1933 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1933 Pittsburgh Pirates
1933 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Bill Benswanger
Managers	George Gibson

The 1933 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 52nd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 47th in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 87–67.

Regular season

Season standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	91	61	.599	—	48‍–‍27	43‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates	87	67	.565	5	50‍–‍27	37‍–‍40
Chicago Cubs	86	68	.558	6	56‍–‍23	30‍–‍45
Boston Braves	83	71	.539	9	45‍–‍31	38‍–‍40
St. Louis Cardinals	82	71	.536	9½	47‍–‍30	35‍–‍41
Brooklyn Dodgers	65	88	.425	26½	36‍–‍41	29‍–‍47
Philadelphia Phillies	60	92	.395	31	32‍–‍40	28‍–‍52
Cincinnati Reds	58	94	.382	33	37‍–‍42	21‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1933 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	—	13–9–1	7–15	12–10	12–10–1	11–11	13–9	15–7
Brooklyn	9–13–1	—	9–13	10–12–1	8–14–2	13–9	7–15	9–12
Chicago	15–7	13–9	—	11–11	9–13	15–7	12–10	11–11
Cincinnati	10–12	12–10–1	11–11	—	4–17	7–14	7–15	7–15
New York	10–12–1	14–8–2	13–9	17–4	—	15–6	13–9	9–13–1
Philadelphia	11–11	9–13	7–15	14–7	6–15	—	7–15	6–16
Pittsburgh	9–13	15–7	10–12	15–7	9–13	15–7	—	14–8
St. Louis	7–15	12–9	11–11	15–7	13–9–1	16–6	8–14	—

Game log

1933 Game Log: 87–67 (Home: 50–27; Away: 37–40)

April: 10–3 (Home: 4–1; Away: 6–2)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 12	@ Reds	4–1	Swift (1–0)	Johnson	—	25,305	1–0
2	April 13	@ Reds	5–2	French (1–0)	Rixey	—	—	2–0
3	April 15	@ Cubs	6–4 (10)	Harris (1–0)	Grimes	—	—	3–0
4	April 18	@ Cubs	1–3	Warneke	Swetonic (0–1)	—	—	3–1
5	April 21	Reds	5–1	Swift (2–0)	Johnson	Harris (1)	—	4–1
6	April 22	Reds	6–5 (10)	French (2–0)	Smith	—	—	5–1
7	April 23	@ Cardinals	4–0	Meine (1–0)	Vance	—	—	6–1
8	April 23	@ Cardinals	6–2	Hoyt (1–0)	Walker	—	—	7–1
9	April 25	@ Cardinals	3–10	Hallahan	Swetonic (0–2)	—	—	7–2
10	April 27	Cubs	2–3	Bush	Swift (2–1)	—	—	7–3
11	April 28	Cardinals	2–0	French (3–0)	Mooney	—	—	8–3
12	April 29	Cardinals	6–4	Meine (2–0)	Walker	—	—	9–3
13	April 30	@ Reds	8–1	Hoyt (2–0)	Johnson	—	—	10–3

