1945 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1945 Pittsburgh Pirates
1945 Pittsburgh Pirates
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Bill Benswanger
Managers	Frankie Frisch
Radio	WWSW; Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock

The 1945 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 64th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 59th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the league standings with a record of 82–72.

Offseason

Prior to 1945 season: Tod Davis was acquired by the Pirates from the Hollywood Stars as part of a minor league working agreement.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	98	56	0.636	—	49–26	49–30
St. Louis Cardinals	95	59	0.617	3	48–29	47–30
Brooklyn Dodgers	87	67	0.565	11	48–30	39–37
Pittsburgh Pirates	82	72	0.532	16	45–34	37–38
New York Giants	78	74	0.513	19	47–30	31–44
Boston Braves	67	85	0.441	30	36–38	31–47
Cincinnati Reds	61	93	0.396	37	36–41	25–52
Philadelphia Phillies	46	108	0.299	52	22–55	24–53

Record vs. opponents

1945 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	9–13–1	7–15	10–12	10–10–2	14–8	7–15	10–12
Brooklyn	13–9–1	—	8–14–1	11–11	15–7	19–3	12–10	9–13
Chicago	15–7	14–8–1	—	21–1	11–11	17–5	14–8	6–16
Cincinnati	12–10	11–11	1–21	—	6–16	12–10	10–12	9–13
New York	10–10–2	7–15	11–11	16–6	—	17–5	11–11	6–16
Philadelphia	8–14	3–19	5–17	10–12	5–17	—	6–16	9–13
Pittsburgh	15–7	10–12	8–14	12–10	11–11	16–6	—	10–12–1
St. Louis	12–10	13–9	16–6	13–9	16–6	13–9	12–10–1	—

Game log

1945 Game Log: 82–72 (Home: 45–34; Away: 37–38)

April: 4–7 (Home: 1–3; Away: 3–4)

May: 15–9 (Home: 10–4; Away: 5–5)

June: 14–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 6–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
36	June 1	Phillies	6–5	Butcher (4–2)	Karl	—	1,513	20–16
37	June 2	Phillies	7–6	Gerheauser (1–2)	Coffman	Rescigno (4)	2,695	21–16
38	June 3	Phillies	7–6 (10)	Cuccurullo (1–1)	Judd	—	—	22–16
39	June 3	Phillies	9–11	Karl	Cuccurullo (1–2)	—	9,086	22–17
40	June 5	Reds	0–4	Heusser	Strincevich (3–3)	—	—	22–18
41	June 5	Reds	9–1	Butcher (5–2)	Beck	—	2,634	23–18
42	June 6	Reds	0–3	Walters	Roe (4–3)	—	13,277	23–19
43	June 7	Reds	3–7	Bowman	Sewell (6–5)	—	2,954	23–20
44	June 8	@ Cardinals	3–4 (13)	Burkhart	Gerheauser (1–3)	—	3,695	23–21
45	June 9	@ Cardinals	5–1	Strincevich (4–3)	Barrett	—	5,195	24–21
46	June 10	@ Cardinals	8–6 (10)	Sewell (7–5)	Brecheen	—	—	25–21
47	June 10	@ Cardinals	4–1 (10)	Roe (5–3)	Burkhart	—	13,794	26–21
48	June 12	Cubs	9–3	Gerheauser (2–3)	Wyse	—	15,126	27–21
49	June 14	Cubs	5–2	Butcher (6–2)	Chipman	—	—	28–21
50	June 14	Cubs	6–5	Sewell (8–5)	Derringer	Rescigno (5)	12,880	29–21
51	June 15	Cardinals	5–2	Strincevich (5–3)	Barrett	—	24,315	30–21
52	June 16	Cardinals	10–13	Byerly	Starr (0–2)	Donnelly	6,019	30–22
53	June 17	Cardinals	0–7	Burkhart	Sewell (8–6)	—	—	30–23
54	June 17	Cardinals	2–6	Wilks	Gerheauser (2–4)	—	—	30–24
55	June 20	@ Cubs	3–5	Passeau	Butcher (6–3)	—	—	30–25
56	June 21	@ Cubs	4–5	Wyse	Roe (5–4)	—	10,123	30–26
57	June 22	@ Reds	3–1	Strincevich (6–3)	Heusser	—	5,814	31–26
58	June 24	@ Reds	7–5	Sewell (9–6)	Riddle	Strincevich (1)	—	32–26
59	June 24	@ Reds	3–4	Bowman	Butcher (6–4)	—	11,732	32–27
60	June 27	@ Giants	4–10	Mungo	Gerheauser (2–5)	—	—	32–28
61	June 27	@ Giants	2–3	Brewer	Roe (5–5)	—	17,735	32–29
62	June 28	@ Giants	3–1	Strincevich (7–3)	Feldman	—	22,321	33–29
63	June 29	@ Giants	2–3	Adams	Butcher (6–5)	—	3,779	33–30
64	June 30	@ Dodgers	5–8	Herring	Sewell (9–7)	King	23,736	33–31

