# 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 74th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 69th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 60–94.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1955 season: Ellis Burton 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 | 98 | 55 | .641 | — | 56‍–‍21 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 85 | 69 | .552 | 13½ | 46‍–‍31 | 39‍–‍38 |
| New York Giants | 80 | 74 | .519 | 18½ | 44‍–‍35 | 36‍–‍39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 77 | 77 | .500 | 21½ | 46‍–‍31 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 23½ | 46‍–‍31 | 29‍–‍48 |
| Chicago Cubs | 72 | 81 | .471 | 26 | 43‍–‍33 | 29‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 68 | 86 | .442 | 30½ | 41‍–‍36 | 27‍–‍50 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | 94 | .390 | 38½ | 36‍–‍39 | 24‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1955 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 14–7–1 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 13–9 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 14–8 |
| Chicago | 7–14–1 | — | 11–11 | 7–15 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 14–8 |
| Cincinnati | 10–12 | 11–11 | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 11–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–15 | 15–7 | 13–9 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 11–11 |
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 17–5 | 13–9 |
| Philadelphia | 6–16 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 15–7 | 13–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–14 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 5–17 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 |
| St. Louis | 8–14 | 8–14 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — |

### Game log

1955 Game Log: 60–94 (Home: 36–39; Away: 24–55) :
April: 3–11 (Home: 2–6; Away: 1–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 13@ Dodgers1–6ErskineSurkont (0–1)—6,9990–1
2April 14Phillies3–4WehmeierLittlefield (0–1)—23,5400–2
3April 16Dodgers0–6MeyerPurkey (0–1)—5,5330–3
4April 17Dodgers3–10PodresThies (0–1)—0–4
5April 17Dodgers2–3LabineKline (0–1)Hughes20,4990–5
6April 18@ Giants3–12LiddleSurkont (0–2)Grissom2,9150–6
7April 22@ Phillies4–5MillerBowman (0–1)—5,8210–7
8April 23@ Phillies0–8DicksonKline (0–2)—4,1320–8
9April 24@ Phillies6–1Surkont (1–2)Owens—1–8
10April 24@ Phillies0–3MeyerKing (0–1)Roberts8,2241–9
11April 27Cubs4–1Purkey (1–1)Minner—1,0442–9
12April 28Redlegs2–3StaleyLittlefield (0–2)Lane6,9072–10
13April 29Redlegs0–5NuxhallSurkont (1–3)—6,3412–11
14April 30Redlegs5–4Friend (1–0)Lane—3,1183–11 :
May: 11–20 (Home: 7–9; Away: 4–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
15May 1Cardinals3–4TiefenauerBowman (0–2)Moford3–12
16May 1Cardinals7–0Kline (1–2)Jones—13,2134–12
17May 2Cardinals5–1Purkey (2–1)Haddix—2,1815–12
18May 3Braves4–0Littlefield (1–2)Spahn—10,7846–12
19May 4Braves5–4Surkont (2–3)JollyFriend (1)13,3747–12
20May 5Braves9–4King (1–1)BuhlLaw (1)4,3298–12
21May 6@ Giants3–2Kline (2–2)AntonelliWade (1)10,3309–12
22May 7@ Giants3–11HearnPurkey (2–2)—8,9269–13
23May 8@ Giants7–5Littlefield (2–2)GomezFace (1)10–13
24May 8@ Giants3–6MaglieLaw (0–1)—14,18010–14
25May 10@ Braves9–6Surkont (3–3)Johnson—20,56211–14
26May 11@ Braves3–8NicholsKline (2–3)—12,44411–15
27May 12@ Cubs0–4JonesKing (1–2)—2,91811–16
28May 14@ Cardinals0–6LawrenceLittlefield (2–3)—9,47911–17
29May 15@ Cardinals1–5JonesSurkont (3–4)Schultz10,99611–18
