# 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 67th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 62nd in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the league standings with a record of 83–71.

## Offseason

* December 8, 1947: Billy Cox, Gene Mauch and Preacher Roe were traded by the Pirates to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Hal Gregg, Vic Lombardi and Dixie Walker.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Braves | 91 | 62 | .595 | — | 45‍–‍31 | 46‍–‍31 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 85 | 69 | .552 | 6½ | 44‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 70 | .545 | 7½ | 36‍–‍41 | 48‍–‍29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 83 | 71 | .539 | 8½ | 47‍–‍31 | 36‍–‍40 |
| New York Giants | 78 | 76 | .506 | 13½ | 37‍–‍40 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 88 | .429 | 25½ | 32‍–‍44 | 34‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | 89 | .418 | 27 | 32‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍44 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 90 | .416 | 27½ | 35‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1948 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 14–8 | 16–6–1 | 13–8 | 11–11 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 8–14 | — | 11–11 | 18–4 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | 9–13 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 6–16–1 | 11–11 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 7–15 | 8–14 | 11–11 |
| Cincinnati | 8–13 | 4–18 | 12–10 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 9–13 | 10–12 |
| New York | 11–11 | 11–11–1 | 11–11 | 12–10 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 8–14 | — | 12–10–1 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–12 | 13–9 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 10–12 | 10–12–1 | — | 13–9–1 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 17–5 | 9–13–1 | — |

