# 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 75th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, the 70th in the National League. The Pirates finished seventh in the league standings with a record of 66–88.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 93 | 61 | .604 | — | 52‍–‍25 | 41‍–‍36 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | 1 | 47‍–‍29 | 45‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Redlegs | 91 | 63 | .591 | 2 | 51‍–‍26 | 40‍–‍37 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 17 | 43‍–‍34 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 83 | .461 | 22 | 40‍–‍37 | 31‍–‍46 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | .435 | 26 | 37‍–‍40 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 66 | 88 | .429 | 27 | 35‍–‍43 | 31‍–‍45 |
| Chicago Cubs | 60 | 94 | .390 | 33 | 39‍–‍38 | 21‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1956 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BR | CHC | CIN | MIL | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Brooklyn | — | 16–6 | 11–11 | 10–12 | 14–8 | 13–9 | 13–9 | 16–6 |
| Chicago | 6–16 | — | 6–16–1 | 9–13 | 7–15 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 9–13–1 |
| Cincinnati | 11–11 | 16–6–1 | — | 9–13 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 17–5 | 13–9 |
| Milwaukee | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 | — | 17–5 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | 13–9 |
| New York | 8–14 | 15–7 | 8–14 | 5–17 | — | 11–11 | 13–9 | 7–15 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13 | 9–13 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 11–11 | — | 7–15 | 12–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–13 | 12–10–1 | 5–17 | 8–14–1 | 9–13 | 15–7 | — | 8–14–1 |
| St. Louis | 6–16 | 13–9–1 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 14–8–1 | — |

### Game log

1956 Game Log: 66–88 (Home: 35–43; Away: 31–45) :
April: 5–6 (Home: 1–2; Away: 4–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 17@ Giants3–4AntonelliFriend (0–1)—12,7900–1
2April 18@ Giants4–5McCallLaw (0–1)—2,4930–2
3April 19@ Giants3–2Kline (1–0)Worthington—1,9221–2
4April 20Dodgers0–5CraigHall (0–1)—23,3571–3
5April 21Dodgers3–1Friend (1–1)Lehman—8,6032–3
6April 22Dodgers1–4 (6)NewcombeLaw (0–2)—15,2642–4
7April 25@ Phillies6–5Law (1–2)OwensKing (1)5,3473–4
8April 27@ Dodgers2–7CraigKline (1–1)—7,0563–5
9April 28@ Dodgers2–5NewcombeHall (0–2)—7,8063–6
10April 29@ Dodgers10–1Friend (2–1)Drysdale—4–6
11April 29@ Dodgers11–3King (1–0)Loes—22,6095–6 :
May: 16–10 (Home: 11–6; Away: 5–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
12May 1@ Cardinals4–2Face (1–0)MizellLaw (1)6,3316–6
13May 2@ Cardinals9–10 (10)CollumMunger (0–1)—6,3826–7
14May 3@ Redlegs5–1Friend (3–1)Nuxhall—2,5617–7
15May 4@ Redlegs3–4FowlerHall (0–3)—6,4387–8
16May 5@ Redlegs6–7 (10)LaPalmeKing (1–1)—4,4817–9
17May 6@ Cubs2–1Kline (2–1)Minner—8–9
18May 6@ Cubs6–6 (7)—11,4268–9
19May 8@ Braves0–5SpahnFriend (3–2)—18,4668–10
20May 11Phillies6–5Arroyo (1–0)Meyer—17,6059–10
21May 12Phillies6–5Friend (4–2)RobertsKing (2)20,11510–10
22May 13Phillies11–9Face (2–0)MeyerLaw (2)11–10
23May 13Phillies2–7RogovinHall (0–4)Roberts20,43511–11
24May 16Redlegs9–2Friend (5–2)Nuxhall—3,05312–11
25May 17Cubs1–4MeyerKline (2–2)Lown6,62712–12
26May 18Cubs2–3LownFace (2–1)—10,38212–13
27May 19Cubs7–4King (2–1)JonesFace (1)6,86313–13
28May 20Braves6–3Friend (6–2)Crone—14–13
29May 20Braves5–0Kline (3–2)Spahn—32,34615–13
30May 22Cardinals3–6WehmeierLaw (1–3)Collum19,31615–14
31May 23Cardinals6–0Friend (7–2)Schmidt—19,91716–14
32May 25@ Phillies8–5King (3–1)SimmonsMunger (1)10,40717–14
