1959 Pittsburgh Pirates

78-76 • .506 Win% • 4th in NL

The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates went 78-76 (.506) finishing 4th in the NL. The club scored 651 runs, allowed 680, and played home games at Forbes Field. Team leaders included Dick Stuart (27 HR, 78 RBI) and Roy Face (18-1, 2.70 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
651 R 680 RA
Diff -29

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

651 Runs Scored
680 Runs Allowed
-29 Run Diff
1,358K Attendance

📈 vs. 1959 NL Average

Batting Avg .263 1% above the 1959 league average (.260)
OBP .320 2% below the 1959 league average (.324)
SLG .384 4% below the 1959 league average (.399)
Team ERA 3.90 1% better than the 1959 league average (3.95)
Runs Scored 651 5% below the 1959 league average (683 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumForbes Field
📅
Home Games 77
👥
Total Attendance 1,358,857
📊
Avg per Game 17,647

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1959

Batting Avg

1 Dick Stuart 0.297 2 Smoky Burgess 0.297 3 Roberto Clemente 0.296 4 Don Hoak 0.294 5 Rocky Nelson 0.291

Home Runs

1 Dick Stuart 27 2 Bob Skinner 13 3 Smoky Burgess 11 4 Don Hoak 8 5 Bill Virdon 8

RBI

1 Dick Stuart 78 2 Don Hoak 65 3 Bob Skinner 61 4 Smoky Burgess 59 5 Bill Mazeroski 59
1959 Pittsburgh Pirates — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Dick Groat 147 593 74 163 22 7 5 51 32 35 0 0.275
Don Hoak 155 564 60 166 29 3 8 65 71 75 9 0.294
Bob Skinner 143 547 78 153 18 4 13 61 67 65 10 0.280
Bill Virdon 144 519 67 132 24 2 8 41 55 65 7 0.254
Bill Mazeroski 135 493 50 119 15 6 7 59 29 54 1 0.241
Roberto Clemente 105 432 60 128 17 7 4 50 15 51 2 0.296
Dick Stuart 118 397 64 118 15 2 27 78 42 86 1 0.297
Smoky Burgess 114 377 41 112 28 5 11 59 31 16 0 0.297
Roman Mejias 96 276 28 65 6 1 7 28 21 48 1 0.236
Rocky Nelson 98 175 31 51 11 0 6 32 23 19 0 0.291
Danny Kravitz 52 162 18 41 9 1 3 21 5 14 0 0.253
Dick Schofield 81 145 21 34 10 1 1 9 16 22 1 0.234
Ted Kluszewski 60 122 11 32 10 1 2 17 5 14 0 0.262
Vern Law 38 96 6 16 2 0 1 8 3 20 0 0.167
Harvey Haddix 31 83 3 12 4 0 0 5 3 17 0 0.145
Hank Foiles 53 80 10 18 3 0 3 4 7 16 0 0.225
Bob Friend 35 73 4 12 2 0 0 7 2 25 0 0.164
Ron Kline 38 59 4 8 0 0 0 6 1 23 0 0.136
Harry Bright 40 48 4 12 1 0 3 8 5 10 0 0.250
Bennie Daniels 36 29 4 9 2 1 1 3 5 10 0 0.310
Harry Simpson 9 15 3 4 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 0.267
Roy Face 58 13 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.231
Joe Christopher 15 12 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.000
Red Witt 15 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0.000
Ken Hamlin 3 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0.125
R C Stevens 3 7 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0.286
Fred Green 17 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0.000
Ron Blackburn 26 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0.200
Al Jackson 8 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0.200
Jim Umbricht 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Don Williams 6 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.333
Don Gross 21 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Dick Hall 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bob Smith 20 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Hardy Peterson 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Paul Giel 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bob Porterfield 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1959

ERA

1 Roy Face 2.70 2 Vern Law 2.98 3 Fred Green 3.13 4 Harvey Haddix 3.13 5 Don Gross 3.55

Wins

1 Roy Face 18 2 Vern Law 18 3 Harvey Haddix 12 4 Ron Kline 11 5 Bob Friend 8

Strikeouts

1 Harvey Haddix 149 2 Vern Law 110 3 Bob Friend 104 4 Ron Kline 91 5 Roy Face 69
1959 Pittsburgh Pirates — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Vern Law 18 9 2.98 34 33 1 266.0 245 88 53 110
Bob Friend 8 19 4.03 35 35 0 234.2 267 105 52 104
Harvey Haddix 12 12 3.13 31 29 0 224.1 189 78 49 149
Ron Kline 11 13 4.26 33 29 0 186.0 186 88 70 91
Bennie Daniels 7 9 5.45 34 12 1 100.2 115 61 39 67
Roy Face 18 1 2.70 57 0 10 93.1 91 28 25 69
Red Witt 0 7 6.93 15 11 0 50.2 58 39 32 30
Ron Blackburn 1 1 3.65 26 0 1 44.1 50 18 15 19
Fred Green 1 2 3.13 17 1 1 37.1 37 13 15 20
Don Gross 1 1 3.55 21 0 2 33.0 28 13 10 15
Bob Smith 0 0 3.49 20 0 0 28.1 32 11 17 12
Al Jackson 0 0 6.50 8 3 0 18.0 30 13 8 13
Don Williams 0 0 6.75 6 0 0 12.0 17 9 3 3
Dick Hall 0 0 3.12 2 1 0 8.2 12 3 1 3
Paul Giel 0 0 14.09 4 0 0 7.2 17 12 6 3
Jim Umbricht 0 0 6.43 1 1 0 7.0 7 5 4 3
Bob Porterfield 0 0 1.69 6 0 0 5.1 6 1 2 1

👥 Roster (37)

Ron Blackburn Harry Bright Smoky Burgess Joe Christopher Roberto Clemente Bennie Daniels Roy Face Hank Foiles Bob Friend Paul Giel Fred Green Dick Groat +25 more

37 players

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The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates in brief

The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates won 78 games and lost 76, ending up 4th in the NL. The Pittsburgh Pirates scored 651 runs and allowed 680, a run differential of -29. Against a league average of .260, the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates batted .263. The Pittsburgh Pirates staff finished with a 3.90 ERA; the league as a whole was at 3.95. The 651 runs scored compare with a league average of 683 per club, 5% fewer.

Home games were played at Forbes Field, where 1,358,857 fans came through the gates. Dick Stuart led the club in home runs with 27. The hits leader was Don Hoak with 166. Roy Face led the pitchers with 18 wins. The strikeout leader was Harvey Haddix with 149. Roy Face closed out 10 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates

What was the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates record?
The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates finished 78-76 (.506 win pct).
Who led the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates in home runs?
Dick Stuart led the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates with 27 home runs.
What was the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates team ERA?
The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates posted a team ERA of 3.90.
Did the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series?
No. The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates play?
The 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates played home games at Forbes Field.
Who led the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Dick Stuart (27 HR, 78 RBI) and Roy Face (18-1, 2.70 ERA).
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