1956 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1956 Pittsburgh Pirates
1956 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson, Branch Rickey (minority shareholders)
General managers	Joe L. Brown
Managers	Bobby Bragan
Radio	KDKA; Bob Prince, Dick Bingham
	Seasons
	Seasons

The 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 75th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, the 70th in the National League. The Pirates finished seventh in the league standings with a record of 66–88.

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Dodgers	93	61	0.604	—	52–25	41–36
Milwaukee Braves	92	62	0.597	1	47–29	45–33
Cincinnati Redlegs	91	63	0.591	2	51–26	40–37
St. Louis Cardinals	76	78	0.494	17	43–34	33–44
Philadelphia Phillies	71	83	0.461	22	40–37	31–46
New York Giants	67	87	0.435	26	37–40	30–47
Pittsburgh Pirates	66	88	0.429	27	35–43	31–45
Chicago Cubs	60	94	0.390	33	39–38	21–56

Record vs. opponents

1956 National League record Sources:
Team	BR	CHC	CIN	MIL	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Brooklyn	—	16–6	11–11	10–12	14–8	13–9	13–9	16–6
Chicago	6–16	—	6–16–1	9–13	7–15	13–9	10–12–1	9–13–1
Cincinnati	11–11	16–6–1	—	9–13	14–8	11–11	17–5	13–9
Milwaukee	12–10	13–9	13–9	—	17–5	10–12	14–8–1	13–9
New York	8–14	15–7	8–14	5–17	—	11–11	13–9	7–15
Philadelphia	9–13	9–13	11–11	12–10	11–11	—	7–15	12–10
Pittsburgh	9–13	12–10–1	5–17	8–14–1	9–13	15–7	—	8–14–1
St. Louis	6–16	13–9–1	9–13	9–13	15–7	10–12	14–8–1	—

Game log

1956 Game Log: 66–88 (Home: 35–43; Away: 31–45)

April: 5–6 (Home: 1–2; Away: 4–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 17	@ Giants	3–4	Antonelli	Friend (0–1)	—	12,790	0–1
2	April 18	@ Giants	4–5	McCall	Law (0–1)	—	2,493	0–2
3	April 19	@ Giants	3–2	Kline (1–0)	Worthington	—	1,922	1–2
4	April 20	Dodgers	0–5	Craig	Hall (0–1)	—	23,357	1–3
5	April 21	Dodgers	3–1	Friend (1–1)	Lehman	—	8,603	2–3
6	April 22	Dodgers	1–4 (6)	Newcombe	Law (0–2)	—	15,264	2–4
7	April 25	@ Phillies	6–5	Law (1–2)	Owens	King (1)	5,347	3–4
8	April 27	@ Dodgers	2–7	Craig	Kline (1–1)	—	7,056	3–5
9	April 28	@ Dodgers	2–5	Newcombe	Hall (0–2)	—	7,806	3–6
10	April 29	@ Dodgers	10–1	Friend (2–1)	Drysdale	—		4–6
11	April 29	@ Dodgers	11–3	King (1–0)	Loes	—	22,609	5–6

May: 16–10 (Home: 11–6; Away: 5–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
12	May 1	@ Cardinals	4–2	Face (1–0)	Mizell	Law (1)	6,331	6–6
13	May 2	@ Cardinals	9–10 (10)	Collum	Munger (0–1)	—	6,382	6–7
14	May 3	@ Redlegs	5–1	Friend (3–1)	Nuxhall	—	2,561	7–7
15	May 4	@ Redlegs	3–4	Fowler	Hall (0–3)	—	6,438	7–8
16	May 5	@ Redlegs	6–7 (10)	LaPalme	King (1–1)	—	4,481	7–9
17	May 6	@ Cubs	2–1	Kline (2–1)	Minner	—		8–9
18	May 6	@ Cubs	6–6 (7)			—	11,426	8–9
19	May 8	@ Braves	0–5	Spahn	Friend (3–2)	—	18,466	8–10
20	May 11	Phillies	6–5	Arroyo (1–0)	Meyer	—	17,605	9–10
21	May 12	Phillies	6–5	Friend (4–2)	Roberts	King (2)	20,115	10–10
22	May 13	Phillies	11–9	Face (2–0)	Meyer	Law (2)		11–10
23	May 13	Phillies	2–7	Rogovin	Hall (0–4)	Roberts	20,435	11–11
24	May 16	Redlegs	9–2	Friend (5–2)	Nuxhall	—	3,053	12–11
25	May 17	Cubs	1–4	Meyer	Kline (2–2)	Lown	6,627	12–12
26	May 18	Cubs	2–3	Lown	Face (2–1)	—	10,382	12–13
27	May 19	Cubs	7–4	King (2–1)	Jones	Face (1)	6,863	13–13
28	May 20	Braves	6–3	Friend (6–2)	Crone	—		14–13
29	May 20	Braves	5–0	Kline (3–2)	Spahn	—	32,346	15–13
30	May 22	Cardinals	3–6	Wehmeier	Law (1–3)	Collum	19,316	15–14
31	May 23	Cardinals	6–0	Friend (7–2)	Schmidt	—	19,917	16–14
32	May 25	@ Phillies	8–5	King (3–1)	Simmons	Munger (1)	10,407	17–14
33	May 26	@ Phillies	6–2	Law (2–3)	Miller	—	4,614	18–14
34	May 28	Dodgers	3–2	Friend (8–2)	Erskine	—	32,221	19–14
35	May 29	Dodgers	1–10	Newcombe	Kline (3–3)	—	11,935	19–15
36	May 30	Giants	5–4 (10)	Face (3–1)	McCall	—		20–15
37	May 30	Giants	3–5 (15)	Antonelli	Law (2–4)	—	27,680	20–16
38	May 31	Giants	3–0 (8)	Kline (4–3)	Hearn	—	15,123	21–16