33May 26@ Phillies6–2Law (2–3)Miller—4,61418–14
34May 28Dodgers3–2Friend (8–2)Erskine—32,22119–14
35May 29Dodgers1–10NewcombeKline (3–3)—11,93519–15
36May 30Giants5–4 (10)Face (3–1)McCall—20–15
37May 30Giants3–5 (15)AntonelliLaw (2–4)—27,68020–16
38May 31Giants3–0 (8)Kline (4–3)Hearn—15,12321–16 :
June: 11–17 (Home: 4–12; Away: 7–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
39June 1@ Braves4–1Friend (9–2)SpahnKing (3)24,52822–16
40June 2@ Braves4–2Munger (1–1)ConleyKline (1)27,65023–16
41June 3@ Braves3–1Face (4–1)CroneKing (4)24–16
42June 3@ Braves3–4BuhlLaw (2–5)—34,91524–17
43June 5@ Cubs3–7HackerFriend (9–3)—7,84724–18
44June 6@ Cubs8–2Kline (5–3)Minner—7,54525–18
45June 7@ Cubs2–5RushFace (4–2)—4,53525–19
46June 8@ Cardinals2–0 (11)Friend (10–3)Dickson—20,07926–19
47June 9@ Cardinals3–8MizellLaw (2–6)Konstanty12,14926–20
48June 10@ Cardinals11–3Arroyo (2–0)Schmidt—27–20
49June 10@ Cardinals0–3WehmeierKline (5–4)—28,12927–21
50June 12@ Redlegs4–3Face (5–2)NuxhallKing (5)15,91928–21
51June 15Cardinals12–1Kline (6–4)Mizell—26,27629–21
52June 16Cardinals2–0 (7)Friend (11–3)Wehmeier—14,55030–21
53June 17Cardinals1–3PoholskyLaw (2–7)—30–22
54June 17Cardinals3–8SchmidtArroyo (2–1)Konstanty30,12730–23
55June 18Braves2–3SpahnKline (6–5)—16,73530–24
56June 19Braves3–5BurdetteFriend (11–4)Sleater23,74330–25
57June 20Braves3–7ConleyLaw (2–8)—19,77530–26
58June 21Braves2–7BuhlKline (6–6)—8,29230–27
59June 23Cubs5–9 (10)DavisFace (5–3)—7,80930–28
60June 24Cubs3–5ValentinettiFace (5–4)—30–29
61June 24Cubs1–0 (6)Pepper (1–0)JonesArroyo (1)17,06631–29
62June 25Redlegs1–2FowlerKline (6–7)—17,00731–30
63June 27Redlegs2–10LawrenceFriend (11–5)Freeman24,35331–31
64June 28Redlegs3–4AckerArroyo (2–2)Fowler9,91531–32
65June 29Giants6–3Law (3–8)HearnFace (2)18,79732–32
66June 30Giants4–6GomezKline (6–8)Wilhelm8,11132–33 :
July: 11–20 (Home: 5–9; Away: 6–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
67July 1Giants2–3AntonelliFriend (11–6)Grissom32–34
68July 1Giants6–7McCallArroyo (2–3)Grissom23,45932–35
69July 3Phillies6–5O'Brien (1–0)Meyer—5,80433–35
70July 4Phillies2–4HaddixKline (6–9)—33–36
71July 4Phillies8–4Face (6–4)Miller—16,07634–36
72July 7@ Giants2–3AntonelliFriend (11–7)Wilhelm7,15134–37
73July 8@ Giants1–11GomezLaw (3–9)—34–38
74July 8@ Giants5–2Kline (7–9)WorthingtonFace (3)15,40635–38
75July 12@ Cubs2–1Kline (8–9)Kaiser—36–38
76July 12@ Cubs5–4Face (7–4)Jones—10,07737–38
77July 13@ Cubs6–7LownFriend (11–8)—6,95837–39
78July 14@ Cubs2–6RushLaw (3–10)—37–40
79July 14@ Cubs5–6 (10)LownFace (7–5)—17,19537–41
80July 15@ Braves2–3SpahnLaw (3–11)—37–42
81July 15@ Braves1–4PhillipsNaranjo (0–1)—35,63137–43
82July 16@ Braves1–2BuhlKline (8–10)—20,12437–44
83July 17@ Cardinals4–2 (10)Friend (12–8)WehmeierFace (4)12,18238–44
84July 18@ Cardinals1–1—15,19538–44
85July 20@ Redlegs4–6 (12)KlippsteinWaters (0–1)—19,34238–45
86July 21@ Redlegs4–3Face (8–5)Lawrence—8,85939–45
87July 22@ Redlegs8–6Munger (2–1)Freeman—40–45
88July 22@ Redlegs2–9NuxhallPollet (0–1)Acker28,50540–46
89July 23@ Redlegs3–4LawrenceFace (8–6)Freeman11,31840–47
90July 24Cubs6–2Kline (9–10)Rush—12,86141–47
91July 25Cubs9–8King (4–1)Brosnan—12,86142–47
92July 26Cubs4–0Waters (1–1)JonesPollet (1)7,12143–47
93July 27Redlegs2–3FowlerFace (8–7)—31,49443–48
94July 28Redlegs3–8KlippsteinPollet (0–2)—10,16643–49
95July 29Redlegs1–6LawrenceFriend (12–9)—43–50
96July 29Redlegs2–3FreemanLaw (3–12)—30,42943–51
97July 30Redlegs2–4FreemanPepper (1–1)—11,25643–52
98July 31Cardinals0–7DicksonMunger (2–2)—10,96543–53 :
August: 12–20 (Home: 6–7; Away: 6–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
