1940 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1940 Pittsburgh Pirates
1940 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Bill Benswanger
Managers	Frankie Frisch
Radio	KDKA; WWSW; Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock
	Seasons

The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 59th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 54th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the league standings with a record of 78–76.

Offseason

Prior to 1940 season: Billy Cox was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	100	53	.654	—	55‍–‍21	45‍–‍32
Brooklyn Dodgers	88	65	.575	12	41‍–‍37	47‍–‍28
St. Louis Cardinals	84	69	.549	16	41‍–‍36	43‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	78	76	.506	22½	40‍–‍34	38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	75	79	.487	25½	40‍–‍37	35‍–‍42
New York Giants	72	80	.474	27½	33‍–‍43	39‍–‍37
Boston Bees	65	87	.428	34½	35‍–‍40	30‍–‍47
Philadelphia Phillies	50	103	.327	50	24‍–‍55	26‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1940 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BSN	BRO	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	9–13	8–14	9–12	7–15	15–6	9–13	8–14
Brooklyn	13–9	—	10–12	8–14–1	16–5	17–5	15–7–1	9–13–1
Chicago	14–8	12–10	—	6–16	12–10	12–10	11–11	8–14
Cincinnati	12–9	14–8–1	16–6	—	15–7	15–7	16–6	12–10–1
New York	15–7	5–16	10–12	7–15	—	12–10	12–10	11–10
Philadelphia	6–15	5–17	10–12	7–15	10–12	—	6–16	6–16
Pittsburgh	13–9	7–15–1	11–11	6–16	10–12	16–6	—	15–7–1
St. Louis	14–8	13–9–1	14–8	10–12–1	10–11	16–6	7–15–1	—

Game log

1940 Game Log: 78–76 (Home: 40–34; Away: 38–42)

April: 4–6 (Home: 3–3; Away: 1–3)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 16	@ Cardinals	6–4	Klinger (1–0)	Davis	Lanahan (1)	16,600	1–0
2	April 22	Cubs	9–5	Bowman (1–0)	Passeau	Butcher (1)	10,461	2–0
3	April 23	Cubs	3–2	Brown (1–0)	French	—	4,138	3–0
4	April 24	Cubs	4–9	Lee	Butcher (0–1)	—	3,809	3–1
5	April 25	Cardinals	9–10	Shoun	Klinger (1–1)	Russell	3,394	3–2
6	April 26	Cardinals	10–4	Brown (2–0)	Bowman	—	3,912	4–2
7	April 27	@ Reds	0–3	Walters	Bowman (1–1)	—	5,950	4–3
8	April 28	@ Reds	2–8	Thompson	MacFayden (0–1)	—	19,337	4–4
9	April 29	@ Reds	2–3	Derringer	Butcher (0–2)	—	1,549	4–5
10	April 30	Phillies	2–6	Mulcahy	Klinger (1–2)	—	2,015	4–6

May: 5–15 (Home: 3–8; Away: 2–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
11	May 5	Bees	1–5	Strincevich	Brown (2–1)	Coffman	10,992	4–7
12	May 6	Bees	7–10 (12)	Swift	Swigart (0–1)	Sullivan	2,142	4–8
13	May 7	Bees	9–11	Earley	Lanning (0–1)	Swift	2,098	4–9
14	May 8	Giants	6–10	Melton	Klinger (1–3)	Schumacher	3,564	4–10
15	May 9	Giants	6–17	Hubbell	Butcher (0–3)	—	3,492	4–11
16	May 10	@ Cubs	8–3	Brown (3–1)	Lee	—	3,448	5–11
17	May 11	@ Cubs	5–7	Page	Bowman (1–2)	—	7,211	5–12
18	May 12	@ Cubs	5–7	Olsen	Lanahan (0–1)	Passeau	17,955	5–13
19	May 14	@ Giants	7–2	Klinger (2–3)	Melton	—	4,373	6–13
20	May 15	@ Giants	2–5	Hubbell	Brown (3–2)	—	4,324	6–14
21	May 18	@ Bees	5–15	Piechota	Butcher (0–4)	—	4,264	6–15
22	May 19	@ Phillies	5–6	Johnson	Sewell (0–1)	—	8,981	6–16
23	May 20	@ Phillies	7–8	Hoerst	Lanahan (0–2)	—	1,000	6–17
24	May 22	@ Dodgers	1–3	Fitzsimmons	Klinger (2–4)	—	3,149	6–18
25	May 25	Cubs	12–7	Bowman (2–2)	French	—	2,806	7–18
26	May 26	Cubs	3–2	Klinger (3–4)	Lee	—	8,771	8–18
27	May 27	Reds	1–2	Beggs	Brown (3–3)	—	—	8–19
28	May 27	Reds	3–7	Turner	Bauers (0–1)	—	6,258	8–20
29	May 28	Reds	5–2	Butcher (1–4)	Thompson	—	1,359	9–20
30	May 29	Reds	0–4	Walters	Bowman (2–3)	—	2,259	9–21

