1955 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1955 Pittsburgh Pirates
1955 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1887);
Location
	Forbes Field (since 1909); Pittsburgh[1] (since 1907);
Other information
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General managers	Branch Rickey
Managers	Fred Haney
Local television	none
Local radio	WWSW; Bob Prince, Dick Bingham
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The 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 74th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 69th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 60–94.

Offseason

Prior to 1955 season: Ellis Burton was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.[2]

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	98	55	0.641	—	56–21	42–34
Milwaukee Braves	85	69	0.552	13½	46–31	39–38
New York Giants	80	74	0.519	18½	44–35	36–39
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	0.500	21½	46–31	31–46
Cincinnati Redlegs	75	79	0.487	23½	46–31	29–48
Chicago Cubs	72	81	0.471	26	43–33	29–48
St. Louis Cardinals	68	86	0.442	30½	41–36	27–50
Pittsburgh Pirates	60	94	0.390	38½	36–39	24–55

Record vs. opponents

1955 National League record Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	14–7–1	12–10	15–7	13–9	16–6	14–8	14–8
Chicago	7–14–1	—	11–11	7–15	12–10	10–12	11–11	14–8
Cincinnati	10–12	11–11	—	9–13	9–13	11–11	14–8	11–11
Milwaukee	7–15	15–7	13–9	—	14–8	14–8	11–11	11–11
New York	9–13	10–12	13–9	8–14	—	10–12	17–5	13–9
Philadelphia	6–16	12–10	11–11	8–14	12–10	—	15–7	13–9
Pittsburgh	8–14	11–11	8–14	11–11	5–17	7–15	—	10–12
St. Louis	8–14	8–14	11–11	11–11	9–13	9–13	12–10	—

Game log

1955 Game Log: 60–94 (Home: 36–39; Away: 24–55)

April: 3–11 (Home: 2–6; Away: 1–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 13	@ Dodgers	1–6	Erskine	Surkont (0–1)	—	6,999	0–1
2	April 14	Phillies	3–4	Wehmeier	Littlefield (0–1)	—	23,540	0–2
3	April 16	Dodgers	0–6	Meyer	Purkey (0–1)	—	5,533	0–3
4	April 17	Dodgers	3–10	Podres	Thies (0–1)	—		0–4
5	April 17	Dodgers	2–3	Labine	Kline (0–1)	Hughes	20,499	0–5
6	April 18	@ Giants	3–12	Liddle	Surkont (0–2)	Grissom	2,915	0–6
7	April 22	@ Phillies	4–5	Miller	Bowman (0–1)	—	5,821	0–7
8	April 23	@ Phillies	0–8	Dickson	Kline (0–2)	—	4,132	0–8
9	April 24	@ Phillies	6–1	Surkont (1–2)	Owens	—		1–8
10	April 24	@ Phillies	0–3	Meyer	King (0–1)	Roberts	8,224	1–9
11	April 27	Cubs	4–1	Purkey (1–1)	Minner	—	1,044	2–9
12	April 28	Redlegs	2–3	Staley	Littlefield (0–2)	Lane	6,907	2–10
13	April 29	Redlegs	0–5	Nuxhall	Surkont (1–3)	—	6,341	2–11
14	April 30	Redlegs	5–4	Friend (1–0)	Lane	—	3,118	3–11

