1954 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1954 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania^[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Branch Rickey
Manager(s)	Fred Haney
Local television	none
Local radio	WWSW Rosey Rowswell, Bob Prince
< Previous season Next season >

The 1954 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 73rd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 68th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 53–101.

Offseason

December 1, 1953: Sonny Senerchia was drafted from the Pirates by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1953 minor league draft.^[2]

Regular season

During the season, Curt Roberts became the first black player in the history of the Pirates.^[3]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	97	57	0.630	—	53–23	44–34
Brooklyn Dodgers	92	62	0.597	5	45–32	47–30
Milwaukee Braves	89	65	0.578	8	43–34	46–31
Philadelphia Phillies	75	79	0.487	22	39–39	36–40
Cincinnati Redlegs	74	80	0.481	23	41–36	33–44
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	0.468	25	33–44	39–38
Chicago Cubs	64	90	0.416	33	40–37	24–53
Pittsburgh Pirates	53	101	0.344	44	31–46	22–55

Record vs. opponents

1954 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	15–7	16–6	10–12	9–13	13–9	15–7	14–8
Chicago	7–15	—	8–14	6–16	7–15	7–15	15–7	14–8
Cincinnati	6–16	14–8	—	10–12	7–15	14–8	15–7	8–14
Milwaukee	12–10	16–6	12–10	—	10–12	13–9	14–8	12–10
New York	13–9	15–7	15–7	12–10	—	16–6	14–8	12–10
Philadelphia	9–13	15–7	8–14	9–13	6–16	—	16–6	12–10
Pittsburgh	7–15	7–15	7–15	8–14	8–14	6–16	—	10–12
St. Louis	8–14	8–14	14–8	10–12	10–12	10–12	12–10	—

Game log

1954 Game Log: 53–101 (Home: 31–46; Away: 22–55)

April: 6–10 (Home: 4–4; Away: 2–6)

May: 8–23 (Home: 6–12; Away: 2–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
17	May 1	@ Cardinals	4–5 (10)	Lint	O'Donnell (1–1)	—	6,745	6–11
18	May 2	@ Cubs	3–5	Minner	Law (2–2)	—	17,472	6–12
19	May 2	@ Cubs	18–10 (8)	Friend (1–2)	Church	Hetki (4)	7,636	7–12
20	May 4	@ Braves	1–6	Spahn	Surkont (1–3)	—	12,383	7–13
21	May 5	@ Braves	1–4	Conley	Purkey (1–2)	—	13,194	7–14
22	May 6	@ Braves	0–3	Burdette	O'Donnell (1–2)	—	11,856	7–15
23	May 8	Giants	1–2	Antonelli	Law (2–3)	—	7,147	7–16
24	May 9	Giants	1–5	Maglie	Surkont (1–4)	—	4,577	7–17
25	May 12	Cardinals	5–13	Haddix	O'Donnell (1–3)	Brazle	1,559	7–18
26	May 13	Braves	2–4	Nichols	Purkey (1–3)	—	6,090	7–19
27	May 14	Braves	3–2 (10)	Surkont (2–4)	Spahn	—	8,225	8–19
28	May 15	Braves	6–1	Law (3–3)	Buhl	—	3,366	9–19
29	May 16	Cubs	3–12	Minner	Friend (1–3)	—	8,225	9–20
30	May 16	Cubs	5–1	Thies (1–0)	Willis	—	32,807	10–20
31	May 17	Cubs	6–10	Pollet	Purkey (1–4)	Davis	1,420	10–21
32	May 18	Redlegs	5–6	Collum	LaPalme (0–4)	Smith	5,696	10–22
33	May 19	Redlegs	3–2	Surkont (3–4)	Valentine	—	4,476	11–22
34	May 20	Cardinals	4–17	Poholsky	Purkey (1–5)	—	4,902	11–23
35	May 21	@ Dodgers	2–3	Labine	Law (3–4)	Hughes	7,202	11–24
36	May 22	@ Dodgers	1–3	Palica	Thies (1–1)	Hughes	7,061	11–25
37	May 23	@ Dodgers	4–5	Roe	Friend (1–4)	—	7,061	11–26
38	May 23	@ Dodgers	2–6	Loes	O'Donnell (1–4)	Milliken	18,409	11–27
39	May 24	@ Dodgers	5–2	Surkont (4–4)	Erskine	—	9,386	12–27
40	May 25	@ Giants	4–21	Antonelli	Purkey (1–6)	—	7,206	12–28
41	May 26	@ Giants	1–2	Gomez	Law (3–5)	—	2,849	12–29
42	May 28	Phillies	0–4 (6)	Dickson	Surkont (4–5)	—	5,521	12–30
43	May 29	Phillies	3–2	O'Donnell (2–4)	Ridzik	—	2,525	13–30
44	May 30	Phillies	0–8	Roberts	Littlefield (0–1)	—	2,525	13–31
45	May 30	Phillies	7–10	Drews	Friend (1–5)	Konstanty	9,651	13–32
46	May 31	Giants	0–4	Gomez	Yochim (0–1)	—		13–33
47	May 31	Giants	4–3	Law (4–5)	Wilhelm	—	10,506	14–33