June: 15–13 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
31	June 2	Giants	2–1	Klinger (4–4)	Schumacher	MacFayden (1)	—	10–21
32	June 2	Giants	3–7 (8)	Melton	Brown (3–4)	Gumbert	18,634	10–22
33	June 3	Giants	3–4	Lohrman	Butcher (1–5)	—	1,987	10–23
34	June 4	Bees	14–2	Bowman (3–3)	Callahan	—	20,310	11–23
35	June 6	Bees	7–6	Sewell (1–1)	Sullivan	—	1,165	12–23
36	June 7	Phillies	10–4	Lanning (1–1)	Johnson	—	1,174	13–23
37	June 8	Phillies	6–5	Heintzelman (1–0)	Johnson	Brown (1)	3,055	14–23
38	June 9	Phillies	1–6	Mulcahy	Klinger (4–5)	—	14,450	14–24
39	June 9	Phillies	11–5 (8)	Brown (4–4)	Pearson	—	14,450	15–24
40	June 10	Dodgers	7–8	Fitzsimmons	Lanahan (0–3)	—	2,659	15–25
41	June 12	Dodgers	4–5	Wyatt	Brown (4–5)	—	20,179	15–26
42	June 14	@ Giants	6–8	Lohrman	Klinger (4–6)	Brown	5,955	15–27
43	June 15	@ Giants	1–12	Schumacher	Bowman (3–4)	—	5,941	15–28
44	June 16	@ Giants	5–0	Butcher (2–5)	Hubbell	—	34,282	16–28
45	June 16	@ Giants	5–3	Sewell (2–1)	Gumbert	Heintzelman (1)	34,282	17–28
46	June 17	@ Bees	3–5	Posedel	Lanning (1–2)	—	—	17–29
47	June 17	@ Bees	1–5	Piechota	Brown (4–6)	—	5,224	17–30
48	June 19	@ Bees	5–1	Bowman (4–4)	Errickson	—	1,771	18–30
49	June 20	@ Bees	8–7	Butcher (3–5)	Fette	Brown (2)	1,445	19–30
50	June 21	@ Dodgers	8–10	Fitzsimmons	Klinger (4–7)	Tamulis	6,106	19–31
51	June 22	@ Dodgers	7–2	Sewell (3–1)	Carleton	—	10,850	20–31
52	June 23	@ Dodgers	8–5	MacFayden (1–1)	Wyatt	Brown (3)	—	21–31
53	June 23	@ Dodgers	4–4 (13)			—	24,239	21–31
54	June 25	@ Phillies	9–7	Lanning (2–2)	Higbe	Klinger (1)	1,000	22–31
55	June 26	@ Phillies	2–4	Blanton	Bowman (4–5)	—	12,565	22–32
56	June 26	@ Phillies	11–6	Sewell (4–1)	Beck	Brown (4)	12,565	23–32
57	June 28	Cardinals	2–8	McGee	Heintzelman (1–1)	—	20,490	23–33
58	June 30	Cardinals	0–1	Cooper	Klinger (4–8)	—	—	23–34
59	June 30	Cardinals	2–0	Butcher (4–5)	Shoun	—	25,096	24–34

