# 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 58th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 53rd in the National League. The Pirates finished sixth in the league standings with a record of 68–85.

## Offseason

* December 16, 1938: Johnny Dickshot, Al Todd and cash were traded by the Pirates to the Boston Bees for Ray Mueller.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 97 | 57 | .630 | — | 55‍–‍25 | 42‍–‍32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 92 | 61 | .601 | 4½ | 51‍–‍27 | 41‍–‍34 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 84 | 69 | .549 | 12½ | 51‍–‍27 | 33‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | .545 | 13 | 44‍–‍34 | 40‍–‍36 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 74 | .510 | 18½ | 41‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 85 | .444 | 28½ | 35‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍43 |
| Boston Bees | 63 | 88 | .417 | 32½ | 37‍–‍35 | 26‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 45 | 106 | .298 | 50½ | 29‍–‍44 | 16‍–‍62 |

### Record vs. opponents

1939 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 10–11 | 13–8 | 9–12 | 9–13 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 11–11–2 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 17–4–1 | 13–9 | 9–13 |
| Chicago | 16–6 | 11–11–2 | — | 10–12 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 10–12 |
| Cincinnati | 16–6 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 11–11 | 19–3 | 16–6 | 11–11–2 |
| New York | 11–10 | 10–12 | 11–11 | 11–11 | — | 14–7 | 11–11 | 9–12 |
| Philadelphia | 8–13 | 4–17–1 | 10–12 | 3–19 | 7–14 | — | 8–14 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–9 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 14–8 | — | 8–14 |
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 13–9 | 12–10 | 11–11–2 | 12–9 | 17–5 | 14–8 | — |

