# 1941 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1941 Pittsburgh Pirates was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 81–73, 19 games behind the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 100 | 54 | .649 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 48‍–‍29 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 97 | 56 | .634 | 2½ | 53‍–‍24 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 66 | .571 | 12 | 45‍–‍34 | 43‍–‍32 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 73 | .526 | 19 | 45‍–‍32 | 36‍–‍41 |
| New York Giants | 74 | 79 | .484 | 25½ | 38‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 70 | 84 | .455 | 30 | 38‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Boston Braves | 62 | 92 | .403 | 38 | 32‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 43 | 111 | .279 | 57 | 23‍–‍52 | 20‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1941 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 4–18–2 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 8–14 |
| Brooklyn | 18–4–2 | — | 13–9 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 18–4 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | 9–13 | — | 8–14 | 9–13 | 14–8–1 | 9–13 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 13–9 | 8–14 | 14–8 | — | 15–7 | 16–6 | 12–10 | 10–12 |
| New York | 16–6 | 8–14 | 13–9 | 7–15 | — | 16–6 | 8–14–2 | 6–15–1 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 4–18 | 8–14–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | — | 6–16 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–10 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 14–8–2 | 16–6 | — | 6–16 |
| St. Louis | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 15–6–1 | 17–5 | 16–6 | — |