May: 14–12 (Home: 8–6; Away: 6–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
14	May 1	@ Phillies	10–0	Swift (3–1)	Collins	—	—	11–3
15	May 2	@ Phillies	5–6	Rhem	French (3–1)	—	—	11–4
16	May 4	@ Dodgers	2–1 (10)	Meine (3–0)	Clark	—	—	12–4
17	May 5	@ Dodgers	4–2	Swift (4–1)	Mungo	—	—	13–4
18	May 8	@ Braves	3–0	French (4–1)	Zachary	—	—	14–4
19	May 9	@ Braves	0–7	Frankhouse	Hoyt (2–1)	—	—	14–5
20	May 11	@ Giants	7–6	Meine (4–0)	Hubbell	Harris (2)	—	15–5
21	May 12	@ Giants	3–11	Schumacher	Swift (4–2)	—	—	15–6
22	May 13	@ Giants	1–2 (11)	Luque	French (4–2)	—	6,000	15–7
23	May 14	@ Giants	1–5	Parmelee	Hoyt (2–2)	—	—	15–8
24	May 15	Phillies	5–4	Meine (5–0)	Elliott	—	—	16–8
25	May 16	Phillies	8–4	Swift (5–2)	Moore	—	—	17–8
26	May 17	Phillies	6–4	Smith (1–0)	Collins	—	—	18–8
27	May 18	Phillies	6–2	Swetonic (1–2)	Rhem	—	—	19–8
28	May 19	Braves	3–5	Zachary	Hoyt (2–3)	Seibold	—	19–9
29	May 20	Braves	2–4	Cantwell	Meine (5–1)	—	—	19–10
30	May 20	Braves	7–6	Harris (2–0)	Betts	—	—	20–10
31	May 22	Dodgers	0–3	Clark	French (4–3)	—	—	20–11
32	May 23	Dodgers	3–0	Swetonic (2–2)	Carroll	—	—	21–11
33	May 24	Dodgers	6–5 (10)	Chagnon (1–0)	Mungo	—	2,000	22–11
34	May 26	Giants	5–6	Bell	Harris (2–1)	—	—	22–12
35	May 28	@ Reds	4–2	French (5–3)	Lucas	—	—	23–12
36	May 28	@ Reds	0–4	Rixey	Swetonic (2–3)	—	—	23–13
37	May 30	Cubs	2–1	Swift (6–2)	Grimes	—	—	24–13
38	May 30	Cubs	2–6	Malone	Meine (5–2)	—	—	24–14
39	May 31	Cubs	1–5	Root	Swetonic (2–4)	—	—	24–15

June: 12–18 (Home: 3–3; Away: 9–15)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
40	June 3	Reds	5–9	Benton	Harris (2–2)	—	—	24–16
41	June 3	Reds	4–5	Kolp	Swift (6–3)	Quinn	—	24–17
42	June 4	@ Cubs	9–3	Swetonic (3–4)	Grimes	Harris (3)	—	25–17
43	June 4	@ Cubs	2–9	Malone	Meine (5–3)	—	—	25–18
44	June 6	@ Cubs	3–5	Tinning	Chagnon (1–1)	Bush	—	25–19
45	June 7	@ Cubs	2–7	Bush	Swift (6–4)	—	—	25–20
46	June 8	Reds	2–8	Rixey	French (5–4)	—	—	25–21
47	June 9	Reds	2–0	Swetonic (4–4)	Derringer	—	—	26–21
48	June 10	Reds	4–3	Swift (7–4)	Kolp	—	—	27–21
49	June 11	@ Cardinals	11–7	Kremer (1–0)	Carleton	Harris (4)	—	28–21
50	June 11	@ Cardinals	3–0	French (6–4)	Walker	—	—	29–21
51	June 13	@ Cardinals	3–4	Dean	Swetonic (4–5)	—	—	29–22
52	June 14	@ Cardinals	2–3	Hallahan	Meine (5–4)	—	—	29–23
53	June 15	@ Cubs	0–5	Tinning	Smith (1–1)	—	—	29–24
54	June 16	@ Cubs	1–9	Bush	Swift (7–5)	—	26,000	29–25
55	June 17	Cubs	4–3	Swetonic (5–5)	Malone	—	—	30–25
56	June 18	@ Braves	5–3	Meine (6–4)	Brandt	—	—	31–25
57	June 18	@ Braves	4–3 (8)	French (7–4)	Betts	—	—	32–25
58	June 20	@ Braves	6–2	Swift (8–5)	Zachary	—	—	33–25
59	June 21	@ Braves	5–6	Cantwell	Harris (2–3)	Zachary	—	33–26
60	June 21	@ Braves	3–5	Mangum	Swetonic (5–6)	—	—	33–27
61	June 22	@ Dodgers	0–9	Benge	Meine (6–5)	—	4,000	33–28
62	June 23	@ Dodgers	4–5	Carroll	French (7–5)	Shaute	—	33–29
63	June 24	@ Dodgers	15–3	Swift (9–5)	Thurston	—	10,000	34–29
64	June 25	@ Dodgers	5–2	Chagnon (2–1)	Mungo	—	—	35–29
65	June 25	@ Dodgers	1–9	Beck	Hoyt (2–4)	—	25,000	35–30
66	June 28	@ Giants	5–2	Swetonic (6–6)	Hubbell	—	—	36–30
67	June 28	@ Giants	4–7 (10)	Uhle	French (7–6)	—	15,000	36–31
68	June 29	@ Phillies	4–6	Elliott	Meine (6–6)	Rhem	—	36–32
69	June 30	@ Phillies	4–5	Pickrel	French (7–7)	—	—	36–33