June: 11–17 (Home: 4–12; Away: 7–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
39	June 1	@ Braves	4–1	Friend (9–2)	Spahn	King (3)	24,528	22–16
40	June 2	@ Braves	4–2	Munger (1–1)	Conley	Kline (1)	27,650	23–16
41	June 3	@ Braves	3–1	Face (4–1)	Crone	King (4)		24–16
42	June 3	@ Braves	3–4	Buhl	Law (2–5)	—	34,915	24–17
43	June 5	@ Cubs	3–7	Hacker	Friend (9–3)	—	7,847	24–18
44	June 6	@ Cubs	8–2	Kline (5–3)	Minner	—	7,545	25–18
45	June 7	@ Cubs	2–5	Rush	Face (4–2)	—	4,535	25–19
46	June 8	@ Cardinals	2–0 (11)	Friend (10–3)	Dickson	—	20,079	26–19
47	June 9	@ Cardinals	3–8	Mizell	Law (2–6)	Konstanty	12,149	26–20
48	June 10	@ Cardinals	11–3	Arroyo (2–0)	Schmidt	—		27–20
49	June 10	@ Cardinals	0–3	Wehmeier	Kline (5–4)	—	28,129	27–21
50	June 12	@ Redlegs	4–3	Face (5–2)	Nuxhall	King (5)	15,919	28–21
51	June 15	Cardinals	12–1	Kline (6–4)	Mizell	—	26,276	29–21
52	June 16	Cardinals	2–0 (7)	Friend (11–3)	Wehmeier	—	14,550	30–21
53	June 17	Cardinals	1–3	Poholsky	Law (2–7)	—		30–22
54	June 17	Cardinals	3–8	Schmidt	Arroyo (2–1)	Konstanty	30,127	30–23
55	June 18	Braves	2–3	Spahn	Kline (6–5)	—	16,735	30–24
56	June 19	Braves	3–5	Burdette	Friend (11–4)	Sleater	23,743	30–25
57	June 20	Braves	3–7	Conley	Law (2–8)	—	19,775	30–26
58	June 21	Braves	2–7	Buhl	Kline (6–6)	—	8,292	30–27
59	June 23	Cubs	5–9 (10)	Davis	Face (5–3)	—	7,809	30–28
60	June 24	Cubs	3–5	Valentinetti	Face (5–4)	—		30–29
61	June 24	Cubs	1–0 (6)	Pepper (1–0)	Jones	Arroyo (1)	17,066	31–29
62	June 25	Redlegs	1–2	Fowler	Kline (6–7)	—	17,007	31–30
63	June 27	Redlegs	2–10	Lawrence	Friend (11–5)	Freeman	24,353	31–31
64	June 28	Redlegs	3–4	Acker	Arroyo (2–2)	Fowler	9,915	31–32
65	June 29	Giants	6–3	Law (3–8)	Hearn	Face (2)	18,797	32–32
66	June 30	Giants	4–6	Gomez	Kline (6–8)	Wilhelm	8,111	32–33

