1941 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1941 Pittsburgh Pirates
1941 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Bill Benswanger
Managers	Frankie Frisch
Radio	KDKA; WWSW; Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock

The 1941 Pittsburgh Pirates was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 81–73, 19 games behind the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers.

Regular season

Season standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	100	54	.649	—	52‍–‍25	48‍–‍29
St. Louis Cardinals	97	56	.634	2½	53‍–‍24	44‍–‍32
Cincinnati Reds	88	66	.571	12	45‍–‍34	43‍–‍32
Pittsburgh Pirates	81	73	.526	19	45‍–‍32	36‍–‍41
New York Giants	74	79	.484	25½	38‍–‍39	36‍–‍40
Chicago Cubs	70	84	.455	30	38‍–‍39	32‍–‍45
Boston Braves	62	92	.403	38	32‍–‍44	30‍–‍48
Philadelphia Phillies	43	111	.279	57	23‍–‍52	20‍–‍59

Record vs. opponents

1941 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	4–18–2	11–11	9–13	6–16	14–8	10–12	8–14
Brooklyn	18–4–2	—	13–9	14–8	14–8	18–4	12–10	11–11–1
Chicago	11–11	9–13	—	8–14	9–13	14–8–1	9–13	10–12
Cincinnati	13–9	8–14	14–8	—	15–7	16–6	12–10	10–12
New York	16–6	8–14	13–9	7–15	—	16–6	8–14–2	6–15–1
Philadelphia	8–14	4–18	8–14–1	6–16	6–16	—	6–16	5–17
Pittsburgh	12–10	10–12	13–9	10–12	14–8–2	16–6	—	6–16
St. Louis	14–8	11–11–1	12–10	12–10	15–6–1	17–5	16–6	—

Game log

1941 Game Log: 81–73 (Home: 45–32; Away: 36–41)

April: 3–10 (Home: 2–3; Away: 1–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 15	@ Cubs	4–7	Passeau	Klinger (0–1)	—	17,008	0–1
2	April 17	@ Cubs	7–2	Sewell (1–0)	Olsen	—	4,109	1–1
3	April 18	Reds	4–1	Butcher (1–0)	Walters	—	18,644	2–1
4	April 19	Reds	3–5	Derringer	Bauers (0–1)	—	10,465	2–2
5	April 20	Reds	3–7	Turner	Bowman (0–1)	Thompson	19,060	2–3
6	April 22	@ Cardinals	8–9 (12)	Grodzicki	Heintzelman (0–1)	—	1,776	2–4
7	April 23	@ Cardinals	1–3	Nahem	Butcher (1–1)	—	1,875	2–5
8	April 24	Cubs	2–1 (11)	Lanning (1–0)	French	—	1,959	3–5
9	April 25	Cubs	7–8	Page	Heintzelman (0–2)	—	3,902	3–6
10	April 26	@ Reds	3–10	Vander Meer	Bauers (0–2)	—	8,112	3–7
11	April 27	@ Reds	2–3	Walters	Sewell (1–1)	—	19,114	3–8
12	April 29	@ Phillies	2–6	Crouch	Butcher (1–2)	—	800	3–9
13	April 30	@ Phillies	4–8	Blanton	Lanahan (0–1)	—	3,385	3–10