July: 20–10 (Home: 17–7; Away: 3–3)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
70	July 1	@ Phillies	8–13	Hansen	Chagnon (2–2)	—	—	36–34
71	July 1	@ Phillies	4–3	Smith (2–1)	Collins	—	—	37–34
72	July 4	Cardinals	1–5	Hallahan	Swetonic (6–7)	—	—	37–35
73	July 4	Cardinals	4–2	French (8–7)	Mooney	—	—	38–35
74	July 5	Cardinals	7–6	Hoyt (3–4)	Johnson	French (1)	7,000	39–35
75	July 8	Phillies	7–8	Liska	Swetonic (6–8)	Rhem	—	39–36
76	July 8	Phillies	3–0	Smith (3–1)	Jackson	—	—	40–36
77	July 10	Phillies	3–2	French (9–7)	Holley	—	—	41–36
78	July 11	Braves	3–5	Zachary	Swetonic (6–9)	—	—	41–37
79	July 12	Braves	9–8 (10)	French (10–7)	Betts	—	—	42–37
80	July 13	Braves	8–3	Smith (4–1)	Cantwell	—	—	43–37
81	July 14	Braves	3–4 (10)	Frankhouse	French (10–8)	—	—	43–38
82	July 17	Dodgers	14–2	Swift (10–5)	Carroll	—	7,500	44–38
83	July 17	Dodgers	7–0	Swetonic (7–9)	Benge	—	—	45–38
84	July 18	Dodgers	11–8	Hoyt (4–4)	Thurston	—	2,500	46–38
85	July 19	Giants	4–1	French (11–8)	Fitzsimmons	—	—	47–38
86	July 19	Giants	3–7	Hubbell	Smith (4–2)	—	20,000	47–39
87	July 20	Giants	6–5	Meine (7–6)	Luque	—	—	48–39
88	July 21	Giants	5–6	Clark	Hoyt (4–5)	—	3,000	48–40
89	July 22	Giants	0–1	Hubbell	French (11–9)	—	25,000	48–41
90	July 22	Giants	7–2	Meine (8–6)	Parmelee	—	27,000	49–41
91	July 23	@ Reds	1–6	Lucas	Swift (10–6)	—	—	49–42
92	July 23	@ Reds	4–6	Rixey	Chagnon (2–3)	Kolp	—	49–43
93	July 25	Cubs	4–3	Swetonic (8–9)	Bush	Hoyt (1)	8,000	50–43
94	July 25	Cubs	4–1	Smith (5–2)	Tinning	—	10,000	51–43
95	July 27	Cubs	2–0	French (12–9)	Root	—	—	52–43
96	July 29	Reds	9–8	Harris (3–3)	Benton	—	—	53–43
97	July 29	Reds	6–4	Chagnon (3–3)	Rixey	Harris (5)	—	54–43
98	July 30	@ Reds	5–4	Chagnon (4–3)	Derringer	—	—	55–43
99	July 30	@ Reds	8–6	Harris (4–3)	Benton	Chagnon (1)	—	56–43

