1940 Pittsburgh Pirates

78-76 • .506 Win% • 4th in NL

The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates went 78-76 (.506) finishing 4th in the NL. The club scored 809 runs, allowed 783, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Vince DiMaggio (19 HR, 54 RBI) and Rip Sewell (16-5, 2.80 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

78 Wins
76 Losses
.506 Win %
4th Rank
809 R 783 RA
Diff +26

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

809 Runs Scored
783 Runs Allowed
+26 Run Diff
562K Attendance

📈 vs. 1940 NL Average

Batting Avg .276 5% above the 1940 league average (.263)
OBP .346 6% above the 1940 league average (.326)
SLG .393 5% above the 1940 league average (.375)
Team ERA 4.36 13% worse than the 1940 league average (3.85)
Runs Scored 809 19% above the 1940 league average (678 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 75
👥
Total Attendance 562,131
📊
Avg per Game 7,495

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1940

Batting Avg

1 Debs Garms 0.355 2 Virgil Davis 0.326 3 Max Butcher 0.300 4 Arky Vaughan 0.300 5 Bob Elliott 0.292

Home Runs

1 Vince DiMaggio 19 2 Elbie Fletcher 16 3 Maurice Van Robays 11 4 Arky Vaughan 7 5 Virgil Davis 5

RBI

1 Maurice Van Robays 116 2 Elbie Fletcher 104 3 Arky Vaughan 95 4 Bob Elliott 64 5 Debs Garms 57
1940 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Arky Vaughan 156 594 113 178 40 15 7 95 88 25 12 0.300
Maurice Van Robays 145 572 82 156 27 7 11 116 33 58 2 0.273
Bob Elliott 148 551 88 161 34 11 5 64 45 28 13 0.292
Frankie Gustine 133 524 59 147 32 7 1 55 35 39 7 0.281
Elbie Fletcher 147 510 94 139 22 7 16 104 119 54 5 0.273
Debs Garms 103 358 76 127 23 7 5 57 23 6 3 0.355
Vince DiMaggio 110 356 59 103 26 0 19 54 37 83 11 0.289
Lee Handley 98 302 50 85 7 4 1 19 27 16 7 0.281
Virgil Davis 99 285 23 93 14 1 5 39 35 20 0 0.326
Paul Waner 89 238 32 69 16 1 1 32 23 14 0 0.290
Al Lopez 59 174 15 45 6 2 1 24 13 13 5 0.259
Lloyd Waner 72 166 30 43 3 0 0 3 5 5 2 0.259
Pep Young 54 136 19 34 8 2 2 20 12 23 1 0.250
Joe Bowman 57 90 11 22 5 1 1 14 14 14 0 0.244
Bill Brubaker 38 78 8 15 3 1 0 7 8 16 0 0.192
Rip Sewell 47 73 14 14 2 1 1 4 3 19 0 0.192
Ken Heintzelman 41 54 4 9 0 0 0 0 2 9 0 0.167
Mace Brown 48 52 4 6 1 0 0 3 4 8 0 0.115
Max Butcher 36 50 6 15 3 0 0 10 2 7 0 0.300
Bob Klinger 39 42 3 6 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.143
Joe Schultz 16 36 2 7 0 1 0 4 2 1 0 0.194
Johnny Lanning 38 35 2 7 2 0 0 3 2 8 0 0.200
Dick Lanahan 40 34 4 4 0 0 0 2 0 7 0 0.118
Ed Fernandes 28 33 1 4 1 0 0 2 7 6 0 0.121
Ray Berres 21 32 2 6 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0.188
Danny MacFayden 35 28 2 5 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.179
Johnny Rizzo 9 28 1 5 1 0 0 2 5 5 0 0.179
Russ Bauers 15 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.286
Lloyd Dietz 6 7 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.143
Ed Leip 3 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.200
Oad Swigart 7 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.200
Fern Bell 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0.000
Frank Kalin 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0.000
Ray Mueller 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0.333
Pep Rambert 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Ray Harrell 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1940

ERA

1 Rip Sewell 2.80 2 Mace Brown 3.49 3 Danny MacFayden 3.55 4 Johnny Lanning 4.05 5 Dick Lanahan 4.25

Wins

1 Rip Sewell 16 2 Mace Brown 10 3 Joe Bowman 9 4 Max Butcher 8 5 Ken Heintzelman 8

Strikeouts

1 Mace Brown 73 2 Ken Heintzelman 71 3 Rip Sewell 60 4 Joe Bowman 57 5 Bob Klinger 48
1940 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Rip Sewell 16 5 2.80 33 23 1 189.2 169 59 67 60
Joe Bowman 9 10 4.46 32 24 2 187.2 209 93 66 57
Mace Brown 10 9 3.49 48 17 7 173.0 181 67 49 73
Ken Heintzelman 8 8 4.47 39 16 3 165.0 193 82 65 71
Bob Klinger 8 13 5.39 39 22 3 142.0 196 85 53 48
Max Butcher 8 9 6.01 35 24 2 136.1 161 91 46 40
Johnny Lanning 8 4 4.05 38 7 2 115.2 119 52 39 42
Dick Lanahan 6 8 4.25 40 8 2 108.0 121 51 42 45
Danny MacFayden 5 4 3.55 35 8 2 91.1 112 36 27 24
Russ Bauers 0 2 7.63 15 2 0 30.2 42 26 18 11
Oad Swigart 0 2 4.43 7 2 0 22.1 27 11 10 9
Lloyd Dietz 0 1 5.87 4 2 0 15.1 22 10 4 8
Pep Rambert 0 1 7.56 3 1 0 8.1 12 7 4 0
Ray Harrell 0 0 8.10 3 0 0 3.1 5 3 2 3

👥 Roster (36)

Russ Bauers Fern Bell Ray Berres Joe Bowman Mace Brown Bill Brubaker Max Butcher Virgil Davis Vince DiMaggio Lloyd Dietz Bob Elliott Ed Fernandes +24 more

36 players

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The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates won 78 games and lost 76, ending up 4th in the NL. Runs came in at 809 scored against 783 allowed (+26). Against a league average of .263, the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates batted .276. The staff ERA of 4.36 was 13% worse than the league average of 3.85. Measured against the 678-run league average, the offense was 19% ahead.

The home park, Forbes Field, recorded 562,131 in attendance, about 7,495 a game. For power, Vince DiMaggio led the way with 19 homers. Maurice Van Robays led in RBI with 116. Arky Vaughan collected the most hits, 178. On the mound, Rip Sewell won 16 games to lead the staff. The strikeout leader was Mace Brown with 73.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 78-76 (.506 win pct).
Who led the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Vince DiMaggio led the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates with 19 home runs.
What was the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 4.36.
Did the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Vince DiMaggio (19 HR, 54 RBI) and Rip Sewell (16-5, 2.80 ERA).
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