1939 Pittsburgh Pirates

68-85 • .444 Win% • 6th in NL

The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates went 68-85 (.444) finishing 6th in the NL. The club scored 666 runs, allowed 721, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Elbie Fletcher (12 HR, 71 RBI) and Bob Klinger (14-17, 4.36 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

68 Wins
85 Losses
.444 Win %
6th Rank
666 R 721 RA
Diff -55

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⚡ Quick Stats

666 Runs Scored
721 Runs Allowed
-55 Run Diff
426K Attendance

📈 vs. 1939 NL Average

Batting Avg .275 1% above the 1939 league average (.272)
OBP .338 1% above the 1939 league average (.335)
SLG .383 1% below the 1939 league average (.385)
Team ERA 4.15 6% worse than the 1939 league average (3.92)
Runs Scored 666 3% below the 1939 league average (684 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 77
👥
Total Attendance 426,120
📊
Avg per Game 5,534

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1939

Batting Avg

1 Joe Bowman 0.344 2 Bob Elliott 0.333 3 Paul Waner 0.328 4 Maurice Van Robays 0.314 5 Arky Vaughan 0.306

Home Runs

1 Elbie Fletcher 12 2 Chuck Klein 11 3 Bill Brubaker 7 4 Johnny Rizzo 6 5 Arky Vaughan 6

RBI

1 Elbie Fletcher 71 2 Arky Vaughan 62 3 Johnny Rizzo 55 4 Chuck Klein 47 5 Paul Waner 45
1939 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Arky Vaughan 152 595 94 182 30 11 6 62 70 20 12 0.306
Paul Waner 125 461 62 151 30 6 3 45 35 18 0 0.328
Lloyd Waner 112 379 49 108 15 3 0 24 17 13 0 0.285
Lee Handley 101 376 43 107 14 5 1 42 32 20 17 0.285
Elbie Fletcher 102 370 49 112 23 4 12 71 48 28 3 0.303
Bill Brubaker 100 345 41 80 23 1 7 43 29 51 3 0.232
Johnny Rizzo 94 330 49 86 23 3 6 55 42 27 0 0.261
Pep Young 84 293 34 81 14 3 3 29 23 29 1 0.276
Chuck Klein 85 270 37 81 16 4 11 47 26 17 1 0.300
Fern Bell 83 262 44 75 5 8 2 34 42 18 2 0.286
Ray Berres 81 231 22 53 6 1 0 16 11 25 1 0.229
Gus Suhr 63 204 23 59 10 2 1 31 25 23 4 0.289
Ray Mueller 86 180 14 42 8 1 2 18 14 22 0 0.233
Bob Elliott 32 129 18 43 10 3 3 19 9 4 0 0.333
Maurice Van Robays 27 105 13 33 9 0 2 16 6 10 0 0.314
Joe Bowman 70 96 9 33 8 1 0 18 5 9 0 0.344
Bob Klinger 37 84 9 17 0 0 0 6 5 12 0 0.202
George Susce 31 75 8 17 3 1 1 4 12 5 0 0.227
Jim Tobin 43 74 9 18 3 1 2 11 2 12 0 0.243
Frankie Gustine 22 70 5 13 3 0 0 3 9 4 0 0.186
Mace Brown 47 64 4 7 1 0 0 2 1 11 0 0.109
Rip Sewell 52 55 5 11 1 0 1 4 3 11 0 0.200
Red Juelich 17 46 5 11 0 2 0 4 2 4 0 0.239
Bill Swift 36 42 6 10 0 0 0 2 4 9 0 0.238
Max Butcher 14 31 4 3 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.097
Russ Bauers 15 19 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.211
Cy Blanton 10 14 2 4 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 0.286
Joe Schultz 4 14 3 4 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0.286
Woody Jensen 12 12 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.167
Heinie Manush 10 12 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0.000
Ken Heintzelman 17 9 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.222
Oad Swigart 3 8 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0.250
Bill Clemensen 12 6 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.333
Johnny Gee 3 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.000
Eddie Yount 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Pep Rambert 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1939

ERA

1 Russ Bauers 3.35 2 Mace Brown 3.37 3 Max Butcher 3.43 4 Bill Swift 3.89 5 Rip Sewell 4.08

Wins

1 Bob Klinger 14 2 Joe Bowman 10 3 Rip Sewell 10 4 Mace Brown 9 5 Jim Tobin 9

Strikeouts

1 Mace Brown 71 2 Rip Sewell 69 3 Bob Klinger 64 4 Joe Bowman 58 5 Bill Swift 56
1939 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Bob Klinger 14 17 4.36 37 33 0 225.0 251 109 81 64
Mace Brown 9 13 3.37 47 19 7 200.1 232 75 52 71
Joe Bowman 10 14 4.48 37 27 1 184.2 217 92 43 58
Rip Sewell 10 9 4.08 52 12 2 176.1 177 80 73 69
Jim Tobin 9 9 4.52 25 19 0 145.1 194 73 33 43
Bill Swift 5 7 3.89 36 8 4 129.2 150 56 28 56
Max Butcher 4 4 3.43 14 12 0 86.2 104 33 23 21
Russ Bauers 2 4 3.35 15 8 1 53.2 46 20 25 12
Cy Blanton 2 3 4.29 10 6 0 42.0 45 20 10 11
Ken Heintzelman 1 1 5.05 17 2 0 35.2 35 20 18 18
Bill Clemensen 0 1 7.33 12 1 0 27.0 32 22 20 13
Oad Swigart 1 1 4.44 3 3 0 24.1 27 12 6 8
Johnny Gee 1 2 4.12 3 3 0 19.2 20 9 10 16
Pep Rambert 0 0 9.82 2 0 0 3.2 7 4 1 4

👥 Roster (36)

Russ Bauers Fern Bell Ray Berres Cy Blanton Joe Bowman Mace Brown Bill Brubaker Max Butcher Bill Clemensen Bob Elliott Elbie Fletcher Johnny Gee +24 more

36 players

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The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

The record for the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates reads 68 wins and 85 losses, good for 6th in the NL. With 666 runs scored and 721 given up, the 1939 differential was -55. At the plate the Pittsburgh Pirates hit .275, 1% better than the league's .272. Pitchers allowed 4.15 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 3.92. League clubs averaged 684 runs that year, so the Pittsburgh Pirates scored 3% fewer.

Home games were played at Forbes Field, where 426,120 fans came through the gates. For power, Elbie Fletcher led the way with 12 homers. The hits leader was Arky Vaughan with 182. Bob Klinger was the top winner, with 14 victories. The strikeout leader was Mace Brown with 71. The 1939 roster runs to 36 players.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 68-85 (.444 win pct).
Who led the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Elbie Fletcher led the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates with 12 home runs.
What was the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 4.15.
Did the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Elbie Fletcher (12 HR, 71 RBI) and Bob Klinger (14-17, 4.36 ERA).
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