# 1954 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1954 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 73rd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 68th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 53–101.

## Offseason

* December 1, 1953: Sonny Senerchia was drafted from the Pirates by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1953 minor league draft.

## Regular season

During the season, Curt Roberts became the first black player in the history of the Pirates.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 53‍–‍23 | 44‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 92 | 62 | .597 | 5 | 45‍–‍32 | 47‍–‍30 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 89 | 65 | .578 | 8 | 43‍–‍34 | 46‍–‍31 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 79 | .487 | 22 | 39‍–‍39 | 36‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 74 | 80 | .481 | 23 | 41‍–‍36 | 33‍–‍44 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 82 | .468 | 25 | 33‍–‍44 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 33 | 40‍–‍37 | 24‍–‍53 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 53 | 101 | .344 | 44 | 31‍–‍46 | 22‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1954 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BKN | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHP | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 15–7 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 9–13 | 13–9 | 15–7 | 14–8 |
| Chicago | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 14–8 |
| Cincinnati | 6–16 | 14–8 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 14–8 | 15–7 | 8–14 |
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 16–6 | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| New York | 13–9 | 15–7 | 15–7 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 6–16 | — | 16–6 | 12–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–15 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 8–14 | 6–16 | — | 10–12 |
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 12–10 | — |

### Game log

1954 Game Log: 53–101 (Home: 31–46; Away: 22–55) :
April: 6–10 (Home: 4–4; Away: 2–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 13Phillies4–2Law (1–0)RobertsHetki (1)32,2941–0
2April 14Phillies0–6SimmonsLaPalme (0–1)—5,8531–1
3April 15@ Dodgers4–7MeyerSurkont (0–1)Hughes13,4961–2
4April 18@ Phillies0–6RobertsFriend (0–1)—1–3
5April 18@ Phillies1–7SimmonsLaw (1–1)—9,9751–4
6April 19@ Giants7–5Hetki (1–0)Hearn—6,3802–4
7April 20@ Giants2–6AntonelliLaPalme (0–2)—6,8652–5
8April 21Giants5–4Surkont (1–1)LiddleHetki (2)13,5523–5
9April 22Giants7–4O'Donnell (1–0)Gomez—3,2964–5
10April 23Dodgers5–6 (13)MillikenPurkey (0–1)—10,5744–6
11April 24Dodgers0–3ErskineHogue (0–1)—8,6714–7
12April 25Dodgers9–3Law (2–1)Newcombe—8,6715–7
13April 25Dodgers2–4PodresLaPalme (0–3)—23,7145–8
14April 27@ Redlegs7–8ValentineSurkont (1–2)Smith3,6345–9
15April 28@ Redlegs4–8CollumFriend (0–2)—1,2065–10
16April 29@ Cardinals4–3Purkey (1–1)HaddixHetki (3)7,6036–10 :
May: 8–23 (Home: 6–12; Away: 2–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
17May 1@ Cardinals4–5 (10)LintO'Donnell (1–1)—6,7456–11
18May 2@ Cubs3–5MinnerLaw (2–2)—17,4726–12
19May 2@ Cubs18–10 (8)Friend (1–2)ChurchHetki (4)7,6367–12
20May 4@ Braves1–6SpahnSurkont (1–3)—12,3837–13
21May 5@ Braves1–4ConleyPurkey (1–2)—13,1947–14
22May 6@ Braves0–3BurdetteO'Donnell (1–2)—11,8567–15
23May 8Giants1–2AntonelliLaw (2–3)—7,1477–16
24May 9Giants1–5MaglieSurkont (1–4)—4,5777–17
25May 12Cardinals5–13HaddixO'Donnell (1–3)Brazle1,5597–18
26May 13Braves2–4NicholsPurkey (1–3)—6,0907–19
27May 14Braves3–2 (10)Surkont (2–4)Spahn—8,2258–19