### Game log

1948 Game Log: 83–71 (Home: 47–31; Away: 36–40) :
April: 6–4 (Home: 2–1; Away: 4–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 19@ Reds1–4BlackwellGregg (0–1)—32,1470–1
2April 20Cubs3–2Sewell (1–0)Meyer—38,5461–1
3April 21Cubs3–6BorowyBonham (0–1)Chipman5,5551–2
4April 22Cubs3–0Riddle (1–0)Rush—38,5462–2
5April 23@ Reds3–5BlackwellHigbe (0–1)Gumbert5,3552–3
6April 24@ Reds7–1Singleton (1–0)Hughes—10,3853–3
7April 25@ Reds6–7GumbertLombardi (0–1)—3–4
8April 25@ Reds13–10Walsh (1–0)Hetki—28,0864–4
9April 29@ Cubs4–2Riddle (2–0)Borowy—6,6375–4
10April 30@ Cubs10–4Sewell (2–0)RushHigbe (1)13,0586–4 :
May: 14–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 5–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
11May 1Reds7–2Ostermueller (1–0)Hughes—13,6617–4
12May 2Reds6–4Queen (1–0)BlackwellLombardi (1)35,7798–4
13May 5Braves3–2Higbe (1–1)Sain—5,2109–4
14May 6Giants2–9PoatBonham (0–2)—14,5429–5
15May 8Giants5–12JansenLombardi (0–2)Trinkle11,5359–6
16May 9Dodgers2–14BrancaSingleton (1–1)—9–7
17May 9Dodgers10–8Sewell (3–0)Ramsdell—40,79710–7
18May 10Dodgers4–2Riddle (3–0)Palica—11,35511–7
19May 12Phillies0–5DonnellyBonham (0–3)—11,66411–8
20May 13Phillies5–1Chesnes (1–0)LeonardSingleton (1)29,78912–8
21May 14@ Cardinals1–2PolletOstermueller (1–1)—14,83912–9
22May 15@ Cardinals3–8BrecheenRiddle (3–1)—10,08612–10
23May 16@ Cardinals5–6 (10)PolletGregg (0–2)—20,48412–11
24May 18@ Braves4–3Lombardi (1–2)Voiselle—19,18113–11
25May 19@ Braves1–4BickfordSewell (3–1)—15,97813–12
26May 20@ Braves13–0Riddle (4–1)Barrett—3,08914–12
27May 21@ Dodgers8–4Ostermueller (2–1)BarneyGregg (1)8,80315–12
28May 22@ Dodgers3–1Higbe (2–1)Branca—12,82116–12
29May 23@ Giants1–2JansenSingleton (1–2)—36,47316–13
30May 25@ Phillies1–4EricksonRiddle (4–2)Rowe7,13816–14
31May 27@ Phillies1–2SimmonsHigbe (2–2)—13,83916–15
32May 28Cardinals1–1 (6)—24,02916–15
33May 29Cardinals7–3Chesnes (2–0)Munger—15,33617–15
34May 30Cardinals9–3Higbe (3–2)Pollet—18–15
35May 30Cardinals7–6Lombardi (2–2)Staley—33,58419–15
36May 31@ Cubs3–4RushHigbe (3–3)—19–16
37May 31@ Cubs4–2Riddle (5–2)Chambers—46,96520–16 :
June: 13–13 (Home: 6–6; Away: 7–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
38June 2Braves1–5SainLombardi (2–3)—25,71020–17
39June 3Braves5–3Higbe (4–3)VoiselleSingleton (2)9,76721–17
40June 4Braves7–10HogueGregg (0–3)Voiselle37,35521–18
41June 5Braves8–7Lombardi (3–3)Bickford—11,39722–18
42June 6Giants4–16PoatSingleton (1–3)—22–19
43June 6Giants4–3Riddle (6–2)Trinkle—36,49623–19
44June 7Giants5–9JonesSingleton (1–4)—23,24323–20
45June 9Dodgers6–4Sewell (4–1)BarneyHigbe (2)11,79024–20
46June 10Dodgers4–1Bonham (1–3)Taylor—30,34425–20
47June 11Dodgers2–3 (13)BrancaLombardi (3–4)Ramsdell10,23325–21
48June 13Phillies7–8DubielHigbe (4–4)Heintzelman25–22
49June 13Phillies9–2Riddle (7–2)Rowe—30,38526–22
50June 15@ Giants2–0Ostermueller (3–1)Hartung—44,15027–22
51June 16@ Giants11–5Bonham (2–3)Konikowski—8,16028–22
52June 17@ Giants9–8Singleton (2–4)JansenHigbe (3)13,55629–22
53June 18@ Phillies2–0Riddle (8–2)Roberts—13,50130–22
54June 19@ Phillies7–6Chesnes (3–0)DubielHigbe (4)7,55531–22
55June 20@ Phillies0–9LeonardSewell (4–2)—31–23
56June 20@ Phillies7–5Gregg (1–3)DonnellyQueen (1)23,81032–23
57June 21@ Dodgers2–5BrancaLombardi (3–5)—28,40432–24
58June 24@ Dodgers2–6RamsdellChesnes (3–1)—32–25
59June 24@ Dodgers6–8 (8)BarneyRiddle (8–3)Roe24,74532–26
60June 25@ Braves3–12SpahnOstermueller (3–2)—25,58732–27
61June 26@ Braves7–1Bonham (3–3)Voiselle—31,49033–27
62June 27@ Braves1–9SainLombardi (3–6)—17,64833–28
63June 29@ Reds5–6 (14)RaffensbergerSingleton (2–5)—23,23333–29 :
July: 13–16 (Home: 8–10; Away: 5–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
64July 1@ Reds5–2Ostermueller (4–2)Wehmeier—5,49334–29
65July 2Cubs1–5MeyerChesnes (3–2)—30,04134–30
66July 4Cubs5–1Sewell (5–2)BorowyHigbe (5)35–30
67July 4Cubs6–2Riddle (9–3)Rush—26,18336–30
68July 5Reds10–3Lombardi (4–6)Fox—37–30
69July 5Reds4–6GumbertBonham (3–4)Fox32,02937–31
70July 6Reds4–6Vander MeerQueen (1–1)Gumbert31,03537–32
71July 7@ Cardinals2–1Chesnes (4–2)Brazle—14,25538–32
72July 8@ Cardinals6–4Ostermueller (5–2)StaleyHigbe (6)15,03539–32
73July 9@ Cubs1–2HamnerRiddle (9–4)—14,50639–33
74July 10@ Cubs2–4SchmitzSewell (5–3)—19,87339–34
75July 11@ Cubs0–1MeyerBonham (3–5)—29,68339–35
76July 15Giants4–3Queen (2–1)Hartung—40–35
77July 15Giants3–10PoatRiddle (9–5)—26,05040–36
78July 17Giants5–6KonikowskiHigbe (4–5)—16,07140–37
79July 18Braves2–10PotterRiddle (9–6)—40–38
80July 18Braves1–3BickfordBonham (3–6)—34,11640–39
81July 19Braves1–0Ostermueller (6–2)Sain—28,11541–39
82July 20Phillies11–2Chesnes (5–2)Simmons—26,01942–39
83July 21Phillies2–3 (10)RoweSingleton (2–6)—6,79742–40
84July 22Phillies5–3Sewell (6–3)Bicknell—43–40
85July 22Phillies1–1 (5)—14,10743–40
