1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1944 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1887);
Location
	Forbes Field (since 1909); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907);
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Benswanger
Manager(s)	Frankie Frisch
Local radio	WWSW; Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock
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The 1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 63rd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 58th in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 90–63.

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	105	49	0.682	—	54–22	51–27
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	63	0.588	14½	49–28	41–35
Cincinnati Reds	89	65	0.578	16	45–33	44–32
Chicago Cubs	75	79	0.487	30	35–42	40–37
New York Giants	67	87	0.435	38	39–36	28–51
Boston Braves	65	89	0.422	40	38–40	27–49
Brooklyn Dodgers	63	91	0.409	42	37–39	26–52
Philadelphia Phillies	61	92	0.399	43½	29–49	32–43

Record vs. opponents

1944 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOB	BKN	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHP	PIT	SLC
Boston	—	9–13	11–11	8–14	9–13	11–11–1	9–13	8–14
Brooklyn	13–9	—	8–14–1	8–14	10–12	16–6	4–18	4–18
Chicago	11–11	14–8–1	—	9–13–1	10–12	13–9	12–10–1	6–16
Cincinnati	14–8	14–8	13–9–1	—	15–7	13–19	12–10	8–14
New York	13–9	12–10	12–10	7–15	—	10–12	7–15–1	6–16
Philadelphia	11–11–1	6–16	9–13	9–13	12–10	—	9–12	5–17
Pittsburgh	13–9	18–4	10–12–1	10–12	15–7–1	12–9	—	12–10–3
St. Louis	14–8	18–4	16–6	14–8	16–6	17–5	10–12–3	—

Game log

1944 Game Log: 90–63 (Home: 49–28; Away: 41–35)

April: 3–5 (Home: 1–1; Away: 2–4)

May: 16–11 (Home: 10–6; Away: 6–5)

June: 14–11 (Home: 7–7; Away: 7–4)

July: 19–13 (Home: 8–3; Away: 11–10)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
65	July 1	Braves	5–1	Starr (3–0)	Tobin	—	2,940	34–27
66	July 2	Braves	1–4	Andrews	Roe (5–6)	—	—	34–28
67	July 2	Braves	7–6 (12)	Sewell (10–5)	Barrett	—	16,076	35–28
68	July 4	Phillies	2–3	Gerheauser	Sewell (10–6)	Schanz	—	35–29
69	July 4	Phillies	4–0	Butcher (6–5)	Lee	—	16,285	36–29
70	July 5	Phillies	2–12	Barrett	Starr (3–1)	—	2,055	36–30
71	July 6	Phillies	6–5	Strincevich (6–4)	Raffensberger	Rescigno (4)	9,136	37–30
72	July 7	Dodgers	13–2	Ostermueller (3–1)	Melton	—	2,356	38–30
73	July 8	Dodgers	8–5	Sewell (11–6)	McLish	—	3,732	39–30
74	July 9	Dodgers	10–1	Roe (6–6)	Head	—	—	40–30
75	July 9	Dodgers	9–7	Rescigno (5–6)	Davis	Ostermueller (2)	18,706	41–30
76	July 13	@ Cubs	3–2	Ostermueller (4–1)	Wyse	—	7,160	42–30
77	July 14	@ Cubs	5–11	Vandenberg	Starr (3–2)	—	5,630	42–31
78	July 15	@ Cubs	3–4	Fleming	Roe (6–7)	Derringer	6,972	42–32
79	July 16	@ Cubs	0–1	Wyse	Sewell (11–7)	—	—	42–33
80	July 16	@ Cubs	1–0	Butcher (7–5)	Passeau	—	40,920	43–33
81	July 18	@ Giants	2–5	Voiselle	Ostermueller (4–2)	—	26,164	43–34
82	July 19	@ Phillies	2–4	Raffensberger	Strincevich (6–5)	—	7,784	43–35
83	July 20	@ Phillies	4–1	Starr (4–2)	Lee	—	—	44–35
84	July 20	@ Phillies	2–3 (11)	Schanz	Rescigno (5–7)	—	—	44–36
85	July 21	@ Phillies	5–3	Butcher (8–5)	Gerheauser	—	8,527	45–36
86	July 22	@ Dodgers	11–0	Ostermueller (5–2)	Warren	—	8,479	46–36
87	July 23	@ Dodgers	7–5	Rescigno (6–7)	Gregg	—	—	47–36
88	July 23	@ Dodgers	9–4 (11)	Strincevich (7–5)	Webber	Rescigno (5)	16,571	48–36
89	July 24	@ Dodgers	7–12	Fuchs	Sewell (11–8)	Davis	9,072	48–37
90	July 25	@ Giants	15–0	Butcher (9–5)	Barthelson	—	4,524	49–37
91	July 26	@ Giants	6–5	Ostermueller (6–2)	Feldman	Strincevich (1)	12,909	50–37
92	July 28	@ Giants	0–4	Voiselle	Roe (6–8)	—	12,871	50–38
93	July 29	@ Braves	3–0	Sewell (12–8)	Tobin	—	2,065	51–38
94	July 30	@ Braves	4–6	Klopp	Starr (4–3)	Tobin	—	51–39
95	July 30	@ Braves	0–2	Javery	Strincevich (7–6)	—	7,143	51–40
96	July 31	@ Braves	9–2	Ostermueller (7–2)	Andrews	—	1,346	52–40

