# 1949 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1949 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 68th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 63rd in the National League. The Pirates finished sixth in the league standings with a record of 71–83.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1949 season: Dick Smith was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 49‍–‍28 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 96 | 58 | .623 | 1 | 51‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 81 | 73 | .526 | 16 | 40‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Boston Braves | 75 | 79 | .487 | 22 | 43‍–‍34 | 32‍–‍45 |
| New York Giants | 73 | 81 | .474 | 24 | 43‍–‍34 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 71 | 83 | .461 | 26 | 36‍–‍41 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 62 | 92 | .403 | 35 | 35‍–‍42 | 27‍–‍50 |
| Chicago Cubs | 61 | 93 | .396 | 36 | 33‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1949 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 12–10–1 | 12–10–2 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 6–16 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10 | — | 17–5 | 17–5 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 10–12–1 |
| Chicago | 10–12 | 5–17 | — | 9–13 | 12–10 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 8–14 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12–1 | 5–17 | 13–9 | — | 7–15 | 13–9 | 9–13 | 5–17–1 |
| New York | 10–12–2 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 11–11 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 11–11 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 11–11 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 12–10 |
| St. Louis | 16–6 | 12–10–1 | 14–8 | 17–5–1 | 15–7 | 12–10 | 10–12 | — |

### Game log

1949 Game Log: 71–83 (Home: 36–41; Away: 35–42) :
April: 5–6 (Home: 3–1; Away: 2–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 19@ Cubs1–0Sewell (1–0)Leonard—29,3921–0
2April 20@ Cubs0–4RushDickson (0–1)—11,2181–1
3April 21@ Cubs3–4KushMuncrief (0–1)—11,5991–2
4April 22Reds5–4Werle (1–0)FoxCasey (1)32,1672–2
5April 24Reds2–3 (10)GumbertCasey (0–1)—2–3
6April 24Reds3–1Chambers (1–0)Lively—24,4443–3
7April 25Cubs8–2Sewell (2–0)Rush—35,3734–3
8April 27@ Cardinals7–1Dickson (1–1)Pollet—11,7275–3
9April 28@ Cardinals2–4BrazleLombardi (0–1)—4,5615–4
10April 29@ Reds3–7FoxWerle (1–1)—20,0465–5
11April 30@ Reds4–8WehmeierRiddle (0–1)Burkhart4,4165–6 :
May: 11–18 (Home: 5–8; Away: 6–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
12May 1@ Reds10–4Chesnes (1–0)HowellCasey (2)6–6
13May 1@ Reds2–5LivelyChambers (1–1)—24,8726–7
14May 3@ Giants3–5HartungDickson (1–2)—33,9956–8
15May 4@ Giants4–11JansenMuncrief (0–2)—9,8746–9
16May 5@ Giants2–3 (10)BehrmanDickson (1–3)—8,4226–10
17May 6@ Phillies3–4MeyerRiddle (0–2)—15,7546–11
18May 7@ Phillies6–4Gregg (1–0)Rowe—6,8327–11
19May 8@ Braves8–3Chambers (2–1)SainMuncrief (1)8–11
20May 8@ Braves11–8Casey (1–1)PotterRiddle (1)27,2119–11
21May 9@ Braves1–4BickfordDickson (1–4)—13,7069–12
22May 11@ Dodgers5–3Werle (2–1)Barney—22,70910–12
23May 12@ Dodgers6–11BrancaGregg (1–1)—7,45510–13
24May 13Cardinals3–2Casey (2–1)Munger—34,89311–13
25May 14Cardinals3–4PolletDickson (1–5)Wilks18,91411–14
26May 15Cardinals3–4StaleyWerle (2–2)Wilks26,90911–15
27May 17Giants3–2Chesnes (2–0)Hartung—30,45012–15
28May 18Giants5–3Muncrief (1–2)JansenCasey (3)14,24013–15
29May 19Braves2–3BickfordRiddle (0–3)—9,58613–16
30May 20Braves2–1Werle (3–2)Hall—29,80714–16
31May 21Braves2–8SpahnDickson (1–6)Hogue16,72414–17