### Game log

1941 Game Log: 81–73 (Home: 45–32; Away: 36–41) :
April: 3–10 (Home: 2–3; Away: 1–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 15@ Cubs4–7PasseauKlinger (0–1)—17,0080–1
2April 17@ Cubs7–2Sewell (1–0)Olsen—4,1091–1
3April 18Reds4–1Butcher (1–0)Walters—18,6442–1
4April 19Reds3–5DerringerBauers (0–1)—10,4652–2
5April 20Reds3–7TurnerBowman (0–1)Thompson19,0602–3
6April 22@ Cardinals8–9 (12)GrodzickiHeintzelman (0–1)—1,7762–4
7April 23@ Cardinals1–3NahemButcher (1–1)—1,8752–5
8April 24Cubs2–1 (11)Lanning (1–0)French—1,9593–5
9April 25Cubs7–8PageHeintzelman (0–2)—3,9023–6
10April 26@ Reds3–10Vander MeerBauers (0–2)—8,1123–7
11April 27@ Reds2–3WaltersSewell (1–1)—19,1143–8
12April 29@ Phillies2–6CrouchButcher (1–2)—8003–9
13April 30@ Phillies4–8BlantonLanahan (0–1)—3,3853–10 :
May: 11–11 (Home: 7–4; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
14May 1@ Phillies15–2Bauers (1–2)Johnson—1,5004–10
15May 2@ Giants7–7 (13)—3,2684–10
16May 3@ Giants3–2Butcher (2–2)Bowman—7,4175–10
17May 4@ Dodgers6–4Heintzelman (1–2)Hamlin—27,0156–10
18May 6@ Dodgers3–7WyattSewell (1–2)—7,4436–11
19May 7@ Braves6–7TobinLanning (1–1)—2,4586–12
20May 11Cardinals4–7NahemButcher (2–3)Hutchinson12,3886–13
21May 12Cardinals2–6WarnekeHeintzelman (1–3)——6–14
22May 13Phillies6–3Sewell (2–2)Grissom—9867–14
23May 14Phillies12–7Klinger (1–1)Bruner—1,2548–14
24May 16Dodgers3–2 (11)Bowman (1–1)Brown—3,9849–14
25May 18Giants4–5AdamsSewell (2–3)Brown13,6599–15
26May 19Giants2–1Butcher (3–3)Hubbell—2,57410–15
27May 20Giants7–5Klinger (2–1)Schumacher—3,05011–15
28May 21Braves8–4Wilkie (1–0)Tobin—2,31112–15
29May 23@ Cardinals1–2CooperButcher (3–4)—18,55512–16
30May 24@ Cardinals7–10NahemSewell (2–4)Lanier2,95212–17
31May 25@ Cardinals4–6GumbertWilkie (1–1)White—12–18
32May 25@ Cardinals3–4KristKlinger (2–2)Lanier18,74912–19
33May 26@ Reds3–7WaltersStrincevich (0–1)—20,56712–20
34May 28@ Reds7–4Butcher (4–4)Moore—2,56013–20
35May 30Cubs6–7LeeSewell (2–5)——13–21
36May 30Cubs5–4Sewell (3–5)Passeau—17,29714–21 :
June: 14–12 (Home: 5–7; Away: 9–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
37June 2@ Braves0–2ErricksonLanning (1–2)—1,03414–22
38June 3@ Braves9–5Heintzelman (2–3)LaMannaBowman (1)1,77615–22
39June 6@ Giants5–4Butcher (5–4)McGee——16–22
40June 6@ Giants4–3Sewell (4–5)Lohrman—8,32417–22
41June 7@ Phillies0–2BlantonLanning (1–3)—3,80217–23
42June 8@ Phillies12–2Bowman (2–1)HughesSewell (1)—18–23
43June 8@ Phillies2–5PodgajnyBauers (1–3)——18–24
44June 9@ Phillies5–0Wilkie (2–1)Grissom—89219–24
45June 10@ Dodgers3–4FitzsimmonsHeintzelman (2–4)—6,42619–25
46June 11@ Dodgers8–1Sewell (5–5)Higbe—30,46920–25
47June 14Braves8–2Butcher (6–4)Salvo—2,90821–25
48June 15Braves1–5PosedelWilkie (2–2)—12,56221–26
49June 17Giants3–6HubbellSewell (5–6)—1,58621–27
50June 18Giants2–2 (11)—24,73821–27
51June 19Giants6–9BrownHeintzelman (2–5)—2,12721–28
52June 20Phillies7–6Dietz (1–0)Pearson—1,04622–28
53June 21Phillies2–0Bowman (3–1)Grissom—2,32123–28
54June 22Phillies4–1Sewell (6–6)Blanton——24–28
55June 22Phillies4–7HughesButcher (6–5)Johnson10,06024–29
56June 23Dodgers4–9FitzsimmonsKlinger (2–3)Brown2,33524–30
57June 24Dodgers0–8DavisLanning (1–4)—20,53724–31
58June 25Dodgers4–5HigbeHeintzelman (2–6)—2,42524–32
59June 27@ Cubs4–2Sewell (7–6)Passeau—4,62225–32
60June 28@ Cubs2–3OlsenButcher (6–6)—3,65425–33
61June 29@ Cubs8–2Lanning (2–4)French——26–33
62June 29@ Cubs3–2Sullivan (1–0)LeeSewell (2)17,44027–33
63June 30Cardinals4–3Heintzelman (3–6)Gumbert—16,30628–33 :
July: 22–9 (Home: 13–3; Away: 9–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
64July 1Cardinals7–11WarnekeSewell (7–7)——28–34
65July 2Reds8–3Butcher (7–6)Derringer—1,94129–34
66July 4@ Reds0–6WaltersLanning (2–5)——29–35
67July 4@ Reds6–4Heintzelman (4–6)Pearson—14,39130–35
68July 5Cubs9–6Sullivan (2–0)LeeKlinger (1)4,57131–35
69July 6Cubs2–1Sewell (8–7)Passeau——32–35
70July 6Cubs13–4 (8)Butcher (8–6)RootLanning (1)14,30633–35
71July 10@ Phillies6–3Sewell (9–7)HughesSullivan (1)—34–35
72July 12@ Phillies6–1Lanning (3–5)Podgajny—1,50035–35
73July 13@ Giants4–0Heintzelman (5–6)Lohrman——36–35
74July 13@ Giants2–8SchumacherButcher (8–7)—22,86536–36
75July 14@ Giants2–3HubbellSewell (9–8)—3,12536–37
76July 15@ Giants5–1Butcher (9–7)Melton—3,29637–37
77July 16@ Braves1–4TobinLanning (3–6)——37–38
78July 16@ Braves13–5Dietz (2–0)HutchingsWilkie (1)3,27838–38
79July 18@ Braves5–1Heintzelman (6–6)Johnson——39–38
80July 18@ Braves3–4LaMannaWilkie (2–3)—3,31539–39
81July 20@ Dodgers1–5DavisSewell (9–9)——39–40
82July 20@ Dodgers5–1Lanning (4–6)Wyatt——40–40
83July 21@ Dodgers8–3Heintzelman (7–6)Kimball——41–40
84July 22Phillies4–3Klinger (3–3)Podgajny—1,73042–40