28May 15Braves6–1Law (3–3)Buhl—3,3669–19
29May 16Cubs3–12MinnerFriend (1–3)—8,2259–20
30May 16Cubs5–1Thies (1–0)Willis—32,80710–20
31May 17Cubs6–10PolletPurkey (1–4)Davis1,42010–21
32May 18Redlegs5–6CollumLaPalme (0–4)Smith5,69610–22
33May 19Redlegs3–2Surkont (3–4)Valentine—4,47611–22
34May 20Cardinals4–17PoholskyPurkey (1–5)—4,90211–23
35May 21@ Dodgers2–3LabineLaw (3–4)Hughes7,20211–24
36May 22@ Dodgers1–3PalicaThies (1–1)Hughes7,06111–25
37May 23@ Dodgers4–5RoeFriend (1–4)—7,06111–26
38May 23@ Dodgers2–6LoesO'Donnell (1–4)Milliken18,40911–27
39May 24@ Dodgers5–2Surkont (4–4)Erskine—9,38612–27
40May 25@ Giants4–21AntonelliPurkey (1–6)—7,20612–28
41May 26@ Giants1–2GomezLaw (3–5)—2,84912–29
42May 28Phillies0–4 (6)DicksonSurkont (4–5)—5,52112–30
43May 29Phillies3–2O'Donnell (2–4)Ridzik—2,52513–30
44May 30Phillies0–8RobertsLittlefield (0–1)—2,52513–31
45May 30Phillies7–10DrewsFriend (1–5)Konstanty9,65113–32
46May 31Giants0–4GomezYochim (0–1)—13–33
47May 31Giants4–3Law (4–5)Wilhelm—10,50614–33 :
June: 9–15 (Home: 5–8; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
48June 4@ Braves4–1Surkont (5–5)Nichols—21,58215–33
49June 5@ Braves0–7SpahnO'Donnell (2–5)—19,41515–34
50June 6@ Braves0–5WilsonLaw (4–6)—15–35
51June 6@ Braves6–4Littlefield (1–1)Gorin—34,09516–35
52June 8@ Redlegs0–5ValentineO'Donnell (2–6)—4,34216–36
53June 9@ Redlegs3–4NuxhallSurkont (5–6)—4,81316–37
54June 10@ Redlegs0–6BaczewskiThies (1–2)—1,90016–38
55June 11@ Cardinals8–5Law (5–6)PreskoHetki (5)9,82017–38
56June 12@ Cardinals4–2Littlefield (2–1)Staley—11,36518–38
57June 13@ Cardinals0–5HaddixO'Donnell (2–7)—11,36518–39
58June 13@ Cardinals3–5MillerLaPalme (0–5)—16,64818–40
59June 14Cubs5–6DavisSurkont (5–7)Minner6,46218–41
60June 18Braves2–1Law (6–6)Spahn—8,85919–41
61June 19Braves2–11JollyLittlefield (2–2)—3,96119–42
62June 20Braves2–1 (10)Surkont (6–7)Burdette—8,85920–42
63June 20Braves6–3Friend (2–5)BuhlLaw (1)10,23621–42
64June 23Cardinals1–7HaddixLittlefield (2–3)—9,30121–43
65June 24Cardinals1–5LawrenceLaw (6–7)—2,63721–44
66June 25Redlegs4–8FowlerSurkont (6–8)Smith6,32721–45
67June 26Redlegs4–3Friend (3–5)Baczewski—2,55122–45
68June 27Redlegs0–9ValentineLaw (6–8)—22–46
69June 27Redlegs4–3Hetki (2–0)Podbielan—7,71723–46
70June 29Phillies0–4WehmeierSurkont (6–9)—5,08823–47
71June 30Phillies0–8RobertsLaw (6–9)—4,20923–48 :
July: 10–21 (Home: 4–8; Away: 6–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
72July 2Giants5–9WilhelmFriend (3–6)Maglie9,60323–49
73July 3Giants6–4Littlefield (3–3)HearnO'Donnell (1)3,48824–49
74July 4Giants2–9LiddleSurkont (6–10)McCall3,48824–50
75July 4Giants7–6LaPalme (1–5)GrissomHetki (6)12,81825–50
76July 5Dodgers6–8WadeLaw (6–10)Hughes9,60325–51
77July 5Dodgers2–7LoesThies (1–3)—16,90525–52
78July 6@ Phillies0–3SimmonsFriend (3–7)—3,96725–53
79July 9@ Giants3–6AntonelliLaPalme (1–6)—12,42325–54
80July 10@ Giants10–7O'Donnell (3–7)Wilhelm—9,74426–54
81July 11@ Giants7–13MaglieLaw (6–11)Grissom9,74426–55
82July 11@ Giants5–1Littlefield (4–3)Hearn—21,50427–55
83July 15@ Cubs2–9MinnerSurkont (6–11)—5,90027–56
84July 15@ Cubs0–3HackerO'Donnell (3–8)Tremel10,85527–57
85July 16@ Cubs2–3RushHetki (2–1)—4,58627–58
86July 17@ Cubs3–11DavisLaw (6–12)Tremel4,58627–59
87July 17@ Cubs6–2Purkey (2–6)KlippsteinO'Donnell (2)10,84228–59
88July 18@ Braves1–4SpahnLittlefield (4–4)Johnson25,07428–60
89July 18@ Braves7–5Friend (4–7)Nichols—29,37129–60
90July 19@ Braves1–4WilsonSurkont (6–12)—23,28129–61
91July 21@ Cardinals12–13LawrenceO'Donnell (3–9)Haddix6,62329–62
92July 22@ Cardinals2–3 (14)StaleyFriend (4–8)—7,05929–63
93July 23@ Redlegs7–4Littlefield (5–4)Nuxhall—7,68230–63
94July 24@ Redlegs3–5FowlerSurkont (6–13)Smith3,38330–64
95July 25@ Redlegs4–2LaPalme (2–6)Perkowski—31–64