August: 20–10 (Home: 17–6; Away: 3–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
97	August 1	@ Braves	13–8	Starr (5–3)	Tobin	Sewell (2)	1,787	53–40
98	August 2	Cardinals	4–8	Lanier	Sewell (12–9)	—	27,481	53–41
99	August 3	Cardinals	2–15	Wilks	Roe (6–9)	—	3,001	53–42
100	August 4	Cubs	3–4	Derringer	Butcher (9–6)	—	10,022	53–43
101	August 5	Cubs	2–7	Fleming	Ostermueller (7–3)	Passeau	2,861	53–44
102	August 6	Cubs	13–5	Roe (7–9)	Derringer	Starr (1)	—	54–44
103	August 6	Cubs	5–4	Strincevich (8–6)	Chipman	Roe (1)	13,362	55–44
104	August 8	Giants	4–8	Voiselle	Butcher (9–7)	—	2,277	55–45
105	August 9	Giants	4–3	Ostermueller (8–3)	Fischer	—	12,683	56–45
106	August 10	Giants	10–4	Roe (8–9)	Brewer	—	4,324	57–45
107	August 11	Giants	12–8	Cuccurullo (2–1)	Pyle	—	13,024	58–45
108	August 12	Giants	8–0	Butcher (10–7)	Voiselle	—	3,335	59–45
109	August 13	Braves	8–1	Sewell (13–9)	Tobin	—	—	60–45
110	August 13	Braves	3–1	Ostermueller (9–3)	Hutchings	—	15,079	61–45
111	August 14	Braves	5–0	Roe (9–9)	Barrett	—	2,409	62–45
112	August 15	Braves	7–5	Rescigno (7–7)	Hutchinson	Strincevich (2)	12,397	63–45
113	August 17	Phillies	7–6	Rescigno (8–7)	Karl	—	—	64–45
114	August 17	Phillies	6–5 (10)	Strincevich (9–6)	Barrett	—	3,262	65–45
115	August 18	Phillies	2–3	Raffensberger	Sewell (13–10)	—	14,566	65–46
116	August 19	Phillies	5–3	Roe (10–9)	Gerheauser	—	3,327	66–46
117	August 20	Dodgers	10–7	Butcher (11–7)	Chapman	Cuccurullo (3)	—	67–46
118	August 20	Dodgers	7–1	Strincevich (10–6)	Wyatt	—	20,953	68–46
119	August 21	Dodgers	7–6 (10)	Starr (6–3)	Webber	—	3,039	69–46
120	August 22	Dodgers	7–5	Sewell (14–10)	Sunkel	—	19,444	70–46
121	August 25	@ Cardinals	0–4	Schmidt	Roe (10–10)	—	11,000	70–47
122	August 27	@ Cardinals	14–6	Sewell (15–10)	Lanier	—	—	71–47
123	August 27	@ Cardinals	1–1 (10)			—	10,676	71–47
124	August 29	@ Cubs	4–15	Derringer	Butcher (11–8)	—	—	71–48
125	August 29	@ Cubs	5–4	Roe (11–10)	Passeau	—	11,649	72–48
126	August 30	@ Cubs	5–12	Wyse	Sewell (15–11)	Lynn	—	72–49
127	August 30	@ Cubs	3–6	Passeau	Starr (6–4)	Wyse	17,438	72–50

