1958 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1958 Pittsburgh Pirates
1958 Pittsburgh Pirates
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
Managers	Danny Murtaugh
Television	KDKA-TV ; Bob Prince
Radio	KDKA; Bob Prince, Paul Long, Jim Woods

The 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 77th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 72nd in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 84–70, a 22-game improvement over 1957. They ended the year in the first division for the first time since 1948 and recorded their highest league standing since the 1944 edition also finished in second place. Manager Danny Murtaugh, in his first full season at the Pirates' helm, was voted Major League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News.

Offseason

December 2, 1957: Ellis Burton was drafted from the Pirates by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1957 minor league draft.^[2]
December 28, 1957: Dee Fondy was traded by the Pirates to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Ted Kluszewski.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	0.597	—	48–29	44–33
Pittsburgh Pirates	84	70	0.545	8	49–28	35–42
San Francisco Giants	80	74	0.519	12	44–33	36–41
Cincinnati Redlegs	76	78	0.494	16	40–37	36–41
Chicago Cubs	72	82	0.468	20	35–42	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	72	82	0.468	20	39–38	33–44
Los Angeles Dodgers	71	83	0.461	21	39–38	32–45
Philadelphia Phillies	69	85	0.448	23	35–42	34–43

Record vs. opponents

1958 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	CHC	CIN	LAD	MIL	PHI	PIT	SFG	STL
Chicago	—	10–12	11–11	10–12	13–9	9–13	12–10	7–15
Cincinnati	12–10	—	11–11	5–17	15–7	10–12	11–11	12–10
Los Angeles	11–11	11–11	—	14–8	10–12	8–14	6–16	11–11
Milwaukee	12–10	17–5	8–14	—	13–9	11–11	16–6	15–7
Philadelphia	9–13	7–15	12–10	9–13	—	12–10	8–14	12–10
Pittsburgh	13–9	12–10	14–8	11–11	10–12	—	12–10	12–10
San Francisco	10–12	11–11	16–6	6–16	14–8	10–12	—	13–9
St. Louis	15–7	10–12	11–11	7–15	10–12	10–12	9–13	—

Game log

1958 Game Log: 84–70 (Home: 49–28; Away: 35–42)

April: 7–5 (Home: 1–3; Away: 6–2)

May: 15–15 (Home: 11–7; Away: 4–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
13	May 1	@ Dodgers	8–3	Law (2–1)	Newcombe	Blackburn (1)	16,503	8–5
14	May 2	@ Dodgers	5–9	Podres	Perez (0–1)	Labine	22,940	8–6
15	May 3	@ Dodgers	3–1	Friend (4–0)	Kipp	Face (3)	16,288	9–6
16	May 4	@ Giants	6–2	Kline (2–2)	Antonelli	Face (4)		10–6
17	May 4	@ Giants	3–4 (10)	Worthington	Face (0–1)	—	22,721	10–7
18	May 5	@ Giants	11–10	Law (3–1)	Gomez	Gross (1)	5,506	11–7
19	May 6	@ Giants	0–7	McCormick	Daniels (0–1)	—	10,849	11–8
20	May 7	@ Giants	6–8	Worthington	Friend (4–1)	Grissom	8,052	11–9
21	May 9	Phillies	1–0 (12)	Kline (3–2)	Roberts	—	21,304	12–9
22	May 10	Phillies	14–4	Law (4–1)	Semproch	—	11,807	13–9
23	May 11	Phillies	10–4	Friend (5–1)	Sanford	—		14–9
24	May 11	Phillies	1–0 (11)	Porterfield (1–0)	Simmons	—	20,544	15–9
25	May 13	Redlegs	6–3	Kline (4–2)	Lawrence	Gross (2)	24,123	16–9
26	May 14	Redlegs	5–4	Law (5–1)	Rabe	—	24,102	17–9
27	May 15	Redlegs	4–9	Klippstein	Friend (5–2)	Jeffcoat	12,022	17–10
28	May 16	@ Phillies	2–6	Simmons	Porterfield (1–1)	—	12,401	17–11
29	May 17	@ Phillies	3–4	Roberts	Daniels (0–2)	—	6,262	17–12
30	May 18	@ Phillies	4–6	Sanford	Kline (4–3)	Farrell		17–13
31	May 18	@ Phillies	2–6	Semproch	Law (5–2)	—	19,068	17–14
32	May 20	Cubs	12–3	Friend (6–2)	Drott	—	15,848	18–14
33	May 21	Cubs	1–5	Phillips	Porterfield (1–2)	—	5,393	18–15
34	May 23	Cardinals	3–2	Kline (5–3)	Mizell	Gross (3)	29,369	19–15
35	May 24	Cardinals	6–1	Friend (7–2)	Jackson	—	13,330	20–15
36	May 25	Giants	2–5	Gomez	Law (5–3)	—		20–16
37	May 25	Giants	1–6	Monzant	Raydon (0–1)	—	35,797	20–17
38	May 27	Dodgers	5–3	Kline (6–3)	Drysdale	Blackburn (2)	15,705	21–17
39	May 28	Dodgers	1–7	Koufax	Friend (7–3)	—	14,320	21–18
40	May 30	Braves	4–7	McMahon	Face (0–2)	Trowbridge		21–19
41	May 30	Braves	12–6	Gross (2–0)	Robinson	—	32,428	22–19
42	May 31	Braves	3–8	Spahn	Kline (6–4)	—	17,596	22–20