32May 22Phillies5–6RobertsRiddle (0–4)Konstanty31,46714–18
33May 24Dodgers1–6BrancaChesnes (2–1)—29,62514–19
34May 25Dodgers6–8BantaMuncrief (1–3)—13,98814–20
35May 26@ Cardinals6–13WilksHigbe (0–1)—10,40214–21
36May 27@ Cardinals1–2BrazleDickson (1–7)—12,11014–22
37May 28@ Cardinals2–4WilksWerle (3–3)—15,93114–23
38May 29@ Cardinals4–2Riddle (1–4)BrecheenMuncrief (2)16,53515–23
39May 30Cubs5–8RushHigbe (0–2)—15–24
40May 30Cubs8–6Chesnes (3–1)McLishMuncrief (3)38,08916–24 :
June: 11–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 3–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
41June 1@ Braves6–8HallMuncrief (1–4)Potter20,15316–25
42June 2@ Braves1–4SpahnBonham (0–1)—20,13016–26
43June 4@ Dodgers6–8BantaMuncrief (1–5)—18,35216–27
44June 5@ Dodgers5–4 (10)Dickson (2–7)Barney—25,03517–27
45June 6@ Dodgers1–5NewcombeChesnes (3–2)—30,05317–28
46June 7@ Phillies5–6RoweDickson (2–8)—12,10517–29
47June 8@ Phillies0–2RobertsBonham (0–2)—10,13617–30
48June 9@ Phillies3–4 (18)KonstantyDickson (2–9)—4,09517–31
49June 10@ Giants6–1Werle (4–3)Jansen—6,94218–31
50June 11@ Giants3–4BehrmanRiddle (1–5)—14,06518–32
51June 12@ Giants6–5Sewell (3–0)HansenCasey (4)18,14919–32
52June 14Braves4–3Bonham (1–2)Potter—29,63920–32
53June 15Braves8–7Sewell (4–0)Hogue—15,04821–32
54June 16Braves2–7BickfordPoat (0–1)—12,23921–33
55June 17Giants6–4Bonham (2–2)Hartung—32,61522–33
56June 18Giants4–5JonesRiddle (1–6)Koslo17,75222–34
57June 19Giants9–4Chesnes (4–2)Jansen—25,41323–34
58June 20Phillies1–7MeyerWerle (4–4)—30,06623–35
59June 21Phillies4–9BorowyDickson (2–10)—32,33223–36
60June 22Phillies12–3Lombardi (1–1)Roberts—8,95724–36
61June 23Phillies3–9SimmonsRiddle (1–7)—10,28324–37
62June 24Dodgers4–2Bonham (3–2)Barney—34,67025–37
63June 25Dodgers10–17BrancaChesnes (4–3)—19,80025–38
64June 26Dodgers3–15NewcombeWerle (4–5)—39,54825–39
65June 29Reds7–3Lombardi (2–1)Erautt—9,00326–39
66June 30Reds2–1Chambers (3–1)Fox—8,28327–39 :
July: 18–10 (Home: 6–5; Away: 12–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
67July 1@ Cubs5–6MuncriefDickson (2–11)—10,52627–40
68July 2@ Cubs8–3Bonham (4–2)DubielSewell (1)16,67028–40
69July 3@ Cubs7–3Lombardi (3–1)Hacker—18,12829–40
70July 4@ Reds2–1Chambers (4–1)Fox—30–40
71July 4@ Reds1–0Werle (5–5)Erautt—15,47931–40
72July 6Cardinals4–3Dickson (3–11)Munger—32,98332–40
73July 7Cardinals2–0Bonham (5–2)Staley—15,60333–40
74July 8Cubs2–1Lombardi (4–1)Leonard—36,33634–40
75July 9Cubs6–5 (13)Sewell (5–0)Kush—15,92435–40
76July 10Cubs6–8RushChesnes (4–4)Dubiel35–41
77July 10Cubs6–9 (6)ChipmanWerle (5–6)Dubiel26,31735–42
78July 14@ Giants3–4JansenWerle (5–7)—22,67735–43
79July 16@ Giants9–0Chesnes (5–4)Hartung—36–43
80July 16@ Giants7–6 (11)Werle (6–7)HansenCasey (5)20,00137–43
81July 17@ Phillies2–1 (5)Chambers (5–1)Meyer—12,76138–43
82July 18@ Phillies7–2Dickson (4–11)Konstanty—4,06839–43
83July 19@ Dodgers3–4PalicaSewell (5–1)—16,38739–44
84July 20@ Dodgers8–6Chambers (6–1)Palica—12,38140–44
85July 21@ Dodgers6–7PalicaWerle (6–8)—11,94740–45
86July 22@ Braves3–5BickfordDickson (4–12)Hogue16,95840–46
87July 23@ Braves12–9Casey (3–1)PotterChesnes (1)8,21341–46
88July 24@ Braves4–3Werle (7–8)Sain—42–46
89July 24@ Braves7–6Casey (4–1)Voiselle—21,98643–46
90July 26Giants4–1Bonham (6–2)Hansen—35,04144–46
91July 27Giants3–8HigbeChesnes (5–5)—19,76844–47
92July 28Giants6–8JonesGumbert (0–1)Higbe12,65344–48
93July 31Braves1–9SainChambers (6–2)—44–49
94July 31Braves6–5Gumbert (1–1)Potter—27,10545–49 :
August: 12–19 (Home: 4–9; Away: 8–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
95August 1Dodgers0–9BrancaBonham (6–3)—29,48345–50
96August 2Dodgers2–5BarneyChesnes (5–6)—27,69745–51