July: 11–20 (Home: 5–9; Away: 6–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
67	July 1	Giants	2–3	Antonelli	Friend (11–6)	Grissom		32–34
68	July 1	Giants	6–7	McCall	Arroyo (2–3)	Grissom	23,459	32–35
69	July 3	Phillies	6–5	O'Brien (1–0)	Meyer	—	5,804	33–35
70	July 4	Phillies	2–4	Haddix	Kline (6–9)	—		33–36
71	July 4	Phillies	8–4	Face (6–4)	Miller	—	16,076	34–36
72	July 7	@ Giants	2–3	Antonelli	Friend (11–7)	Wilhelm	7,151	34–37
73	July 8	@ Giants	1–11	Gomez	Law (3–9)	—		34–38
74	July 8	@ Giants	5–2	Kline (7–9)	Worthington	Face (3)	15,406	35–38
75	July 12	@ Cubs	2–1	Kline (8–9)	Kaiser	—		36–38
76	July 12	@ Cubs	5–4	Face (7–4)	Jones	—	10,077	37–38
77	July 13	@ Cubs	6–7	Lown	Friend (11–8)	—	6,958	37–39
78	July 14	@ Cubs	2–6	Rush	Law (3–10)	—		37–40
79	July 14	@ Cubs	5–6 (10)	Lown	Face (7–5)	—	17,195	37–41
80	July 15	@ Braves	2–3	Spahn	Law (3–11)	—		37–42
81	July 15	@ Braves	1–4	Phillips	Naranjo (0–1)	—	35,631	37–43
82	July 16	@ Braves	1–2	Buhl	Kline (8–10)	—	20,124	37–44
83	July 17	@ Cardinals	4–2 (10)	Friend (12–8)	Wehmeier	Face (4)	12,182	38–44
84	July 18	@ Cardinals	1–1			—	15,195	38–44
85	July 20	@ Redlegs	4–6 (12)	Klippstein	Waters (0–1)	—	19,342	38–45
86	July 21	@ Redlegs	4–3	Face (8–5)	Lawrence	—	8,859	39–45
87	July 22	@ Redlegs	8–6	Munger (2–1)	Freeman	—		40–45
88	July 22	@ Redlegs	2–9	Nuxhall	Pollet (0–1)	Acker	28,505	40–46
89	July 23	@ Redlegs	3–4	Lawrence	Face (8–6)	Freeman	11,318	40–47
90	July 24	Cubs	6–2	Kline (9–10)	Rush	—	12,861	41–47
91	July 25	Cubs	9–8	King (4–1)	Brosnan	—	12,861	42–47
92	July 26	Cubs	4–0	Waters (1–1)	Jones	Pollet (1)	7,121	43–47
93	July 27	Redlegs	2–3	Fowler	Face (8–7)	—	31,494	43–48
94	July 28	Redlegs	3–8	Klippstein	Pollet (0–2)	—	10,166	43–49
95	July 29	Redlegs	1–6	Lawrence	Friend (12–9)	—		43–50
96	July 29	Redlegs	2–3	Freeman	Law (3–12)	—	30,429	43–51
97	July 30	Redlegs	2–4	Freeman	Pepper (1–1)	—	11,256	43–52
98	July 31	Cardinals	0–7	Dickson	Munger (2–2)	—	10,965	43–53