### Game log

1939 Game Log: 68–85 (Home: 35–42; Away: 33–43) :
April: 1–8 (Home: 0–2; Away: 1–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 17@ Reds7–5Blanton (1–0)WaltersBrown (1)30,6441–0
2April 18Cardinals2–3WeilandKlinger (0–1)Shoun15,7831–1
3April 22@ Reds2–4DerringerBlanton (1–1)——1–2
4April 23@ Reds2–7WaltersKlinger (0–2)—23,3391–3
5April 24@ Cubs2–6WhitehillTobin (0–1)Russell15,8441–4
6April 25@ Cubs3–5LeeSewell (0–1)—9,9131–5
7April 26@ Cubs1–3LillardBlanton (1–2)—9,5161–6
8April 27@ Cardinals5–6 (11)McGeeBrown (0–1)—1,9941–7
9April 29Reds3–5WaltersTobin (0–2)—5,9131–8 :
May: 18–10 (Home: 8–6; Away: 10–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
10May 1Reds2–1Sewell (1–1)Moore—2,7242–8
11May 2@ Dodgers3–2Klinger (1–2)Fitzsimmons—9,2693–8
12May 4@ Phillies6–4Bauers (1–0)Butcher—3,5004–8
13May 5@ Phillies10–7Sewell (2–1)HollingsworthBrown (2)2,0005–8
14May 6@ Phillies0–1PasseauBrown (0–2)—7,0005–9
15May 7@ Bees9–2Klinger (2–2)Posedel—21,3366–9
16May 8@ Bees3–2Tobin (1–2)Frankhouse—2,3037–9
17May 10@ Giants5–0Sewell (3–1)Gumbert—6,0308–9
18May 11@ Giants1–4MeltonBowman (0–1)—4,0418–10
19May 13Cubs2–6LeeKlinger (2–3)—6,9488–11
20May 14Cubs5–2Tobin (2–2)Lillard—15,3979–11
21May 15Cubs2–6FrenchSewell (3–2)—3,9419–12
22May 16Phillies8–5Bowman (1–1)Passeau—1,82310–12
23May 17Phillies3–7MulcahyKlinger (2–4)—2,07510–13
24May 18Phillies5–4 (10)Tobin (3–2)Hollingsworth—2,18311–13
25May 19Bees2–5ErricksonSewell (3–3)—2,67211–14
26May 20Bees12–6Bowman (2–1)EarleyBrown (3)4,64312–14
27May 21Giants4–1Klinger (3–4)Hubbell—20,97613–14
28May 22Giants2–9SchumacherTobin (3–3)—2,88613–15
29May 23Giants13–4Sewell (4–3)Melton—3,82314–15
30May 24Dodgers6–3Bowman (3–1)Tamulis—2,49015–15
31May 25Dodgers2–8PressnellKlinger (3–5)—5,60015–16
32May 26@ Cubs14–5Tobin (4–3)LeeBrown (4)5,98216–16
33May 27@ Cubs9–1Sewell (5–3)Higbe—8,03517–16
34May 28@ Cubs2–6DeanBowman (3–2)—26,51117–17
35May 29@ Cardinals7–0Klinger (4–5)Weiland—1,73618–17
36May 30@ Cardinals2–7WarnekeTobin (4–4)——18–18
37May 30@ Cardinals14–8Swift (1–0)Davis—14,17819–18 :
June: 8–13 (Home: 4–4; Away: 4–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
38June 1@ Phillies5–2Sewell (6–3)Higbe——20–18
39June 3@ Phillies10–7Brown (1–2)HollingsworthSwift (1)2,00021–18
40June 4@ Dodgers7–3Tobin (5–4)Hamlin——22–18
41June 4@ Dodgers1–14CaseyKlinger (4–6)—24,25722–19
42June 5@ Dodgers2–6TamulisSewell (6–4)—6,68022–20
43June 6@ Dodgers2–5FitzsimmonsBowman (3–3)—6,90722–21
44June 7@ Bees2–0Swift (2–0)MacFayden—2,79523–21
45June 8@ Bees0–2FetteTobin (5–5)—1,89423–22
46June 9@ Bees1–4PosedelKlinger (4–7)—2,06223–23
47June 10@ Giants2–6SchumacherSewell (6–5)—6,81523–24
48June 11@ Giants3–7GumbertBowman (3–4)——23–25
49June 11@ Giants4–5MeltonKlinger (4–8)Coffman34,74923–26
50June 15Bees5–6 (11)LanningTobin (5–6)—2,90023–27
51June 16Bees4–2Klinger (5–8)PosedelBrown (5)2,49124–27
52June 17Phillies2–11JohnsonSewell (6–6)—3,74124–28
53June 21Giants4–6MeltonTobin (5–7)Hubbell5,19424–29
54June 22Giants8–7Bowman (4–4)Coffman—3,86925–29
55June 23Dodgers2–1Bauers (2–0)Hamlin—2,41926–29
56June 24Dodgers6–2Tobin (6–7)Pressnell—5,58227–29
57June 25Dodgers5–6HamlinKlinger (5–9)Fitzsimmons14,54327–30
58June 27@ Reds0–6DerringerBauers (2–1)—5,18127–31 :
July: 19–11 (Home: 8–6; Away: 11–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
59July 1@ Cardinals4–3Brown (2–2)Davis—2,33628–31
60July 2@ Cardinals8–5Klinger (6–9)WeilandBauers (1)—29–31
61July 2@ Cardinals6–3Tobin (7–7)Warneke—10,44930–31
62July 4Reds4–7GrissomSwift (2–1)——30–32
63July 4Reds4–3Brown (3–2)Vander Meer—41,93731–32
64July 5Cubs10–1Bowman (5–4)Root—2,20132–32
65July 6Cubs7–2Klinger (7–9)Dean—6,25733–32
66July 7Cubs4–5 (11)LeeBauers (2–2)—4,43833–33
67July 9Cardinals3–7CooperBrown (3–3)——33–34
68July 9Cardinals8–6Tobin (8–7)Weiland—29,00034–34
69July 12@ Dodgers3–0Brown (4–3)Wyatt—29,48135–34