May: 11–11 (Home: 7–4; Away: 4–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
14	May 1	@ Phillies	15–2	Bauers (1–2)	Johnson	—	1,500	4–10
15	May 2	@ Giants	7–7 (13)			—	3,268	4–10
16	May 3	@ Giants	3–2	Butcher (2–2)	Bowman	—	7,417	5–10
17	May 4	@ Dodgers	6–4	Heintzelman (1–2)	Hamlin	—	27,015	6–10
18	May 6	@ Dodgers	3–7	Wyatt	Sewell (1–2)	—	7,443	6–11
19	May 7	@ Braves	6–7	Tobin	Lanning (1–1)	—	2,458	6–12
20	May 11	Cardinals	4–7	Nahem	Butcher (2–3)	Hutchinson	12,388	6–13
21	May 12	Cardinals	2–6	Warneke	Heintzelman (1–3)	—	—	6–14
22	May 13	Phillies	6–3	Sewell (2–2)	Grissom	—	986	7–14
23	May 14	Phillies	12–7	Klinger (1–1)	Bruner	—	1,254	8–14
24	May 16	Dodgers	3–2 (11)	Bowman (1–1)	Brown	—	3,984	9–14
25	May 18	Giants	4–5	Adams	Sewell (2–3)	Brown	13,659	9–15
26	May 19	Giants	2–1	Butcher (3–3)	Hubbell	—	2,574	10–15
27	May 20	Giants	7–5	Klinger (2–1)	Schumacher	—	3,050	11–15
28	May 21	Braves	8–4	Wilkie (1–0)	Tobin	—	2,311	12–15
29	May 23	@ Cardinals	1–2	Cooper	Butcher (3–4)	—	18,555	12–16
30	May 24	@ Cardinals	7–10	Nahem	Sewell (2–4)	Lanier	2,952	12–17
31	May 25	@ Cardinals	4–6	Gumbert	Wilkie (1–1)	White	—	12–18
32	May 25	@ Cardinals	3–4	Krist	Klinger (2–2)	Lanier	18,749	12–19
33	May 26	@ Reds	3–7	Walters	Strincevich (0–1)	—	20,567	12–20
34	May 28	@ Reds	7–4	Butcher (4–4)	Moore	—	2,560	13–20
35	May 30	Cubs	6–7	Lee	Sewell (2–5)	—	—	13–21
36	May 30	Cubs	5–4	Sewell (3–5)	Passeau	—	17,297	14–21

June: 14–12 (Home: 5–7; Away: 9–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
37	June 2	@ Braves	0–2	Errickson	Lanning (1–2)	—	1,034	14–22
38	June 3	@ Braves	9–5	Heintzelman (2–3)	LaManna	Bowman (1)	1,776	15–22
39	June 6	@ Giants	5–4	Butcher (5–4)	McGee	—	—	16–22
40	June 6	@ Giants	4–3	Sewell (4–5)	Lohrman	—	8,324	17–22
41	June 7	@ Phillies	0–2	Blanton	Lanning (1–3)	—	3,802	17–23
42	June 8	@ Phillies	12–2	Bowman (2–1)	Hughes	Sewell (1)	—	18–23
43	June 8	@ Phillies	2–5	Podgajny	Bauers (1–3)	—	—	18–24
44	June 9	@ Phillies	5–0	Wilkie (2–1)	Grissom	—	892	19–24
45	June 10	@ Dodgers	3–4	Fitzsimmons	Heintzelman (2–4)	—	6,426	19–25
46	June 11	@ Dodgers	8–1	Sewell (5–5)	Higbe	—	30,469	20–25
47	June 14	Braves	8–2	Butcher (6–4)	Salvo	—	2,908	21–25
48	June 15	Braves	1–5	Posedel	Wilkie (2–2)	—	12,562	21–26
49	June 17	Giants	3–6	Hubbell	Sewell (5–6)	—	1,586	21–27
50	June 18	Giants	2–2 (11)			—	24,738	21–27
51	June 19	Giants	6–9	Brown	Heintzelman (2–5)	—	2,127	21–28
52	June 20	Phillies	7–6	Dietz (1–0)	Pearson	—	1,046	22–28
53	June 21	Phillies	2–0	Bowman (3–1)	Grissom	—	2,321	23–28
54	June 22	Phillies	4–1	Sewell (6–6)	Blanton	—	—	24–28
55	June 22	Phillies	4–7	Hughes	Butcher (6–5)	Johnson	10,060	24–29
56	June 23	Dodgers	4–9	Fitzsimmons	Klinger (2–3)	Brown	2,335	24–30
57	June 24	Dodgers	0–8	Davis	Lanning (1–4)	—	20,537	24–31
58	June 25	Dodgers	4–5	Higbe	Heintzelman (2–6)	—	2,425	24–32
59	June 27	@ Cubs	4–2	Sewell (7–6)	Passeau	—	4,622	25–32
60	June 28	@ Cubs	2–3	Olsen	Butcher (6–6)	—	3,654	25–33
61	June 29	@ Cubs	8–2	Lanning (2–4)	French	—	—	26–33
62	June 29	@ Cubs	3–2	Sullivan (1–0)	Lee	Sewell (2)	17,440	27–33
63	June 30	Cardinals	4–3	Heintzelman (3–6)	Gumbert	—	16,306	28–33