August: 12–20 (Home: 6–7; Away: 6–13)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
99	August 1	Cardinals	1–4	Schmidt	Kline (9–11)	—	8,592	43–54
100	August 2	Cardinals	5–7	Wehmeier	Friend (12–10)	Jackson	5,745	43–55
101	August 3	Braves	4–3	Law (4–12)	Spahn	—	17,479	44–55
102	August 4	Braves	3–7	Trowbridge	Pollet (0–3)	—	7,494	44–56
103	August 5	Braves	1–5	Conley	Kline (9–12)	Johnson		44–57
104	August 5	Braves	0–5 (5)	Burdette	Friend (12–11)	—	18,004	44–58
105	August 7	@ Dodgers	0–3	Newcombe	Law (4–13)	—	17,504	44–59
106	August 8	Dodgers	8–5	Munger (3–2)	Craig	Kline (2)	18,612	45–59
107	August 9	Dodgers	3–7	Roebuck	Hall (0–5)	—	7,486	45–60
108	August 10	Giants	3–2	Friend (13–11)	Littlefield	—	8,234	46–60
109	August 11	Giants	2–4	Antonelli	Kline (9–13)	Hearn	5,655	46–61
110	August 12	Giants	3–2	Law (5–13)	Gomez	—		47–61
111	August 12	Giants	11–3	Waters (2–1)	McCall	—	9,552	48–61
112	August 14	@ Phillies	0–3	Haddix	Friend (13–12)	—		48–62
113	August 14	@ Phillies	2–11	Simmons	Munger (3–3)	—	32,873	48–63
114	August 15	@ Phillies	5–1	Kline (10–13)	Meyer	—	12,337	49–63
115	August 16	@ Phillies	4–1	Law (6–13)	Roberts	—	7,070	50–63
116	August 17	@ Giants	3–5	Margoneri	Munger (3–4)	McCall	5,998	50–64
117	August 18	@ Giants	9–1	Friend (14–12)	Gomez	—	4,955	51–64
118	August 19	@ Giants	6–7	Wilhelm	Hall (0–6)	—		51–65
119	August 19	@ Giants	2–3	Antonelli	Kline (10–14)	McCall	8,587	51–66
120	August 21	@ Redlegs	4–7	Freeman	Pollet (0–4)	—	8,267	51–67
121	August 22	@ Redlegs	3–6	Nuxhall	Friend (14–13)	Jeffcoat	8,076	51–68
122	August 23	@ Cardinals	0–3	Mizell	Kline (10–15)	—		51–69
123	August 23	@ Cardinals	2–3	Collum	Face (8–8)	—	11,935	51–70
124	August 24	@ Cardinals	2–6	Dickson	Waters (2–2)	—	9,317	51–71
125	August 25	@ Cardinals	5–8	Blaylock	Law (6–14)	Jackson	8,976	51–72
126	August 26	@ Cubs	2–0	Friend (15–13)	Rush	—	10,631	52–72
127	August 26	@ Cubs	2–1	Kline (11–15)	Jones	Friend (1)	10,631	53–72
128	August 28	@ Braves	5–4	Face (9–8)	Trowbridge	—	25,778	54–72
129	August 29	@ Braves	1–4	Burdette	Face (9–9)	—	24,861	54–73
130	August 30	@ Braves	1–1 (9)			—	17,783	54–73
131	August 31	Phillies	6–3	Kline (12–15)	Hamner	Pollet (2)	11,147	55–73

September: 11–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 3–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
132	September 1	Phillies	2–3	Rogovin	Hall (0–7)	—	5,071	55–74
133	September 2	Phillies	10–6	Law (7–14)	Simmons	—		56–74
134	September 2	Phillies	5–1	Naranjo (1–1)	Roberts	—	12,470	57–74
135	September 3	@ Dodgers	3–4	Bessent	Friend (15–14)	—		57–75
136	September 3	@ Dodgers	3–2	Face (10–9)	Drysdale	Friend (2)	29,045	58–75
137	September 5	@ Dodgers	3–4	Maglie	Kline (12–16)	Bessent	10,332	58–76
138	September 7	@ Phillies	2–5	Roberts	Friend (15–15)	—	7,835	58–77
139	September 8	@ Phillies	5–4	Face (11–9)	Flowers	Hall (1)	4,806	59–77
140	September 9	@ Phillies	4–1 (10)	Kline (13–16)	Miller	Face (5)		60–77
141	September 9	@ Phillies	5–6 (10)	Roberts	Naranjo (1–2)	—	11,104	60–78
142	September 11	Cubs	4–3	Face (12–9)	Lown	—	3,987	61–78
143	September 12	Cubs	0–3	Jones	Law (7–15)	—	3,689	61–79
144	September 13	Redlegs	4–5	Nuxhall	Face (12–10)	Freeman	8,765	61–80
145	September 15	Redlegs	4–6	Lawrence	Friend (15–16)	Freeman	2,654	61–81
146	September 16	Cardinals	2–3 (10)	Dickson	Face (12–11)	—		61–82
147	September 16	Cardinals	9–3	Law (8–15)	Wehmeier	—	8,742	62–82
148	September 18	Braves	4–6	Sleater	Face (12–12)	Spahn	9,786	62–83
149	September 20	Braves	2–1 (10)	Friend (16–16)	Crone	—	1,691	63–83
150	September 21	Dodgers	2–1	Kline (14–16)	Maglie	—	10,872	64–83
151	September 22	Dodgers	5–1	Arroyo (3–3)	Erskine	Friend (3)	6,452	65–83
152	September 23	Dodgers	3–8	Newcombe	Face (12–13)	Labine	44,932	65–84
153	September 24	Dodgers	6–5	Friend (17–16)	Craig	—	17,252	66–84
154	September 25	@ Giants	0–10	Antonelli	Kline (14–17)	Surkont	1,275	66–85
155	September 29	@ Dodgers	2–6	Maglie	Friend (17–17)	—	26,340	66–86
156	September 29	@ Dodgers	1–3	Labine	Kline (14–18)	—	26,340	66–87
157	September 30	@ Dodgers	6–8	Newcombe	Law (8–16)	Bessent	31,983	66–88