85July 23Phillies5–2Butcher (10–7)Blanton—13,10943–40
86July 24Phillies3–2Klinger (4–3)Grissom—1,32644–40
87July 25Dodgers8–4Sullivan (3–0)Wyatt——45–40
88July 25Dodgers8–2Lanning (5–6)Davis——46–40
89July 26Dodgers2–3HamlinHeintzelman (7–7)Higbe7,00946–41
90July 27Dodgers4–3Klinger (5–3)Davis——47–41
91July 27Dodgers8–0 (8)Sewell (10–9)Casey—40,09348–41
92July 29Braves5–3 (8)Sullivan (4–0)JaveryKlinger (2)4,86049–41
93July 30Braves2–3 (10)TobinBowman (3–2)—11,36249–42
94July 31Braves9–8Lanning (6–6)ErricksonDietz (1)1,87050–42 :
August: 18–15 (Home: 5–4; Away: 13–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
95August 1Giants6–3Butcher (11–7)Hubbell—4,32451–42
96August 2Giants0–2 (10)SchumacherSewell (10–10)—5,55051–43
97August 3Giants5–4Dietz (3–0)McGee——52–43
98August 3Giants10–4 (6)Klinger (6–3)Wittig—25,68853–43
99August 4@ Reds4–1Lanning (7–6)Thompson—2,10954–43
100August 5@ Reds7–5Butcher (12–7)TurnerKlinger (3)2,39055–43
101August 6@ Cubs13–3Sewell (11–10)Pressnell—5,57456–43
102August 7@ Cubs4–3Dietz (4–0)Mooty—5,03557–43
103August 8@ Cubs0–1EricksonLanning (7–7)—5,84657–44
104August 9@ Cardinals5–4 (13)Klinger (7–3)Hutchinson—5,22358–44
105August 10@ Cardinals2–3WhiteSewell (11–11)Crouch—58–45
106August 10@ Cardinals2–4CooperHeintzelman (7–8)—26,51358–46
107August 13Cubs4–6EavesLanning (7–8)Mooty24,37358–47
108August 14Cubs2–6PasseauButcher (12–8)—3,03258–48
109August 16Cardinals4–2Heintzelman (8–8)White——59–48
110August 17Cardinals1–7CooperButcher (12–9)——59–49
111August 17Cardinals8–2Sewell (12–11)Warneke—34,29260–49
112August 18@ Dodgers5–6CaseyButcher (12–10)—9,83260–50
113August 19@ Dodgers0–9DavisSullivan (4–1)——60–51
114August 19@ Dodgers2–6DrakeHeintzelman (8–9)Casey9,37260–52
115August 20@ Dodgers6–7AllenSewell (12–12)—14,75260–53
116August 21@ Giants5–3Butcher (13–10)McGee—11,84561–53
117August 22@ Giants5–3Lanning (8–8)Bowman—2,43962–53
118August 23@ Giants3–5SchumacherDietz (4–1)——62–54
119August 23@ Giants4–3Klinger (8–3)Brown——63–54
120August 24@ Braves3–4 (12)SalvoSewell (12–13)——63–55
121August 24@ Braves7–3 (6)Klinger (9–3)Javery—13,41164–55
122August 26@ Braves3–4TobinWilkie (2–4)——64–56
123August 26@ Braves6–1Butcher (14–10)Errickson—3,52765–56
124August 27@ Phillies12–2Lanning (9–8)Blanton—1,74866–56
125August 28@ Phillies3–2Dietz (5–1)PearsonKlinger (4)5,50067–56
126August 30@ Cubs1–4EricksonSewell (12–14)—6,77767–57
127August 31@ Cubs4–3Butcher (15–10)Passeau——68–57 :
September: 13–16 (Home: 13–11; Away: 0–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
128September 1@ Cardinals3–5WhiteHeintzelman (8–10)——68–58
129September 1@ Cardinals3–6 (8)PolletKlinger (9–4)—34,81268–59
130September 3Reds3–2Lanning (10–8)Riddle—18,42869–59
131September 4Reds4–0 (5)Sewell (13–14)Walters—1,72070–59
132September 5Reds4–10DerringerButcher (15–11)Beggs—70–60
133September 5Reds1–0 (7)Dietz (6–1)Starr—4,89771–60
134September 6Cubs6–4Heintzelman (9–10)Mooty—3,04072–60
135September 7Cubs1–3EavesLanning (10–9)—6,61972–61
136September 9Giants2–4 (10)SchumacherSewell (13–15)—1,87372–62
137September 10Giants10–7Lanning (11–9)LohrmanWilkie (2)1,07673–62
138September 11Braves7–5Heintzelman (10–10)Hutchings——74–62
139September 11Braves0–10EarleyGee (0–1)—2,32074–63
140September 12Braves6–3Dietz (7–1)Johnson——75–63
141September 12Braves0–5JaveryLanning (11–10)—2,08375–64
142September 13Braves1–0Strincevich (1–1)Salvo——76–64
143September 14Phillies2–1Butcher (16–11)Hoerst——77–64
144September 14Phillies3–6HughesSewell (13–16)—7,49577–65
145September 17Dodgers4–6DavisHeintzelman (10–11)Hamlin6,20677–66
146September 18Dodgers6–5Sewell (14–16)Casey—6,80378–66
147September 20@ Reds1–2WaltersButcher (16–12)——78–67
148September 20@ Reds3–7DerringerStrincevich (1–2)—9,81778–68
149September 21@ Reds0–2RiddleDietz (7–2)—10,24878–69
150September 23Cardinals4–0Heintzelman (11–11)Cooper——79–69
151September 23Cardinals0–9LanierSewell (14–17)——79–70
152September 24Cardinals0–4GumbertLanning (11–11)——79–71
153September 25Cardinals3–1Butcher (17–12)White——80–71
154September 26Reds3–4Vander MeerBrandt (0–1)—71780–72
155September 27Reds9–15RiddleGee (0–2)Beggs1,69580–73
156September 28Reds3–2Clemensen (1–0)Walters—4,13781–73 :
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 | Al Lopez | 114 | 317 | 84 | .265 | 5 | 43 |
| 1B | Elbie Fletcher | 151 | 521 | 150 | .288 | 11 | 74 |
| 2B | Frankie Gustine | 121 | 463 | 125 | .270 | 1 | 46 |
| 3B | Lee Handley | 124 | 459 | 132 | .288 | 0 | 33 |
| SS | Arky Vaughan | 106 | 374 | 118 | .316 | 6 | 38 |
| LF | Maurice Van Robays | 129 | 457 | 129 | .282 | 4 | 78 |
| CF | Vince DiMaggio | 151 | 528 | 141 | .267 | 21 | 100 |
| RF | Bob Elliott | 141 | 527 | 144 | .273 | 3 | 76 |

