# 1950 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1950 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 69th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 64th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 57–96.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 91 | 63 | .591 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 43‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 89 | 65 | .578 | 2 | 48‍–‍30 | 41‍–‍35 |
| New York Giants | 86 | 68 | .558 | 5 | 44‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍36 |
| Boston Braves | 83 | 71 | .539 | 8 | 46‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 78 | 75 | .510 | 12½ | 48‍–‍28 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 87 | .431 | 24½ | 38‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍49 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 89 | .418 | 26½ | 35‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 57 | 96 | .373 | 33½ | 33‍–‍44 | 24‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1950 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 9–13 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 9–13–1 | 15–7–1 | 11–11 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 19–3 | 12–10 |
| Chicago | 13–9 | 12–10 | — | 4–17 | 5–17 | 9–13–1 | 11–11 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 5–17 | 10–12 | 17–4 | — | 11–11 | 4–18 | 12–10 | 7–15 |
| New York | 9–13 | 10–12 | 17–5 | 11–11 | — | 12–10 | 16–6 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9–1 | 11–11–1 | 13–9–1 | 18–4 | 10–12 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–15–1 | 3–19 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 6–16 | 8–14 | — | 12–9 |
| St. Louis | 11–11 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 9–12 | — |

### Game log

1950 Game Log: 57–96 (Home: 33–44; Away: 24–52) :
April: 6–5 (Home: 4–1; Away: 2–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 18@ Cardinals2–4StaleyChesnes (0–1)—20,8710–1
2April 19@ Cardinals4–3Chambers (1–0)Munger—5,6481–1
3April 20@ Cardinals8–4Dickson (1–0)Pollet—4,2352–1
4April 21Reds7–5Werle (1–0)WehmeierLombardi (1)32,6853–1
5April 22Reds9–2Chesnes (1–1)Hetki—14,5334–1
6April 23Reds5–3Chambers (2–0)Smith—18,0495–1
7April 27Cardinals2–5MungerDickson (1–1)—34,9955–2
8April 28Cardinals4–3Werle (2–0)StaleyMain (1)10,1026–2
9April 29@ Reds6–14ErauttChesnes (1–2)—4,8956–3
10April 30@ Reds2–4FoxChambers (2–1)Wehmeier6–4
11April 30@ Reds1–2BlackwellQueen (0–1)—10,7596–5 :
May: 10–18 (Home: 4–11; Away: 6–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
12May 2Braves6–1Dickson (2–1)Spahn—24,1157–5
13May 3Braves4–15SainLombardi (0–1)—9,3897–6
14May 4Giants3–1Chambers (3–1)Jansen—6,6808–6
15May 5Giants5–4Queen (1–1)JonesWerle (1)31,7859–6
16May 6Giants8–9MaglieLombardi (0–2)Hansen13,5779–7
17May 7Dodgers2–3BarneyDickson (2–2)Erskine33,7349–8
18May 8Dodgers5–7PodbielanChambers (3–2)Banta9,4769–9
19May 9Dodgers10–5Werle (3–0)Palica—26,73410–9
20May 11Phillies2–3RobertsDickson (2–3)—28,45210–10
21May 12@ Cubs3–6RushGregg (0–1)—8,76310–11
22May 13@ Cubs3–4HillerChambers (3–3)Dubiel25,45310–12
23May 14@ Cubs6–5Chesnes (2–2)LeonardWerle (2)11–12
24May 14@ Cubs16–9Main (1–0)LadeWerle (3)34,65912–12
25May 16@ Braves0–3SainDickson (2–4)—10,27312–13
26May 17@ Braves4–1Chambers (4–3)Bickford—13,38413–13
27May 20@ Dodgers2–3BantaQueen (1–2)—13–14
28May 20@ Dodgers3–4 (11)BankheadWerle (3–1)—20,31113–15
29May 21@ Giants4–2Chesnes (3–2)Jansen—14–15
30May 21@ Giants8–6Chambers (5–3)JonesWerle (4)34,97215–15
