1921 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 40th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 35th in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 90–63. It would be the first that games would be aired on radio via the then new station KDKA-AM to listeners all over Pittsburgh, making that team the first in the MLB to employ radio broadcasters for game broadcasts on the then new medium.

1921 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	Barney Dreyfuss
Manager(s)	George Gibson
Local television	none
Local radio	KDKA (ad hoc)
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Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	94	59	0.614	—	53–26	41–33
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	63	0.588	4	45–31	45–32
St. Louis Cardinals	87	66	0.569	7	48–29	39–37
Boston Braves	79	74	0.516	15	42–32	37–42
Brooklyn Robins	77	75	0.507	16½	41–37	36–38
Cincinnati Reds	70	83	0.458	24	40–36	30–47
Chicago Cubs	64	89	0.418	30	32–44	32–45
Philadelphia Phillies	51	103	0.331	43½	29–47	22–56

Record vs. opponents

1921 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	11–11	14–8	13–9	8–13	14–8	9–13	10–12
Brooklyn	11–11	—	10–11	10–11	12–10	16–6	10–12	8–14
Chicago	8–14	11–10	—	13–9	8–14	11–11	5–17	8–14
Cincinnati	9–13	11–10	9–13	—	8–14	13–9	8–14	12–10
New York	13–8	10–12	14–8	14–8	—	16–6	16–6	11–11
Philadelphia	8–14	6–16	11–11	9–13	6–16	—	4–18	7–15
Pittsburgh	13–9	12–10	17–5	14–8	6–16	18–4	—	10–11–1
St. Louis	12–10	14–8	14–8	10–12	11–11	15–7	11–10–1	—