97August 3Dodgers5–10ErskineRiddle (1–8)—13,00745–52
98August 4Dodgers3–11NewcombeLombardi (4–2)—14,36345–53
99August 5Phillies1–0Werle (8–8)Rowe—24,94446–53
100August 6Phillies3–4KonstantyGumbert (1–2)—13,26046–54
101August 7Phillies3–7BorowyChambers (6–3)—46–55
102August 7Phillies4–5KonstantyChesnes (5–7)Roberts27,92846–56
103August 9@ Cubs8–3Chambers (7–3)SchmitzGumbert (1)11,31347–56
104August 10@ Cubs0–2LadeWalsh (0–1)—10,32647–57
105August 11@ Cubs3–2Werle (9–8)DubielGumbert (2)5,41548–57
106August 12@ Cardinals2–8StaleyBonham (6–4)—22,23148–58
107August 13@ Cardinals6–3Dickson (5–12)Munger—25,74549–58
108August 14@ Cardinals4–0Chambers (8–3)Pollet—22,99650–58
109August 15@ Reds9–7Sewell (6–1)WehmeierGumbert (3)11,37151–58
110August 16@ Reds1–2 (10)FoxChesnes (5–8)—2,52651–59
111August 18Cubs2–0Walsh (1–1)Lade—6,92252–59
112August 19Cardinals8–2Chambers (9–3)Staley—32,47653–59
113August 20Cardinals3–4PolletGumbert (1–3)—20,65953–60
114August 21Cardinals2–4MartinWerle (9–9)—53–61
115August 21Cardinals8–0Dickson (6–12)Brecheen—34,40854–61
116August 23@ Braves2–5SainChesnes (5–9)—14,40554–62
117August 24@ Braves5–6SpahnChambers (9–4)—6,46754–63
118August 25@ Phillies5–1Dickson (7–12)Meyer—4,54855–63
119August 25@ Phillies2–4RobertsWalsh (1–2)—7,17955–64
120August 26@ Phillies3–2Werle (10–9)Heintzelman—9,58656–64
121August 27@ Phillies8–2Bonham (7–4)Rowe—6,07057–64
122August 28@ Dodgers0–9NewcombeChesnes (5–10)—23,66357–65
123August 29@ Dodgers1–5BantaChambers (9–5)—24,03157–66
124August 30@ Dodgers3–4BarneyDickson (7–13)—13,70857–67
125August 31@ Giants5–12JonesWerle (10–10)—4,70157–68 :
September: 13–14 (Home: 9–10; Away: 4–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
126September 1@ Giants5–9HansenLombardi (4–3)Higbe3,97357–69
127September 3@ Cubs7–11AdkinsChambers (9–6)Chipman13,28957–70
128September 4@ Cubs7–11 (7)MuncriefChesnes (5–11)Rush18,08257–71
129September 5@ Cardinals1–9MungerDickson (7–14)—57–72
130September 5@ Cardinals5–4 (10)Lombardi (5–3)Munger—32,21458–72
131September 6Reds3–6 (10)BlackwellWalsh (1–3)—11,79758–73
132September 7Reds2–5RaffensbergerChambers (9–7)—12,36758–74
133September 8Reds7–9WehmeierLombardi (5–4)—4,17058–75
134September 9Cubs1–8DubielChesnes (5–12)—7,90558–76
135September 10Cubs5–9LeonardWerle (10–11)Rush5,36958–77
136September 11Cubs7–3Dickson (8–14)Adkins—9,85159–77
137September 13Phillies11–6Chambers (10–7)Borowy—11,87860–77
138September 14Phillies4–12RobertsWalsh (1–4)—3,92060–78
139September 16Dodgers9–2Werle (11–11)Newcombe—28,20261–78
140September 17Dodgers7–2Dickson (9–14)Palica—14,84262–78
141September 18Giants4–13JonesChesnes (5–13)—62–79
142September 18Giants7–2 (6)Chambers (11–7)Behrman—28,29163–79
143September 19Giants4–6 (10)JonesGumbert (1–4)—11,54263–80
144September 20Braves2–4BickfordLombardi (5–5)—11,34863–81
145September 21Braves7–9HallWerle (11–12)—11,88163–82
146September 22Braves1–0Dickson (10–14)Sain—8,26164–82
147September 24@ Reds6–5Chambers (12–7)Raffensberger—2,01965–82
148September 25@ Reds7–3Chesnes (6–13)Wehmeier—66–82
149September 25@ Reds5–3Dickson (11–14)Fox—9,08667–82
150September 27Cardinals6–4Werle (12–12)MungerLombardi (1)27,28368–82
151September 29Cardinals7–2Dickson (12–14)Staley—9,57369–82
152September 30Reds3–2Chesnes (7–13)Wehmeier—9,41670–82 :
October: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
153October 2Reds4–2Chambers (13–7)Fox—71–82
154October 2Reds5–6RaffensbergerWerle (12–13)—40,02571–83 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* May 19, 1949: Ed Bahr and Grady Wilson were traded by the Pirates to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Nanny Fernandez.