July: 22–9 (Home: 13–3; Away: 9–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
64	July 1	Cardinals	7–11	Warneke	Sewell (7–7)	—	—	28–34
65	July 2	Reds	8–3	Butcher (7–6)	Derringer	—	1,941	29–34
66	July 4	@ Reds	0–6	Walters	Lanning (2–5)	—	—	29–35
67	July 4	@ Reds	6–4	Heintzelman (4–6)	Pearson	—	14,391	30–35
68	July 5	Cubs	9–6	Sullivan (2–0)	Lee	Klinger (1)	4,571	31–35
69	July 6	Cubs	2–1	Sewell (8–7)	Passeau	—	—	32–35
70	July 6	Cubs	13–4 (8)	Butcher (8–6)	Root	Lanning (1)	14,306	33–35
71	July 10	@ Phillies	6–3	Sewell (9–7)	Hughes	Sullivan (1)	—	34–35
72	July 12	@ Phillies	6–1	Lanning (3–5)	Podgajny	—	1,500	35–35
73	July 13	@ Giants	4–0	Heintzelman (5–6)	Lohrman	—	—	36–35
74	July 13	@ Giants	2–8	Schumacher	Butcher (8–7)	—	22,865	36–36
75	July 14	@ Giants	2–3	Hubbell	Sewell (9–8)	—	3,125	36–37
76	July 15	@ Giants	5–1	Butcher (9–7)	Melton	—	3,296	37–37
77	July 16	@ Braves	1–4	Tobin	Lanning (3–6)	—	—	37–38
78	July 16	@ Braves	13–5	Dietz (2–0)	Hutchings	Wilkie (1)	3,278	38–38
79	July 18	@ Braves	5–1	Heintzelman (6–6)	Johnson	—	—	39–38
80	July 18	@ Braves	3–4	LaManna	Wilkie (2–3)	—	3,315	39–39
81	July 20	@ Dodgers	1–5	Davis	Sewell (9–9)	—	—	39–40
82	July 20	@ Dodgers	5–1	Lanning (4–6)	Wyatt	—	—	40–40
83	July 21	@ Dodgers	8–3	Heintzelman (7–6)	Kimball	—	—	41–40
84	July 22	Phillies	4–3	Klinger (3–3)	Podgajny	—	1,730	42–40
85	July 23	Phillies	5–2	Butcher (10–7)	Blanton	—	13,109	43–40
86	July 24	Phillies	3–2	Klinger (4–3)	Grissom	—	1,326	44–40
87	July 25	Dodgers	8–4	Sullivan (3–0)	Wyatt	—	—	45–40
88	July 25	Dodgers	8–2	Lanning (5–6)	Davis	—	—	46–40
89	July 26	Dodgers	2–3	Hamlin	Heintzelman (7–7)	Higbe	7,009	46–41
90	July 27	Dodgers	4–3	Klinger (5–3)	Davis	—	—	47–41
91	July 27	Dodgers	8–0 (8)	Sewell (10–9)	Casey	—	40,093	48–41
92	July 29	Braves	5–3 (8)	Sullivan (4–0)	Javery	Klinger (2)	4,860	49–41
93	July 30	Braves	2–3 (10)	Tobin	Bowman (3–2)	—	11,362	49–42
94	July 31	Braves	9–8	Lanning (6–6)	Errickson	Dietz (1)	1,870	50–42