30May 16@ Cardinals0–6ArroyoKline (2–4)—5,18411–19
31May 17@ Redlegs2–9NuxhallPurkey (2–3)—4,88111–20
32May 18@ Redlegs1–5MinarcinLittlefield (2–4)—2,07911–21
33May 20Giants3–6WilhelmSurkont (3–5)Grissom15,72211–22
34May 21Giants2–3MaglieKline (2–5)Grissom5,73111–23
35May 22Giants2–5GomezBowman (0–3)—11–24
36May 22Giants3–5 (8)WilhelmWade (0–1)Grissom16,69111–25
37May 24Dodgers15–1Friend (2–0)Podres—9,25112–25
38May 26Dodgers2–6NewcombeKline (2–6)—2,68012–26
39May 27Phillies2–5 (10)WehmeierFriend (2–1)—6,95612–27
40May 28Phillies4–8 (11)MillerFace (0–1)Meyer3,08212–28
41May 29Phillies2–5RobertsPepper (0–1)—12–29
42May 29Phillies11–5Surkont (4–5)Cole—5,91813–29
43May 30@ Dodgers4–8MeyerPurkey (2–4)Roebuck13–30
44May 30@ Dodgers3–8NewcombeKline (2–7)—26,71113–31
45May 31@ Dodgers6–3Friend (3–1)Roebuck—6,00814–31 :
June: 10–18 (Home: 5–7; Away: 5–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
46June 1Cardinals2–6ArroyoPurkey (2–5)—7,58014–32
47June 2Cardinals12–3Surkont (5–5)Haddix—2,05215–32
48June 3Redlegs7–6Law (1–1)Ridzik—16–32
49June 4Redlegs0–6MinarcinKline (2–8)—4,07216–33
50June 5Redlegs7–6Surkont (6–5)Klippstein—17–33
51June 5Redlegs1–5CollumPurkey (2–6)—10,30817–34
52June 7Cubs3–4HackerKing (1–3)Pollet65,68117–35
53June 8Cubs2–1Kline (3–8)Davis—3,77918–35
54June 9Cubs2–6MinnerPurkey (2–7)—2,18718–36
55June 11Braves4–7ConleyFriend (3–2)—1,99518–37
56June 12Braves5–3Law (2–1)SpahnFace (2)19–37
57June 12Braves5–6BuhlSurkont (6–6)—12,73819–38
58June 14@ Cardinals10–5Kline (4–8)Jackson—7,96220–38
59June 15@ Cardinals3–7ArroyoFriend (3–3)—6,52420–39
60June 16@ Cardinals0–5HaddixLaw (2–2)—6,27720–40
61June 17@ Redlegs3–1Surkont (7–6)CollumKline (1)6,87221–40
62June 18@ Redlegs1–4StaleyDonoso (0–1)—3,43321–41
63June 19@ Redlegs5–2Friend (4–3)Minarcin—22–41
64June 19@ Redlegs0–4NuxhallKline (4–9)—11,64022–42
65June 20@ Braves1–2ConleyLaw (2–3)—21,51022–43
66June 21@ Braves4–6BuhlKline (4–10)—25,51022–44
67June 22@ Braves0–6SpahnSurkont (7–7)—23,21922–45
68June 24@ Cubs3–10MinnerFriend (4–4)—4,42422–46
69June 25@ Cubs4–6HackerLittlefield (2–5)—12,18122–47
70June 26@ Cubs5–4Law (3–3)DavisSurkont (1)23–47
71June 26@ Cubs1–2RushDonoso (0–2)—24,50023–48
72June 28@ Phillies7–5 (10)Friend (5–4)MeyerFace (3)8,63524–48
73June 29@ Phillies3–6NegrayLittlefield (2–6)—4,91924–49 :
July: 14–19 (Home: 10–12; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
74July 1@ Dodgers3–2Law (4–3)Podres—10,32525–49
75July 2@ Dodgers7–6 (10)Kline (5–10)Labine—6,15826–49
76July 3@ Dodgers7–5Kline (6–10)Roebuck—27–49
77July 3@ Dodgers1–3LoesSurkont (7–8)Labine15,00027–50
78July 4Giants4–3Donoso (1–2)McCall—28–50
79July 4Giants3–5 (11)GrissomDonoso (1–3)—16,90228–51
80July 5Giants1–11AntonelliMartin (0–1)—7,24528–52
81July 6Dodgers5–10ErskineFace (0–2)Roebuck28–53
82July 6Dodgers4–1Law (5–3)Roebuck—20,67429–53
83July 7Dodgers3–4LoesKline (6–11)—4,53329–54
84July 8Phillies1–5WehmeierSurkont (7–9)—7,30429–55
85July 9Phillies1–7RobertsLittlefield (2–7)—2,63729–56
86July 10Phillies1–4SimmonsFriend (5–5)—29–57
87July 10Phillies3–1Law (6–3)Negray—6,45430–57
88July 14Redlegs1–19CollumSurkont (7–10)—6,94730–58
89July 15Redlegs1–9NuxhallLaw (6–4)Freeman1,56330–59
90July 16Cardinals5–1Donoso (2–3)Arroyo—2,57931–59
91July 17Cardinals8–9 (12)ArroyoDonoso (2–4)Lawrence31–60
92July 17Cardinals0–1HaddixFace (0–3)—8,49031–61
93July 19Braves4–3 (19)Friend (6–5)Conley—7,95332–61
94July 20Braves4–3Littlefield (3–7)Crone—5,56833–61
95July 21Braves3–5SpahnDonoso (2–5)—2,56833–62