July: 16–15 (Home: 11–5; Away: 5–10)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
65	July 1	@ Dodgers	4–3	Roe (6–5)	Gregg	Cuccurullo (1)	—	34–31
66	July 1	@ Dodgers	2–4	Davis	Gerheauser (2–6)	—	23,370	34–32
67	July 3	@ Phillies	10–3	Strincevich (8–3)	Barrett	—	—	35–32
68	July 4	@ Phillies	6–7	Kraus	Rescigno (1–2)	Schanz	—	35–33
69	July 4	@ Phillies	13–0	Butcher (7–5)	Judd	—	14,334	36–33
70	July 6	@ Braves	5–13	Andrews	Rescigno (1–3)	Cooper	—	36–34
71	July 6	@ Braves	8–14	Hendrickson	Roe (6–6)	—	8,025	36–35
72	July 7	@ Braves	6–7	Cooper	Gerheauser (2–7)	—	5,159	36–36
73	July 8	@ Braves	10–8	Gables (3–0)	Andrews	Sewell (1)	—	37–36
74	July 8	@ Braves	1–13	Tobin	Butcher (7–6)	—	25,317	37–37
75	July 12	Phillies	4–0	Strincevich (9–3)	Kraus	—	15,044	38–37
76	July 13	Phillies	3–2 (10)	Butcher (8–6)	Barrett	—	3,660	39–37
77	July 15	Dodgers	9–1	Sewell (10–7)	Lombardi	—	—	40–37
78	July 15	Dodgers	15–3	Gables (4–0)	Gregg	—	24,129	41–37
79	July 16	Dodgers	4–8	Seats	Rescigno (1–4)	—	3,162	41–38
80	July 17	Dodgers	2–5	Gregg	Strincevich (9–4)	Herring	20,148	41–39
81	July 18	Giants	3–6	Brewer	Roe (6–7)	Adams	—	41–40
82	July 18	Giants	3–4	Fischer	Butcher (8–7)	Adams	6,253	41–41
83	July 19	Giants	4–0	Sewell (11–7)	Feldman	—	14,168	42–41
84	July 20	Giants	13–5	Beck (1–0)	Voiselle	Roe (1)	3,210	43–41
85	July 21	Braves	1–5	Lee	Gerheauser (2–8)	—	—	43–42
86	July 21	Braves	3–1	Strincevich (10–4)	Logan	—	8,173	44–42
87	July 22	Braves	2–1	Gables (5–0)	Tobin	—	—	45–42
88	July 22	Braves	3–1	Roe (7–7)	Andrews	—	19,184	46–42
89	July 23	Braves	8–5	Beck (2–0)	Hutchings	Strincevich (2)	3,163	47–42
90	July 24	Braves	6–5 (11)	Gables (6–0)	Hendrickson	—	20,168	48–42
91	July 26	@ Cardinals	2–10	Burkhart	Strincevich (10–5)	—	9,213	48–43
92	July 27	@ Cardinals	0–2	Donnelly	Roe (7–8)	—	4,948	48–44
93	July 28	@ Cardinals	0–2	Barrett	Gables (6–1)	—	9,242	48–45
94	July 29	@ Cardinals	9–6 (10)	Gerheauser (3–8)	Barrett	—	—	49–45
95	July 29	@ Cardinals	4–6	Dockins	Strincevich (10–6)	—	15,971	49–46