June: 9–15 (Home: 5–8; Away: 4–7)

July: 10–21 (Home: 4–8; Away: 6–13)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
72	July 2	Giants	5–9	Wilhelm	Friend (3–6)	Maglie	9,603	23–49
73	July 3	Giants	6–4	Littlefield (3–3)	Hearn	O'Donnell (1)	3,488	24–49
74	July 4	Giants	2–9	Liddle	Surkont (6–10)	McCall	3,488	24–50
75	July 4	Giants	7–6	LaPalme (1–5)	Grissom	Hetki (6)	12,818	25–50
76	July 5	Dodgers	6–8	Wade	Law (6–10)	Hughes	9,603	25–51
77	July 5	Dodgers	2–7	Loes	Thies (1–3)	—	16,905	25–52
78	July 6	@ Phillies	0–3	Simmons	Friend (3–7)	—	3,967	25–53
79	July 9	@ Giants	3–6	Antonelli	LaPalme (1–6)	—	12,423	25–54
80	July 10	@ Giants	10–7	O'Donnell (3–7)	Wilhelm	—	9,744	26–54
81	July 11	@ Giants	7–13	Maglie	Law (6–11)	Grissom	9,744	26–55
82	July 11	@ Giants	5–1	Littlefield (4–3)	Hearn	—	21,504	27–55
83	July 15	@ Cubs	2–9	Minner	Surkont (6–11)	—	5,900	27–56
84	July 15	@ Cubs	0–3	Hacker	O'Donnell (3–8)	Tremel	10,855	27–57
85	July 16	@ Cubs	2–3	Rush	Hetki (2–1)	—	4,586	27–58
86	July 17	@ Cubs	3–11	Davis	Law (6–12)	Tremel	4,586	27–59
87	July 17	@ Cubs	6–2	Purkey (2–6)	Klippstein	O'Donnell (2)	10,842	28–59
88	July 18	@ Braves	1–4	Spahn	Littlefield (4–4)	Johnson	25,074	28–60
89	July 18	@ Braves	7–5	Friend (4–7)	Nichols	—	29,371	29–60
90	July 19	@ Braves	1–4	Wilson	Surkont (6–12)	—	23,281	29–61
91	July 21	@ Cardinals	12–13	Lawrence	O'Donnell (3–9)	Haddix	6,623	29–62
92	July 22	@ Cardinals	2–3 (14)	Staley	Friend (4–8)	—	7,059	29–63
93	July 23	@ Redlegs	7–4	Littlefield (5–4)	Nuxhall	—	7,682	30–63
94	July 24	@ Redlegs	3–5	Fowler	Surkont (6–13)	Smith	3,383	30–64
95	July 25	@ Redlegs	4–2	LaPalme (2–6)	Perkowski	—		31–64
96	July 25	@ Redlegs	2–3	Judson	Friend (4–9)	Smith	13,514	31–65
97	July 26	Braves	1–3	Conley	Purkey (2–7)	—	6,850	31–66
98	July 28	Braves	4–6	Burdette	Littlefield (5–5)	Jolly	6,728	31–67
99	July 29	Braves	3–5 (10)	Nichols	Hetki (2–2)	—	2,259	31–68
100	July 30	Cubs	8–6	Purkey (3–7)	Minner	Hetki (7)	6,728	32–68
101	July 30	Cubs	5–8	Pollet	Surkont (6–14)	Jeffcoat	7,754	32–69
102	July 31	Cubs	5–3	LaPalme (3–6)	Hacker	Friend (1)	2,688	33–69