July: 18–12 (Home: 7–5; Away: 11–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
60	July 1	@ Cubs	4–3 (10)	Brown (5–6)	Olsen	—	4,335	25–34
61	July 2	@ Cubs	0–10	Lee	Bowman (4–6)	—	5,120	25–35
62	July 3	@ Cubs	5–7	Passeau	Bauers (0–2)	—	5,678	25–36
63	July 4	@ Reds	1–9	Walters	Klinger (4–9)	—	—	25–37
64	July 4	@ Reds	1–3	Thompson	Butcher (4–6)	—	19,399	25–38
65	July 5	@ Reds	4–5	Beggs	MacFayden (1–2)	—	5,682	25–39
66	July 6	@ Cardinals	15–8	Klinger (5–9)	Russell	Lanning (1)	—	26–39
67	July 6	@ Cardinals	4–3 (10)	Brown (6–6)	Warneke	—	3,537	27–39
68	July 7	@ Cardinals	7–6	Sewell (5–1)	Shoun	Lanahan (2)	—	28–39
69	July 7	@ Cardinals	4–1	Heintzelman (2–1)	Cooper	—	7,303	29–39
70	July 12	Phillies	3–6	Mulcahy	Bowman (4–7)	—	9,042	29–40
71	July 13	Phillies	9–8	MacFayden (2–2)	Johnson	Bowman (1)	2,375	30–40
72	July 14	Dodgers	6–2	Sewell (6–1)	Hamlin	—	33,336	31–40
73	July 14	Dodgers	0–2	Fitzsimmons	Heintzelman (2–2)	—	33,336	31–41
74	July 15	Dodgers	1–10	Wyatt	Butcher (4–7)	—	—	31–42
75	July 15	Dodgers	4–3	Klinger (6–9)	Pressnell	—	12,215	32–42
76	July 16	Dodgers	5–3	Lanning (3–2)	Pressnell	—	2,271	33–42
77	July 18	Giants	1–6	Hubbell	Heintzelman (2–3)	—	25,188	33–43
78	July 19	Giants	2–5	Schumacher	Sewell (6–2)	Gumbert	2,481	33–44
79	July 20	Bees	17–6	Brown (7–6)	Errickson	—	2,661	34–44
80	July 21	Bees	5–3	Lanahan (1–3)	Salvo	Brown (5)	—	35–44
81	July 21	Bees	16–2 (8)	Bowman (5–7)	Posedel	—	11,071	36–44
82	July 23	@ Giants	1–9	Hubbell	Klinger (6–10)	—	12,428	36–45
83	July 25	@ Giants	2–1	Sewell (7–2)	Schumacher	—	3,265	37–45
84	July 26	@ Bees	9–0	Heintzelman (3–3)	Posedel	—	1,093	38–45
85	July 27	@ Bees	10–4	MacFayden (3–2)	Sullivan	—	1,509	39–45
86	July 28	@ Bees	5–2	Lanahan (2–3)	Errickson	—	—	40–45
87	July 28	@ Bees	7–3	Butcher (5–7)	Javery	—	5,471	41–45
88	July 29	@ Dodgers	6–7	Pressnell	Brown (7–7)	—	3,537	41–46
89	July 30	@ Dodgers	8–2	Sewell (8–2)	Head	—	19,910	42–46

