2–7LeonardBagby (2–3)—12,04428–44
74July 10@ Phillies1–2HughesHigbe (3–8)—12,04428–45
75July 11@ Phillies7–2Bonham (7–2)Schanz—12,67029–45
76July 12@ Phillies2–4RoweSewell (3–4)Donnelly8,03529–46
77July 13@ Giants6–3Ostermueller (7–5)Cooper—30–46
78July 13@ Giants1–3JansenRoe (2–7)—30,16630–47
79July 14@ Giants1–5HartungHigbe (3–9)—8,63130–48
80July 15@ Dodgers12–4Roe (3–7)Taylor—31–48
81July 15@ Dodgers9–3Bagby (3–3)Hatten—25,59432–48
82July 16@ Dodgers6–10BehrmanBonham (7–3)Taylor27,75632–49
83July 17@ Dodgers7–1Queen (1–0)King—9,13333–49
84July 18@ Braves2–1Higbe (4–9)Voiselle—19,62834–49
85July 19@ Braves0–2SainRoe (3–8)—22,58434–50
86July 20@ Braves9–1Ostermueller (8–5)Spahn—15,67535–50
87July 21Phillies1–8LeonardWolff (0–2)—12,63135–51
88July 23Phillies6–2Bonham (8–3)Jurisich—27,56336–51
89July 24Phillies8–6Sewell (4–4)Schmidt—12,63137–51
90July 24Phillies3–2Higbe (5–9)RoweRoe (1)15,43338–51
91July 25Dodgers1–4TaylorQueen (1–1)—42,01438–52
92July 26Dodgers4–6CaseyStrincevich (1–5)—17,60638–53
93July 27Dodgers4–8BehrmanOstermueller (8–6)Casey38–54
94July 27Dodgers4–11 (7)GreggHigbe (5–10)—42,71638–55
95July 29Braves6–5Bonham (9–3)Voiselle—20,18639–55
96July 30Braves5–3Higbe (6–10)Barrett—12,67240–55
97July 30Braves5–8WrightRoe (3–9)Karl12,67240–56 :
August: 14–18 (Home: 5–6; Away: 9–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
98August 1Giants1–2KosloQueen (1–2)—28,85540–57
99August 2Giants2–10JansenWolff (0–3)—40–58
100August 2Giants5–4Ostermueller (9–6)Iott—19,19641–58
101August 3Giants8–11KennedyRoe (3–10)Trinkle41–59
102August 3Giants6–6 (8)—26,49041–59
103August 4Reds4–7WaltersBonham (9–4)Gumbert19,88341–60
104August 5Reds12–4Queen (2–2)LivelyHigbe (4)6,22942–60
105August 6@ Cubs7–2Wolff (1–3)Erickson—9,08643–60
106August 7@ Cubs3–0Higbe (7–10)Borowy—7,76644–60
107August 8@ Cardinals0–6MungerOstermueller (9–7)—21,87244–61
108August 9@ Cardinals5–4Higbe (8–10)Pollet—20,32045–61
109August 10@ Cardinals0–5DicksonRoe (3–11)—45–62
110August 10@ Cardinals5–7BurkhartBonham (9–5)Dickson25,48245–63
111August 11@ Reds3–8WaltersWolff (1–4)—12,83245–64
112August 12@ Reds3–2 (12)Lyons (1–0)Peterson—5,73046–64
113August 13Cubs10–2Queen (3–2)EricksonBonham (3)5,11147–64
114August 14Cardinals5–3Ostermueller (10–7)Dickson—19,19748–64
115August 15Cardinals4–7MungerBonham (9–6)Wilks35,34448–65
116August 16Cardinals12–7Bagby (4–3)Burkhart—6,43549–65
117August 17Cardinals5–6HearnHigbe (8–11)Brazle36,00049–66
118August 19@ Braves5–7LanfranconiLyons (1–1)—23,19249–67
119August 20@ Braves16–10Ostermueller (11–7)Sain—24,63850–67
120August 21@ Giants1–4HartungHigbe (8–12)—20,70050–68
121August 22@ Giants7–8TrinkleLyons (1–2)Beggs8,77350–69
122August 23@ Giants11–10Bagby (5–3)BeggsHigbe (5)51–69
123August 23@ Giants4–0Roe (4–11)Hansen—32,21152–69
124August 24@ Dodgers1–3BrancaBonham (9–7)Casey33,20752–70
125August 25@ Dodgers10–11KingHigbe (8–13)Casey52–71
126August 26@ Dodgers16–3Ostermueller (12–7)Gregg—24,06953–71
127August 27@ Phillies3–4LeonardQueen (3–3)—7,53753–72
128August 28@ Phillies0–7RoweSingleton (1–2)—8,20253–73
129August 30@ Cubs8–5Bonham (10–7)EricksonRoe (2)27,52354–73
130August 31@ Cubs3–6LadeStrincevich (1–6)—22,92554–74 :
September: 8–18 (Home: 7–15; Away: 1–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
131September 1@ Cardinals5–6 (10)DicksonOstermueller (12–8)—54–75
132September 1@ Cardinals2–8HearnRoe (4–12)—30,09554–76
133September 3Reds6–13BlackwellHigbe (8–14)—37,29954–77
134September 4Reds5–7GumbertQueen (3–4)—3,68254–78
135September 6Cubs7–6 (10)Sewell (5–4)Erickson—6,03755–78
136September 7Cubs3–4LadeHigbe (8–15)—11,93055–79
137September 8Giants8–10TrinkleBagby (5–4)—3,93655–80
138September 9Giants1–3HartungRoe (4–13)—20,00855–81
139September 10Giants2–3JansenQueen (3–5)—3,55755–82
140September 11Braves4–3 (13)Higbe (9–15)Sain—7,01056–82
141September 11Braves10–8Singleton (2–2)Lanfranconi—7,01057–82
142September 12Braves4–3Sewell (6–4)Barrett—21,01258–82
143September 13Braves1–8JohnsonRoe (4–14)—10,72158–83
144September 14Phillies3–7LeonardBonham (10–8)—58–84
145September 14Phillies7–9RoweQueen (3–6)—24,27958–85
146September 15Phillies12–2Higbe (10–15)Hughes—2,83359–85
147September 16Phillies1–2DonnellyQueen (3–7)—2,56859–86
148September 17Dodgers2–4GreggOstermueller (12–9)Behrman33,91659–87
149September 18Dodgers8–7Higbe (11–15)King—15,44060–87
150September 21@ Reds1–3BlackwellHigbe (11–16)—60–88
151September 21@ Reds11–7 (8)Nagy (1–2)Gumbert—15,97561–88
152September 23Cardinals4–8HearnOstermueller (12–10)Wilks10,33061–89
153September 24Cardinals1–5MungerRoe (4–15)—11,65861–90
154September 25Cardinals3–15DicksonHigbe (11–17)—7,15561–91
155September 25Cardinals1–3StaleyNagy (1–3)—7,15561–92
156September 28Reds7–0Bonham (11–8)Lively—33,70462–92 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* July 23, 1947: Frank Thomas was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.