August: 18–16 (Home: 5–7; Away: 13–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
96	August 1	@ Cubs	1–0	Butcher (9–7)	Passeau	—	17,780	50–46
97	August 2	@ Cubs	0–1	Derringer	Roe (7–9)	—	18,535	50–47
98	August 3	Cardinals	1–5	Dockins	Gables (6–2)	—	22,218	50–48
99	August 4	Cardinals	5–6	Brecheen	Gerheauser (3–9)	—	5,280	50–49
100	August 5	Cardinals	3–10	Barrett	Butcher (9–8)	—	—	50–50
101	August 5	Cardinals	12–5	Ostermueller (1–1)	Burkhart	Gables (1)	22,105	51–50
102	August 8	@ Phillies	4–0	Roe (8–9)	Kraus	—	—	52–50
103	August 8	@ Phillies	0–5	Mauney	Cuccurullo (1–3)	—	6,630	52–51
104	August 9	@ Phillies	3–1	Gables (7–2)	Barrett	—	5,017	53–51
105	August 10	@ Phillies	10–2	Ostermueller (2–1)	Schanz	—	—	54–51
106	August 10	@ Phillies	1–6	Judd	Strincevich (10–7)	—	5,728	54–52
107	August 12	@ Braves	6–7	Hendrickson	Gerheauser (3–10)	—	—	54–53
108	August 12	@ Braves	3–0	Roe (9–9)	Wright	—	14,961	55–53
109	August 13	@ Braves	4–6	Andrews	Gables (7–3)	Hendrickson	2,095	55–54
110	August 14	@ Braves	7–5 (10)	Ostermueller (3–1)	Hendrickson	—	—	56–54
111	August 14	@ Braves	6–2	Beck (3–0)	Javery	—	4,542	57–54
112	August 15	@ Giants	11–9	Gables (8–3)	Feldman	Gerheauser (1)	—	58–54
113	August 15	@ Giants	3–2	Strincevich (11–7)	Zabala	—	18,822	59–54
114	August 16	@ Giants	1–2	Mungo	Roe (9–10)	Adams	22,807	59–55
115	August 17	@ Giants	2–3	Brewer	Gables (8–4)	—	3,834	59–56
116	August 18	@ Giants	0–6	Maglie	Rescigno (1–5)	—	10,126	59–57
117	August 19	@ Dodgers	2–6	Webber	Ostermueller (3–2)	—	—	59–58
118	August 19	@ Dodgers	4–2	Strincevich (12–7)	Branca	—	19,422	60–58
119	August 20	@ Dodgers	11–1	Roe (10–10)	Seats	—	6,322	61–58
120	August 21	@ Dodgers	12–1	Gables (9–4)	Gregg	—	5,484	62–58
121	August 23	Reds	6–2	Beck (4–0)	Harrist	—	1,567	63–58
122	August 24	Reds	1–2	Heusser	Strincevich (12–8)	—	12,923	63–59
123	August 25	Reds	0–1	Kennedy	Roe (10–11)	—	3,402	63–60
124	August 26	Reds	10–7	Rescigno (2–5)	Fox	—	527	64–60
125	August 26	Reds	2–1	Gables (10–4)	Bowman	—	14,193	65–60
126	August 28	Cubs	3–6	Borowy	Ostermueller (3–3)	—	23,335	65–61
127	August 29	Cubs	0–2	Prim	Strincevich (12–9)	Vandenberg	4,881	65–62
128	August 30	Cubs	6–4	Roe (11–11)	Erickson	Rescigno (6)	—	66–62
129	August 31	@ Reds	6–5	Gables (11–4)	Bowman	Rescigno (7)	4,499	67–62