86July 23Dodgers3–4PalicaQueen (2–2)Behrman33,70243–41
87July 25Dodgers6–7ErskineChesnes (5–3)Palica43–42
88July 25Dodgers7–4 (8)Singleton (3–6)Barney—39,20444–42
89July 27@ Braves1–5PotterOstermueller (6–3)—29,03144–43
90July 28@ Braves2–8BickfordRiddle (9–7)—25,44644–44
91July 29@ Braves1–2VoiselleQueen (2–3)—12,81344–45
92July 30@ Dodgers10–5Chesnes (6–3)Branca—31,27845–45
93July 31@ Dodgers5–2Higbe (5–5)BehrmanLombardi (2)15,63346–45 :
August: 20–9 (Home: 15–5; Away: 5–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
94August 6@ Giants6–7PoatOstermueller (6–4)Jones6,54446–46
95August 7@ Giants5–4 (11)Higbe (6–5)Poat—20,40847–46
96August 8@ Giants2–6JansenRiddle (9–8)Jones47–47
97August 8@ Giants5–4Chesnes (7–3)Konikowski—46,21448–47
98August 10Cubs5–1Gregg (2–3)Rush—21,25649–47
99August 11Cubs4–2Sewell (7–3)Hamner—4,65250–47
100August 12Cardinals3–2Lombardi (5–6)Dickson—26,00451–47
101August 13Cardinals5–4Chesnes (8–3)Wilks—34,89352–47
102August 14Cardinals3–6BrecheenOstermueller (6–5)—22,28352–48
103August 15Cardinals3–8WilksHigbe (6–6)—52–49
104August 15Cardinals5–4Bonham (4–6)Dickson—37,76753–49
105August 16Reds2–5Vander MeerGregg (2–4)—19,23053–50
106August 17Reds4–3Lombardi (6–6)Blackwell—25,92954–50
107August 18@ Cubs7–4Chesnes (9–3)MeyerHigbe (7)13,31755–50
108August 19@ Cubs2–1Sewell (8–3)Lade—10,85356–50
109August 20@ Cardinals4–7StaleyOstermueller (6–6)Brazle21,58056–51
110August 21@ Cardinals2–9MungerBonham (4–7)—22,38756–52
111August 22@ Cardinals4–1 (10)Riddle (10–8)DicksonLombardi (3)18,57857–52
112August 24Dodgers9–1Chesnes (10–3)Erskine—38,26558–52
113August 25Dodgers12–11Main (1–0)Erskine—17,04859–52
114August 26Phillies11–4Sewell (9–3)HeintzelmanHigbe (8)60–52
115August 26Phillies4–1Queen (3–3)LeonardHigbe (9)10,38761–52
116August 27Phillies4–3Higbe (7–6)Leonard—32,36762–52
117August 28Phillies2–9RoweOstermueller (6–7)—62–53
118August 28Phillies7–11LeonardBonham (4–8)—14,28662–54
119August 29Braves6–1Chesnes (11–3)Spahn—63–54
120August 29Braves5–2Lombardi (7–6)Voiselle—30,27664–54
121August 30Braves2–1Ostermueller (7–7)Sain—33,17465–54
122August 31Giants5–4Riddle (11–8)PoatHigbe (10)30,38666–54 :
September: 16–16 (Home: 7–5; Away: 9–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
123September 1Giants1–3KennedyBonham (4–9)—33,94666–55
124September 2Giants4–5JansenChesnes (11–4)—16,25066–56
125September 3Cubs1–10MeyerQueen (3–4)—27,84366–57
126September 5Cubs7–3Sewell (10–3)Borowy—67–57
127September 5Cubs3–11LadeRiddle (11–9)—25,56967–58
128September 6Cardinals2–1Chesnes (12–4)Dickson—68–58
129September 6Cardinals4–1Lombardi (8–6)Munger—69–58
130September 7Cardinals6–2Ostermueller (8–7)Hearn—36,13670–58
131September 8@ Reds5–1Bonham (5–9)Fox—12,43671–58
132September 9@ Reds6–1Riddle (12–9)Walters—2,00272–58
133September 11@ Cubs13–12Queen (4–4)ChambersRiddle (1)17,09573–58
134September 12@ Cubs7–3Sewell (11–3)McCall—27,96774–58
135September 13@ Giants2–5KennedyLombardi (8–7)—33,37274–59
136September 14@ Dodgers5–8BehrmanOstermueller (8–8)—74–60
137September 14@ Dodgers3–7TaylorRiddle (12–10)—74–61
138September 15@ Giants8–3Bonham (6–9)Jansen—9,18075–61
139September 16@ Giants10–6Chesnes (13–4)Koslo—7,17476–61
140September 17@ Braves2–6SainLombardi (8–8)—11,83876–62
141September 18@ Braves1–2SpahnOstermueller (8–9)—21,08576–63
142September 19@ Phillies6–9LeonardMain (1–1)—76–64
143September 19@ Phillies3–5RoweHigbe (7–7)—15,71376–65
144September 20@ Phillies2–5RobertsChesnes (13–5)—2,88476–66
145September 20@ Phillies4–7PossehlBonham (6–10)—3,51376–67
146September 21@ Dodgers6–3Lombardi (9–8)Barney—10,88277–67
147September 22@ Dodgers5–1Sewell (12–3)Taylor—3,75678–67
148September 24Reds3–4WehmeierOstermueller (8–10)Gumbert18,91478–68
149September 25Reds16–6Chesnes (14–5)Blackburn—7,76679–68
150September 26Reds8–6Sewell (13–3)GumbertLombardi (4)80–68
151September 26Reds8–5 (8)Singleton (4–6)Peterson—26,48381–68
152September 29@ Cardinals2–1Lombardi (10–8)Dickson—5,97782–68
153September 30@ Cardinals1–6MungerChesnes (14–6)—2,06082–69
154September 30@ Cardinals1–4BrecheenOstermueller (8–11)—8,59782–70 :
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
155October 1@ Reds2–1Higbe (8–7)Cress—1,16283–70
156October 3@ Reds0–1Vander MeerLombardi (10–9)—7,25583–71 :
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 | Clyde Kluttz | 94 | 271 | 60 | .221 | 4 | 20 |
| 1B | Ed Stevens | 128 | 429 | 109 | .254 | 10 | 69 |
| 2B | Danny Murtaugh | 146 | 514 | 149 | .290 | 1 | 71 |
| SS | Stan Rojek | 156 | 641 | 186 | .290 | 4 | 51 |
| 3B | Frankie Gustine | 131 | 449 | 120 | .267 | 9 | 42 |
| OF | Dixie Walker | 129 | 408 | 129 | .316 | 2 | 54 |
| OF | Ralph Kiner | 156 | 555 | 147 | .265 | 40 | 123 |
| OF | Wally Westlake | 132 | 428 | 122 | .285 | 17 | 65 |

