Pittsburgh Pirates - The World War II Years (1940-1949)
 
   
 

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    Yr   P W L     Yr   P W  L   Yr   P W L              
    1940   4 78 76     1943   4 80 74   1947   7 62 92           1940  
    1941   4 81 73     1944   2 90 63   1948   4 83 71           Decade  
    1942   5 66 81     1945   4 82 72   1949   6 71 83           Click  
                  1946   7 63 91                       on Logo  
                                                       
                                                             
   
  Titles: Top Pirates Players of the Forties  
  None  
    Pitchers:  
  Ballpark: Rip Sewell (25.12) -   83  
  Forbes Field   Max Butcher (13.56) -   36  
    Fritz Ostermueller (14.8) -   25  
  Team Name: Nick Strincevich (9.33) -   23  
  Pirates Ken Heintzelman (5.18) -   20  
    Bob Klinger (3.14) -   19  
  Owners:  Kirby Higbe (4.48) -   13  
  William E Benswanger (1940-1946) Preacher Roe (9.58) -   13  
  John Galbreath (1946-1949) Tiny Bonham (5.15) -   11  
    Johnny Lanning (6.55) -  11  
  General Managers: Murry Dickson (4.86) -  9  
  Ray L Kennedy (1946) Vic Lombardi (4.48) -  9  
  Roy Hamey (1947-1949) Elmer Riddle (3.27) -  8  
       
  Managers: Catchers:  
  Frank Frisch (1940-1946) Al Lopez (5.73) -   29  
  Spud Davis (1946) Spud Davis (4.02) -   6  
  Billy Herman (1947) Bill Salkeld (5.27) -   6  
  Bill Burwell (1947)    
  Billy Myer (1948-1949) First Basemen:  
    Elbie Fletcher (22.49) -   45  
  Hall of Famers: Johnny Hopp (3.43) -   15  
  Hank Greenburg Babe Dahlgren (2.15) -   12  
  Arky Vaughn Hank Greenburg (3.42) -   9  
  Ralph Kiner    
    Second Basemen:  
  Rookie of the Year:  Pete Coscarart (2.98) -   17  
  None Danny Murtaugh (3.15) -   8  
       
  MVP ShortStop:  
  None Arky Vaughan (10.8) -   24  
    Billy Cox (3.56) -   12  
  No Hitters: Stan Rojek (4.46) -   12  
  None    
    Third Base:  
  Notable Events: Frankie Gustine (9.21) -   41  
    Lee Handley (2.4) -   15  
  1940 - Coming into the Forties, the Pirates had a history of being one of the    
  better teams in baseball, year in and year out. However, that legacy had been Outfield:  
  built by Barney Dreyfuss, who had died eight years earlier. Dreyfuss's son Vince DiMaggio (11.44) -   62  
  in law,  William Benswanger, took over running the club upon Dreyfuss's  Bob Elliott (21.29) -   57  
  death, but he was clearly not up to the task. The Bucs, buoyed by the paucity Ralph Kiner (25.3) -   50  
  of quality major leaguers on opposing teams during the war, did not sink into Jim Russell (13.29) -   49  
  oblivion, but Benswanger was not acquiring any new star players during his Johnny Barrett (5.06) -   30  
  thirteen year stint running the club - the one exception being Ralph Kiner Wally Westlake (7.35) -   25  
    Maurice Van Robays (2.49) -   12  
  1940 - Twenty seven year old centerfielder Vince DiMaggio is acquired  Al Gionfriddo (0.54) -   12  
  from the Reds in exchange for Johnny Rizzo Gene Woodling (0.06) -   0  
       
  1942 - Outfielder Jimmy Russell, 23, is brought up from Toronto Notable Events:  
       
  1946 - Ralph Kiner is a rookie and wins the Home Run title.  1946 - John Galbreath buys the club. He will own the Bucs for forty years.   
  This is the first of seven  Homer titles in a row, a major league record. Pirate fans suffer while it takes Galbreath well over ten years to start getting  
  He is twenty three and had been in military service the previous two years.  his bearings. A big reason for Galbreath's slow start was that Benswanger  
  What makes Kiner's feat more remarkable is that Forbes field wasn't the pretty much left the cupboard bare. Therefore, Galbreath's management   
  easiest place to hit home runs, Kiner had no protection in the lineup and  team had to build up the organization pretty much from the bottom up.  
  could be pitched around at will. Plus there were a number of other guys Another reason for the slow reboot under Galbreath is that the Pirates  
  in the league with good power. It should be mentioned that the Left Field weren't persuing black players. So while the successful NL clubs like the  
  fence was shortened from 360 feet to 335 feet during Kiner's tenure (altho' Dodgers, Giants and Braves were winning with talented blacks, the  
  the fence was actually brought in for Hank Greenberg in 1947). In 1947,  Buccos were limited. When Branch Rickey came on the scene in 1951   
  the left field corner seats created by the moved in fence were called  for Pittsburgh, this would change, but it wasn't until 1954, when the Pirates  
  Greenberg's Garden. After Greenberg retired after 1947, it became known as  brought up fringe second baseman Curt Roberts, that the Pirates had their  
  Kiner's corner. Despite the reduction in distance, it still wasn't an easy shot,  first black player, Pittsburgh's first black star showed up in 1955, rookie  
  except for Kiner, to reach the seats. The seats were removed iin 1954  Roberto Clemente, who would take a few years to develop into that star.  
  after Kiner had been dealt to the Cubs.    
    1947 - Hall of Famer Hank Greenburg plays for a year.   
       
    1948 - Bob Prince steps into the announcers booth. He'll   
    stay there twenty six years. There was none better.   
       
    1948 - Pittsburgh goes 83-71 to finish fourth. The record is a mirage as  
    they only score seven more runs than they give up indicating that they  
    were really, runs-wise, only a .500 team.  
       
    1949 - The Bucs buy thirty two year old righthander Murry Dickson from  
    the Cardinals for $125K - a lot of money at the time. Unclear if GM Roy   
    Hamey was being pressured by the new ownership to win immediately, but  
    did anyone really think that Dickson was the guy who would put them over  
    the top and into contention? Dickson would pitch well for Pittsburgh during   
    his tenure with them, but the rest of the squad was not ready for prime time.