Game log

1921 Game Log: 90–63 (Home: 45–31; Away: 45–32)
April: 11–3 (Home: 3–1; Away: 8–2) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 13 @ Reds 3–5 Luque Adams (0–1) — 30,444 0–1 2 April 14 @ Reds 7–2 Cooper (1–0) Marquard — — 1–1 3 April 15 @ Reds 3–1 Hamilton (1–0) Rixey Yellow Horse (1) — 2–1 4 April 16 @ Reds 7–3 Ponder (1–0) Brenton — — 3–1 5 April 18 @ Cubs 4–7 Tyler Zinn (0–1) — — 3–2 6 April 19 @ Cubs 14–2 Hamilton (2–0) Martin — — 4–2 7 April 20 @ Cubs 6–5 Carlson (1–0) Freeman Glazner (1) — 5–2 8 April 21 Reds 8–7 Yellow Horse (1–0) Brenton — — 6–2 9 April 22 Reds 6–1 Zinn (1–1) Luque — — 7–2 10 April 23 Reds 4–5 Marquard Hamilton (2–1) — — 7–3 11 April 24 @ Reds 7–2 Adams (1–1) Rixey — — 8–3 12 April 25 @ Cardinals 6–5 (10) Ponder (2–0) Pertica — — 9–3 13 April 27 @ Cardinals 7–4 Hamilton (3–1) May Zinn (1) — 10–3 14 April 29 Cubs 3–0 Cooper (2–0) York — — 11–3
May: 18–7 (Home: 7–2; Away: 11–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 15 May 1 @ Cubs 2–0 Adams (2–1) Vaughn — — 12–3 16 May 2 @ Cubs 4–3 Glazner (1–0) Martin — — 13–3 17 May 5 Cardinals 8–3 Cooper (3–0) Pertica — — 14–3 18 May 6 Cardinals 10–6 Hamilton (4–1) Haines Zinn (2) — 15–3 19 May 7 Cardinals 2–1 Glazner (2–0) Sherdel — — 16–3 20 May 8 @ Reds 0–1 Rixey Adams (2–2) — — 16–4 21 May 10 @ Braves 5–2 Cooper (4–0) Oeschger — — 17–4 22 May 11 @ Braves 0–1 (13) Fillingim Hamilton (4–2) — — 17–5 23 May 12 @ Braves 3–1 Glazner (3–0) Watson — — 18–5 24 May 14 @ Phillies 6–4 (10) Cooper (5–0) Smith — — 19–5 25 May 16 @ Phillies 0–3 Causey Hamilton (4–3) Ring — 19–6 26 May 17 @ Phillies 6–4 Glazner (4–0) Hubbell — — 20–6 27 May 18 @ Robins 11–2 Cooper (6–0) Ruether — 10,000 21–6 28 May 19 @ Robins 7–5 Adams (3–2) Smith — 10,000 22–6 29 May 20 @ Robins 3–2 Hamilton (5–3) Cadore — 8,000 23–6 30 May 21 @ Robins 13–6 Zinn (2–1) Mitchell Carlson (1) 20,000 24–6 31 May 22 @ Giants 8–6 Cooper (7–0) Sallee — 40,000 25–6 32 May 24 @ Giants 3–5 Nehf Adams (3–3) — — 25–7 33 May 26 Reds 1–4 Marquard Hamilton (5–4) — — 25–8 34 May 27 Reds 5–4 Cooper (8–0) Rixey — — 26–8 35 May 28 Reds 4–3 Adams (4–3) Luque — — 27–8 36 May 29 @ Reds 3–4 (13) Rixey Carlson (1–1) — — 27–9 37 May 30 Cubs 13–0 Zinn (3–1) York — — 28–9 38 May 30 Cubs 6–3 Yellow Horse (2–0) Tyler — — 29–9 39 May 31 Cubs 6–7 (12) Freeman Hamilton (5–5) — — 29–10
June: 17–12 (Home: 11–7; Away: 6–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 40 June 1 Cubs 4–2 Glazner (5–0) Martin — — 30–10 41 June 2 Giants 0–7 Nehf Zinn (3–2) — 20,000 30–11 42 June 3 Giants 1–4 Toney Hamilton (5–6) — 15,000 30–12 43 June 4 Giants 0–12 Douglas Cooper (8–1) — 25,000 30–13 44 June 6 Giants 5–4 Adams (5–3) Barnes — 9,000 31–13 45 June 7 Braves 7–10 Oeschger Yellow Horse (2–1) — — 31–14 46 June 8 Braves 16–4 Hamilton (6–6) McQuillan — — 32–14 47 June 9 Braves 5–3 Cooper (9–1) Fillingim — — 33–14 48 June 10 Braves 1–4 Scott Glazner (5–1) — — 33–15 49 June 11 Phillies 10–3 Adams (6–3) Hubbell — — 34–15 50 June 13 Phillies 12–5 Hamilton (7–6) Baumgartner — — 35–15 51 June 14 Phillies 8–3 Zinn (4–2) Ring — — 36–15 52 June 15 Robins 3–7 Grimes Cooper (9–2) — 7,000 36–16 53 June 16 Robins 6–5 (17) Yellow Horse (3–1) Mamaux — 5,000 37–16 54 June 17 Robins 3–8 Cadore Hamilton (7–7) — 8,000 37–17 55 June 18 Robins 4–3 Cooper (10–2) Ruether — 18,000 38–17 56 June 20 Phillies 3–2 Yellow Horse (4–1) Meadows Zinn (3) — 39–17 57 June 22 @ Reds 5–2 (12) Cooper (11–2) Rixey — — 40–17 58 June 23 @ Cardinals 2–3 (12) Walker Carlson (1–2) — — 40–18 59 June 23 @ Cardinals 3–4 Doak Zinn (4–3) — — 40–19 60 June 24 @ Cardinals 4–3 (10) Glazner (6–1) Bailey — — 41–19 61 June 25 @ Cardinals 4–7 Pfeffer Yellow Horse (4–2) North — 41–20 62 June 25 @ Cardinals 5–2 Cooper (12–2) Pertica — — 42–20 63 June 26 @ Cubs 11–3 Adams (7–3) Alexander — — 43–20 64 June 27 @ Cubs 10–3 Morrison (1–0) Vaughn — — 44–20 65 June 28 @ Cubs 1–2 Martin Zinn (4–4) — — 44–21 66 June 28 @ Cubs 6–8 Tyler Carlson (1–3) — — 44–22 67 June 29 @ Cubs 3–1 Cooper (13–2) Cheeves — — 45–22 68 June 30 Reds 5–3 Yellow Horse (5–2) Luque — — 46–22
July: 14–13 (Home: 5–6; Away: 9–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 69 July 1 Reds 5–2 Morrison (2–0) Rixey — — 47–22 70 July 2 Reds 9–0 Adams (8–3) Brenton — — 48–22 71 July 3 @ Reds 2–8 Marquard Hamilton (7–8) — — 48–23 72 July 4 Cardinals 5–2 Glazner (7–1) Bailey — — 49–23 73 July 4 Cardinals 3–6 Pertica Cooper (13–3) — — 49–24 74 July 5 Cardinals 2–8 Walker Yellow Horse (5–3) — — 49–25 75 July 6 Cardinals 3–2 (13) Morrison (3–0) North — — 50–25 76 July 8 @ Robins 5–3 Cooper (14–3) Schupp — — 51–25 77 July 9 @ Robins 4–2 Glazner (8–1) Cadore — 8,000 52–25 78 July 10 @ Robins 3–7 Grimes Morrison (3–1) — 10,000 52–26 79 July 11 @ Robins 8–9 Miljus Hamilton (7–9) — 8,000 52–27 80 July 12 @ Phillies 9–4 Cooper (15–3) Baumgartner — — 53–27 81 July 14 @ Phillies 5–4 (10) Carlson (2–3) Ring — — 54–27 82 July 16 @ Giants 4–13 Douglas Cooper (15–4) — 33,000 54–28 83 July 17 @ Giants 4–2 (10) Hamilton (8–9) Causey — 36,000 55–28 84 July 18 @ Giants 1–12 Nehf Morrison (3–2) — 10,000 55–29 85 July 19 @ Giants 10–1 Adams (9–3) Ryan — 18,000 56–29 86 July 20 @ Braves 2–0 Cooper (16–4) Oeschger — — 57–29 87 July 22 @ Braves 1–2 (10) McQuillan Hamilton (8–10) — — 57–30 88 July 22 @ Braves 4–3 (13) Glazner (9–1) Fillingim — — 58–30 89 July 23 @ Braves 3–2 Cooper (17–4) Watson — — 59–30 90 July 23 @ Braves 1–3 Scott Carlson (2–4) — — 59–31 91 July 25 Giants 6–3 Adams (10–3) Douglas — 20,000 60–31 92 July 26 Giants 8–9 (10) Barnes Glazner (9–2) — 15,000 60–32 93 July 27 Giants 1–4 Nehf Cooper (17–5) — — 60–33 94 July 28 Giants 4–6 Douglas Glazner (9–3) Ryan 15,000 60–34 95 July 30 Braves 0–1 Oeschger Cooper (17–6) — — 60–35
August: 18–12 (Home: 9–3; Away: 9–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 96 August 1 Braves 7–3 Adams (11–3) McQuillan — — 61–35 97 August 3 Phillies 9–5 Cooper (18–6) Winters — — 62–35 98 August 4 Phillies 5–0 Hamilton (9–10) Meadows — — 63–35 99 August 5 Phillies 8–5 Zinn (5–4) Ring — — 64–35 100 August 6 Robins 2–3 Cadore Glazner (9–4) — 18,000 64–36 101 August 8 Robins 2–4 Grimes Cooper (18–7) — 8,000 64–37 102 August 9 Robins 4–2 Adams (12–3) Mitchell Zinn (4) 8,000 65–37 103 August 10 Robins 0–1 Cadore Morrison (3–3) — 6,000 65–38 104 August 11 Cubs 7–3 Hamilton (10–10) Alexander — — 66–38 105 August 11 Cubs 5–4 (11) Zinn (6–4) Martin — — 67–38 106 August 12 Cubs 12–9 Cooper (19–7) Cheeves — — 68–38 107 August 13 Cubs 4–3 Glazner (10–4) Freeman — — 69–38 108 August 14 @ Cubs 1–0 Morrison (4–3) Martin — — 70–38 109 August 16 @ Phillies 5–6 Betts Cooper (19–8) — — 70–39 110 August 16 @ Phillies 8–6 (11) Zinn (7–4) Smith — — 71–39 111 August 18 @ Phillies 4–3 Hamilton (11–10) Ring Carlson (2) — 72–39 112 August 18 @ Phillies 3–2 Glazner (11–4) Winters — — 73–39 113 August 19 @ Phillies 14–3 Morrison (5–3) Meadows — — 74–39 114 August 19 @ Phillies 1–4 Hubbell Zinn (7–5) — — 74–40 115 August 20 @ Braves 6–4 (13) Cooper (20–8) Fillingim — — 75–40 116 August 22 @ Braves 10–8 Hamilton (12–10) McQuillan Carlson (3) — 76–40 117 August 23 @ Braves 3–4 Watson Glazner (11–5) — — 76–41 118 August 24 @ Giants 2–10 Nehf Adams (12–4) — — 76–42 119 August 24 @ Giants 0–7 Douglas Cooper (20–9) — — 76–43 120 August 25 @ Giants 2–5 Toney Morrison (5–4) — 12,000 76–44 121 August 26 @ Giants 1–2 Douglas Hamilton (12–11) — 15,000 76–45 122 August 27 @ Giants 1–3 Nehf Carlson (2–5) — 36,000 76–46 123 August 28 @ Robins 2–0 Morrison (6–4) Grimes — 20,000 77–46 124 August 29 @ Robins 0–1 Ruether Cooper (20–10) — 4,500 77–47 125 August 30 @ Robins 8–2 Glazner (12–5) Cadore — — 78–47
September: 11–16 (Home: 10–12; Away: 1–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 126 September 1 Cardinals 4–10 Pertica Hamilton (12–12) — — 78–48 127 September 1 Cardinals 0–8 Sherdel Morrison (6–5) — — 78–49 128 September 2 Cardinals 0–1 Haines Carlson (2–6) — — 78–50 129 September 4 @ Reds 2–1 (12) Glazner (13–5) Luque — — 79–50 130 September 5 Reds 1–2 (13) Rixey Hamilton (12–13) — — 79–51 131 September 5 Reds 2–1 Cooper (21–10) Markle — — 80–51 132 September 9 Cubs 5–8 Freeman Cooper (21–11) Alexander — 80–52 133 September 10 Cubs 8–0 Morrison (7–5) Alexander — 10,000 81–52 134 September 11 @ Reds 1–4 Marquard Hamilton (12–14) — 3,000 81–53 135 September 12 Braves 5–4 (15) Adams (13–4) Scott — 8,000 82–53 136 September 12 Braves 3–4 Morgan Zinn (7–6) — — 82–54 137 September 13 Braves 5–3 Carlson (3–6) McQuillan — 5,000 83–54 138 September 14 Braves 5–2 Morrison (8–5) Fillingim — — 84–54 139 September 15 Braves 3–6 Scott Cooper (21–12) — 5,000 84–55 140 September 16 Giants 0–5 Toney Hamilton (12–15) — 25,000 84–56 141 September 17 Giants 1–6 Nehf Carlson (3–7) — 25,000 84–57 142 September 19 Giants 2–1 Adams (14–4) Douglas — 10,000 85–57 143 September 21 Robins 0–2 (7) Mitchell Morrison (8–6) — 3,000 85–58 144 September 22 Robins 3–1 Glazner (14–5) Grimes Carlson (4) 8,000 86–58 145 September 22 Robins 0–2 Cadore Cooper (21–13) Smith 12,000 86–59 146 September 23 Phillies 2–0 Hamilton (13–15) Meadows — 2,500 87–59 147 September 24 Phillies 4–3 Morrison (9–6) Ring — 6,000 88–59 148 September 26 Phillies 1–2 Hubbell Adams (14–5) — 1,500 88–60 149 September 27 Phillies 9–6 Carlson (4–7) Winters — 300 89–60 150 September 29 @ Cardinals 4–5 (10) North Cooper (21–14) — 5,000 89–61 151 September 29 @ Cardinals 1–3 (6) Sherdel Morrison (9–7) — — 89–62 152 September 30 @ Cardinals 4–12 Haines Carlson (4–8) — — 89–63
October: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 153 October 1 @ Cardinals 4–4 — — 89–63 154 October 2 @ Cardinals 4–3 Cooper (22–14) North — — 90–63
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member