May: 11–20 (Home: 7–9; Away: 4–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
15	May 1	Cardinals	3–4	Tiefenauer	Bowman (0–2)	Moford		3–12
16	May 1	Cardinals	7–0	Kline (1–2)	Jones	—	13,213	4–12
17	May 2	Cardinals	5–1	Purkey (2–1)	Haddix	—	2,181	5–12
18	May 3	Braves	4–0	Littlefield (1–2)	Spahn	—	10,784	6–12
19	May 4	Braves	5–4	Surkont (2–3)	Jolly	Friend (1)	13,374	7–12
20	May 5	Braves	9–4	King (1–1)	Buhl	Law (1)	4,329	8–12
21	May 6	@ Giants	3–2	Kline (2–2)	Antonelli	Wade (1)	10,330	9–12
22	May 7	@ Giants	3–11	Hearn	Purkey (2–2)	—	8,926	9–13
23	May 8	@ Giants	7–5	Littlefield (2–2)	Gomez	Face (1)		10–13
24	May 8	@ Giants	3–6	Maglie	Law (0–1)	—	14,180	10–14
25	May 10	@ Braves	9–6	Surkont (3–3)	Johnson	—	20,562	11–14
26	May 11	@ Braves	3–8	Nichols	Kline (2–3)	—	12,444	11–15
27	May 12	@ Cubs	0–4	Jones	King (1–2)	—	2,918	11–16
28	May 14	@ Cardinals	0–6	Lawrence	Littlefield (2–3)	—	9,479	11–17
29	May 15	@ Cardinals	1–5	Jones	Surkont (3–4)	Schultz	10,996	11–18
30	May 16	@ Cardinals	0–6	Arroyo	Kline (2–4)	—	5,184	11–19
31	May 17	@ Redlegs	2–9	Nuxhall	Purkey (2–3)	—	4,881	11–20
32	May 18	@ Redlegs	1–5	Minarcin	Littlefield (2–4)	—	2,079	11–21
33	May 20	Giants	3–6	Wilhelm	Surkont (3–5)	Grissom	15,722	11–22
34	May 21	Giants	2–3	Maglie	Kline (2–5)	Grissom	5,731	11–23
35	May 22	Giants	2–5	Gomez	Bowman (0–3)	—		11–24
36	May 22	Giants	3–5 (8)	Wilhelm	Wade (0–1)	Grissom	16,691	11–25
37	May 24	Dodgers	15–1	Friend (2–0)	Podres	—	9,251	12–25
38	May 26	Dodgers	2–6	Newcombe	Kline (2–6)	—	2,680	12–26
39	May 27	Phillies	2–5 (10)	Wehmeier	Friend (2–1)	—	6,956	12–27
40	May 28	Phillies	4–8 (11)	Miller	Face (0–1)	Meyer	3,082	12–28
41	May 29	Phillies	2–5	Roberts	Pepper (0–1)	—		12–29
42	May 29	Phillies	11–5	Surkont (4–5)	Cole	—	5,918	13–29
43	May 30	@ Dodgers	4–8	Meyer	Purkey (2–4)	Roebuck		13–30
44	May 30	@ Dodgers	3–8	Newcombe	Kline (2–7)	—	26,711	13–31
45	May 31	@ Dodgers	6–3	Friend (3–1)	Roebuck	—	6,008	14–31

June: 10–18 (Home: 5–7; Away: 5–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
46	June 1	Cardinals	2–6	Arroyo	Purkey (2–5)	—	7,580	14–32
47	June 2	Cardinals	12–3	Surkont (5–5)	Haddix	—	2,052	15–32
48	June 3	Redlegs	7–6	Law (1–1)	Ridzik	—		16–32
49	June 4	Redlegs	0–6	Minarcin	Kline (2–8)	—	4,072	16–33
50	June 5	Redlegs	7–6	Surkont (6–5)	Klippstein	—		17–33
51	June 5	Redlegs	1–5	Collum	Purkey (2–6)	—	10,308	17–34
52	June 7	Cubs	3–4	Hacker	King (1–3)	Pollet	65,681	17–35
53	June 8	Cubs	2–1	Kline (3–8)	Davis	—	3,779	18–35
54	June 9	Cubs	2–6	Minner	Purkey (2–7)	—	2,187	18–36
55	June 11	Braves	4–7	Conley	Friend (3–2)	—	1,995	18–37
56	June 12	Braves	5–3	Law (2–1)	Spahn	Face (2)		19–37
57	June 12	Braves	5–6	Buhl	Surkont (6–6)	—	12,738	19–38
58	June 14	@ Cardinals	10–5	Kline (4–8)	Jackson	—	7,962	20–38
59	June 15	@ Cardinals	3–7	Arroyo	Friend (3–3)	—	6,524	20–39
60	June 16	@ Cardinals	0–5	Haddix	Law (2–2)	—	6,277	20–40
61	June 17	@ Redlegs	3–1	Surkont (7–6)	Collum	Kline (1)	6,872	21–40
62	June 18	@ Redlegs	1–4	Staley	Donoso (0–1)	—	3,433	21–41
63	June 19	@ Redlegs	5–2	Friend (4–3)	Minarcin	—		22–41
64	June 19	@ Redlegs	0–4	Nuxhall	Kline (4–9)	—	11,640	22–42
65	June 20	@ Braves	1–2	Conley	Law (2–3)	—	21,510	22–43
66	June 21	@ Braves	4–6	Buhl	Kline (4–10)	—	25,510	22–44
67	June 22	@ Braves	0–6	Spahn	Surkont (7–7)	—	23,219	22–45
68	June 24	@ Cubs	3–10	Minner	Friend (4–4)	—	4,424	22–46
69	June 25	@ Cubs	4–6	Hacker	Littlefield (2–5)	—	12,181	22–47
70	June 26	@ Cubs	5–4	Law (3–3)	Davis	Surkont (1)		23–47
71	June 26	@ Cubs	1–2	Rush	Donoso (0–2)	—	24,500	23–48
72	June 28	@ Phillies	7–5 (10)	Friend (5–4)	Meyer	Face (3)	8,635	24–48
73	June 29	@ Phillies	3–6	Negray	Littlefield (2–6)	—	4,919	24–49