August: 18–15 (Home: 5–4; Away: 13–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
95	August 1	Giants	6–3	Butcher (11–7)	Hubbell	—	4,324	51–42
96	August 2	Giants	0–2 (10)	Schumacher	Sewell (10–10)	—	5,550	51–43
97	August 3	Giants	5–4	Dietz (3–0)	McGee	—	—	52–43
98	August 3	Giants	10–4 (6)	Klinger (6–3)	Wittig	—	25,688	53–43
99	August 4	@ Reds	4–1	Lanning (7–6)	Thompson	—	2,109	54–43
100	August 5	@ Reds	7–5	Butcher (12–7)	Turner	Klinger (3)	2,390	55–43
101	August 6	@ Cubs	13–3	Sewell (11–10)	Pressnell	—	5,574	56–43
102	August 7	@ Cubs	4–3	Dietz (4–0)	Mooty	—	5,035	57–43
103	August 8	@ Cubs	0–1	Erickson	Lanning (7–7)	—	5,846	57–44
104	August 9	@ Cardinals	5–4 (13)	Klinger (7–3)	Hutchinson	—	5,223	58–44
105	August 10	@ Cardinals	2–3	White	Sewell (11–11)	Crouch	—	58–45
106	August 10	@ Cardinals	2–4	Cooper	Heintzelman (7–8)	—	26,513	58–46
107	August 13	Cubs	4–6	Eaves	Lanning (7–8)	Mooty	24,373	58–47
108	August 14	Cubs	2–6	Passeau	Butcher (12–8)	—	3,032	58–48
109	August 16	Cardinals	4–2	Heintzelman (8–8)	White	—	—	59–48
110	August 17	Cardinals	1–7	Cooper	Butcher (12–9)	—	—	59–49
111	August 17	Cardinals	8–2	Sewell (12–11)	Warneke	—	34,292	60–49
112	August 18	@ Dodgers	5–6	Casey	Butcher (12–10)	—	9,832	60–50
113	August 19	@ Dodgers	0–9	Davis	Sullivan (4–1)	—	—	60–51
114	August 19	@ Dodgers	2–6	Drake	Heintzelman (8–9)	Casey	9,372	60–52
115	August 20	@ Dodgers	6–7	Allen	Sewell (12–12)	—	14,752	60–53
116	August 21	@ Giants	5–3	Butcher (13–10)	McGee	—	11,845	61–53
117	August 22	@ Giants	5–3	Lanning (8–8)	Bowman	—	2,439	62–53
118	August 23	@ Giants	3–5	Schumacher	Dietz (4–1)	—	—	62–54
119	August 23	@ Giants	4–3	Klinger (8–3)	Brown	—	—	63–54
120	August 24	@ Braves	3–4 (12)	Salvo	Sewell (12–13)	—	—	63–55
121	August 24	@ Braves	7–3 (6)	Klinger (9–3)	Javery	—	13,411	64–55
122	August 26	@ Braves	3–4	Tobin	Wilkie (2–4)	—	—	64–56
123	August 26	@ Braves	6–1	Butcher (14–10)	Errickson	—	3,527	65–56
124	August 27	@ Phillies	12–2	Lanning (9–8)	Blanton	—	1,748	66–56
125	August 28	@ Phillies	3–2	Dietz (5–1)	Pearson	Klinger (4)	5,500	67–56
126	August 30	@ Cubs	1–4	Erickson	Sewell (12–14)	—	6,777	67–57
127	August 31	@ Cubs	4–3	Butcher (15–10)	Passeau	—	—	68–57

September: 13–16 (Home: 13–11; Away: 0–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
128	September 1	@ Cardinals	3–5	White	Heintzelman (8–10)	—	—	68–58
129	September 1	@ Cardinals	3–6 (8)	Pollet	Klinger (9–4)	—	34,812	68–59
130	September 3	Reds	3–2	Lanning (10–8)	Riddle	—	18,428	69–59
131	September 4	Reds	4–0 (5)	Sewell (13–14)	Walters	—	1,720	70–59
132	September 5	Reds	4–10	Derringer	Butcher (15–11)	Beggs	—	70–60
133	September 5	Reds	1–0 (7)	Dietz (6–1)	Starr	—	4,897	71–60
134	September 6	Cubs	6–4	Heintzelman (9–10)	Mooty	—	3,040	72–60
135	September 7	Cubs	1–3	Eaves	Lanning (10–9)	—	6,619	72–61
136	September 9	Giants	2–4 (10)	Schumacher	Sewell (13–15)	—	1,873	72–62
137	September 10	Giants	10–7	Lanning (11–9)	Lohrman	Wilkie (2)	1,076	73–62
138	September 11	Braves	7–5	Heintzelman (10–10)	Hutchings	—	—	74–62
139	September 11	Braves	0–10	Earley	Gee (0–1)	—	2,320	74–63
140	September 12	Braves	6–3	Dietz (7–1)	Johnson	—	—	75–63
141	September 12	Braves	0–5	Javery	Lanning (11–10)	—	2,083	75–64
142	September 13	Braves	1–0	Strincevich (1–1)	Salvo	—	—	76–64
143	September 14	Phillies	2–1	Butcher (16–11)	Hoerst	—	—	77–64
144	September 14	Phillies	3–6	Hughes	Sewell (13–16)	—	7,495	77–65
145	September 17	Dodgers	4–6	Davis	Heintzelman (10–11)	Hamlin	6,206	77–66
146	September 18	Dodgers	6–5	Sewell (14–16)	Casey	—	6,803	78–66
147	September 20	@ Reds	1–2	Walters	Butcher (16–12)	—	—	78–67
148	September 20	@ Reds	3–7	Derringer	Strincevich (1–2)	—	9,817	78–68
149	September 21	@ Reds	0–2	Riddle	Dietz (7–2)	—	10,248	78–69
150	September 23	Cardinals	4–0	Heintzelman (11–11)	Cooper	—	—	79–69
151	September 23	Cardinals	0–9	Lanier	Sewell (14–17)	—	—	79–70
152	September 24	Cardinals	0–4	Gumbert	Lanning (11–11)	—	—	79–71
153	September 25	Cardinals	3–1	Butcher (17–12)	White	—	—	80–71
154	September 26	Reds	3–4	Vander Meer	Brandt (0–1)	—	717	80–72
155	September 27	Reds	9–15	Riddle	Gee (0–2)	Beggs	1,695	80–73
156	September 28	Reds	3–2	Clemensen (1–0)	Walters	—	4,137	81–73

