1948 Pittsburgh Pirates

83-71 • .539 Win% • 4th in NL

The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates went 83-71 (.539) finishing 4th in the NL. The club scored 706 runs, allowed 699, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Ralph Kiner (40 HR, 123 RBI) and Bob Chesnes (14-6, 3.57 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

83 Wins
71 Losses
.539 Win %
4th Rank
706 R 699 RA
Diff +7

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

706 Runs Scored
699 Runs Allowed
+7 Run Diff
1,494K Attendance

📈 vs. 1948 NL Average

Batting Avg .262 1% above the 1948 league average (.260)
OBP .337 1% above the 1948 league average (.332)
SLG .380 1% below the 1948 league average (.382)
Team ERA 4.15 5% worse than the 1948 league average (3.96)
Runs Scored 706 3% above the 1948 league average (686 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 80
👥
Total Attendance 1,494,235
📊
Avg per Game 18,677

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1948

Batting Avg

1 Dixie Walker 0.316 2 Stan Rojek 0.290 3 Danny Murtaugh 0.290 4 Wally Westlake 0.285 5 Johnny Hopp 0.278

Home Runs

1 Ralph Kiner 40 2 Wally Westlake 17 3 Ed Stevens 10 4 Frankie Gustine 9 5 Max West 8

RBI

1 Ralph Kiner 123 2 Danny Murtaugh 71 3 Ed Stevens 69 4 Wally Westlake 65 5 Dixie Walker 54
1948 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Stan Rojek 156 641 85 186 27 5 4 51 61 41 24 0.290
Ralph Kiner 156 555 104 147 19 5 40 123 112 61 1 0.265
Danny Murtaugh 146 514 56 149 21 5 1 71 60 40 10 0.290
Frankie Gustine 131 449 68 120 19 2 9 42 42 62 5 0.267
Ed Stevens 128 429 47 109 19 6 10 69 35 53 4 0.254
Wally Westlake 132 428 78 122 10 6 17 65 46 40 2 0.285
Dixie Walker 129 408 39 129 19 3 2 54 52 18 1 0.316
Johnny Hopp 120 392 64 109 15 12 1 31 40 25 5 0.278
Clyde Kluttz 94 271 26 60 12 2 4 20 20 19 3 0.221
Ed FitzGerald 102 262 31 70 9 3 1 35 32 37 3 0.267
Eddie Bockman 70 176 23 42 7 1 4 23 17 35 2 0.239
Max West 87 146 19 26 4 0 8 21 27 29 1 0.178
Bob Chesnes 39 91 15 25 1 1 1 8 7 11 0 0.275
Ted Beard 25 81 15 16 1 3 0 7 12 18 5 0.198
Elmer Riddle 29 64 6 12 1 0 1 5 4 16 1 0.188
Monty Basgall 38 51 12 11 1 0 2 6 3 5 0 0.216
Tiny Bonham 22 49 2 8 0 0 0 3 0 7 0 0.163
Kirby Higbe 56 48 4 10 1 0 1 3 0 11 0 0.208
Vic Lombardi 39 48 1 10 2 0 0 3 2 4 0 0.208
Fritz Ostermueller 23 44 1 8 1 0 0 4 1 6 0 0.182
Rip Sewell 21 42 5 6 1 0 1 2 6 15 0 0.143
Elmer Singleton 38 23 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 8 0 0.087
Hal Gregg 22 22 3 6 0 0 1 1 0 9 0 0.273
Mel Queen 25 17 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.059
Johnny Riddle 10 15 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.200
Grady Wilson 12 10 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0.100
Pete Castiglione 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
Don Gutteridge 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Woody Main 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Junior Walsh 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Cal McLish 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Earl Turner 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Nick Strincevich 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1948

ERA

1 Kirby Higbe 3.36 2 Rip Sewell 3.48 3 Elmer Riddle 3.49 4 Bob Chesnes 3.57 5 Vic Lombardi 3.70

Wins

1 Bob Chesnes 14 2 Rip Sewell 13 3 Elmer Riddle 12 4 Vic Lombardi 10 5 Kirby Higbe 8

Strikeouts

1 Kirby Higbe 86 2 Bob Chesnes 69 3 Elmer Riddle 63 4 Vic Lombardi 54 5 Elmer Singleton 53
1948 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Bob Chesnes 14 6 3.57 25 23 0 194.1 180 77 90 69
Elmer Riddle 12 10 3.49 28 27 1 191.0 184 74 81 63
Vic Lombardi 10 9 3.70 38 17 4 163.0 156 67 67 54
Kirby Higbe 8 7 3.36 56 8 10 158.0 140 59 83 86
Tiny Bonham 6 10 4.31 22 20 0 135.2 145 65 23 42
Fritz Ostermueller 8 11 4.42 23 22 0 134.1 143 66 41 43
Rip Sewell 13 3 3.48 21 17 0 121.2 126 47 37 36
Elmer Singleton 4 6 4.97 38 5 2 92.1 90 51 40 53
Hal Gregg 2 4 4.60 22 8 1 74.1 72 38 34 25
Mel Queen 4 4 6.65 25 8 1 66.1 82 49 40 34
Woody Main 1 1 8.33 17 0 0 27.0 35 25 19 12
Cal McLish 0 0 9.00 2 1 0 5.0 8 5 2 1
Nick Strincevich 0 0 8.31 3 0 0 4.1 8 4 2 1
Junior Walsh 1 0 10.38 2 0 0 4.1 4 5 5 0

👥 Roster (33)

Monty Basgall Ted Beard Eddie Bockman Tiny Bonham Pete Castiglione Bob Chesnes Ed FitzGerald Hal Gregg Frankie Gustine Don Gutteridge Kirby Higbe Johnny Hopp +21 more

33 players

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The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

A 83-71 record (.539) put the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates 4th in the NL. Runs came in at 706 scored against 699 allowed (+7). At the plate the Pittsburgh Pirates hit .262, 1% better than the league's .260. The Pittsburgh Pirates staff finished with a 4.15 ERA; the league as a whole was at 3.96. The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates outscored the average club by 3% (706 against 686).

Forbes Field was home in 1948, drawing a total attendance of 1,494,235. The home run leader was Ralph Kiner, who hit 40. The hits leader was Stan Rojek with 186. On the mound, Bob Chesnes won 14 games to lead the staff. Kirby Higbe struck out 86, the most on the club. Kirby Higbe closed out 10 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 83-71 (.539 win pct).
Who led the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Ralph Kiner led the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates with 40 home runs.
What was the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 4.15.
Did the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Ralph Kiner (40 HR, 123 RBI) and Bob Chesnes (14-6, 3.57 ERA).
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