July: 14–19 (Home: 10–12; Away: 4–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
74	July 1	@ Dodgers	3–2	Law (4–3)	Podres	—	10,325	25–49
75	July 2	@ Dodgers	7–6 (10)	Kline (5–10)	Labine	—	6,158	26–49
76	July 3	@ Dodgers	7–5	Kline (6–10)	Roebuck	—		27–49
77	July 3	@ Dodgers	1–3	Loes	Surkont (7–8)	Labine	15,000	27–50
78	July 4	Giants	4–3	Donoso (1–2)	McCall	—		28–50
79	July 4	Giants	3–5 (11)	Grissom	Donoso (1–3)	—	16,902	28–51
80	July 5	Giants	1–11	Antonelli	Martin (0–1)	—	7,245	28–52
81	July 6	Dodgers	5–10	Erskine	Face (0–2)	Roebuck		28–53
82	July 6	Dodgers	4–1	Law (5–3)	Roebuck	—	20,674	29–53
83	July 7	Dodgers	3–4	Loes	Kline (6–11)	—	4,533	29–54
84	July 8	Phillies	1–5	Wehmeier	Surkont (7–9)	—	7,304	29–55
85	July 9	Phillies	1–7	Roberts	Littlefield (2–7)	—	2,637	29–56
86	July 10	Phillies	1–4	Simmons	Friend (5–5)	—		29–57
87	July 10	Phillies	3–1	Law (6–3)	Negray	—	6,454	30–57
88	July 14	Redlegs	1–19	Collum	Surkont (7–10)	—	6,947	30–58
89	July 15	Redlegs	1–9	Nuxhall	Law (6–4)	Freeman	1,563	30–59
90	July 16	Cardinals	5–1	Donoso (2–3)	Arroyo	—	2,579	31–59
91	July 17	Cardinals	8–9 (12)	Arroyo	Donoso (2–4)	Lawrence		31–60
92	July 17	Cardinals	0–1	Haddix	Face (0–3)	—	8,490	31–61
93	July 19	Braves	4–3 (19)	Friend (6–5)	Conley	—	7,953	32–61
94	July 20	Braves	4–3	Littlefield (3–7)	Crone	—	5,568	33–61
95	July 21	Braves	3–5	Spahn	Donoso (2–5)	—	2,568	33–62
96	July 22	Cubs	3–1	Face (1–3)	Minner	—	7,388	34–62
97	July 23	Cubs	10–2	Friend (7–5)	Hacker	—	2,955	35–62
98	July 24	Cubs	12–5	Hall (1–0)	Rush	—		36–62
99	July 24	Cubs	3–2 (10)	Law (7–4)	Jones	—	14,466	37–62
100	July 26	@ Cardinals	3–1	Littlefield (4–7)	Arroyo	—	10,261	38–62
101	July 27	@ Cardinals	1–6	Haddix	Face (1–4)	—	6,424	38–63
102	July 28	@ Cardinals	1–4	Schmidt	Hall (1–1)	—	6,039	38–64
103	July 29	@ Redlegs	5–16	Nuxhall	Law (7–5)	—	5,690	38–65
104	July 30	@ Redlegs	2–5	Collum	Friend (7–6)	—	3,030	38–66
105	July 31	@ Redlegs	4–7	Black	Littlefield (4–8)	Freeman		38–67
106	July 31	@ Redlegs	5–6	Freeman	Donoso (2–6)	—	9,704	38–68