96July 22Cubs3–1Face (1–3)Minner—7,38834–62
97July 23Cubs10–2Friend (7–5)Hacker—2,95535–62
98July 24Cubs12–5Hall (1–0)Rush—36–62
99July 24Cubs3–2 (10)Law (7–4)Jones—14,46637–62
100July 26@ Cardinals3–1Littlefield (4–7)Arroyo—10,26138–62
101July 27@ Cardinals1–6HaddixFace (1–4)—6,42438–63
102July 28@ Cardinals1–4SchmidtHall (1–1)—6,03938–64
103July 29@ Redlegs5–16NuxhallLaw (7–5)—5,69038–65
104July 30@ Redlegs2–5CollumFriend (7–6)—3,03038–66
105July 31@ Redlegs4–7BlackLittlefield (4–8)Freeman38–67
106July 31@ Redlegs5–6FreemanDonoso (2–6)—9,70438–68 :
August: 14–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 5–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
107August 1@ Cubs5–4Hall (2–1)Minner—3,19439–68
108August 2@ Cubs4–12RushLittlefield (4–9)—1,78839–69
109August 3@ Cubs3–2Face (2–4)DavisSurkont (2)40–69
110August 3@ Cubs4–5 (12)PerkowskiLaw (7–6)—8,80540–70
111August 4@ Cubs10–11TremelLittlefield (4–10)—3,48640–71
112August 5@ Braves8–5Hall (3–1)SpahnDonoso (1)21,79141–71
113August 6@ Braves2–0Friend (8–6)Crone—16,33742–71
114August 7@ Braves3–6NicholsLaw (7–7)Johnson42–72
115August 7@ Braves2–4BuhlFace (2–5)—26,95542–73
116August 9@ Phillies1–9WehmeierHall (3–2)—9,34742–74
117August 10@ Phillies3–2 (10)Friend (9–6)Miller—3,92243–74
118August 14@ Giants2–4AntonelliLaw (7–8)—43–75
119August 14@ Giants1–3HearnHall (3–3)—7,16643–76
120August 16Phillies3–12WehmeierFriend (9–7)—6,29043–77
121August 17Phillies6–4Face (3–5)Simmons—3,72144–77
122August 19Giants8–3Law (8–8)Antonelli—9,69545–77
123August 20Giants9–14 (12)HearnLittlefield (4–11)—4,33645–78
124August 23Redlegs2–1Law (9–8)Freeman—6,38746–78
125August 24Redlegs4–2Hall (4–3)Nuxhall—2,39947–78
126August 25Cubs2–1Face (4–5)Minner—6,18148–78
127August 26Cubs3–6JonesFriend (9–8)—5,37648–79
128August 27Cubs3–4PolletSurkont (7–11)—3,21048–80
129August 28Braves5–3Hall (5–3)CroneKline (2)49–80
130August 28Braves2–0Law (10–8)Spahn—12,03250–80
131August 30Cardinals3–1Littlefield (5–11)HaddixFace (4)7,52651–80
132August 31Cardinals4–3 (10)Donoso (3–6)Schmidt—6,37952–80 :
September: 8–14 (Home: 3–1; Away: 5–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
133September 1Cardinals7–6Face (5–5)Wright—2,87853–80
134September 2@ Dodgers0–2SpoonerHall (5–4)—10,82753–81
135September 3@ Dodgers0–4KoufaxFriend (9–9)—7,76753–82
136September 4@ Dodgers5–6LabineSurkont (7–12)Craig13,25853–83
137September 5@ Giants8–5 (10)Friend (10–9)GrissomHall (1)54–83
138September 5@ Giants3–6LiddleFace (5–6)—10,35254–84
139September 7@ Cubs2–0Friend (11–9)Minner—3,07655–84
140September 9@ Braves2–3SpahnHall (5–5)—15,61455–85
141September 10@ Braves5–13CroneLaw (10–9)—11,07155–86
142September 11@ Cardinals5–6JacksonLittlefield (5–12)—7,87755–87
143September 12@ Cardinals9–3Donoso (4–6)Haddix—3,28956–87
144September 13@ Redlegs5–2Friend (12–9)Nuxhall—3,96257–87
145September 16@ Phillies1–8RobertsSurkont (7–13)—10,02357–88
146September 18@ Phillies5–2Friend (13–9)WehmeierFace (5)58–88
147September 18@ Phillies1–2RogovinHall (5–6)—12,68358–89
148September 20@ Giants1–11AntonelliLaw (10–10)—58–90
149September 20@ Giants8–14WilhelmSurkont (7–14)—1,16558–91
150September 21@ Giants2–7LiddleFace (5–7)—58–92
151September 21@ Giants3–7MonzantKline (6–12)—2,09158–93
152September 24Dodgers4–3Hall (6–6)Bessent—59–93
153September 24Dodgers6–1Friend (14–9)Koufax—4,53160–93
154September 25Dodgers0–4MeyerKline (6–13)Craig25,18560–94 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* August 27, 1955: Red Swanson was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Pirates.

