1951 Pittsburgh Pirates

64-90 • .416 Win% • 7th in NL

The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates went 64-90 (.416) finishing 7th in the NL. The club scored 689 runs, allowed 845, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Ralph Kiner (42 HR, 109 RBI) and Murry Dickson (20-16, 4.02 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

64 Wins
90 Losses
.416 Win %
7th Rank
689 R 845 RA
Diff -156

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

689 Runs Scored
845 Runs Allowed
-156 Run Diff
988K Attendance

📈 vs. 1951 NL Average

Batting Avg .257 1% below the 1951 league average (.259)
OBP .330 equal to the 1951 league average (.331)
SLG .397 2% above the 1951 league average (.389)
Team ERA 4.79 21% worse than the 1951 league average (3.96)
Runs Scored 689 1% below the 1951 league average (694 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 78
👥
Total Attendance 988,441
📊
Avg per Game 12,672

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1951

Batting Avg

1 Jack Merson 0.360 2 Ralph Kiner 0.309 3 Clyde McCullough 0.297 4 George Metkovich 0.293 5 Wally Westlake 0.282

Home Runs

1 Ralph Kiner 42 2 Gus Bell 16 3 Wally Westlake 16 4 Bill Howerton 11 5 Joe Garagiola 9

RBI

1 Ralph Kiner 109 2 Gus Bell 89 3 George Strickland 47 4 Wally Westlake 45 5 Pete Castiglione 42
1951 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Gus Bell 149 600 80 167 27 12 16 89 42 41 1 0.278
Ralph Kiner 151 531 124 164 31 6 42 109 137 57 2 0.309
Pete Castiglione 132 482 62 126 19 4 7 42 34 28 2 0.261
George Strickland 138 454 59 98 12 7 9 47 65 83 4 0.216
George Metkovich 120 423 51 124 21 3 3 40 28 23 3 0.293
Clyde McCullough 92 259 26 77 9 2 8 39 27 31 2 0.297
Bill Howerton 80 219 29 60 12 2 11 37 26 44 1 0.274
Joe Garagiola 72 212 24 54 8 2 9 35 32 20 4 0.255
Rocky Nelson 71 195 29 52 7 4 1 14 10 7 1 0.267
Wally Westlake 50 181 28 51 4 0 16 45 9 26 0 0.282
Jack Phillips 70 156 12 37 7 3 0 12 15 17 1 0.237
Monty Basgall 55 153 15 32 5 2 0 9 12 14 0 0.209
Danny Murtaugh 77 151 9 30 7 0 1 11 16 19 0 0.199
Frank Thomas 39 148 21 39 9 2 2 16 9 15 0 0.264
Pete Reiser 74 140 22 38 9 3 2 13 27 20 4 0.271
Murry Dickson 46 110 16 30 2 1 1 8 1 5 0 0.273
Dick Cole 42 106 9 25 4 0 1 11 15 9 0 0.236
Ed FitzGerald 55 97 8 22 6 0 0 13 7 10 1 0.227
Tom Saffell 49 65 11 13 0 0 1 5 5 18 1 0.200
Hank Schenz 25 61 5 13 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 0.213
Jack Merson 13 50 6 18 2 2 1 14 1 7 0 0.360
Ted Beard 22 48 7 9 1 0 1 3 6 14 0 0.188
Mel Queen 39 47 4 5 0 0 0 1 1 8 0 0.106
Dick Smith 12 46 2 8 0 0 0 4 8 8 0 0.174
Bob Friend 34 44 1 4 2 0 0 2 2 19 0 0.091
Bob Dillinger 12 43 3 10 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0.233
Bill Werle 59 40 5 12 4 0 0 6 2 13 0 0.300
Erv Dusak 21 39 6 12 3 0 1 7 3 11 0 0.308
Dino Restelli 21 38 1 7 1 0 1 3 2 4 0 0.184
Howie Pollet 21 36 3 5 0 0 0 1 5 12 0 0.139
Vern Law 28 32 5 11 2 1 1 4 3 6 0 0.344
Cliff Chambers 10 21 1 7 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0.333
Don Carlsen 7 16 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.250
Stan Rojek 8 16 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.188
Dale Long 10 12 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0.167
Ted Wilks 48 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0.083
Paul LaPalme 22 10 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0.100
Junior Walsh 36 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0.143
Jack Maguire 8 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Bill Koski 13 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Harry Fisher 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Len Yochim 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Con Dempsey 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Joe Muir 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Paul Pettit 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1951

ERA

1 Ted Wilks 2.83 2 Murry Dickson 4.02 3 Don Carlsen 4.19 4 Bob Friend 4.27 5 Mel Queen 4.44

Wins

1 Murry Dickson 20 2 Bill Werle 8 3 Mel Queen 7 4 Bob Friend 6 5 Vern Law 6

Strikeouts

1 Mel Queen 123 2 Murry Dickson 112 3 Bill Werle 57 4 Howie Pollet 47 5 Ted Wilks 43
1951 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Murry Dickson 20 16 4.02 45 35 2 288.2 294 129 101 112
Mel Queen 7 9 4.44 39 21 0 168.1 149 83 99 123
Bob Friend 6 10 4.27 34 22 0 149.2 173 71 68 41
Bill Werle 8 6 5.65 59 9 6 149.2 181 94 51 57
Howie Pollet 6 10 5.04 21 21 0 128.2 149 72 51 47
Vern Law 6 9 4.50 28 14 2 114.0 109 57 51 41
Ted Wilks 3 5 2.83 48 1 12 82.2 69 26 24 43
Junior Walsh 1 4 6.87 36 1 0 73.1 92 56 46 32
Cliff Chambers 3 6 5.58 10 10 0 59.2 64 37 31 19
Paul LaPalme 1 5 6.29 22 8 0 54.1 79 38 31 24
Don Carlsen 2 3 4.19 7 6 0 43.0 50 20 14 20
Bill Koski 0 1 6.67 13 1 0 27.0 26 20 28 6
Joe Muir 0 2 2.76 9 1 0 16.1 11 5 7 5
Len Yochim 1 1 8.31 2 2 0 8.2 10 8 11 5
Con Dempsey 0 2 9.00 3 2 0 7.0 11 7 4 3
Erv Dusak 0 1 12.15 3 1 0 6.2 10 9 9 2
Paul Pettit 0 0 3.38 2 0 0 2.2 2 1 1 0

👥 Roster (45)

Monty Basgall Ted Beard Gus Bell Don Carlsen Pete Castiglione Cliff Chambers Dick Cole Con Dempsey Murry Dickson Bob Dillinger Erv Dusak Harry Fisher +33 more

45 players

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The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

In 1951 the Pittsburgh Pirates posted a 64-90 mark (.416) and finished 7th in the NL. Runs came in at 689 scored against 845 allowed (-156). At the plate the Pittsburgh Pirates hit .257, 1% worse than the league's .259. The Pittsburgh Pirates staff finished with a 4.79 ERA; the league as a whole was at 3.96. Measured against the 694-run league average, the offense was 1% behind. Attendance at Forbes Field totaled 988,441 for the year.

For power, Ralph Kiner led the way with 42 homers. The hits leader was Gus Bell with 167. Murry Dickson was the top winner, with 20 victories. The strikeout leader was Mel Queen with 123. Ted Wilks saved 12 games. In all, the roster shows 45 players.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 64-90 (.416 win pct).
Who led the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Ralph Kiner led the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates with 42 home runs.
What was the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 4.79.
Did the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Ralph Kiner (42 HR, 109 RBI) and Murry Dickson (20-16, 4.02 ERA).
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