96July 25@ Redlegs2–3JudsonFriend (4–9)Smith13,51431–65
97July 26Braves1–3ConleyPurkey (2–7)—6,85031–66
98July 28Braves4–6BurdetteLittlefield (5–5)Jolly6,72831–67
99July 29Braves3–5 (10)NicholsHetki (2–2)—2,25931–68
100July 30Cubs8–6Purkey (3–7)MinnerHetki (7)6,72832–68
101July 30Cubs5–8PolletSurkont (6–14)Jeffcoat7,75432–69
102July 31Cubs5–3LaPalme (3–6)HackerFriend (1)2,68833–69 :
August: 13–17 (Home: 7–6; Away: 6–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
103August 1Cubs2–0Littlefield (6–5)Davis—2,68834–69
104August 1Cubs2–12ColePepper (0–1)—7,28134–70
105August 3Redlegs2–7NuxhallFriend (4–10)—4,67134–71
106August 4Redlegs4–3Law (7–12)Smith—3,77835–71
107August 6Cardinals7–3Littlefield (7–5)Poholsky—2,68836–71
108August 6Cardinals6–5Hetki (3–2)Lawrence—8,62437–71
109August 7Cardinals6–8PreskoPurkey (3–8)Brazle3,84637–72
110August 8Cardinals12–4LaPalme (4–6)Haddix—8,62438–72
111August 8Cardinals5–3Surkont (7–14)Staley—10,79039–72
112August 10Giants1–2AntonelliLittlefield (7–6)Grissom9,94539–73
113August 13@ Phillies9–5Friend (5–10)Roberts—24,53640–73
114August 13@ Phillies5–0Thies (2–3)Wehmeier—8,80441–73
115August 14@ Phillies8–4Law (8–12)Simmons—2,86542–73
116August 15@ Phillies9–6Littlefield (8–6)DicksonHetki (8)2,86543–73
117August 15@ Phillies6–7RobertsHetki (3–3)—4,77343–74
118August 17Dodgers4–2Surkont (8–14)Podres—20,10244–74
119August 18Dodgers2–3ErskineThies (2–4)Hughes18,79744–75
120August 19Dodgers5–7NewcombeLaw (8–13)Hughes9,29944–76
121August 20@ Giants0–4LiddleLittlefield (8–7)—8,98544–77
122August 22@ Giants4–5McCallLaPalme (4–7)—44–78
123August 22@ Giants3–5WilhelmSurkont (8–15)—22,70244–79
124August 24@ Cardinals8–7Littlefield (9–7)HaddixLaw (2)8,71845–79
125August 25@ Cardinals0–13JonesThies (2–5)—6,82645–80
126August 26@ Cardinals2–1Pepper (1–1)BeardLaw (3)7,09446–80
127August 27@ Redlegs2–3NuxhallSurkont (8–16)—5,22746–81
128August 28@ Redlegs1–2ValentineLaPalme (4–8)—2,99546–82
129August 29@ Cubs4–7JeffcoatLittlefield (9–8)—5,79046–83
130August 29@ Cubs1–4DavisHetki (3–4)—15,31846–84
131August 31@ Cubs2–14PolletPepper (1–2)—15,31846–85
132August 31@ Cubs3–7RushThies (2–6)Jeffcoat18,21746–86 :
September: 7–15 (Home: 5–8; Away: 2–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
133September 1@ Braves1–3SpahnSurkont (8–17)—40,49446–87
134September 3Phillies1–7SimmonsFriend (5–11)—10,79046–88
135September 3Phillies2–10RidzikLittlefield (9–9)—5,30246–89
136September 5Phillies5–12WehmeierPepper (1–3)—4,64546–90
137September 6@ Dodgers9–6 (12)Law (9–13)Loes—26,34947–90
138September 6@ Dodgers9–7Thies (3–6)NewcombeFriend (2)21,56148–90
139September 8Braves2–5SpahnLittlefield (9–10)—2,51648–91
140September 10Cardinals3–2Hetki (4–4)Staley—2,61549–91
141September 11Cardinals2–7PoholskyPepper (1–4)—1,85149–92
142September 12Redlegs5–11NuxhallLaPalme (4–9)—49–93
143September 12Redlegs2–13LaneThies (3–7)Ross5,67249–94
144September 13Redlegs6–5Littlefield (10–10)Judson—1,14850–94
145September 14Cubs2–9RushThies (3–8)—1,85150–95
146September 14Cubs4–0Friend (6–11)Minner—2,36151–95
147September 17Dodgers9–1Surkont (9–17)Loes—6,19852–95
148September 19Dodgers1–0Friend (7–11)Meyer—21,30853–95
149September 22@ Phillies1–12SimmonsPepper (1–5)—5,15753–96
150September 22@ Phillies1–5RobertsLittlefield (10–11)—2,83753–97
151September 23@ Phillies2–4WehmeierLaPalme (4–10)—93653–98
152September 24@ Dodgers5–6ErskineSurkont (9–18)Hughes75153–99
153September 25@ Dodgers5–10MeyerFriend (7–12)Labine4,59753–100
154September 26@ Dodgers0–1SpoonerThies (3–9)—9,34453–101 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* June 14, 1954: Hal Rice was traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Luis Márquez.