99August 1Cardinals1–4SchmidtKline (9–11)—8,59243–54
100August 2Cardinals5–7WehmeierFriend (12–10)Jackson5,74543–55
101August 3Braves4–3Law (4–12)Spahn—17,47944–55
102August 4Braves3–7TrowbridgePollet (0–3)—7,49444–56
103August 5Braves1–5ConleyKline (9–12)Johnson44–57
104August 5Braves0–5 (5)BurdetteFriend (12–11)—18,00444–58
105August 7@ Dodgers0–3NewcombeLaw (4–13)—17,50444–59
106August 8Dodgers8–5Munger (3–2)CraigKline (2)18,61245–59
107August 9Dodgers3–7RoebuckHall (0–5)—7,48645–60
108August 10Giants3–2Friend (13–11)Littlefield—8,23446–60
109August 11Giants2–4AntonelliKline (9–13)Hearn5,65546–61
110August 12Giants3–2Law (5–13)Gomez—47–61
111August 12Giants11–3Waters (2–1)McCall—9,55248–61
112August 14@ Phillies0–3HaddixFriend (13–12)—48–62
113August 14@ Phillies2–11SimmonsMunger (3–3)—32,87348–63
114August 15@ Phillies5–1Kline (10–13)Meyer—12,33749–63
115August 16@ Phillies4–1Law (6–13)Roberts—7,07050–63
116August 17@ Giants3–5MargoneriMunger (3–4)McCall5,99850–64
117August 18@ Giants9–1Friend (14–12)Gomez—4,95551–64
118August 19@ Giants6–7WilhelmHall (0–6)—51–65
119August 19@ Giants2–3AntonelliKline (10–14)McCall8,58751–66
120August 21@ Redlegs4–7FreemanPollet (0–4)—8,26751–67
121August 22@ Redlegs3–6NuxhallFriend (14–13)Jeffcoat8,07651–68
122August 23@ Cardinals0–3MizellKline (10–15)—51–69
123August 23@ Cardinals2–3CollumFace (8–8)—11,93551–70
124August 24@ Cardinals2–6DicksonWaters (2–2)—9,31751–71
125August 25@ Cardinals5–8BlaylockLaw (6–14)Jackson8,97651–72
126August 26@ Cubs2–0Friend (15–13)Rush—10,63152–72
127August 26@ Cubs2–1Kline (11–15)JonesFriend (1)10,63153–72
128August 28@ Braves5–4Face (9–8)Trowbridge—25,77854–72
129August 29@ Braves1–4BurdetteFace (9–9)—24,86154–73
130August 30@ Braves1–1 (9)—17,78354–73
131August 31Phillies6–3Kline (12–15)HamnerPollet (2)11,14755–73 :
September: 11–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 3–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
132September 1Phillies2–3RogovinHall (0–7)—5,07155–74
133September 2Phillies10–6Law (7–14)Simmons—56–74
134September 2Phillies5–1Naranjo (1–1)Roberts—12,47057–74
135September 3@ Dodgers3–4BessentFriend (15–14)—57–75
136September 3@ Dodgers3–2Face (10–9)DrysdaleFriend (2)29,04558–75
137September 5@ Dodgers3–4MaglieKline (12–16)Bessent10,33258–76
138September 7@ Phillies2–5RobertsFriend (15–15)—7,83558–77
139September 8@ Phillies5–4Face (11–9)FlowersHall (1)4,80659–77
140September 9@ Phillies4–1 (10)Kline (13–16)MillerFace (5)60–77
141September 9@ Phillies5–6 (10)RobertsNaranjo (1–2)—11,10460–78
142September 11Cubs4–3Face (12–9)Lown—3,98761–78
143September 12Cubs0–3JonesLaw (7–15)—3,68961–79
144September 13Redlegs4–5NuxhallFace (12–10)Freeman8,76561–80
145September 15Redlegs4–6LawrenceFriend (15–16)Freeman2,65461–81
146September 16Cardinals2–3 (10)DicksonFace (12–11)—61–82
147September 16Cardinals9–3Law (8–15)Wehmeier—8,74262–82
148September 18Braves4–6SleaterFace (12–12)Spahn9,78662–83
149September 20Braves2–1 (10)Friend (16–16)Crone—1,69163–83
150September 21Dodgers2–1Kline (14–16)Maglie—10,87264–83
151September 22Dodgers5–1Arroyo (3–3)ErskineFriend (3)6,45265–83
152September 23Dodgers3–8NewcombeFace (12–13)Labine44,93265–84
153September 24Dodgers6–5Friend (17–16)Craig—17,25266–84
154September 25@ Giants0–10AntonelliKline (14–17)Surkont1,27566–85
155September 29@ Dodgers2–6MaglieFriend (17–17)—26,34066–86
156September 29@ Dodgers1–3LabineKline (14–18)—26,34066–87
157September 30@ Dodgers6–8NewcombeLaw (8–16)Bessent31,98366–88 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* May 17, 1956: Dick Littlefield and Bobby Del Greco were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bill Virdon.