September: 15–10 (Home: 10–8; Away: 5–2)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
130	September 2	@ Reds	4–2	Beck (5–0)	Bowman	—	—	68–62
131	September 2	@ Reds	7–3	Strincevich (13–9)	Walters	—	9,810	69–62
132	September 3	@ Cardinals	6–5	Ostermueller (4–3)	Wilks	Rescigno (8)	—	70–62
133	September 3	@ Cardinals	6–2	Roe (12–11)	Donnelly	—	19,492	71–62
134	September 4	@ Cardinals	8–8 (12)			—	1,755	71–62
135	September 5	Dodgers	3–5 (10)	Lombardi	Gables (11–5)	—	19,504	71–63
136	September 6	Dodgers	17–5	Strincevich (14–9)	Gregg	—	1,885	72–63
137	September 7	Dodgers	2–3	Seats	Roe (12–12)	Herring	1,874	72–64
138	September 8	Dodgers	6–5 (12)	Gerheauser (4–10)	King	—	3,550	73–64
139	September 9	Phillies	4–3	Beck (6–0)	Kraus	—	—	74–64
140	September 9	Phillies	3–14	Mauney	Sewell (11–8)	Karl	5,525	74–65
141	September 10	Phillies	9–5 (7)	Strincevich (15–9)	Leon	—	6,000	75–65
142	September 11	Phillies	5–4 (10)	Rescigno (3–5)	Schanz	—	—	76–65
143	September 11	Phillies	5–1	Butcher (10–8)	Sproull	Rescigno (9)	2,047	77–65
144	September 13	Braves	4–3	Gerheauser (5–10)	Singleton	—	—	78–65
145	September 13	Braves	2–0	Ostermueller (5–3)	Whitcher	—	3,836	79–65
146	September 15	Giants	5–9	Zabala	Strincevich (15–10)	—	411	79–66
147	September 16	Giants	3–2	Roe (13–12)	Maglie	—	—	80–66
148	September 16	Giants	2–9	Brewer	Gables (11–6)	—	15,175	80–67
149	September 23	@ Cubs	3–7	Wyse	Roe (13–13)	—	43,755	80–68
150	September 26	@ Reds	2–5	Hetki	Beck (6–1)	—	—	80–69
151	September 26	@ Reds	2–1	Strincevich (16–10)	Harrist	—	715	81–69
152	September 27	Cardinals	5–2	Roe (14–13)	Dockins	—	9,603	82–69
153	September 29	Cubs	3–4	Borowy	Ostermueller (5–4)	Erickson	—	82–70
154	September 29	Cubs	0–5 (7)	Vandenberg	Sewell (11–9)	Warneke	4,016	82–71
155	September 30	Cubs	3–5	Chipman	Gables (11–7)	Erickson	3,751	82–72

Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1945 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

4 Bill Rodgers
25 Joe Vitelli

Manager

35 Frankie Frisch

Coaches

Player stats

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	Al López	91	243	53	.218	0	18
1B	Babe Dahlgren	144	531	133	.250	5	75
2B	Pete Coscarart	123	392	95	.242	8	38
SS	Frankie Gustine	128	478	134	.280	2	66
3B	Bob Elliott	144	541	157	.290	8	108
OF	Johnny Barrett	142	507	130	.256	15	67
OF	Al Gionfriddo	122	409	116	.284	2	42
OF	Jim Russell	146	510	145	.284	12	77

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
Lee Handley	98	312	93	.298	1	32
Bill Salkeld	95	267	83	.311	15	52
Vic Barnhart	71	201	54	.269	0	19
Tommy O'Brien	58	161	54	.335	0	18
Frank Colman	77	153	32	.209	4	30
Jack Saltzgaver	52	117	38	.325	0	10
Spud Davis	23	33	8	.242	0	6
Frankie Zak	15	28	4	.143	0	3
Lloyd Waner	23	19	5	.263	0	1
Hank Camelli	1	2	0	.000	0	0
Bill Rodgers	1	1	1	1.000	0	0
Joe Vitelli	1	0	0	---	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
Preacher Roe	33	235	14	13	2.87	148
Nick Strincevich	36	228.1	16	10	3.31	74
Rip Sewell	33	188	11	9	4.07	60
Max Butcher	28	169.1	10	8	3.03	37
Fritz Ostermueller	14	80.2	5	4	4.57	29

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
Al Gerheauser	32	140.1	5	10	3.91	55
Ken Gables	29	138.2	11	7	4.15	49
Boom-Boom Beck	14	63	6	1	2.14	20

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
Xavier Rescigno	44	3	5	9	5.72	29
Cookie Cuccurullo	29	1	3	1	5.24	17
Ray Starr	4	0	2	0	9.45	0
Johnny Lanning	1	0	0	0	36.00	0

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Hollywood Stars	Pacific Coast League	Buck Fausett
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Ripper Collins
B	York White Roses	Interstate League	Bunny Griffiths
D	Salisbury Pirates	North Carolina State League	Tuck McWilliams
D	Hornell Pirates	PONY League	John Morrow and Fred Hering

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Albany

Notes

^ From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
^ Tod Davis page at Baseball Reference

References

1945 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1945 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

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

[2] Tod Davis page at Baseball Reference

[1]

[2]