August: 13–17 (Home: 7–6; Away: 6–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
103	August 1	Cubs	2–0	Littlefield (6–5)	Davis	—	2,688	34–69
104	August 1	Cubs	2–12	Cole	Pepper (0–1)	—	7,281	34–70
105	August 3	Redlegs	2–7	Nuxhall	Friend (4–10)	—	4,671	34–71
106	August 4	Redlegs	4–3	Law (7–12)	Smith	—	3,778	35–71
107	August 6	Cardinals	7–3	Littlefield (7–5)	Poholsky	—	2,688	36–71
108	August 6	Cardinals	6–5	Hetki (3–2)	Lawrence	—	8,624	37–71
109	August 7	Cardinals	6–8	Presko	Purkey (3–8)	Brazle	3,846	37–72
110	August 8	Cardinals	12–4	LaPalme (4–6)	Haddix	—	8,624	38–72
111	August 8	Cardinals	5–3	Surkont (7–14)	Staley	—	10,790	39–72
112	August 10	Giants	1–2	Antonelli	Littlefield (7–6)	Grissom	9,945	39–73
113	August 13	@ Phillies	9–5	Friend (5–10)	Roberts	—	24,536	40–73
114	August 13	@ Phillies	5–0	Thies (2–3)	Wehmeier	—	8,804	41–73
115	August 14	@ Phillies	8–4	Law (8–12)	Simmons	—	2,865	42–73
116	August 15	@ Phillies	9–6	Littlefield (8–6)	Dickson	Hetki (8)	2,865	43–73
117	August 15	@ Phillies	6–7	Roberts	Hetki (3–3)	—	4,773	43–74
118	August 17	Dodgers	4–2	Surkont (8–14)	Podres	—	20,102	44–74
119	August 18	Dodgers	2–3	Erskine	Thies (2–4)	Hughes	18,797	44–75
120	August 19	Dodgers	5–7	Newcombe	Law (8–13)	Hughes	9,299	44–76
121	August 20	@ Giants	0–4	Liddle	Littlefield (8–7)	—	8,985	44–77
122	August 22	@ Giants	4–5	McCall	LaPalme (4–7)	—		44–78
123	August 22	@ Giants	3–5	Wilhelm	Surkont (8–15)	—	22,702	44–79
124	August 24	@ Cardinals	8–7	Littlefield (9–7)	Haddix	Law (2)	8,718	45–79
125	August 25	@ Cardinals	0–13	Jones	Thies (2–5)	—	6,826	45–80
126	August 26	@ Cardinals	2–1	Pepper (1–1)	Beard	Law (3)	7,094	46–80
127	August 27	@ Redlegs	2–3	Nuxhall	Surkont (8–16)	—	5,227	46–81
128	August 28	@ Redlegs	1–2	Valentine	LaPalme (4–8)	—	2,995	46–82
129	August 29	@ Cubs	4–7	Jeffcoat	Littlefield (9–8)	—	5,790	46–83
130	August 29	@ Cubs	1–4	Davis	Hetki (3–4)	—	15,318	46–84
131	August 31	@ Cubs	2–14	Pollet	Pepper (1–2)	—	15,318	46–85
132	August 31	@ Cubs	3–7	Rush	Thies (2–6)	Jeffcoat	18,217	46–86

September: 7–15 (Home: 5–8; Away: 2–7)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Notable transactions

June 14, 1954: Hal Rice was traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Luis Márquez.^[4]