#### 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 |
| Stu Martin | 88 | 233 | 71 | .305 | 0 | 19 |
| Alf Anderson | 70 | 223 | 48 | .215 | 1 | 10 |
| Debs Garms | 83 | 220 | 58 | .264 | 3 | 42 |
| Bud Stewart | 73 | 172 | 46 | .267 | 0 | 10 |
| Spud Davis | 57 | 107 | 27 | .252 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Baker | 35 | 67 | 15 | .224 | 0 | 6 |
| Ripper Collins | 49 | 62 | 13 | .210 | 0 | 11 |
| Billy Cox | 10 | 37 | 10 | .270 | 0 | 2 |
| Vinnie Smith | 9 | 33 | 10 | .303 | 0 | 5 |
| Ed Leip | 15 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 3 |
| Culley Rikard | 6 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Lloyd Waner | 3 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Schultz | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 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 |
| Rip Sewell | 39 | 249.0 | 14 | 17 | 3.72 | 76 |
| Max Butcher | 33 | 236.0 | 17 | 12 | 3.05 | 61 |
| Ken Heintzelman | 35 | 196.0 | 11 | 11 | 3.44 | 81 |
| Johnny Lanning | 34 | 175.2 | 11 | 11 | 3.13 | 41 |

#### 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 Klinger | 35 | 116.2 | 9 | 4 | 3.93 | 36 |
| Dutch Dietz | 33 | 100.1 | 7 | 2 | 2.33 | 22 |
| Lefty Wilkie | 26 | 79.0 | 2 | 4 | 4.56 | 16 |
| Joe Bowman | 18 | 69.1 | 3 | 2 | 2.99 | 22 |
| Joe Sullivan | 16 | 39.1 | 4 | 1 | 2.97 | 10 |
| Russ Bauers | 8 | 37.1 | 1 | 3 | 5.54 | 20 |
| Nick Strincevich | 12 | 31.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.23 | 12 |
| Bill Clemensen | 2 | 13.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.77 | 4 |
| Johnny Gee | 3 | 7.1 | 0 | 2 | 6.14 | 2 |
| Bill Brandt | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.86 | 0 |
| Dick Conger | 2 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 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 |
| Dick Lanahan | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.25 | 5 |
| Mace Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

1941 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Arky Vaughan, starter, SS
* Bob Elliott, reserve
* Al López, reserve

### League top five finishers

Vince DiMaggio
* #3 in NL in RBI (100)
Elbie Fletcher
* NL leader in on-base percentage (.421)
Rip Sewell
* NL leader in losses (17)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Specs Toporcer |
| B | Harrisburg Senators | Interstate League | Les Bell |
| C | Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers | Canadian–American League | Buster Blakeney |
| C | Hutchinson Pirates | Western Association | Johnny Gooch |
| D | Moultrie Packers | Georgia–Florida League | Buzz Arlitt |
| D | Oil City Oilers | Pennsylvania State Association | George Norton |
| D | London Pirates | PONY League | Jimmy Jordan |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Harrisburg