June: 12–17 (Home: 7–9; Away: 5–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
43	June 1	Braves	5–1 (8)	Friend (8–3)	Conley	—	17,485	23–20
44	June 2	@ Redlegs	2–8	Nuxhall	Smith (0–2)	—	2,827	23–21
45	June 3	@ Cardinals	4–8	Jackson	Raydon (0–2)	—	11,465	23–22
46	June 4	@ Cardinals	3–6	Brosnan	Kline (6–5)	Muffett	12,264	23–23
47	June 5	@ Cardinals	3–4	Mizell	Friend (8–4)	—	7,570	23–24
48	June 6	@ Cubs	1–6	Drott	Law (5–4)	—	4,567	23–25
49	June 7	@ Cubs	8–6 (10)	Face (1–2)	Nichols	Smith (1)	14,487	24–25
50	June 8	@ Cubs	0–4	Drabowsky	Kline (6–6)	—	15,670	24–26
51	June 10	@ Giants	5–4	Friend (9–4)	Monzant	—	16,621	25–26
52	June 11	@ Giants	14–6	Law (6–4)	Gomez	Face (5)	7,912	26–26
53	June 12	@ Giants	2–1	Raydon (1–2)	Giel	—	9,273	27–26
54	June 13	@ Dodgers	4–5	Labine	Kline (6–7)	—	27,748	27–27
55	June 14	@ Dodgers	2–4	Podres	Friend (9–5)	—	35,345	27–28
56	June 15	@ Dodgers	12–1	Law (7–4)	Newcombe	—	30,752	28–28
57	June 17	Giants	6–1	Raydon (2–2)	Antonelli	Face (6)	27,763	29–28
58	June 18	Giants	1–2 (10)	Giel	Friend (9–6)	Grissom	21,512	29–29
59	June 19	Giants	6–5	Kline (7–7)	Worthington	Gross (4)	8,474	30–29
60	June 20	Dodgers	2–1	Witt (1–0)	Koufax	—	21,614	31–29
61	June 21	Dodgers	11–7	Face (2–2)	Roebuck	—	6,633	32–29
62	June 22	Dodgers	1–4	Kipp	Friend (9–7)	Klippstein		32–30
63	June 22	Dodgers	2–3 (10)	Koufax	Porterfield (1–3)	—	30,109	32–31
64	June 23	Cardinals	5–7	Brosnan	Gross (2–1)	Jackson	13,529	32–32
65	June 24	Cardinals	1–2	Paine	Kline (7–8)	—	15,899	32–33
66	June 25	Cardinals	1–3	Mizell	Witt (1–1)	—	15,375	32–34
67	June 26	Cardinals	2–6	McDaniel	Law (7–5)	Jackson	5,048	32–35
68	June 27	Cubs	1–3	Drabowsky	Friend (9–8)	Henry	17,026	32–36
69	June 28	Cubs	7–3	Raydon (3–2)	Drott	Porterfield (1)	8,413	33–36
70	June 29	Cubs	4–3	Face (3–2)	Phillips	—		34–36
71	June 29	Cubs	3–8	Briggs	Gross (2–2)	Henry	28,968	34–37

July: 15–12 (Home: 8–3; Away: 7–9)