September: 17–12 (Home: 6–5; Away: 11–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
128	September 1	Cardinals	3–2	Ostermueller (10–3)	Lanier	—	17,030	73–50
129	September 2	Cardinals	5–4	Butcher (12–8)	Wilks	—	5,864	74–50
130	September 3	Cardinals	6–5	Sewell (16–11)	Cooper	—	—	75–50
131	September 3	Cardinals	8–2	Strincevich (11–6)	Brecheen	—	34,395	76–50
132	September 4	Cubs	3–6	Erickson	Butcher (12–9)	—	—	76–51
133	September 4	Cubs	4–3 (6)	Rescigno (9–7)	Derringer	—	18,175	77–51
134	September 7	@ Reds	1–2	Heusser	Ostermueller (10–4)	—	4,702	77–52
135	September 9	@ Reds	2–3	Shoun	Sewell (16–12)	—	1,818	77–53
136	September 10	@ Reds	7–5	Strincevich (12–6)	Walters	—	—	78–53
137	September 10	@ Reds	0–2	Carter	Butcher (12–10)	—	17,343	78–54
138	September 12	@ Cardinals	5–3	Ostermueller (11–4)	Schmidt	—	—	79–54
139	September 12	@ Cardinals	6–5	Roe (12–10)	Byerly	Starr (2)	6,445	80–54
140	September 13	@ Cardinals	7–3	Sewell (17–12)	Brecheen	—	—	81–54
141	September 13	@ Cardinals	10–5	Rescigno (10–7)	Lanier	Starr (3)	6,495	82–54
142	September 15	Reds	3–5 (10)	Walters	Rescigno (10–8)	—	12,198	82–55
143	September 16	Reds	1–2	de la Cruz	Butcher (12–11)	—	—	82–56
144	September 16	Reds	1–3	Carter	Starr (6–5)	—	3,670	82–57
145	September 17	Reds	7–1	Sewell (18–12)	Shoun	—	—	83–57
146	September 17	Reds	1–2 (10)	Gumbert	Ostermueller (11–5)	—	19,823	83–58
147	September 20	@ Dodgers	2–1	Strincevich (13–6)	Wells	—	1,338	84–58
148	September 21	@ Dodgers	10–4	Sewell (19–12)	Gregg	—	—	85–58
149	September 21	@ Dodgers	14–6	Roe (13–10)	Zachary	—	2,579	86–58
150	September 23	@ Giants	6–4 (13)	Sewell (20–12)	Adams	Cuccurullo (4)	3,749	87–58
151	September 24	@ Giants	4–5	Voiselle	Ostermueller (11–6)	—	—	87–59
152	September 24	@ Giants	3–2 (10)	Strincevich (14–6)	Melton	—	17,778	88–59
153	September 25	@ Braves	4–5 (13)	Barrett	Roe (13–11)	—	463	88–60
154	September 26	@ Braves	6–2	Butcher (13–11)	Andrews	—	1,644	89–60
155	September 27	@ Braves	3–4	Javery	Strincevich (14–7)	Hutchings	655	89–61
156	September 29	@ Phillies	0–3	Raffensberger	Ostermueller (11–7)	—	1,000	89–62

October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)

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

All-Star Game

The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 11, 1944, at Forbes Field. Pitcher Rip Sewell, infielder Bob Elliott, and outfielder Vince DiMaggio were selected for the National League squad. Pirates pitchers Max Butcher and Cookie Cuccurullo were named the NL's batting practice pitchers and Pirates catcher Spud Davis was the NL's batting practice catcher. Honus Wagner was named an honorary coach, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.[2]