* May 28, 1956: Toby Atwell was traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Dick Rand to the Pirates on October 14.

### 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 | 100 | 256 | 62 | .242 | 7 | 30 |
| 1B | Dale Long | 148 | 517 | 136 | .263 | 27 | 91 |
| 2B | Bill Mazeroski | 81 | 255 | 62 | .243 | 3 | 14 |
| SS | Dick Groat | 142 | 520 | 142 | .273 | 0 | 37 |
| 3B | Frank Thomas | 157 | 588 | 166 | .282 | 25 | 80 |
| LF | Lee Walls | 143 | 474 | 130 | .274 | 11 | 54 |
| CF | Bill Virdon | 133 | 509 | 170 | .334 | 8 | 37 |
| RF | Roberto Clemente | 147 | 543 | 169 | .311 | 7 | 60 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Skinner | 113 | 233 | 47 | .202 | 5 | 29 |
| Hank Foiles | 79 | 222 | 47 | .212 | 7 | 25 |
| Gene Freese | 65 | 207 | 43 | .208 | 3 | 14 |
| Johnny O'Brien | 73 | 104 | 18 | .173 | 0 | 3 |
| Dick Cole | 72 | 99 | 21 | .212 | 0 | 9 |
| Danny Kravitz | 32 | 68 | 18 | .265 | 2 | 10 |
| Curt Roberts | 31 | 62 | 11 | .177 | 0 | 4 |
| Eddie O'Brien | 63 | 53 | 14 | .264 | 0 | 3 |
| Spook Jacobs | 11 | 37 | 6 | .162 | 0 | 1 |
| Preston Ward | 16 | 30 | 10 | .333 | 1 | 11 |
| John Powers | 11 | 21 | 1 | .048 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Del Greco | 14 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 2 | 3 |
| Jerry Lynch | 19 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 0 |
| Toby Atwell | 12 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 3 |
| Bill Hall | 1 | 3 | 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 Friend | 49 | 314.1 | 17 | 17 | 3.46 | 166 |
| Ron Kline | 44 | 264.0 | 14 | 18 | 3.38 | 125 |
| Vern Law | 39 | 195.2 | 8 | 16 | 4.32 | 60 |

#### 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 |
| Red Munger | 35 | 107.0 | 3 | 4 | 4.04 | 45 |
| Dick Hall | 19 | 62.1 | 0 | 7 | 4.76 | 27 |
| Fred Waters | 23 | 51.0 | 2 | 2 | 2.82 | 14 |
| Laurin Pepper | 11 | 30.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 12 |
| Dick Littlefield | 6 | 12.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.26 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Roy Face | 68 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 3.52 | 96 |
| Nellie King | 38 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3.15 | 25 |
| Howie Pollet | 19 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3.09 | 10 |
| Luis Arroyo | 18 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.71 | 17 |
| Cholly Naranjo | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.46 | 26 |
| Jack McMahan | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.08 | 9 |
| Red Swanson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.03 | 5 |
| Johnny O'Brien | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.84 | 9 |
| Lino Donoso | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Bob Purkey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 1 |
| Bob Garber | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 3 |
| Eddie O'Brien | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Max Surkont | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Open | Hollywood Stars | Pacific Coast League | Clay Hopper |
| AA | New Orleans Pelicans | Southern Association | Andy Cohen |
| A | Williamsport Grays | Eastern League | John Fitzpatrick |
| A | Lincoln Chiefs | Western League | Larry Shepard |
| B | Waco Pirates | Big State League | Monty Basgall |
| B | Kinston Eagles | Carolina League | Jack Paepke and Tex Taylor |
| C | Douglas Copper Kings | Arizona–Mexico League | Jerry Gardner |
| C | Grand Forks Chiefs | Northern League | Al Kubski |
| C | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Buck Elliott |
| D | Dublin Irish | Georgia State League | Robert Clark, Wilbur Caldwell and Wayne Wallace |
| D | Brunswick Pirates | Georgia–Florida League | Frank Oceak |
| D | Clinton Pirates | Midwest League | Stan Wentzel |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lincoln