* September 23, 1947: Joe Grace was selected off waivers by the Pirates from the Washington Senators.

### 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 | Dixie Howell | 76 | 214 | 59 | .276 | 4 | 25 |
| 1B | Hank Greenberg | 125 | 402 | 100 | .249 | 25 | 74 |
| 2B | Jimmy Bloodworth | 88 | 316 | 79 | .250 | 7 | 48 |
| SS | Billy Cox | 132 | 529 | 145 | .274 | 15 | 54 |
| 3B | Frankie Gustine | 156 | 616 | 183 | .297 | 9 | 67 |
| OF | Ralph Kiner | 152 | 565 | 177 | .313 | 51 | 127 |
| OF | Wally Westlake | 112 | 407 | 111 | .273 | 17 | 69 |
| OF | Jim Russell | 128 | 478 | 121 | .253 | 8 | 51 |

#### 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 |
| Culley Rikard | 109 | 324 | 93 | .287 | 4 | 32 |
| Clyde Kluttz | 73 | 232 | 70 | .302 | 6 | 42 |
| Eddie Basinski | 56 | 161 | 32 | .199 | 4 | 17 |
| Elbie Fletcher | 69 | 157 | 38 | .242 | 1 | 22 |
| Whitey Wietelmann | 48 | 128 | 30 | .234 | 1 | 7 |
| Gene Woodling | 22 | 79 | 21 | .266 | 0 | 10 |
| Bill Salkeld | 47 | 61 | 13 | .213 | 0 | 8 |
| Billy Sullivan | 38 | 55 | 14 | .255 | 0 | 8 |
| Pete Castiglione | 13 | 50 | 14 | .280 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy Herman | 15 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 0 | 6 |
| Roy Jarvis | 18 | 45 | 7 | .156 | 1 | 4 |
| Gene Mauch | 16 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
| Al Gionfriddo | 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 |
| Fritz Ostermueller | 26 | 183.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.84 | 66 |
| Mel Queen | 14 | 74.0 | 3 | 7 | 4.01 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Kirby Higbe | 46 | 225.0 | 11 | 17 | 3.72 | 99 |
| Tiny Bonham | 33 | 149.2 | 11 | 8 | 3.85 | 63 |
| Preacher Roe | 38 | 144.0 | 4 | 15 | 5.25 | 59 |
| Rip Sewell | 24 | 121.0 | 6 | 4 | 3.57 | 36 |
| Nick Strincevich | 32 | 89.0 | 1 | 6 | 5.26 | 22 |
| Ed Bahr | 19 | 82.1 | 3 | 5 | 4.59 | 25 |
| Roger Wolff | 13 | 30.0 | 1 | 4 | 8.70 | 7 |
| Hank Behrman | 10 | 24.2 | 0 | 2 | 9.12 | 11 |
| Steve Nagy | 6 | 14.0 | 1 | 3 | 5.79 | 4 |
| Hugh Mulcahy | 2 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 2 |
| Ken Heintzelman | 2 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 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 |
| Jim Bagby | 37 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4.67 | 23 |
| Elmer Singleton | 36 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6.31 | 24 |
| Al Lyons | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7.31 | 16 |
| Art Herring | 11 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8.44 | 6 |
| Lee Howard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 2 |
| Lou Tost | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
| Cal McLish | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |
| Ken Gables | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Jimmy Brown |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Pinky May |
| B | York White Roses | Interstate League | Ed Turchin |
| B | Selma Cloverleafs | Southeastern League | Carl Fischer and Boom-Boom Beck |
| C | Keokuk Pirates | Central Association | Frank Oceak |
| C | Uniontown Coal Barons | Middle Atlantic League | Alex Stutzke |
| C | Fargo-Moorhead Twins | Northern League | Bruno Haas |
| C | Riverside Dons | Sunset League | Norm DeWeese and Jack Rothrock |
| D | Rehoboth Beach Pirates | Eastern Shore League | Gordon McKinnon and Doug Peden |
| D | Leesburg Pirates | Florida State League | Wilbur Good, Jr. |
| D | Tallahassee Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Phil Seghi |
| D | Bartlesville Oilers | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Charles Marleau |
| D | Salisbury Pirates | North Carolina State League | Edgar Leip |
| D | Hornell Pirates | PONY League | Art Doll |