1955 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1955 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909)
Pittsburgh^[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	KDKA 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 Records 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)

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)

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

20,57 Bill Bell

31 Roger Bowman

31 Lino Donoso

26 Roy Face

19 Bob Friend

37 Al Grunwald

30 Dick Hall

30 Nellie King

22 Ron Kline

32 Vern Law

27 Dick Littlefield

28 Paul Martin

23 Laurin Pepper

34 Bob Purkey

35 Max Surkont

20 Red Swanson

39 Jake Thies

28 Ben Wade

34 Fred Waters

Catchers

11 Toby Atwell

9 Nick Koback

17 Hardy Peterson

10 Jack Shepard

Infielders

12 Dick Cole

8 Gene Freese

3 George Freese

4 Sid Gordon

24 Dick Groat

29 Dale Long

6 Johnny O'Brien

7 Curt Roberts

6 Dick Smith

5 Preston Ward

Outfielders

13,21 Roberto Clemente

18 Jerry Lynch

25 Román Mejías

14 Felipe Montemayor

7 Eddie O'Brien

14 Johnny Powers

16 Tom Saffell

21 Earl Smith

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
C	Shepard, JackJack Shepard	94	264	63	.239	2	23
LF	Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	142	510	125	.245	25	72
CF	O'Brien, EddieEddie O'Brien	75	236	55	.233	0	8

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
Cole, DickDick Cole	77	239	54	.226	0	21
Peterson, HardyHardy Peterson	32	81	20	.247	1	10
Smith, EarlEarl Smith	5	16	1	.063	0	0
Smith, DickDick Smith	4	0	0	----	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	44	200.1	14	9	2.83	98
Face, RoyRoy Face	42	125.2	5	7	3.58	84
Donoso, LinoLino Donoso	25	95	4	6	5.31	38
Bowman, RogerRoger Bowman	7	16.2	0	3	8.64	8

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	ERA	SO
Grunwald, AlAl Grunwald	3	4.70	2
Swanson, RedRed Swanson	1	18.00	0
Bell, BillBill Bell	1	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

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
↑ Ellis Burton at Baseball-Reference
↑ Red Swanson at Baseball-Reference
↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml

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.

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

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

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