1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1957 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1887);
Location
	Forbes Field (since 1909); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907);
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Joe L. Brown
Manager(s)	Bobby Bragan, Danny Murtaugh
Local television	KDKA-TV ; Bob Prince, Paul Long
Local radio	KDKA; Bob Prince, Dick Bingham
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The 1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 76th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 71st in the National League. The Pirates finished tied with the Chicago Cubs for eighth and last in the league standings with a record of 62–92.

The first season to be broadcast on television, the games were aired on KDKA-TV, making them the last of the original MLB teams to debut television broadcasts of its home and away games.

Regular season

The Pittsburgh Pirates played the Brooklyn Dodgers in the final game at Ebbets Field. The game was contested on September 24, 1957, and Brooklyn pitcher Danny McDevitt pitched a complete game. He had nine strikeouts while allowing just five hits.[2]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	95	59	0.617	—	45–32	50–27
St. Louis Cardinals	87	67	0.565	8	42–35	45–32
Brooklyn Dodgers	84	70	0.545	11	43–34	41–36
Cincinnati Redlegs	80	74	0.519	15	45–32	35–42
Philadelphia Phillies	77	77	0.500	18	38–39	39–38
New York Giants	69	85	0.448	26	37–40	32–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	62	92	0.403	33	36–41	26–51
Chicago Cubs	62	92	0.403	33	31–46	31–46

Record vs. opponents

1957 National League Records Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	17–5	12–10	10–12	12–10	9–13	12–10	12–10
Chicago	5–17	—	7–15	9–13	9–13	8–14–1	12–10–1	12–10
Cincinnati	10–12	15–7	—	4–18	12–10	16–6	14–8	9–13
Milwaukee	12–10	13–9	18–4	—	13–9	12–10–1	16–6	11–11
New York	10–12	13–9	10–12	9–13	—	10–12	9–13	8–14
Philadelphia	13–9	14–8–1	6–16	10–12–1	12–10	—	13–9	9–13
Pittsburgh	10–12	10–12–1	8–14	6–16	13–9	9–13	—	6–16
St. Louis	10–12	10–12	13–9	11–11	14–8	13–9	16–6	—

Game log

1957 Game Log: 62–92 (Home: 36–41; Away: 26–51)

April: 4–8 (Home: 3–2; Away: 1–6)

May: 7–19 (Home: 4–13; Away: 3–6)

June: 15–19 (Home: 10–8; Away: 5–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
39	June 1	Giants	2–3	Worthington	Friend (3–5)	—	5,301	11–28
40	June 2	Giants	3–2	Kline (1–7)	Barclay	Arroyo (1)		12–28
41	June 2	Giants	2–0	Purkey (4–3)	Burnside	—	12,792	13–28
42	June 3	Giants	6–5	King (1–0)	Margoneri	Face (3)	7,504	14–28
43	June 4	Cardinals	5–4	Arroyo (2–5)	Wilhelm	Face (4)	12,178	15–28
44	June 5	Cardinals	1–5	McDaniel	Friend (3–6)	—	12,570	15–29
45	June 6	Cardinals	0–6	Dickson	Kline (1–8)	—	4,017	15–30
46	June 7	Braves	0–5	Spahn	Purkey (4–4)	—	21,762	15–31
47	June 9	Braves	1–2 (11)	Trowbridge	Friend (3–7)	Johnson		15–32
48	June 9	Braves	5–3	Kline (2–8)	Pizarro	Face (5)	21,888	16–32
49	June 10	Redlegs	5–2	Law (3–2)	Nuxhall	—	11,471	17–32
50	June 11	Redlegs	8–1	Purkey (5–4)	Gross	—	10,653	18–32
51	June 12	Redlegs	4–3 (10)	Face (3–4)	Acker	—	14,920	19–32
52	June 13	Redlegs	3–2	Friend (4–7)	Jeffcoat	—	7,346	20–32
53	June 14	Cubs	5–11	Drott	Kline (2–9)	Elston	17,088	20–33
54	June 15	Cubs	1–5	Drabowsky	Law (3–3)	—	7,495	20–34
55	June 16	Cubs	1–4	Kaiser	Arroyo (2–6)	Lown		20–35
56	June 16	Cubs	5–4	Law (4–3)	Brosnan	—	18,525	21–35
57	June 17	@ Braves	7–5	Purkey (6–4)	Jolly	Law (1)	26,664	22–35
58	June 18	@ Cardinals	8–1	Swanson (1–0)	Jackson	—	17,694	23–35
59	June 19	@ Cardinals	2–5	Jones	Kline (2–10)	—		23–36
60	June 19	@ Cardinals	1–5	McDaniel	Purkey (6–5)	Wilhelm	25,880	23–37
61	June 20	@ Cardinals	4–7	Dickson	Arroyo (2–7)	Merritt	11,223	23–38
62	June 21	@ Redlegs	3–2 (11)	Purkey (7–5)	Jeffcoat	—	19,648	24–38
63	June 22	@ Redlegs	3–6 (11)	Lawrence	Purkey (7–6)	—	9,299	24–39
64	June 23	@ Redlegs	3–5	Jeffcoat	Swanson (1–1)	—		24–40
65	June 23	@ Redlegs	2–5	Acker	Kline (2–11)	Sanchez	22,188	24–41
66	June 25	@ Cubs	3–5	Hillman	Friend (4–8)	Lown	5,002	24–42
67	June 26	@ Cubs	15–5	Law (5–3)	Poholsky	—		25–42
68	June 26	@ Cubs	5–5 (11)			—	7,460	25–42
69	June 27	@ Cubs	5–4 (10)	King (2–0)	Lown	—	4,900	26–42
70	June 28	@ Braves	2–4	Spahn	Friend (4–9)	—	27,087	26–43
71	June 29	@ Braves	6–13	Pizarro	O'Brien (0–1)	—	22,383	26–44
72	June 30	@ Braves	4–7	Johnson	Law (5–4)	—		26–45
73	June 30	@ Braves	5–6 (13)	Jolly	Arroyo (2–8)	—	36,283	26–46