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

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1941 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

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	Al Lopez	114	317	84	.265	5	43
1B	Elbie Fletcher	151	521	150	.288	11	74
2B	Frankie Gustine	121	463	125	.270	1	46
3B	Lee Handley	124	459	132	.288	0	33
SS	Arky Vaughan	106	374	118	.316	6	38
LF	Maurice Van Robays	129	457	129	.282	4	78
CF	Vince DiMaggio	151	528	141	.267	21	100
RF	Bob Elliott	141	527	144	.273	3	76

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
Stu Martin	88	233	71	.305	0	19
Alf Anderson	70	223	48	.215	1	10
Debs Garms	83	220	58	.264	3	42
Bud Stewart	73	172	46	.267	0	10
Spud Davis	57	107	27	.252	0	6
Bill Baker	35	67	15	.224	0	6
Ripper Collins	49	62	13	.210	0	11
Billy Cox	10	37	10	.270	0	2
Vinnie Smith	9	33	10	.303	0	5
Ed Leip	15	25	5	.200	0	3
Culley Rikard	6	20	4	.200	0	0
Lloyd Waner	3	4	1	.250	0	1
Joe Schultz	2	2	1	.500	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
Rip Sewell	39	249.0	14	17	3.72	76
Max Butcher	33	236.0	17	12	3.05	61
Ken Heintzelman	35	196.0	11	11	3.44	81
Johnny Lanning	34	175.2	11	11	3.13	41

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 Klinger	35	116.2	9	4	3.93	36
Dutch Dietz	33	100.1	7	2	2.33	22
Lefty Wilkie	26	79.0	2	4	4.56	16
Joe Bowman	18	69.1	3	2	2.99	22
Joe Sullivan	16	39.1	4	1	2.97	10
Russ Bauers	8	37.1	1	3	5.54	20
Nick Strincevich	12	31.0	1	2	5.23	12
Bill Clemensen	2	13.0	1	0	2.77	4
Johnny Gee	3	7.1	0	2	6.14	2
Bill Brandt	2	7.0	0	1	3.86	0
Dick Conger	2	4.0	0	0	0.00	2

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
Dick Lanahan	7	0	1	0	5.25	5
Mace Brown	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

1941 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Arky Vaughan, starter, SS
Bob Elliott, reserve
Al López, reserve

League top five finishers

Vince DiMaggio

#3 in NL in RBI (100)

Elbie Fletcher

NL leader in on-base percentage (.421)

Rip Sewell

NL leader in losses (17)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Specs Toporcer
B	Harrisburg Senators	Interstate League	Les Bell
C	Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers	Canadian–American League	Buster Blakeney
C	Hutchinson Pirates	Western Association	Johnny Gooch
D	Moultrie Packers	Georgia–Florida League	Buzz Arlitt
D	Oil City Oilers	Pennsylvania State Association	George Norton
D	London Pirates	PONY League	Jimmy Jordan

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Harrisburg

Notes

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

References

1941 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1941 Pittsburgh Pirates 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.

[1]