1956 Pittsburgh Pirates

66-88 • .429 Win% • 7th in NL

The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates went 66-88 (.429) finishing 7th in the NL. The club scored 588 runs, allowed 653, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Dale Long (27 HR, 91 RBI) and Bob Friend (17-17, 3.46 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

66 Wins
88 Losses
.429 Win %
7th Rank
588 R 653 RA
Diff -65

📁 Franchise Info

Pittsburgh Pirates Active
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⚡ Quick Stats

588 Runs Scored
653 Runs Allowed
-65 Run Diff
959K Attendance

📈 vs. 1956 NL Average

Batting Avg .256 equal to the 1956 league average (.256)
OBP .307 4% below the 1956 league average (.321)
SLG .379 5% below the 1956 league average (.400)
Team ERA 3.74 1% better than the 1956 league average (3.77)
Runs Scored 588 11% below the 1956 league average (659 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 78
👥
Total Attendance 959,828
📊
Avg per Game 12,305

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1956

Batting Avg

1 Bill Virdon 0.334 2 Roberto Clemente 0.311 3 Frank Thomas 0.282 4 Lee Walls 0.274 5 Dick Groat 0.273

Home Runs

1 Dale Long 27 2 Frank Thomas 25 3 Lee Walls 11 4 Bill Virdon 8 5 Roberto Clemente 7

RBI

1 Dale Long 91 2 Frank Thomas 80 3 Roberto Clemente 60 4 Lee Walls 54 5 Dick Groat 37
1956 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Frank Thomas 157 588 69 166 24 3 25 80 36 61 0 0.282
Roberto Clemente 147 543 66 169 30 7 7 60 13 58 6 0.311
Dick Groat 142 520 40 142 19 3 0 37 35 25 0 0.273
Dale Long 148 517 64 136 20 7 27 91 54 85 1 0.263
Bill Virdon 133 509 67 170 21 10 8 37 33 63 6 0.334
Lee Walls 143 474 72 130 20 11 11 54 50 83 3 0.274
Jack Shepard 100 256 24 62 11 2 7 30 25 37 1 0.242
Bill Mazeroski 81 255 30 62 8 1 3 14 18 24 0 0.243
Bob Skinner 113 233 29 47 8 3 5 29 26 50 1 0.202
Hank Foiles 79 222 24 47 10 2 7 25 17 56 0 0.212
Gene Freese 65 207 17 43 9 0 3 14 16 45 2 0.208
Johnny O'Brien 73 104 13 18 1 0 0 3 5 7 0 0.173
Dick Cole 72 99 7 21 2 1 0 9 11 9 0 0.212
Bob Friend 49 97 7 16 2 0 1 8 1 19 0 0.165
Ron Kline 44 79 2 10 0 0 0 3 4 26 1 0.127
Danny Kravitz 32 68 6 18 2 2 2 10 5 9 1 0.265
Curtis Roberts 31 62 6 11 5 2 0 4 5 12 1 0.177
Vern Law 39 57 3 10 1 0 1 8 4 16 0 0.175
Eddie O'Brien 63 53 17 14 2 0 0 3 2 2 1 0.264
Spook Jacobs 11 37 4 6 2 0 0 1 2 5 0 0.162
Preston Ward 16 30 3 10 0 1 1 11 6 4 0 0.333
Dick Hall 33 29 5 10 0 0 0 1 5 7 0 0.345
Red Munger 35 28 2 3 1 0 0 2 2 11 0 0.107
Roy Face 69 26 2 5 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0.192
John Powers 11 21 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.048
Bobby Del Greco 14 20 4 4 0 0 2 3 3 3 0 0.200
Fred Waters 23 20 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 5 0 0.050
Jerry Lynch 19 19 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 0.158
Toby Atwell 12 18 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 5 0 0.111
Cholly Naranjo 17 7 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.143
Nelson King 38 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Laurin Pepper 11 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.000
Luis Arroyo 18 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.500
Bill Hall 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Dick Littlefield 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Jack McMahan 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Howie Pollet 19 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Lino Donoso 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bob Garber 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bob Purkey 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Max Surkont 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Red Swanson 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1956

ERA

1 Fred Waters 2.82 2 Laurin Pepper 3.00 3 Nelson King 3.15 4 Ron Kline 3.38 5 Bob Friend 3.46

Wins

1 Bob Friend 17 2 Ron Kline 14 3 Roy Face 12 4 Vern Law 8 5 Nelson King 4

Strikeouts

1 Bob Friend 166 2 Ron Kline 125 3 Roy Face 96 4 Vern Law 60 5 Red Munger 45
1956 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Bob Friend 17 17 3.46 49 42 3 314.1 310 121 85 166
Ron Kline 14 18 3.38 44 39 2 264.0 263 99 81 125
Vern Law 8 16 4.32 39 32 2 195.2 218 94 49 60
Roy Face 12 13 3.52 68 3 6 135.1 131 53 42 96
Red Munger 3 4 4.04 35 13 2 107.0 126 48 41 45
Dick Hall 0 7 4.76 19 9 1 62.1 64 33 21 27
Nelson King 4 1 3.15 38 0 5 60.0 54 21 19 25
Fred Waters 2 2 2.82 23 5 0 51.0 48 16 30 14
Cholly Naranjo 1 2 4.46 17 3 0 34.1 37 17 17 26
Laurin Pepper 1 1 3.00 11 7 0 30.0 30 10 25 12
Luis Arroyo 3 3 4.71 18 2 0 28.2 36 15 12 17
Howie Pollet 0 4 3.09 19 0 3 23.1 18 8 8 10
Johnny O'Brien 1 0 2.84 8 0 0 19.0 8 6 9 9
Jack McMahan 0 0 6.08 11 0 0 13.1 18 9 9 9
Dick Littlefield 0 0 4.26 6 2 0 12.2 14 6 6 10
Red Swanson 0 0 10.03 9 0 0 11.2 21 13 8 5
Bob Garber 0 0 2.25 2 0 0 4.0 3 1 3 3
Bob Purkey 0 0 2.25 2 0 0 4.0 2 1 0 1
Eddie O'Brien 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0
Max Surkont 0 0 4.50 1 0 0 2.0 2 1 3 1
Lino Donoso 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 1.2 2 0 1 1

👥 Roster (42)

Luis Arroyo Toby Atwell Roberto Clemente Dick Cole Bobby Del Greco Lino Donoso Roy Face Hank Foiles Gene Freese Bob Friend Bob Garber Dick Groat +30 more

42 players

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The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

In 1956 the Pittsburgh Pirates posted a 66-88 mark (.429) and finished 7th in the NL. Runs came in at 588 scored against 653 allowed (-65). The staff ERA of 3.74 was 1% better than the league average of 3.77. League clubs averaged 659 runs that year, so the Pittsburgh Pirates scored 11% fewer. Attendance at Forbes Field totaled 959,828 for the year.

For power, Dale Long led the way with 27 homers. Bill Virdon collected the most hits, 170. Bob Friend was the top winner, with 17 victories. In all, the roster shows 42 players. For the seasons either side, see the 1955 season and the 1957 season.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 66-88 (.429 win pct).
Who led the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Dale Long led the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates with 27 home runs.
What was the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 3.74.
Did the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Dale Long (27 HR, 91 RBI) and Bob Friend (17-17, 3.46 ERA).
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