#### Other batters

Note: 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 |
| UT | Johnny Hopp | 120 | 392 | 109 | .278 | 1 | 31 |
| C | Ed Fitz Gerald | 102 | 262 | 70 | .267 | 1 | 35 |
| 3B | Eddie Bockman | 70 | 176 | 42 | .239 | 4 | 23 |
| 1B | Max West | 87 | 146 | 26 | .178 | 8 | 21 |
| OF | Ted Beard | 25 | 81 | 16 | .198 | 0 | 7 |
| 2B | Monty Basgall | 38 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 2 | 6 |
| C | Johnny Riddle | 10 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| SS | Grady Wilson | 12 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| PH | Don Gutteridge | 4 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| SS | Pete Castiglione | 4 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| C | Earl Turner | 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 |
| Bob Chesnes | 25 | 194.1 | 14 | 6 | 3.57 | 69 |
| Elmer Riddle | 28 | 191.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.49 | 63 |
| Tiny Bonham | 22 | 135.2 | 6 | 10 | 4.31 | 42 |
| Fritz Ostermueller | 23 | 134.1 | 8 | 11 | 4.42 | 43 |
| Rip Sewell | 21 | 121.2 | 13 | 3 | 3.48 | 36 |

#### 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 |
| Vic Lombardi | 38 | 163.0 | 10 | 9 | 3.70 | 54 |
| Kirby Higbe | 56 | 158.0 | 8 | 7 | 3.36 | 86 |
| Elmer Singleton | 38 | 92.1 | 4 | 6 | 4.97 | 53 |
| Hal Gregg | 22 | 74.1 | 2 | 4 | 4.60 | 25 |
| Mel Queen | 25 | 66.1 | 4 | 4 | 6.65 | 34 |
| Cal McLish | 2 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| Woody Main | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.33 | 12 |
| Nick Strincevich | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 1 |
| Junior Walsh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.38 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Al López |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Jimmy Brown |
| A | Fort Wayne Generals | Central League | Boom-Boom Beck |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Pinky May |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Buster Chatham |
| B | Davenport Pirates | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Ival Goodman |
| B | York White Roses | Interstate League | Frank Oceak |
| B | Anderson Rebels | Tri-State League | Bob Richards |
| C | Keokuk Pirates | Central Association | Phil Seghi |
| C | Uniontown Coal Barons | Middle Atlantic League | Bill Mongiello |
| C | Fargo-Moorhead Twins | Northern League | Bruno Haas and Ralph DiLullo |
| D | Greenville Pirates | Alabama State League | Walt Tauscher |
| D | Rehoboth Beach Pirates | Eastern Shore League | Doug Peden |
| D | New Iberia Pelicans | Evangeline League | George Stumpf |
| D | Santa Rosa Pirates | Far West League | Dan Reagan |
| D | Leesburg Pirates | Florida State League | Edgar Leip |
| D | Tallahassee Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Jack Rothrock |
| D | Bartlesville Oilers | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Eddie Marleau |
| D | Salisbury Pirates | North Carolina State League | Art Doll |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Santa Rosa