August: 12–13 (Home: 4–3; Away: 8–10)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
100	August 1	Cardinals	9–3	Swetonic (9–9)	Walker	Hoyt (2)	—	57–43
101	August 2	Cardinals	3–4 (12)	Haines	French (12–10)	—	—	57–44
102	August 3	Cardinals	1–4 (6)	Dean	Swift (10–7)	—	—	57–45
103	August 4	Cardinals	5–4	Meine (9–6)	Walker	—	—	58–45
104	August 5	@ Cubs	6–2	Smith (6–2)	Warneke	—	—	59–45
105	August 6	@ Cubs	0–6	Malone	Swetonic (9–10)	—	—	59–46
106	August 11	Cubs	2–8	Bush	French (12–11)	—	—	59–47
107	August 12	Cubs	5–2	Smith (7–2)	Malone	—	—	60–47
108	August 12	Cubs	3–2	Meine (10–6)	Root	—	—	61–47
109	August 13	@ Cubs	2–3	Warneke	Swift (10–8)	—	—	61–48
110	August 16	@ Dodgers	1–2 (11)	Mungo	French (12–12)	—	14,000	61–49
111	August 16	@ Dodgers	11–7	Swetonic (10–10)	Carroll	Smith (1)	—	62–49
112	August 19	@ Braves	2–5	Brandt	Meine (10–7)	—	—	62–50
113	August 20	@ Braves	4–5 (11)	Smith	Swetonic (10–11)	—	—	62–51
114	August 20	@ Braves	1–8	Cantwell	Swift (10–9)	—	—	62–52
115	August 22	@ Braves	4–5 (14)	Frankhouse	Hoyt (4–6)	—	—	62–53
116	August 25	@ Giants	5–8 (11)	Luque	Swetonic (10–12)	—	—	62–54
117	August 25	@ Giants	2–6	Parmelee	Meine (10–8)	—	—	62–55
118	August 26	@ Giants	1–2	Hubbell	Smith (7–3)	—	—	62–56
119	August 26	@ Giants	7–2	Birkofer (1–0)	Clark	Hoyt (3)	45,000	63–56
120	August 28	@ Phillies	9–5	Chagnon (5–3)	Elliott	—	—	64–56
121	August 28	@ Phillies	9–1	French (13–12)	Holley	—	—	65–56
122	August 29	@ Phillies	4–1	Meine (11–8)	Hansen	—	—	66–56
123	August 30	@ Phillies	5–1	Birkofer (2–0)	Ragland	—	—	67–56
124	August 31	@ Phillies	13–11	Swetonic (11–12)	Rhem	Hoyt (4)	—	68–56