Roster

1944 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

19 Max Butcher

27 Cookie Cuccurullo

26 Johnny Gee

-- Len Gilmore

21 Fritz Ostermueller

4 Xavier Rescigno

29 Preacher Roe

30 Rip Sewell

20 Ray Starr

22 Nick Strincevich

25 Joe Vitelli

-- Roy Wise

Catchers

10 Hank Camelli

36 Spud Davis

12 Al López

Infielders

-- Vic Barnhart

5 Pete Coscarart

7 Babe Dahlgren

8 Bob Elliott

16 Frankie Gustine

6 Lee Handley

-- Hank Sweeney

14 Frankie Zak

Outfielders

18 Johnny Barrett

23 Frank Colman

9 Vince DiMaggio

-- Al Gionfriddo

11 Tommy O'Brien

-- Bill Rodgers

4 Al Rubeling

32 Jim Russell

15 Lloyd Waner

14 Johnny Wyrostek

Manager

35 Frankie Frisch

Coaches

36 Spud Davis

34 Jake Flowers

33 Honus Wagner

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	Al Lopez	115	331	76	.230	1	34
1B	Babe Dahlgren	158	599	173	.289	12	101
2B	Pete Coscarart	139	554	146	.264	4	42
SS	Frankie Gustine	127	405	93	.230	2	42
3B	Bob Elliott	143	538	160	.297	10	108
OF	Johnny Barrett	149	568	153	.269	7	83
OF	Vince DiMaggio	109	342	82	.240	9	50
OF	Jim Russell	152	580	181	.312	8	66

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
Frank Colman	99	226	61	.270	6	53
Al Rubeling	92	184	45	.245	4	30
Frankie Zak	87	160	48	.300	0	11
Tommy O'Brien	85	156	39	.250	3	20
Hank Camelli	63	125	37	.296	1	10
Spud Davis	54	93	28	.301	2	14
Lee Handley	40	86	19	.221	0	5
Lloyd Waner	19	14	5	.357	0	2
Al Gionfriddo	4	6	1	.167	0	0
Bill Rodgers	2	4	1	.250	0	0
Vic Barnhart	1	2	1	.500	0	0
Hank Sweeney	1	2	0	.000	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
Rip Sewell	38	286	21	12	3.18	87
Fritz Ostermueller	28	204.2	11	7	2.73	80
Max Butcher	35	199	13	11	3.12	43
Len Gilmore	1	8	0	1	7.88	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
Nick Strincevich	40	190	14	7	3.08	47
Preacher Roe	39	185.1	13	11	3.11	88
Ray Starr	27	89.2	6	5	5.02	25

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
Xavier Rescigno	48	10	8	5	4.35	45
Cookie Cuccurullo	32	2	1	4	4.06	31
Johnny Gee	4	0	0	0	7.15	3
Joe Vitelli	4	0	0	0	2.57	2
Roy Wise	3	0	0	0	9.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Toronto Maple Leafs	International League	Burleigh Grimes
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Ripper Collins
B	York White Roses	Interstate League	Bunny Griffiths
D	Hornell Maples	PONY League	Dutch Schleser, Fred Hering, Frank Pareman and John Morrow

References

From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
Louis Effrat (July 4, 1944). "National League Managers Pick 6 Cardinals for All-Star Squad; Munger and Lanier Lead Hurlers, With Walters of Reds – Musial, Walker of Brooks and Nicholson Top Hitters". New York Times. p. 23.

External links

1944 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1944 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

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

[2] Louis Effrat (July 4, 1944). "National League Managers Pick 6 Cardinals for All-Star Squad; Munger and Lanier Lead Hurlers, With Walters of Reds – Musial, Walker of Brooks and Nicholson Top Hitters". New York Times. p. 23.

1944 MLB season by team
American League	Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia St. Louis Washington
National League	Boston Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1944 All-Star Game 1944 World Series