### 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 | Toby Atwell | 96 | 287 | 83 | .289 | 3 | 26 |
| 1B | Bob Skinner | 132 | 470 | 117 | .249 | 8 | 46 |
| 2B | Curt Roberts | 134 | 496 | 115 | .232 | 1 | 36 |
| SS | Gair Allie | 121 | 418 | 83 | .199 | 3 | 30 |
| 3B | Dick Cole | 138 | 486 | 131 | .270 | 1 | 40 |
| LF | Jerry Lynch | 98 | 284 | 68 | .239 | 8 | 36 |
| CF | Frank Thomas | 153 | 577 | 172 | .298 | 23 | 94 |
| RF | Sid Gordon | 131 | 363 | 111 | .306 | 12 | 49 |

#### 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 |
| Preston Ward | 117 | 360 | 97 | .269 | 7 | 48 |
| Dick Hall | 112 | 310 | 74 | .239 | 2 | 27 |
| Jack Shepard | 82 | 227 | 69 | .304 | 3 | 22 |
| Eddie Pellagrini | 73 | 125 | 27 | .216 | 0 | 16 |
| Hal Rice | 28 | 81 | 14 | .173 | 1 | 9 |
| Vic Janowicz | 41 | 73 | 11 | .151 | 0 | 2 |
| Cal Abrams | 17 | 42 | 6 | .143 | 0 | 2 |
| Dick Smith | 12 | 31 | 3 | .097 | 0 | 0 |
| Gail Henley | 14 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Mangan | 14 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 2 |
| Walker Cooper | 14 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Koback | 4 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Márquez | 14 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Hall | 5 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Jethroe | 2 | 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 |
| Max Surkont | 33 | 208.1 | 9 | 18 | 4.41 | 78 |
| Dick Littlefield | 23 | 155.0 | 10 | 11 | 3.60 | 92 |

#### 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 Friend | 35 | 170.1 | 7 | 12 | 5.07 | 73 |
| Vern Law | 39 | 161.2 | 9 | 13 | 5.51 | 57 |
| Bob Purkey | 36 | 131.1 | 3 | 8 | 5.07 | 38 |
| Jake Thies | 33 | 130.1 | 3 | 9 | 3.87 | 57 |
| Paul LaPalme | 33 | 120.2 | 4 | 10 | 5.52 | 57 |
| George O'Donnell | 21 | 87.1 | 3 | 9 | 4.53 | 8 |
| Laurin Pepper | 14 | 50.2 | 1 | 5 | 7.99 | 17 |
| Cal Hogue | 3 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.91 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Hetki | 58 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 4.99 | 27 |
| Len Yochim | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.32 | 7 |
| Joe Page | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.17 | 4 |
| Nellie King | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Open | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Bobby Bragan |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Danny Murtaugh |
| A | Williamsport Grays | Eastern League | Larry Shepard |
| A | Denver Bears | Western League | Andy Cohen |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Jack Paepke |
| B | Burlington-Graham Pirates | Carolina League | Stan Wentzel |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Cliff Dapper |
| C | St. Jean Canadiens | Provincial League | George Detore and Steve Mizerak |
| C | Hutchinson Elks | Western Association | George Genovese and Lamar Dorton |
| D | Dublin Irish | Georgia State League | George Kinnamon |
| D | Brunswick Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Frank Oceak |
| D | Clinton Pirates | Mississippi–Ohio Valley League | Robert Clark |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Waco