August: 20–12 (Home: 15–6; Away: 5–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
90	August 1	@ Dodgers	3–8	Wyatt	Heintzelman (3–4)	—	—	42–47
91	August 1	@ Dodgers	7–8	Casey	Lanahan (2–4)	—	19,393	42–48
92	August 2	@ Phillies	5–2 (10)	Bowman (6–7)	Johnson	Klinger (2)	7,521	43–48
93	August 3	@ Phillies	8–0	Brown (8–7)	Higbe	—	1,000	44–48
94	August 4	@ Phillies	6–1	Sewell (9–2)	Mulcahy	—	—	45–48
95	August 4	@ Phillies	6–4	Lanning (4–2)	Frye	Heintzelman (2)	7,182	46–48
96	August 6	Cardinals	3–1	Heintzelman (4–4)	Cooper	—	8,582	47–48
97	August 7	Cardinals	10–9	Klinger (7–10)	Shoun	Lanning (2)	5,640	48–48
98	August 7	Cardinals	12–6	Butcher (6–7)	Lanier	Bowman (2)	5,640	49–48
99	August 9	Cubs	6–2	Sewell (10–2)	Raffensberger	—	29,978	50–48
100	August 10	Cubs	0–1	Olsen	Klinger (7–11)	—	4,474	50–49
101	August 11	Cubs	7–3	Lanning (5–2)	Raffensberger	—	—	51–49
102	August 11	Cubs	5–1	Lanahan (3–4)	Passeau	—	28,968	52–49
103	August 12	Reds	4–2	Butcher (7–7)	Walters	—	42,254	53–49
104	August 13	Reds	3–4 (10)	Beggs	Heintzelman (4–5)	—	6,810	53–50
105	August 14	@ Cardinals	6–7 (11)	Shoun	Brown (8–8)	—	11,077	53–51
106	August 16	@ Cardinals	6–5	Lanning (6–2)	McGee	—	4,218	54–51
107	August 16	@ Cardinals	5–9	Warneke	Butcher (7–8)	—	4,218	54–52
108	August 17	@ Cubs	5–6 (13)	Passeau	MacFayden (3–3)	—	6,003	54–53
109	August 18	@ Cubs	1–9	French	Sewell (10–3)	—	7,597	54–54
110	August 19	Bees	0–3	Errickson	Bowman (6–8)	—	1,803	54–55
111	August 20	Bees	6–3	Lanahan (4–4)	Salvo	—	1,050	55–55
112	August 21	Bees	3–2	Heintzelman (5–5)	Coffman	—	2,281	56–55
113	August 22	Giants	4–5 (12)	Dean	MacFayden (3–4)	—	—	56–56
114	August 22	Giants	4–0	Sewell (11–3)	Melton	—	12,523	57–56
115	August 23	Giants	13–10	Heintzelman (6–5)	Hubbell	—	2,562	58–56
116	August 24	Giants	6–7	Hubbell	Heintzelman (6–6)	—	7,630	58–57
117	August 25	Dodgers	4–3	Lanahan (5–4)	Wyatt	—	22,257	59–57
118	August 25	Dodgers	1–8	Fitzsimmons	Klinger (7–12)	—	22,257	59–58
119	August 28	Phillies	5–0	Sewell (12–3)	Mulcahy	—	4,100	60–58
120	August 28	Phillies	5–2	Bowman (7–8)	Higbe	—	4,100	61–58
121	August 29	Phillies	4–0	Brown (9–8)	Pearson	MacFayden (2)	2,239	62–58

September: 16–18 (Home: 5–5; Away: 11–13)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
122	September 1	Cardinals	10–0	Heintzelman (7–6)	Shoun	—	—	63–58
123	September 1	Cardinals	5–5 (11)			—	20,945	63–58
124	September 2	Cubs	5–2	Sewell (13–3)	Root	—	—	64–58
125	September 2	Cubs	1–7	Olsen	Bowman (7–9)	—	26,120	64–59
126	September 4	@ Reds	2–3 (12)	Beggs	Lanahan (5–5)	—	30,543	64–60
127	September 5	@ Reds	3–6	Vander Meer	Lanning (6–3)	—	7,661	64–61
128	September 7	@ Cardinals	14–9	MacFayden (4–4)	Doyle	Brown (6)	2,065	65–61
129	September 8	@ Cardinals	16–14	Lanahan (6–5)	McGee	Heintzelman (3)	—	66–61
130	September 8	@ Cardinals	5–4 (5)	Klinger (8–12)	Warneke	Butcher (2)	10,718	67–61
131	September 10	@ Phillies	11–3	Bowman (8–9)	Mulcahy	—	—	68–61
132	September 10	@ Phillies	11–1	Sewell (14–3)	Frye	—	1,000	69–61
133	September 11	@ Phillies	9–3	Brown (10–8)	Pearson	—	2,500	70–61
134	September 12	@ Dodgers	0–7	Casey	Heintzelman (7–7)	—	—	70–62
135	September 12	@ Dodgers	4–7	Casey	Lanahan (6–6)	—	10,570	70–63
136	September 13	@ Dodgers	2–8	Head	Klinger (8–13)	—	2,769	70–64
137	September 14	@ Dodgers	0–5	Fitzsimmons	Lanahan (6–7)	—	—	70–65
138	September 14	@ Dodgers	2–4	Carleton	Lanning (6–4)	—	16,278	70–66
139	September 15	@ Giants	10–3	Sewell (15–3)	Melton	—	—	71–66
140	September 15	@ Giants	4–3	Bowman (9–9)	Gumbert	—	9,240	72–66
141	September 16	@ Giants	7–6	Butcher (8–8)	Lohrman	Klinger (3)	1,262	73–66
142	September 17	@ Bees	5–10	Errickson	Lanahan (6–8)	Strincevich	1,077	73–67
143	September 18	@ Bees	1–4	Tobin	Bowman (9–10)	—	2,013	73–68
144	September 19	Cardinals	1–2	McGee	Sewell (15–4)	—	—	73–69
145	September 19	Cardinals	2–8	Hutchinson	Heintzelman (7–8)	—	5,048	73–70
146	September 21	Reds	1–8	Walters	Butcher (8–9)	—	—	73–71
147	September 21	Reds	8–7 (10)	MacFayden (5–4)	Riddle	—	6,395	74–71
148	September 22	Reds	1–2	Turner	Swigart (0–2)	—	—	74–72
149	September 22	Reds	8–1	Lanning (7–4)	Vander Meer	—	14,865	75–72
150	September 23	Reds	12–9	Heintzelman (8–8)	Beggs	Brown (7)	2,098	76–72
151	September 25	@ Cubs	1–2 (11)	Lee	Sewell (15–5)	—	—	76–73
152	September 25	@ Cubs	4–6	Olsen	Brown (10–9)	Raffensberger	7,828	76–74
153	September 26	@ Cubs	7–6	Lanning (8–4)	Bryant	Sewell (1)	1,789	77–74
154	September 27	@ Reds	4–3 (10)	Sewell (16–5)	Moore	—	3,173	78–74
155	September 28	@ Reds	5–6	Turner	Dietz (0–1)	Moore	6,603	78–75
156	September 29	@ Reds	3–11	Walters	Rambert (0–1)	Vander Meer	13,860	78–76

Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1940 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

37 Fern Bell

Manager

35 Frankie Frisch

Coaches

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	Spud Davis	99	285	93	.326	5	39
1B	Elbie Fletcher	147	510	139	.273	16	104
2B	Frankie Gustine	133	524	147	.281	1	55
SS	Arky Vaughn	156	594	178	.300	7	95
3B	Lee Handley	98	302	85	.281	1	19
OF	Vince DiMaggio	110	356	103	.289	19	54
OF	Bob Elliott	148	551	161	.292	5	64
OF	Maurice Van Robays	145	572	156	.273	11	116

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
Debs Garms	103	358	127	.355	5	57
Paul Waner	89	238	69	.290	1	32
Al López	59	174	45	.259	1	24
Lloyd Waner	72	166	43	.259	0	3
Pep Young	54	136	34	.250	2	20
Bill Brubaker	38	78	15	.192	0	7
Joe Schultz Jr.	16	36	7	.194	0	4
Ed Fernandes	28	33	4	.121	0	2
Ray Berres	21	32	6	.188	0	2
Johnny Rizzo	9	28	5	.179	0	2
Ed Leip	3	5	1	.200	0	0
Ray Mueller	4	3	1	.333	0	1
Frank Kalin	3	3	0	.000	0	1
Fern Bell	6	3	0	.000	0	1

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
Rip Sewell	33	189.2	16	5	2.80	60
Joe Bowman	32	187.2	9	10	4.46	57
Max Butcher	35	136.1	8	9	6.01	40

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
Mace Brown	48	173.0	10	9	3.49	73
Ken Heintzelman	39	165.0	8	8	4.47	71
Bob Klinger	39	142.0	8	13	5.39	48
Johnny Lanning	38	115.2	8	4	4.05	42
Dick Lanahan	40	108.0	6	8	4.25	45
Danny MacFayden	35	91.1	5	4	3.55	24
Oad Swigart	7	22.1	0	2	4.43	9
Dutch Dietz	4	15.1	0	1	5.87	8
Pep Rambert	3	8.1	0	1	7.56	0

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
Russ Bauers	15	0	2	0	7.63	11
Ray Harrell	3	0	0	0	8.10	3

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Dick Porter
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Specs Toporcer
B	Gadsden Pilots	Southeastern League	Billy Bancroft
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
C	Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers	Canadian–American League	Steve Yerkes and Buster Blakeney
C	Hutchinson Pirates	Western Association	Jimmy Jordan and Buzz Arlitt
D	Carthage Pirates	Arkansas–Missouri League	Buzz Arlitt
D	Fort Lauderdale Tarpons	Florida East Coast League	Herb Thomas
D	McKeesport Little Braves/Oil City Oilers	Pennsylvania State Association	Elmer Klump
D	London Pirates	PONY League	Mickey LaLange and Jimmy Jordan

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fort Lauderdale
Arkansas–Missouri League folded, July 1, 1940; McKeesport franchise moved to Oil City and renamed, July 1, 1940

Notes

^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
^ Billy Cox page at Baseball Reference

References

1940 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1940 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

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

[2] Billy Cox page at Baseball Reference

[1]

[2]