70July 14@ Dodgers4–14HamlinBowman (5–5)—20,73535–35
71July 15@ Dodgers2–6FitzsimmonsTobin (8–8)—6,81435–36
72July 16@ Phillies2–3MulcahyBrown (4–4)——35–37
73July 16@ Phillies7–3Klinger (8–9)ButcherSwift (2)12,95836–37
74July 17@ Phillies7–4Bowman (6–5)Harrell—2,50037–37
75July 18@ Phillies3–8JohnsonSwift (2–2)—6,00037–38
76July 19@ Giants10–3Brown (5–4)Lohrman—3,33138–38
77July 20@ Giants8–4Klinger (9–9)GumbertBowman (1)4,31039–38
78July 21@ Giants4–3Sewell (7–6)MeltonSwift (3)5,35540–38
79July 22@ Bees9–3Swift (3–2)MacFayden—2,58341–38
80July 23@ Bees3–2Brown (6–4)ShoffnerSewell (1)—42–38
81July 23@ Bees0–1FetteKlinger (9–10)—15,55842–39
82July 25Phillies5–4 (10)Klinger (10–10)Pearson—2,53943–39
83July 26Phillies3–1Swift (4–2)HigbeBrown (6)—44–39
84July 26Phillies5–3Bowman (7–5)Beck—10,61145–39
85July 27Phillies8–9HarrellSewell (7–7)Higbe2,61045–40
86July 28Bees1–7TurnerBrown (6–5)—3,13745–41
87July 29Bees6–5Bowman (8–5)ShoffnerBrown (7)4,96246–41
88July 30Bees5–7PosedelSwift (4–3)Sullivan27,09946–42 :
August: 8–22 (Home: 4–10; Away: 4–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
89August 1Dodgers3–5FitzsimmonsBrown (6–6)Tamulis3,39246–43
90August 2Dodgers6–0Bowman (9–5)Hamlin—3,24047–43
91August 3Dodgers1–4PressnellButcher (0–1)—3,11247–44
92August 4Giants3–2 (11)Sewell (8–7)Melton—3,47748–44
93August 5Giants3–4HubbellBrown (6–7)—8,93248–45
94August 6Giants5–9SchumacherBowman (9–6)Melton—48–46
95August 6Giants6–0 (8)Klinger (11–10)Salvo—37,66549–46
96August 9@ Cardinals3–5SunkelBauers (2–3)Shoun3,33449–47
97August 11@ Cubs2–3LeeSewell (8–8)—7,29649–48
98August 12@ Cubs4–6BryantSwift (4–4)Passeau9,22349–49
99August 13@ Cubs4–5DeanKlinger (11–11)—25,18049–50
100August 14@ Reds8–9ThompsonBrown (6–8)—23,04449–51
101August 15@ Reds5–6NiggelingBowman (9–7)—7,94149–52
102August 16Cardinals3–4BowmanKlinger (11–12)Shoun—49–53
103August 16Cardinals0–3McGeeButcher (0–2)—7,85549–54
104August 17Cardinals2–4DavisBrown (6–9)—2,73749–55
105August 18Cardinals0–3BowmanBauers (2–4)—2,58649–56
106August 19Cubs0–5LeeTobin (8–9)—3,12649–57
107August 20Cubs5–9PasseauKlinger (11–13)——49–58
108August 20Cubs5–0 (6)Butcher (1–2)Whitehill—13,07650–58
109August 22@ Bees8–2Bowman (10–7)FetteSwift (4)1,76751–58
110August 23@ Bees0–1PosedelBrown (6–10)—4,69151–59
111August 23@ Bees1–3MacFaydenHeintzelman (0–1)—4,69151–60
112August 24@ Giants4–3Butcher (2–2)Salvo—4,34152–60
113August 26@ Giants2–6SchumacherKlinger (11–14)Brown—52–61
114August 26@ Giants0–8MeltonBowman (10–8)—10,75652–62
115August 27@ Dodgers2–3FitzsimmonsBrown (6–11)Tamulis—52–63
116August 27@ Dodgers9–5Blanton (2–2)Hollingsworth—20,11953–63
117August 31@ Phillies1–0Butcher (3–2)Higbe——54–63
118August 31@ Phillies6–11BeckKlinger (11–15)—8,00054–64 :
September: 13–20 (Home: 10–13; Away: 3–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
119September 2@ Cardinals11–3Brown (7–11)Bowman—2,63655–64
120September 3@ Cardinals6–14DavisBowman (10–9)Shoun—55–65
121September 3@ Cardinals0–3WeilandBlanton (2–3)—11,06655–66
122September 4@ Cubs2–1Butcher (4–2)Dean——56–66
123September 4@ Cubs6–3Klinger (12–15)Page—32,97457–66
124September 6Reds5–4 (11)Swift (5–4)Johnson——58–66
125September 6Reds3–4 (10)DerringerBowman (10–10)—7,54858–67
126September 7Reds8–7 (11)Sewell (9–8)Johnson—2,48459–67
127September 8Reds2–5WaltersButcher (4–3)—4,47959–68
128September 9Cardinals2–12WeilandBrown (7–12)—3,81759–69
129September 10Cardinals3–9DavisKlinger (12–16)——59–70
130September 10Cardinals4–11BowmanBowman (10–11)—12,58859–71
131September 11Cardinals8–6Tobin (9–9)Andrews—1,13460–71
132September 13Giants0–2GumbertSwift (5–5)——60–72
133September 13Giants7–4Klinger (13–16)MeltonSewell (2)3,42661–72
134September 14Dodgers4–3Brown (8–12)Tamulis——62–72
135September 14Dodgers4–8CrouchSwigart (0–1)—3,63762–73
136September 15Dodgers2–4 (10)HutchinsonButcher (4–4)—1,54862–74