September: 17–11 (Home: 14–7; Away: 3–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
125	September 1	Cardinals	2–1 (11)	French (14–12)	Hallahan	—	—	69–56
126	September 2	Cardinals	4–1	Meine (12–8)	Walker	—	—	70–56
127	September 3	@ Reds	3–9	Lucas	Birkofer (2–1)	—	—	70–57
128	September 4	Reds	1–0	Smith (8–3)	Johnson	—	—	71–57
129	September 5	Giants	6–1	French (15–12)	Hubbell	—	5,000	72–57
130	September 6	Giants	6–5 (10)	Swift (11–9)	Bell	—	—	73–57
131	September 6	Giants	1–9	Schumacher	Birkofer (2–2)	—	20,000	73–58
132	September 7	Giants	14–2	Meine (13–8)	Parmelee	—	9,000	74–58
133	September 8	Giants	1–2	Hubbell	Smith (8–4)	—	—	74–59
134	September 9	Dodgers	6–2	French (16–12)	Benge	—	—	75–59
135	September 9	Dodgers	7–8	Carroll	Chagnon (5–4)	Ryan	9,000	75–60
136	September 10	@ Dodgers	2–1	Swift (12–9)	Beck	—	—	76–60
137	September 10	@ Dodgers	2–3	Mungo	Harris (4–4)	—	15,000	76–61
138	September 12	Dodgers	1–0	Meine (14–8)	Thurston	—	—	77–61
139	September 12	Dodgers	2–0	Hoyt (5–6)	Leonard	—	2,000	78–61
140	September 13	Braves	1–0	French (17–12)	Cantwell	—	—	79–61
141	September 15	Braves	1–10	Brandt	Smith (8–5)	—	—	79–62
142	September 16	Braves	4–6	Betts	Swift (12–10)	—	—	79–63
143	September 16	Braves	10–0	Birkofer (3–2)	Zachary	—	—	80–63
144	September 18	Phillies	2–1	Meine (15–8)	Ragland	—	—	81–63
145	September 18	Phillies	0–6	Holley	Hoyt (5–7)	—	—	81–64
146	September 19	Phillies	2–1	French (18–12)	Grabowski	—	—	82–64
147	September 19	Phillies	2–3	Collins	Smith (8–6)	—	—	82–65
148	September 20	Dodgers	3–0	Swift (13–10)	Beck	—	—	83–65
149	September 23	@ Cardinals	9–3	Birkofer (4–2)	Hallahan	—	—	84–65
150	September 24	@ Cardinals	4–5	Carleton	French (18–13)	—	—	84–66
151	September 24	@ Cardinals	5–4 (10)	Chagnon (6–4)	Dean	—	—	85–66
152	September 25	@ Cardinals	3–6	Walker	Smith (8–7)	—	—	85–67

October: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 2–0)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
153	October 1	@ Reds	7–5	Swift (14–10)	Lucas	—	—	86–67
154	October 1	@ Reds	6–5 (10)	Swetonic (12–12)	Kolp	—	—	87–67

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1933 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

40 Red Nonnenkamp

Manager

33 George Gibson

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	Earl Grace	93	291	84	.289	3	44
1B	Gus Suhr	154	566	151	.267	10	75
2B	Tony Piet	107	362	117	.323	1	42
3B	Pie Traynor	154	624	190	.304	1	82
SS	Arky Vaughan	152	573	180	.314	9	97
LF	Lloyd Waner	121	500	138	.276	0	26
CF	Freddie Lindstrom	138	538	167	.310	5	55
RF	Paul Waner	154	618	191	.309	7	70

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
Tommy Thevenow	73	253	79	.312	0	34
Woody Jensen	70	196	58	.296	0	15
Adam Comorosky	64	162	46	.284	1	15
Hal Finney	56	133	31	.233	1	18
Tom Padden	30	90	19	.211	0	8
Val Picinich	16	52	13	.250	1	7
Pep Young	25	20	6	.300	0	0
Bill Brubaker	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Red Nonnenkamp	1	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
Larry French	47	291.1	18	13	2.72	88
Bill Swift	37	218.1	14	10	3.13	64
Heinie Meine	32	207.1	15	8	3.65	50
Ralph Birkofer	9	50.2	4	2	2.31	20

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
Steve Swetonic	31	164.2	12	12	3.50	37
Hal Smith	28	145.0	8	7	2.86	40
Waite Hoyt	36	117.0	5	7	2.92	44

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
Leon Chagnon	39	6	4	1	3.69	35
Bill Harris	31	4	4	5	3.22	19
Ray Kremer	7	1	0	0	10.35	4
Clise Dudley	1	0	0	0	135.00	0

Awards and honors

1933 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Pie Traynor, reserve
Paul Waner, reserve

League top five finishers

Tony Piet

#3 in NL in batting average (.323)

Pie Traynor

#4 in NL in hits (190)

Arky Vaughan

#3 in NL in on-base percentage (.388)
#5 in NL in RBI (97)
#5 in NL in slugging percentage (.478)

Paul Waner

#2 in NL in runs scored (101)
#3 in NL in hits (191)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Tulsa Oilers	Texas League	Art Griggs

Notes

^ From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.

References

1933 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1933 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 Side in 1907.

[1]