### 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 | Jack Shepard | 94 | 264 | 63 | .239 | 2 | 23 |
| 1B | Dale Long | 131 | 419 | 122 | .291 | 16 | 79 |
| 2B | Johnny O'Brien | 84 | 278 | 83 | .299 | 1 | 25 |
| SS | Dick Groat | 151 | 521 | 139 | .267 | 4 | 51 |
| 3B | Gene Freese | 134 | 455 | 115 | .253 | 14 | 44 |
| LF | Frank Thomas | 142 | 510 | 125 | .245 | 25 | 72 |
| CF | Eddie O'Brien | 75 | 236 | 55 | .233 | 0 | 8 |
| RF | Roberto Clemente | 124 | 474 | 121 | .255 | 5 | 47 |

#### 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 |
| Jerry Lynch | 88 | 282 | 80 | .284 | 5 | 28 |
| Dick Cole | 77 | 239 | 54 | .226 | 0 | 21 |
| Toby Atwell | 71 | 207 | 44 | .213 | 1 | 18 |
| Preston Ward | 84 | 179 | 38 | .212 | 5 | 25 |
| George Freese | 51 | 179 | 46 | .257 | 3 | 22 |
| Román Mejías | 71 | 167 | 36 | .216 | 3 | 21 |
| Tom Saffell | 73 | 113 | 19 | .168 | 1 | 3 |
| Felipe Montemayor | 36 | 95 | 20 | .211 | 2 | 8 |
| Hardy Peterson | 32 | 81 | 20 | .247 | 1 | 10 |
| Sid Gordon | 16 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 0 | 1 |
| Curt Roberts | 6 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Smith | 5 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Koback | 5 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| John Powers | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Smith | 4 | 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 |
| Vern Law | 43 | 200.2 | 10 | 10 | 3.81 | 82 |
| Max Surkont | 35 | 166.1 | 7 | 14 | 5.57 | 84 |
| Dick Hall | 15 | 94.1 | 6 | 6 | 3.91 | 46 |
| Bob Purkey | 14 | 67.2 | 2 | 7 | 5.32 | 24 |
| Jake Thies | 1 | 3.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.91 | 0 |

#### 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 | 44 | 200.1 | 14 | 9 | 2.83 | 98 |
| Ron Kline | 36 | 136.2 | 6 | 13 | 4.15 | 48 |
| Dick Littlefield | 35 | 130.0 | 5 | 12 | 5.12 | 70 |
| Roy Face | 42 | 125.2 | 5 | 7 | 3.58 | 84 |
| Lino Donoso | 25 | 95.0 | 4 | 6 | 5.31 | 38 |
| Nellie King | 17 | 54.1 | 1 | 3 | 2.98 | 21 |
| Roger Bowman | 7 | 16.2 | 0 | 3 | 8.64 | 8 |
| Paul Martin | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 14.14 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Laurin Pepper | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.35 | 7 |
| Ben Wade | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.21 | 7 |
| Al Grunwald | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 2 |
| Fred Waters | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 0 |
| Red Swanson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |
| Bill Bell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Frank Thomas, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Open | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Bobby Bragan |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Andy Cohen |
| A | Williamsport Grays | Eastern League | Larry Shepard |
| A | Lincoln Chiefs | Western League | Bill Burwell |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Stan Wentzel |
| B | Burlington-Graham Pirates | Carolina League | Lamar Dorton |
| C | Phoenix Stars | Arizona–Mexico League | Jerry Gardner |
| C | Salinas Packers | California League | Buck Elliott and Jack Paepke |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Jack Paepke and Buck Elliott |
| C | St. Jean Canadiens | Provincial League | Steve Mizerak and Fred Luciano |
| 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 CO-CHAMPIONS: Brunswick