* September 21, 1949: The Pirates traded a player to be named later and cash to the San Francisco Seals for Bill Werle. The Pirates completed the deal by sending Steve Nagy to the Seals on September 27.

### 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 | 91 | 241 | 57 | .237 | 4 | 21 |
| 1B | Johnny Hopp | 105 | 371 | 118 | .318 | 5 | 39 |
| 2B | Monty Basgall | 107 | 308 | 67 | .218 | 2 | 26 |
| SS | Stan Rojek | 144 | 557 | 136 | .244 | 0 | 31 |
| 3B | Pete Castiglione | 118 | 448 | 120 | .268 | 6 | 43 |
| OF | Dino Restelli | 72 | 232 | 58 | .250 | 12 | 40 |
| OF | Ralph Kiner | 152 | 549 | 170 | .310 | 54 | 127 |
| OF | Wally Westlake | 147 | 525 | 148 | .282 | 23 | 104 |

#### 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 |
| Danny Murtaugh | 75 | 236 | 48 | .203 | 2 | 24 |
| Ed Stevens | 67 | 221 | 58 | .262 | 4 | 32 |
| Eddie Bockman | 79 | 220 | 49 | .223 | 6 | 19 |
| Tom Saffell | 73 | 205 | 66 | .322 | 2 | 25 |
| Dixie Walker | 88 | 181 | 51 | .282 | 1 | 18 |
| Ed Fitz Gerald | 75 | 160 | 42 | .263 | 2 | 18 |
| Phil Masi | 48 | 135 | 37 | .274 | 2 | 13 |
| Jack Phillips | 18 | 56 | 13 | .232 | 0 | 3 |
| Marv Rackley | 11 | 35 | 11 | .314 | 0 | 2 |
| Wally Judnich | 10 | 35 | 8 | .229 | 0 | 1 |
| Les Fleming | 24 | 31 | 8 | .258 | 0 | 7 |
| Ted Beard | 14 | 24 | 2 | .083 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Rhawn | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Cassini | 8 | 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 |
| Bill Werle | 35 | 221.0 | 12 | 13 | 4.24 | 106 |
| Bob Chesnes | 27 | 145.1 | 7 | 13 | 5.88 | 49 |
| Tiny Bonham | 18 | 89.0 | 7 | 4 | 4.25 | 25 |
| Elmer Riddle | 16 | 74.1 | 1 | 8 | 5.33 | 24 |
| Junior Walsh | 9 | 42.2 | 1 | 4 | 5.06 | 24 |

#### 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 |
| Murry Dickson | 44 | 224.1 | 12 | 14 | 3.29 | 89 |
| Cliff Chambers | 34 | 177.1 | 13 | 7 | 3.96 | 93 |
| Vic Lombardi | 34 | 134.0 | 5 | 5 | 4.57 | 64 |
| Rip Sewell | 28 | 76.0 | 6 | 1 | 3.97 | 26 |
| Ray Poat | 11 | 36.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.25 | 17 |
| Bob Muncrief | 13 | 35.2 | 1 | 5 | 6.31 | 11 |
| Hal Gregg | 8 | 18.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.38 | 9 |
| Kirby Higbe | 7 | 15.1 | 0 | 2 | 13.50 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Hugh Casey | 33 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4.66 | 9 |
| Harry Gumbert | 16 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5.86 | 5 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Al López |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Hugh Luby |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Pinky May |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Buddy Hancken |
| B | Davenport Pirates | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Bill Burwell |
| B | York White Roses | Interstate League | Frank Oceak |
| C | Modesto Reds | California League | Bill Jackson and Max Macon |
| C | Keokuk Pirates | Central Association | Charlie Hargreaves |
| C | Uniontown Coal Barons | Middle Atlantic League | Wes Griffin |
| D | Greenville Pirates | Alabama State League | Walt Tauscher |
| D | Tallahassee Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Norman Veazey, Bob Shawkey, Johnnie Heving and Gene Cabaniss |
| D | Bartlesville Pirates | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Tedd Gullic |
| D | Salisbury Pirates | North Carolina State League | John Corriden and Mickey O'Neil |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Indianapolis, Waco