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

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

May 17, 1956: Dick Littlefield and Bobby Del Greco were traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bill Virdon.^[2]
May 28, 1956: Toby Atwell was traded by the Pirates to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Dick Rand to the Pirates on October 14.^[3]

Roster

1956 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

2 Bobby Bragan

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	Jack Shepard	100	256	62	.242	7	30
1B	Dale Long	148	517	136	.263	27	91
2B	Bill Mazeroski	81	255	62	.243	3	14
SS	Dick Groat	142	520	142	.273	0	37
3B	Frank Thomas	157	588	166	.282	25	80
LF	Lee Walls	143	474	130	.274	11	54
CF	Bill Virdon	133	509	170	.334	8	37
RF	Roberto Clemente	147	543	169	.311	7	60

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
Bob Skinner	113	233	47	.202	5	29
Hank Foiles	79	222	47	.212	7	25
Gene Freese	65	207	43	.208	3	14
Johnny O'Brien	73	104	18	.173	0	3
Dick Cole	72	99	21	.212	0	9
Danny Kravitz	32	68	18	.265	2	10
Curt Roberts	31	62	11	.177	0	4
Eddie O'Brien	63	53	14	.264	0	3
Spook Jacobs	11	37	6	.162	0	1
Preston Ward	16	30	10	.333	1	11
John Powers	11	21	1	.048	0	0
Bobby Del Greco	14	20	4	.200	2	3
Jerry Lynch	19	19	3	.158	0	0
Toby Atwell	12	18	2	.111	0	3
Bill Hall	1	3	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	49	314.1	17	17	3.46	166
Ron Kline	44	264.0	14	18	3.38	125
Vern Law	39	195.2	8	16	4.32	60

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
Red Munger	35	107.0	3	4	4.04	45
Dick Hall	19	62.1	0	7	4.76	27
Fred Waters	23	51.0	2	2	2.82	14
Laurin Pepper	11	30.0	1	1	3.00	12
Dick Littlefield	6	12.2	0	0	4.26	10

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	68	12	13	6	3.52	96
Nellie King	38	4	1	5	3.15	25
Howie Pollet	19	0	4	2	3.09	10
Luis Arroyo	18	3	3	0	4.71	17
Cholly Naranjo	17	1	2	0	4.46	26
Jack McMahan	11	0	0	0	6.08	9
Red Swanson	9	0	0	0	10.03	5
Johnny O'Brien	8	1	0	0	2.84	9
Lino Donoso	3	0	0	0	0.00	1
Bob Purkey	2	0	0	0	2.25	1
Bob Garber	2	0	0	0	2.25	3
Eddie O'Brien	1	0	0	0	0.00	0
Max Surkont	1	0	0	0	4.50	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
Open	Hollywood Stars	Pacific Coast League	Clay Hopper
AA	New Orleans Pelicans	Southern Association	Andy Cohen
A	Williamsport Grays	Eastern League	John Fitzpatrick
A	Lincoln Chiefs	Western League	Larry Shepard
B	Waco Pirates	Big State League	Monty Basgall
B	Kinston Eagles	Carolina League	Jack Paepke and Tex Taylor
C	Douglas Copper Kings	Arizona–Mexico League	Jerry Gardner
C	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	Al Kubski
C	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Buck Elliott
D	Dublin Irish	Georgia State League	Robert Clark, Wilbur Caldwell and Wayne Wallace
D	Brunswick Pirates	Georgia–Florida League	Frank Oceak
D	Clinton Pirates	Midwest League	Stan Wentzel

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lincoln

Notes

↑ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
↑ Bill Virdon at Baseball Reference
↑ Dick Rand at Baseball Reference

References

1956 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1956 Pittsburgh Pirates 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.

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

[2] Bill Virdon at Baseball Reference

[3] Dick Rand at Baseball Reference

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[2]

[3]

1956 MLB season by team
American League	Baltimore Boston Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City New York Washington
National League	Brooklyn Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
1956 All-Star Game 1956 World Series