31May 23@ Phillies6–0Macdonald (1–0)Meyer—12,42816–15
32May 24@ Phillies3–6KonstantyWerle (3–2)—18,99316–16
33May 25@ Phillies0–3MillerChambers (5–4)—5,26516–17
34May 26Cubs0–4HillerQueen (1–3)—22,52616–18
35May 27Cubs5–7MinnerChesnes (3–3)Leonard10,22016–19
36May 28Cubs0–6SchmitzDickson (2–5)—16–20
37May 28Cubs1–5RushLombardi (0–3)—23,87316–21
38May 30Cardinals13–17StaleyWerle (3–3)Brazle16–22
39May 30Cardinals5–8StaleyDickson (2–6)—33,18216–23 :
June: 7–18 (Home: 4–9; Away: 3–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
40June 1Braves2–14BickfordQueen (1–4)—5,46816–24
41June 2Braves5–4Macdonald (2–0)Spahn—23,54917–24
42June 3Braves6–10SainLombardi (0–4)Hogue5,73717–25
43June 4Giants3–4MaglieChambers (5–5)Kennedy14,53417–26
44June 5Giants4–5 (10)KosloWalsh (0–1)Hansen16,73317–27
45June 6Giants4–10KramerQueen (1–5)—5,11117–28
46June 7Dodgers0–9NewcombeMacdonald (2–1)—30,90417–29
47June 8Dodgers4–3Chambers (6–5)BrancaWerle (5)22,69718–29
48June 9Dodgers7–9PodbielanWerle (3–4)Newcombe9,51018–30
49June 11Phillies6–7KonstantyLaw (0–1)—18–31
50June 11Phillies5–4 (12)Werle (4–4)Donnelly—33,21719–31
51June 13@ Giants0–7JansenChambers (6–6)—15,08819–32
52June 16@ Braves5–6SainQueen (1–6)—15,86619–33
53June 17@ Braves6–15HogueBorowy (0–1)—6,27219–34
54June 18@ Braves6–8RoyDickson (2–7)—19–35
55June 18@ Braves8–8—22,81719–35
56June 19@ Braves1–0Chambers (7–6)Spahn—5,57820–35
57June 20@ Phillies3–7MeyerLaw (0–2)—13,59720–36
58June 21@ Phillies5–3Macdonald (3–1)RobertsWerle (6)18,63221–36
59June 22@ Phillies4–7MillerBorowy (0–2)—5,32621–37
60June 23@ Dodgers3–15PodbielanDickson (2–8)—25,51921–38
61June 24@ Dodgers12–21RoeWerle (4–5)—22,01021–39
62June 25@ Dodgers16–11Chambers (8–6)BrancaMacdonald (1)20,19622–39
63June 27Reds3–8WehmeierMacdonald (3–2)Blackwell13,50022–40
64June 28Reds6–5Dickson (3–8)Smith—12,04023–40
65June 30@ Cardinals4–9StaleyChambers (8–7)—12,63123–41 :
July: 11–19 (Home: 8–8; Away: 3–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
66July 1@ Cardinals4–5PolletQueen (1–7)Brazle15,79523–42
67July 2@ Cardinals1–2MungerWerle (4–6)Brazle25,63023–43
68July 3@ Reds5–8RamsdellDickson (3–9)Blackwell3,40523–44
69July 4@ Reds4–8WehmeierChambers (8–8)—23–45
70July 4@ Reds4–5FoxMacdonald (3–3)—10,72823–46
71July 5@ Cubs4–1Queen (2–7)Lade—10,81524–46
72July 6@ Cubs2–4MinnerWerle (4–7)—12,95324–47
73July 7Cardinals9–1Law (1–2)Staley—28,46825–47
74July 8Cardinals7–6Dickson (4–9)Brecheen—15,22426–47
75July 9Cardinals3–2Queen (3–7)LanierWerle (7)21,43127–47
76July 14Giants5–7MaglieChambers (8–9)—29,32327–48
77July 15Giants2–1Werle (5–7)Jansen—11,95828–48
78July 16Braves5–9BickfordLaw (1–3)—28–49
79July 16Braves6–5Borowy (1–2)Hogue—29,36329–49
80July 17Braves6–8JohnsonBorowy (1–3)Hogue21,45029–50
81July 18Braves3–11SpahnDickson (4–10)—5,44529–51
82July 19Phillies2–3 (11)SimmonsWerle (5–8)Konstanty29–52
83July 19Phillies4–2Macdonald (4–3)Meyer—18,95330–52
84July 20Phillies10–8Dickson (5–10)Donnelly—7,29131–52
85July 21Phillies1–4ChurchQueen (3–8)—34,01631–53
86July 22Dodgers3–12BrancaPierro (0–1)—18,10331–54
87July 23Dodgers6–11BarneyChambers (8–10)Newcombe25,88931–55
88July 24Phillies2–1 (6)Macdonald (5–3)Miller—15,43132–55
89July 25@ Braves2–7SainPierro (0–2)—18,46132–56
90July 26@ Braves8–4Queen (4–8)BickfordDickson (1)12,68933–56
91July 27@ Braves3–5SpahnChambers (8–11)—8,30233–57
92July 28@ Phillies1–4MillerMacdonald (5–4)—7,34333–58
93July 29@ Phillies7–4Werle (6–8)Church—10,25234–58
94July 30@ Phillies0–10RobertsQueen (4–9)—34–59
95July 30@ Phillies2–4KonstantyDickson (5–11)Meyer21,41134–60 :