137September 16Dodgers2–3FitzsimmonsBowman (10–12)Tamulis2,45762–75
138September 17Phillies3–7JohnsonGee (0–1)——62–76
139September 17Phillies10–1Klinger (14–16)Pearson—8,00863–76
140September 18Phillies7–4Brown (9–12)Bruner—68864–76
141September 19Bees5–3Sewell (10–8)Turner—70265–76
142September 21Bees6–4Gee (1–1)Veigel—1,98066–76
143September 21Bees7–0Swigart (1–1)Posedel—1,98067–76
144September 22@ Reds0–6ThompsonBrown (9–13)——67–77
145September 22@ Reds9–10ShoffnerKlinger (14–17)—5,84167–78
146September 23@ Reds5–6WaltersSwift (5–6)——67–79
147September 23@ Reds1–6GrissomBowman (10–13)—20,95167–80
148September 24@ Reds2–11DerringerGee (1–2)—19,92967–81
149September 27Cubs8–9 (10)FrenchSewell (10–9)——67–82
150September 27Cubs5–9 (10)RussellSwift (5–7)Whitehill1,48367–83
151September 29Reds1–2GrissomBowman (10–14)—1,47767–84 :
October: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
152October 1Reds1–9ThompsonClemensen (0–1)——67–85
153October 1Reds8–0Heintzelman (1–1)Moore—3,85968–85 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss 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 | Ray Berres | 81 | 231 | 53 | .229 | 0 | 16 |
| 1B | Elbie Fletcher | 102 | 370 | 112 | .303 | 12 | 71 |
| 2B | Pep Young | 84 | 293 | 81 | .276 | 3 | 29 |
| SS | Arky Vaughn | 152 | 595 | 182 | .306 | 6 | 62 |
| 3B | Lee Handley | 101 | 376 | 107 | .285 | 1 | 42 |
| OF | Johnny Rizzo | 94 | 330 | 86 | .261 | 6 | 55 |
| OF | Lloyd Waner | 112 | 379 | 108 | .285 | 0 | 24 |
| OF | Paul Waner | 125 | 461 | 151 | .328 | 3 | 45 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Brubaker | 100 | 345 | 80 | .232 | 7 | 43 |
| Chuck Klein | 85 | 270 | 81 | .300 | 11 | 47 |
| Fern Bell | 83 | 262 | 75 | .286 | 2 | 34 |
| Gus Suhr | 63 | 204 | 59 | .289 | 1 | 31 |
| Ray Mueller | 86 | 180 | 42 | .233 | 2 | 18 |
| Bob Elliott | 32 | 129 | 43 | .333 | 3 | 19 |
| Maurice Van Robays | 27 | 105 | 33 | .314 | 2 | 16 |
| George Susce | 31 | 75 | 17 | .227 | 1 | 4 |
| Frankie Gustine | 22 | 70 | 13 | .186 | 0 | 3 |
| Red Juelich | 17 | 46 | 11 | .239 | 0 | 4 |
| Joe Schultz Jr. | 4 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 2 |
| Heinie Manush | 10 | 12 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Woody Jensen | 12 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Eddie Yount | 2 | 2 | 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 Klinger | 37 | 225.0 | 14 | 17 | 4.36 | 64 |
| Joe Bowman | 37 | 184.2 | 10 | 14 | 4.48 | 58 |
| Jim Tobin | 25 | 145.1 | 9 | 9 | 4.52 | 43 |
| Max Butcher | 14 | 86.2 | 4 | 4 | 3.43 | 21 |
| Oad Swigart | 3 | 24.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.44 | 8 |
| Johnny Gee | 3 | 19.2 | 1 | 2 | 4.12 | 16 |

#### 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 |
| Mace Brown | 47 | 200.1 | 9 | 13 | 3.37 | 71 |
| Rip Sewell | 52 | 176.1 | 10 | 9 | 4.08 | 69 |
| Bill Swift | 36 | 129.2 | 5 | 7 | 3.89 | 56 |
| Russ Bauers | 15 | 53.2 | 2 | 4 | 3.35 | 12 |
| Cy Blanton | 10 | 42.0 | 2 | 3 | 4.29 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Heintzelman | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.05 | 18 |
| Bill Clemensen | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.33 | 13 |
| Pep Rambert | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.82 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| A1 | Knoxville Smokies | Southern Association | Neil Caldwell |
| B | Gadsden Pilots | Southeastern League | Yam Yaryan |
| C | Hutchinson Pirates | Western Association | Jimmy Jordan |
| D | Carthage Pirates | Arkansas–Missouri League | Buzz Arlitt |
| D | Valdosta Trojans | Georgia–Florida League | Bill Morrell |
| D | McKeesport Little Pirates | Pennsylvania State Association | Leo Mackey and Joe Agee |
| D | Jamestown Jaguars | PONY League | Mickey LaLange |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Carthage