August: 14–12 (Home: 9–4; Away: 5–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
107	August 1	@ Cubs	5–4	Hall (2–1)	Minner	—	3,194	39–68
108	August 2	@ Cubs	4–12	Rush	Littlefield (4–9)	—	1,788	39–69
109	August 3	@ Cubs	3–2	Face (2–4)	Davis	Surkont (2)		40–69
110	August 3	@ Cubs	4–5 (12)	Perkowski	Law (7–6)	—	8,805	40–70
111	August 4	@ Cubs	10–11	Tremel	Littlefield (4–10)	—	3,486	40–71
112	August 5	@ Braves	8–5	Hall (3–1)	Spahn	Donoso (1)	21,791	41–71
113	August 6	@ Braves	2–0	Friend (8–6)	Crone	—	16,337	42–71
114	August 7	@ Braves	3–6	Nichols	Law (7–7)	Johnson		42–72
115	August 7	@ Braves	2–4	Buhl	Face (2–5)	—	26,955	42–73
116	August 9	@ Phillies	1–9	Wehmeier	Hall (3–2)	—	9,347	42–74
117	August 10	@ Phillies	3–2 (10)	Friend (9–6)	Miller	—	3,922	43–74
118	August 14	@ Giants	2–4	Antonelli	Law (7–8)	—		43–75
119	August 14	@ Giants	1–3	Hearn	Hall (3–3)	—	7,166	43–76
120	August 16	Phillies	3–12	Wehmeier	Friend (9–7)	—	6,290	43–77
121	August 17	Phillies	6–4	Face (3–5)	Simmons	—	3,721	44–77
122	August 19	Giants	8–3	Law (8–8)	Antonelli	—	9,695	45–77
123	August 20	Giants	9–14 (12)	Hearn	Littlefield (4–11)	—	4,336	45–78
124	August 23	Redlegs	2–1	Law (9–8)	Freeman	—	6,387	46–78
125	August 24	Redlegs	4–2	Hall (4–3)	Nuxhall	—	2,399	47–78
126	August 25	Cubs	2–1	Face (4–5)	Minner	—	6,181	48–78
127	August 26	Cubs	3–6	Jones	Friend (9–8)	—	5,376	48–79
128	August 27	Cubs	3–4	Pollet	Surkont (7–11)	—	3,210	48–80
129	August 28	Braves	5–3	Hall (5–3)	Crone	Kline (2)		49–80
130	August 28	Braves	2–0	Law (10–8)	Spahn	—	12,032	50–80
131	August 30	Cardinals	3–1	Littlefield (5–11)	Haddix	Face (4)	7,526	51–80
132	August 31	Cardinals	4–3 (10)	Donoso (3–6)	Schmidt	—	6,379	52–80

September: 8–14 (Home: 3–1; Away: 5–13)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
133	September 1	Cardinals	7–6	Face (5–5)	Wright	—	2,878	53–80
134	September 2	@ Dodgers	0–2	Spooner	Hall (5–4)	—	10,827	53–81
135	September 3	@ Dodgers	0–4	Koufax	Friend (9–9)	—	7,767	53–82
136	September 4	@ Dodgers	5–6	Labine	Surkont (7–12)	Craig	13,258	53–83
137	September 5	@ Giants	8–5 (10)	Friend (10–9)	Grissom	Hall (1)		54–83
138	September 5	@ Giants	3–6	Liddle	Face (5–6)	—	10,352	54–84
139	September 7	@ Cubs	2–0	Friend (11–9)	Minner	—	3,076	55–84
140	September 9	@ Braves	2–3	Spahn	Hall (5–5)	—	15,614	55–85
141	September 10	@ Braves	5–13	Crone	Law (10–9)	—	11,071	55–86
142	September 11	@ Cardinals	5–6	Jackson	Littlefield (5–12)	—	7,877	55–87
143	September 12	@ Cardinals	9–3	Donoso (4–6)	Haddix	—	3,289	56–87
144	September 13	@ Redlegs	5–2	Friend (12–9)	Nuxhall	—	3,962	57–87
145	September 16	@ Phillies	1–8	Roberts	Surkont (7–13)	—	10,023	57–88
146	September 18	@ Phillies	5–2	Friend (13–9)	Wehmeier	Face (5)		58–88
147	September 18	@ Phillies	1–2	Rogovin	Hall (5–6)	—	12,683	58–89
148	September 20	@ Giants	1–11	Antonelli	Law (10–10)	—		58–90
149	September 20	@ Giants	8–14	Wilhelm	Surkont (7–14)	—	1,165	58–91
150	September 21	@ Giants	2–7	Liddle	Face (5–7)	—		58–92
151	September 21	@ Giants	3–7	Monzant	Kline (6–12)	—	2,091	58–93
152	September 24	Dodgers	4–3	Hall (6–6)	Bessent	—		59–93
153	September 24	Dodgers	6–1	Friend (14–9)	Koufax	—	4,531	60–93
154	September 25	Dodgers	0–4	Meyer	Kline (6–13)	Craig	25,185	60–94