August: 21–12 (Home: 10–0; Away: 11–12)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
99	August 1	Cardinals	2–0	Kline (11–9)	Mabe	—	27,862	50–49
100	August 2	Cardinals	1–0	Law (9–9)	Jones	—	15,028	51–49
101	August 3	Cardinals	2–0	Friend (14–11)	Maglie	—		52–49
102	August 3	Cardinals	2–1	Witt (5–2)	Mizell	—		53–49
103	August 4	@ Braves	4–3	Raydon (5–3)	Pizarro	Face (13)	24,096	54–49
104	August 5	@ Braves	1–6	Burdette	Kline (11–10)	—	25,545	54–50
105	August 6	@ Braves	1–2	Willey	Law (9–10)	—	28,760	54–51
106	August 7	@ Braves	2–3	Spahn	Friend (14–12)	—	24,525	54–52
107	August 8	Redlegs	1–0	Witt (6–2)	Nuxhall	—	26,040	55–52
108	August 9	Redlegs	5–2	Raydon (6–3)	Kellner	Face (14)	13,122	56–52
109	August 10	Redlegs	3–2 (10)	Gross (4–3)	Jeffcoat	—		57–52
110	August 10	Redlegs	4–3	Face (4–2)	Lawrence	—	26,426	58–52
111	August 11	Braves	6–4	Friend (15–12)	Spahn	Face (15)	38,938	59–52
112	August 12	Braves	10–0	Witt (7–2)	Rush	—	36,867	60–52
113	August 13	@ Phillies	10–9	Smith (1–2)	Meyer	Law (2)	19,132	61–52
114	August 15	@ Redlegs	1–6	Purkey	Kline (11–11)	—	11,277	61–53
115	August 16	@ Redlegs	13–4	Friend (16–12)	Lawrence	Porterfield (3)	9,564	62–53
116	August 17	@ Redlegs	3–4	Acker	Porterfield (2–5)	—		62–54
117	August 17	@ Redlegs	5–7	Nuxhall	Gross (4–4)	Newcombe	17,416	62–55
118	August 19	@ Cubs	4–3	Raydon (7–3)	Phillips	Porterfield (4)	12,929	63–55
119	August 20	@ Cubs	4–2	Kline (12–11)	Hillman	Face (16)		64–55
120	August 20	@ Cubs	1–5 (5)	Drott	Friend (16–13)	—	20,974	64–56
121	August 21	@ Cubs	3–5	Drabowsky	Law (9–11)	Hobbie	10,027	64–57
122	August 22	@ Cubs	8–2	Witt (8–2)	Solis	Law (3)	8,507	65–57
123	August 23	@ Cubs	6–1	Porterfield (3–5)	Phillips	—	16,097	66–57
124	August 24	@ Cardinals	8–4	Friend (17–13)	Mizell	Face (17)		67–57
125	August 24	@ Cardinals	8–12	Brosnan	Gross (4–5)	Wight	25,630	67–58
126	August 25	@ Cardinals	1–7	Jackson	Kline (12–12)	—	9,464	67–59
127	August 26	@ Cardinals	5–3	Gross (5–5)	Jones	Face (18)	13,271	68–59
128	August 27	@ Cardinals	14–1	Law (10–11)	Chittum	—	10,467	69–59
129	August 29	@ Braves	3–2	Friend (18–13)	Spahn	Gross (6)	35,642	70–59
130	August 30	@ Braves	1–9	Burdette	Raydon (7–4)	—	28,648	70–60
131	August 31	@ Braves	0–2	Willey	Kline (12–13)	—	32,870	70–61

September: 14–9 (Home: 12–6; Away: 2–3)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

June 15, 1958: Johnny O'Brien and Gene Freese were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dick Schofield and cash.^[4]

Roster

1958 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

40 Danny Murtaugh

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Hank Foiles	104	264	54	.205	8	50
1B	Ted Kluszewski	100	301	88	.292	4	37
2B	Bill Mazeroski	152	567	156	.275	19	68
3B	Frank Thomas	149	562	158	.281	35	109
SS	Dick Groat	151	584	175	.300	3	66
LF	Bob Skinner	144	529	170	.321	13	70
CF	Bill Virdon	144	604	161	.267	9	46
RF	Roberto Clemente	140	519	150	.289	6	50

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Román Mejías	76	157	42	.268	5	19
Bill Hall	51	116	33	.284	1	15
John Powers	57	82	15	.183	2	2
Dick Schofield	26	27	4	.148	0	2
Hardy Peterson	2	6	2	.333	0	0
Paul Smith	6	3	1	.333	0	0
Johnny O'Brien	3	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bob Friend	38	274	22	14	3.68	135
Ron Kline	32	237.1	13	16	3.53	109
Vern Law	35	202.1	14	12	3.96	56

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bennie Daniels	8	27.2	0	3	5.53	7

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Roy Face	57	5	2	20	2.89	47
Don Gross	40	5	7	7	3.98	59
Ron Blackburn	38	2	1	3	3.39	31
Bob Smith	35	2	2	1	4.43	24
George Perez	4	0	1	1	5.40	2
Don Williams	2	0	0	0	6.75	3
Eddie O'Brien	1	0	0	0	13.50	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Jets	International League	Clyde King
AAA	Salt Lake City Bees	Pacific Coast League	Larry Shepard
A	Lincoln Chiefs	Western League	Monty Basgall
B	Tri-City Braves	Northwest League	Ray Hathaway
C	Douglas Copper Kings	Arizona–Mexico League	Bob Clear
C	San Jose Pirates/Las Vegas Wranglers	California League	Jack Paepke
C	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	James Adlam
D	Salem Rebels	Appalachian League	Larry Dorton
D	Clinton Pirates	Midwest League	Stan Wentzel and Wally Millies
D	San Angelo Pirates	Sophomore League	Al Kubski

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Douglas

San Jose franchised transferred to Las Vegas and renamed, May 26, 1958

Notes

^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
^ Ellis Burton page at Baseball Reference
^ Ted Kluszewski page at Baseball Reference
^ Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference

References

1958 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1958 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.

[2] Ellis Burton page at Baseball Reference

[3] Ted Kluszewski page at Baseball Reference

[4] Johnny O'Brien page at Baseball Reference

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e 1958 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City New York Washington
National League	Chicago Cincinnati Los Angeles Milwaukee Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis San Francisco
1958 All-Star Game 1958 World Series