Roster

1921 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Babe Adams Lyle Bigbee Hal Carlson Wilbur Cooper Whitey Glazner Earl Hamilton Bill Hughes Johnny Morrison Phil Morrison Elmer Ponder Drew Rader Rip Wheeler Chief Yellow Horse Jimmy Zinn		Catchers Tony Brottem Johnny Gooch Walter Schmidt Bill Skiff Bill Warwick Mike Wilson Infielders Clyde Barnhart George Cutshaw Charlie Grimm Rabbit Maranville Cotton Tierney Pie Traynor		Outfielders Carson Bigbee Max Carey Kiki Cuyler Johnny Mokan Dave Robertson Ray Rohwer Possum Whitted		Manager George Gibson

Player stats

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	Walter Schmidt	114	393	111	.282	0	38
1B	Charlie Grimm	151	562	154	.274	7	71
2B	George Cutshaw	98	350	119	.340	0	53
SS	Rabbit Maranville	153	612	180	.294	1	70
3B	Clyde Barnhart	124	449	116	.258	3	62
OF	Carson Bigbee	147	632	204	.323	3	42
OF	Max Carey	140	521	161	.309	7	56
OF	Possum Whitted	108	403	114	.283	7	63

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
Cotton Tierney	117	442	132	.299	3	52
Dave Robertson	60	230	74	.322	6	48
Tony Brottem	30	91	22	.242	0	9
Johnny Mokan	19	52	14	.269	0	9
Bill Skiff	16	45	13	.289	0	11
Ray Rohwer	30	40	10	.250	0	6
Johnny Gooch	13	38	9	.237	0	3
Pie Traynor	7	19	5	.263	0	2
Mike Wilson	5	4	0	.000	0	0
Kiki Cuyler	1	3	0	.000	0	0
Bill Warwick	1	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Wilbur Cooper	38	327	22	14	3.25	134
Whitey Glazner	36	234	14	5	2.77	88
Earl Hamilton	35	225	13	15	3.36	59
Babe Adams	25	160	14	5	2.64	55
Johnny Morrison	21	144	9	7	2.88	52

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
Jimmy Zinn	32	127.1	7	6	3.68	49
Hal Carlson	31	109.2	4	8	4.27	37
Chief Yellow Horse	10	48.1	5	3	2.98	19

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
Elmer Ponder	8	2	0	0	2.19	3
Lyle Bigbee	5	0	0	0	1.13	1
Rip Wheeler	1	0	0	0	9.00	0
Bill Hughes	1	0	0	0	4.50	2
Drew Rader	1	0	0	0	0.00	0
Phil Morrison	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Wichita Falls Spudders	Texas League	Walter Salm

References

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

• 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1921 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.