July: 10–20 (Home: 4–10; Away: 6–10)

August: 12–13 (Home: 8–6; Away: 4–7)

September: 14–13 (Home: 7–2; Away: 7–11)

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

Notable transactions

May 1, 1957: Dale Long and Lee Walls were traded by the Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Dee Fondy and Gene Baker.[3]
May 14, 1957: Bob Smith was purchased by the Pirates from the St. Louis Cardinals.[4]

Roster

1957 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

39 Luis Arroyo

28 Chuck Churn

30 Bennie Daniels

31 Whammy Douglas

26 Roy Face

19 Bob Friend

30 Dick Hall

29 Nellie King

22 Ron Kline

37 Bob Kuzava

32 Vern Law

16 Eddie O'Brien

6 Johnny O'Brien

31 Laurin Pepper

34 Bob Purkey

37 Bob Smith

35 Red Swanson

36 Joe Trimble

38,52 George Witt

Catchers

20 Hank Foiles

17,28 Danny Kravitz

17 Hardy Peterson

10 Dick Rand

Infielders

23 Gene Baker

3 Dee Fondy

8 Gene Freese

24 Dick Groat

31 Ken Hamlin

3 Dale Long

9 Bill Mazeroski

5 Buddy Pritchard

15 Frank Thomas

Outfielders

21 Roberto Clemente

25 Román Mejías

12 Jim Pendleton

14 John Powers

4 Bob Skinner

11 Paul Smith

18 Bill Virdon

16 Lee Walls

Manager

2 Bobby Bragan

40 Danny Murtaugh

Coaches

42 Lenny Levy

40 Danny Murtaugh

43 Sam Narron

41 Clyde Sukeforth

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
1B	Dee Fondy	95	323	101	.313	2	35

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 Thomas	151	594	172	.290	23	89
Gene Baker	111	365	97	.266	2	36
Paul Smith	81	150	38	.253	3	11
Dick Rand	60	105	23	.219	1	9
Hardy Peterson	30	73	22	.301	2	11
Johnny O'Brien	34	35	11	.314	0	1
John Powers	20	35	10	.286	2	8
Dale Long	7	22	4	.182	0	5
Lee Walls	8	22	4	.182	0	0
Ken Hamlin	2	1	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
Bob Friend	40	277	14	18	3.38	143
Whammy Douglas	11	47	3	3	3.26	28
Bennie Daniels	1	7	0	1	1.29	101

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
Luis Arroyo	54	130.2	3	11	4.68	2
Red Swanson	32	72.2	3	3	3.72	29

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
Roy Face	59	4	6	10	3.07	53
Bob Smith	20	2	4	0	3.11	35
Johnny O'Brien	16	0	3	0	6.08	19
Chuck Churn	5	0	0	0	4.32	4

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Hollywood Stars	Pacific Coast League	Clyde King
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Frank Oceak
A	Lincoln Chiefs	Western League	Larry Shepard
B	Beaumont Pirates	Big State League	Monty Basgall
C	Douglas Copper Kings	Arizona–Mexico League	Bob Clear
C	San Jose JoSox	California League	Dick Whitman
C	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	Al Kubski and Jack Paepke
D	Salem Rebels	Appalachian League	Larry Dorton
D	Clinton Pirates	Midwest League	Stan Wentzel
D	Jamestown Falcons	New York–Penn League	Jack Paepke

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lincoln

Jamestown club folded, June 25, 1957

Notes

From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
Sports Illustrated, December 6, 2010, Volume 113, Number 21, p.24, Published by Time Inc.
Dee Fondy at Baseball Reference
Bob Smith at Baseball Reference

References

1957 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1957 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.

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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] Sports Illustrated, December 6, 2010, Volume 113, Number 21, p.24, Published by Time Inc.

[3] Dee Fondy at Baseball Reference

[4] Bob Smith at Baseball Reference

1957 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
1957 All-Star Game 1957 World Series