Roster

1954 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

19 Bob Friend

29 Johnny Hetki

25 Cal Hogue

30 Nellie King

24 Paul LaPalme

32 Vern Law

27 Dick Littlefield

23 George O'Donnell

00 Joe Page

18 Laurin Pepper

34 Bob Purkey

35 Max Surkont

39 Jake Thies

38 Len Yochim

Catchers

11 Toby Atwell

23,28 Walker Cooper

46 Bill Hall

9 Nick Koback

20 Jim Mangan

10 Jack Shepard

Infielders

8 Gair Allie

12 Dick Cole

31 Vic Janowicz

13 Eddie Pellagrini

7 Curt Roberts

3 Bob Skinner

6 Dick Smith

5 Preston Ward

Outfielders

18 Cal Abrams

4 Sid Gordon

17 Dick Hall

26 Gail Henley

20 Sam Jethroe

14 Jerry Lynch

44 Luis Márquez

44 Hal Rice

15 Frank Thomas

Manager

2 Fred Haney

Coaches

40 John Fitzpatrick

43 Sam Narron

41 Clyde Sukeforth

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
2B	Roberts, CurtCurt Roberts	134	496	115	.232	1	36
3B	Cole, DickDick Cole	138	486	131	.270	1	40
CF	Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	153	577	172	.298	23	94

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
Shepard, JackJack Shepard	82	227	69	.304	3	22
Rice, HalHal Rice	28	81	14	.173	1	9
Smith, DickDick Smith	12	31	3	.097	0	0
Márquez, LuisLuis Márquez	14	9	1	.111	0	0
Hall, BillBill Hall	5	7	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

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
Friend, BobBob Friend	35	170.1	7	12	5.07	73
Pepper, LaurinLaurin Pepper	14	50.2	1	5	7.99	17
Hogue, CalCal Hogue	3	11	0	1	4.91	7

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
Hetki, JohnnyJohnny Hetki	58	4	4	9	4.99	27

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Hollywood Stars	Pacific Coast League	Bobby Bragan
AA	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Danny Murtaugh
A	Williamsport Grays	Eastern League	Larry Shepard
A	Denver Bears	Western League	Andy Cohen
B	Waco Pirates	Big State League	Jack Paepke
B	Burlington-Graham Pirates	Carolina League	Stan Wentzel
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Cliff Dapper
C	St. Jean Canadiens	Provincial League	George Detore and Steve Mizerak
C	Hutchinson Elks	Western Association	George Genovese and Larry Dorton
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

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
↑ Sonny Senerchia at Baseball Reference
↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
↑ Hal Rice at Baseball Reference

References

1954 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1954 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

1954 MLB season by team

American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia Washington

National League	Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

1954 All-Star Game 1954 World Series

Pittsburgh Pirates

Formerly the Pittsburgh Alleghenys
Founded in 1882
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring training: Whittington Park; Riverside Park; Fogel Field; Barrs Field; Rickwood Field; Whittington Park; Perris Hill Park; Tech Field; Perris Hill Park; McCulloch Park; Perris Hill Park; Flamingo Field; Gilmore Field; Gran Stadium; Jaycee Park; Terry Park; Pirate City/McKechnie Field

Culture

Lore

Pittsburgh Allegheny
Pirates' lore
Wagner donates uniforms
Lou Bierbauer
Temple Cup
Chronicle-Telegraph Cup
Pittsburgh Stars
Homer in the Gloamin'
1960 Game 7
1985 drug trials
Francisco Cabrera game
National League Wild Card Games
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015

Rivalries

Philadelphia Phillies

Minors

AAA: Indianapolis Indians
AA: Altoona Curve
A Adv.: Bradenton Marauders
A: West Virginia Power
Short A: West Virginia Black Bears
Rookie Adv.: Bristol Pirates
Rookie: GCL Pirates; DSL Pirates
All-time: Minor league affiliate history

World Series
Championships (5)

1909
1925
1960
1971
1979

League pennants (9)

American Association: none
National League: 1901; 1902; 1903; 1909; 1925; 1927; 1960; 1971; 1979

Division titles (9)

East: 1970; 1971; 1972; 1974; 1975; 1979; 1990; 1991; 1992
Central: none

Wild Card berths (3)

Media

Seasons (136)

1880s	1880 · 1881 · 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889

1890s	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

1900s	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.