August: 8–22 (Home: 5–14; Away: 3–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
96August 1@ Dodgers1–3PalicaChambers (8–12)—16,69134–61
97August 2@ Dodgers4–5 (10)BrancaDickson (5–12)—6,36134–62
98August 4@ Giants2–3JonesLaw (1–4)Koslo14,23834–63
99August 5@ Giants0–5HearnQueen (4–10)—9,26434–64
100August 6@ Giants0–5JansenWerle (6–9)—17,18234–65
101August 6@ Giants0–3MaglieDickson (5–13)—17,18234–66
102August 8Cardinals4–6MartinChambers (8–13)—18,24334–67
103August 10Cubs7–4Law (2–4)MinnerDickson (2)10,08735–67
104August 11Cubs1–3HillerWerle (6–10)—11,08235–68
105August 12Cubs2–7RushMacdonald (5–5)—6,77035–69
106August 13Cubs7–4Chambers (9–13)Schmitz—36–69
107August 13Cubs2–0Queen (5–10)Dubiel—18,16237–69
108August 14Reds8–13SmithLombardi (0–5)—4,30637–70
109August 15Reds10–9Macdonald (6–5)Hetki—5,49538–70
110August 16@ Cardinals5–3Law (3–4)BoyerDickson (3)12,13439–70
111August 18@ Cubs9–3Chambers (10–13)Dubiel—3,82340–70
112August 19@ Cubs13–8Dickson (6–13)RushWerle (8)13,29041–70
113August 20@ Cubs2–4MinnerLaw (3–5)—41–71
114August 20@ Cubs2–5HillerMacdonald (6–6)—29,58941–72
115August 21Dodgers2–3NewcombeWerle (6–11)—7,66641–73
116August 22Dodgers8–10PalicaQueen (5–11)Branca19,52641–74
117August 23Dodgers5–7 (17)BrancaQueen (5–12)—16,38241–75
118August 24Phillies2–4ChurchLaw (3–6)—9,09641–76
119August 25Phillies7–9 (15)KonstantyChambers (10–14)—25,68641–77
120August 26Phillies14–4Dickson (7–13)Roberts—12,15742–77
121August 27Braves3–7 (13)SurkontWerle (6–12)—42–78
122August 27Braves1–4RoyQueen (5–13)—24,27942–79
123August 29Giants5–10JansenLaw (3–7)—13,85042–80
124August 30Giants0–4MaglieChambers (10–15)—7,79442–81
125August 31Giants1–2HearnMacdonald (6–7)—3,55242–82 :
September: 14–13 (Home: 8–1; Away: 6–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
126September 1Cardinals10–4Werle (7–12)Boyer—12,58943–82
127September 2Cardinals6–0Law (4–7)Staley—5,63844–82
128September 3Cardinals12–11 (10)Werle (8–12)Brecheen—12,73645–82
129September 4Cubs5–3Barrett (1–0)DubielWalsh (1)46–82
130September 4Cubs3–0Macdonald (7–7)Rush—20,69547–82
131September 6@ Reds3–2Law (5–7)Blackwell—7,07948–82
132September 7@ Reds4–6 (10)ErauttBarrett (1–1)—1,17648–83
133September 9@ Cardinals5–4Dickson (8–13)Pollet—13,52749–83
134September 10@ Cardinals5–6 (10)WilksBarrett (1–2)—49–84
135September 10@ Cardinals6–2Macdonald (8–7)Dusak—12,43650–84
136September 12@ Giants0–3JonesWerle (8–13)—4,11250–85
137September 13@ Giants1–3 (7)MaglieLaw (5–8)—11,68450–86
138September 14@ Giants7–1Dickson (9–13)Jansen—4,27251–86
139September 14@ Giants1–6HearnMacdonald (8–8)—51–87
140September 15@ Braves4–7SurkontQueen (5–14)—9,16851–88
141September 16@ Braves4–0 (12)Chambers (11–15)Bickford—4,60652–88
142September 17@ Phillies3–5MeyerWerle (8–14)Konstanty20,03152–89
143September 19@ Dodgers3–14NewcombeLaw (5–9)—52–90
144September 19@ Dodgers2–3PalicaDickson (9–14)—2,63752–91
145September 20@ Dodgers2–7ErskineMacdonald (8–9)—1,01152–92
146September 21@ Dodgers8–10PalicaWerle (8–15)—5,24152–93
147September 22Reds8–7 (10)Walsh (1–1)Smith—12,97953–93
148September 23Reds8–7Law (6–9)WehmeierWalsh (2)4,00954–93
149September 24Reds1–7BlackwellMacdonald (8–10)—54–94
150September 24Reds3–2Dickson (10–14)Raffensberger—25,23355–94
151September 27@ Cubs7–4Law (7–9)Dubiel—4,78356–94
152September 30@ Reds2–5FoxWerle (8–16)—1,71956–95 :
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
153October 1@ Reds2–3ErauttDickson (10–15)—56–96
154October 1@ Reds3–1Chambers (12–15)Byerly—8,39057–96 :