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Notable transactions

August 27, 1955: Red Swanson was signed as an amateur free agent (bonus baby) by the Pirates.[3]

Roster

1955 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

2 Fred Haney

Coaches

Player stats

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	94	264	63	.239	2	23
1B	Dale Long	131	419	122	.291	16	79
2B	Johnny O'Brien	84	278	83	.299	1	25
SS	Dick Groat	151	521	139	.267	4	51
3B	Gene Freese	134	455	115	.253	14	44
LF	Frank Thomas	142	510	125	.245	25	72
CF	Eddie O'Brien	75	236	55	.233	0	8
RF	Roberto Clemente	124	474	121	.255	5	47

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
Jerry Lynch	88	282	80	.284	5	28
Dick Cole	77	239	54	.226	0	21
Toby Atwell	71	207	44	.213	1	18
Preston Ward	84	179	38	.212	5	25
George Freese	51	179	46	.257	3	22
Román Mejías	71	167	36	.216	3	21
Tom Saffell	73	113	19	.168	1	3
Felipe Montemayor	36	95	20	.211	2	8
Hardy Peterson	32	81	20	.247	1	10
Sid Gordon	16	47	8	.170	0	1
Curt Roberts	6	17	2	.118	0	0
Earl Smith	5	16	1	.063	0	0
Nick Koback	5	7	2	.286	0	0
John Powers	2	4	1	.250	0	0
Dick Smith	4	0	0	----	0	0

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
Vern Law	43	200.2	10	10	3.81	82
Max Surkont	35	166.1	7	14	5.57	84
Dick Hall	15	94.1	6	6	3.91	46
Bob Purkey	14	67.2	2	7	5.32	24
Jake Thies	1	3.2	0	1	4.91	0

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
Bob Friend	44	200.1	14	9	2.83	98
Ron Kline	36	136.2	6	13	4.15	48
Dick Littlefield	35	130.0	5	12	5.12	70
Roy Face	42	125.2	5	7	3.58	84
Lino Donoso	25	95.0	4	6	5.31	38
Nellie King	17	54.1	1	3	2.98	21
Roger Bowman	7	16.2	0	3	8.64	8
Paul Martin	7	7.0	0	1	14.14	3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	L	SV	ERA	SO
Laurin Pepper	14	1	0	10.35	7
Ben Wade	11	1	1	3.21	7
Al Grunwald	3	0	0	4.70	2
Fred Waters	2	0	0	3.60	0
Red Swanson	1	0	0	18.00	0
Bill Bell	1	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Frank Thomas, reserve[4]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Hollywood Stars	Pacific Coast League	Bobby Bragan
AA	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Andy Cohen
A	Williamsport Grays	Eastern League	Larry Shepard
A	Lincoln Chiefs	Western League	Bill Burwell
B	Waco Pirates	Big State League	Stan Wentzel
B	Burlington-Graham Pirates	Carolina League	Larry Dorton
C	Phoenix Stars	Arizona–Mexico League	Jerry Gardner
C	Salinas Packers	California League	Buck Elliott and Jack Paepke
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Jack Paepke and Buck Elliott
C	St. Jean Canadiens	Provincial League	Steve Mizerak and Fred Luciano
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

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Brunswick

Notes

From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
Ellis Burton at Baseball-Reference
Red Swanson at Baseball-Reference
"1955 All-Star Game".

References

1955 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1955 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.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.

[2] Ellis Burton at Baseball-Reference

[3] Red Swanson at Baseball-Reference

[4] "1955 All-Star Game".

1955 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City New York Washington
National League	Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1955 All-Star Game 1955 World Series