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 McCullough | 103 | 279 | 71 | .254 | 6 | 34 |
| 1B | Johnny Hopp | 106 | 318 | 108 | .340 | 8 | 47 |
| 2B | Danny Murtaugh | 118 | 367 | 108 | .294 | 2 | 37 |
| SS | Danny O'Connell | 79 | 315 | 92 | .292 | 8 | 32 |
| 3B | Bob Dillinger | 58 | 222 | 64 | .288 | 1 | 9 |
| OF | Gus Bell | 111 | 422 | 119 | .282 | 8 | 53 |
| OF | Ralph Kiner | 150 | 547 | 149 | .272 | 47 | 118 |
| OF | Wally Westlake | 139 | 477 | 136 | .285 | 24 | 95 |

#### 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 |
| Pete Castiglione | 94 | 263 | 67 | .255 | 3 | 22 |
| Stan Rojek | 76 | 230 | 59 | .257 | 0 | 17 |
| Jack Phillips | 69 | 208 | 61 | .293 | 5 | 34 |
| Nanny Fernandez | 65 | 198 | 51 | .258 | 6 | 27 |
| Tom Saffell | 67 | 182 | 37 | .203 | 2 | 6 |
| Ted Beard | 61 | 177 | 41 | .232 | 4 | 12 |
| Ray Mueller | 67 | 156 | 42 | .269 | 6 | 24 |
| Johnny Berardino | 40 | 131 | 27 | .206 | 1 | 12 |
| Dale Coogan | 53 | 129 | 31 | .240 | 1 | 13 |
| Hank Schenz | 58 | 101 | 23 | .228 | 1 | 5 |
| Earl Turner | 40 | 74 | 18 | .243 | 3 | 5 |
| Ed Stevens | 17 | 46 | 9 | .196 | 0 | 3 |
| George Strickland | 23 | 27 | 3 | .111 | 0 | 2 |
| Marv Rickert | 17 | 20 | 3 | .150 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Fitz Gerald | 6 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 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 |
| Cliff Chambers | 37 | 249.1 | 12 | 15 | 4.30 | 93 |
| Bob Chesnes | 9 | 49.0 | 3 | 3 | 5.54 | 12 |

#### 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 | 51 | 225.0 | 10 | 15 | 3.80 | 76 |
| Bill Werle | 48 | 215.1 | 8 | 16 | 4.60 | 78 |
| Bill Macdonald | 32 | 153.0 | 8 | 10 | 4.29 | 60 |
| Vern Law | 27 | 128.0 | 7 | 9 | 4.92 | 57 |
| Mel Queen | 33 | 120.1 | 5 | 14 | 5.98 | 76 |
| Bill Pierro | 12 | 29.0 | 0 | 2 | 10.55 | 13 |
| Hank Borowy | 11 | 25.1 | 1 | 3 | 6.39 | 9 |
| Hal Gregg | 5 | 5.1 | 0 | 1 | 13.50 | 3 |
| Frank Papish | 4 | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 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 |
| Vic Lombardi | 39 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6.60 | 26 |
| Junior Walsh | 38 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5.05 | 33 |
| Woody Main | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.87 | 12 |
| Frank Barrett | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.15 | 0 |
| Windy McCall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.45 | 5 |
| Jack Phillips | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 2 |
| Harry Gumbert | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Al López |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Hugh Luby and Bill Burwell |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Pinky May |
| A | Charleston Rebels | Sally League | Rip Sewell |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Buddy Hancken |
| B | York White Roses | Interstate League | Frank Oceak |
| C | Modesto Reds | California League | Marc Carrola |
| C | Hutchinson Elks | Western Association | Wes Griffin |
| D | Greenville Pirates | Alabama State League | Mickey O'Neil |
| D | Tallahassee Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Walt Tauscher |
| D | Bartlesville Pirates | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Tedd Gullic |
| D | Mayfield Clothiers | KITTY League | Jerry Gardner |
| D | Salisbury Pirates | North Carolina State League | George Detore |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Modesto, Hutchinson, Tallahassee, Mayfield