1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 55th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 50th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the league standings with a record of 84–70.

1936 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909) Pittsburgh[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Benswanger
Manager(s)	Pie Traynor
Local television	none
Local radio	KDKA Rosey Rowswell, Jack Craddock
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Offseason

• November 21, 1935: Claude Passeau and Earl Grace were traded by the Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies for Al Todd.[2]
• December 12, 1935: Tommy Thevenow was purchased from the Pirates by the Cincinnati Reds.[3]

Regular season

• July 10, 1936: Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four home runs in a ten inning game against the Pirates at Forbes Field.[4]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	92	62	0.597	—	52–26	40–36
St. Louis Cardinals	87	67	0.565	5	43–33	44–34
Chicago Cubs	87	67	0.565	5	50–27	37–40
Pittsburgh Pirates	84	70	0.545	8	46–30	38–40
Cincinnati Reds	74	80	0.481	18	42–34	32–46
Boston Bees	71	83	0.461	21	35–43	36–40
Brooklyn Dodgers	67	87	0.435	25	37–40	30–47
Philadelphia Phillies	54	100	0.351	38	30–48	24–52

Record vs. opponents

1936 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	10–12–2	6–16	13–9	9–13	12–10	8–14–1	13–9
Brooklyn	12–10–2	—	7–15	9–13	9–13	12–10	9–13	9–13
Chicago	16–6	15–7	—	10–12	11–11	16–6	10–12	9–13
Cincinnati	9–13	13–9	12–10	—	9–13	13–9	8–14	10–12
New York	13–9	13–9	11–11	13–9	—	17–5	15–7	10–12
Philadelphia	10–12	10–12	6–16	9–13	5–17	—	7–15	7–15
Pittsburgh	14–8–1	13–9	12–10	14–8	7–15	15–7	—	9–13–1
St. Louis	9–13	13–9	13–9	12–10	12–10	15–7	13–9–1	—

Game log

1936 Game Log: 84–70 (Home: 46–30; Away: 38–40)
April: 6–6 (Home: 3–2; Away: 3–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 14 @ Reds 8–6 Hoyt (1–0) Derringer — 32,243 1–0 2 April 15 @ Reds 7–6 Birkofer (1–0) Freitas — 2,868 2–0 3 April 16 @ Reds 4–7 Hollingsworth Weaver (0–1) — 1,836 2–1 4 April 19 Cardinals 3–7 Hallahan Lucas (0–1) — 17,500 2–2 5 April 20 Cubs 9–8 Swift (1–0) Henshaw — — 3–2 6 April 23 @ Cubs 1–2 French Birkofer (1–1) — — 3–3 7 April 24 @ Cubs 1–6 Warneke Blanton (0–1) — — 3–4 8 April 25 @ Cardinals 12–5 Weaver (1–1) Hallahan — — 4–4 9 April 26 @ Cardinals 2–3 (10) Dean Swift (1–1) — 5,500 4–5 10 April 28 Phillies 7–9 Johnson Brown (0–1) — — 4–6 11 April 29 Phillies 10–9 (11) Lucas (1–1) Walters — — 5–6 12 April 30 Phillies 6–5 Weaver (2–1) Jorgens Brown (1) — 6–6
May: 15–14 (Home: 6–4; Away: 9–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 13 May 1 Bees 4–6 Osborne Swift (1–2) Smith 2,000 6–7 14 May 2 Bees 6–1 Tising (1–0) Chaplin — 5,000 7–7 15 May 3 Dodgers 6–5 Hoyt (2–0) Mungo — 10,000 8–7 16 May 5 Dodgers 4–0 Weaver (3–1) Clark — 1,600 9–7 17 May 6 Giants 5–6 (10) Gabler Hoyt (2–1) — — 9–8 18 May 7 Giants 6–2 Birkofer (2–1) Castleman — 10,000 10–8 19 May 8 Reds 9–6 Swift (2–2) Stine Blanton (1) — 11–8 20 May 9 Reds 10–6 Blanton (1–1) Brennan — — 12–8 21 May 10 Reds 0–6 Derringer Tising (1–1) — 13,955 12–9 22 May 12 @ Bees 6–6 (10) — 2,000 12–9 23 May 13 @ Bees 3–4 (10) MacFayden Hoyt (2–2) — 2,500 12–10 24 May 14 @ Bees 5–2 Bush (1–0) Benge — 1,600 13–10 25 May 15 @ Dodgers 6–2 Weaver (4–1) Mungo — 4,000 14–10 26 May 16 @ Dodgers 0–3 Clark Blanton (1–2) — 8,000 14–11 27 May 17 @ Giants 6–8 Castleman Bush (1–1) Gabler 29,000 14–12 28 May 18 @ Giants 2–4 Hubbell Tising (1–2) — — 14–13 29 May 20 @ Phillies 9–3 Weaver (5–1) Zachary — — 15–13 30 May 21 @ Phillies 7–4 Birkofer (3–1) Jorgens — — 16–13 31 May 22 Cardinals 4–11 Dean Tising (1–3) — — 16–14 32 May 23 @ Reds 3–4 Brennan Blanton (1–3) — — 16–15 33 May 24 @ Reds 1–12 Hollingsworth Weaver (5–2) — 11,526 16–16 34 May 25 @ Reds 9–2 Lucas (2–1) Schott — 1,869 17–16 35 May 26 @ Cardinals 2–6 Dean Blanton (1–4) — — 17–17 36 May 26 @ Cardinals 2–6 Winford Birkofer (3–2) — — 17–18 37 May 27 @ Cardinals 11–2 Swift (3–2) Hallahan — — 18–18 38 May 28 @ Cardinals 7–2 Weaver (6–2) Walker — — 19–18 39 May 29 @ Cardinals 7–9 Dean Bush (1–2) — — 19–19 40 May 30 @ Cubs 7–5 Swift (4–2) Root — — 20–19 41 May 30 @ Cubs 11–7 Brown (1–1) Bryant Bush (1) 43,332 21–19 42 May 31 @ Cubs 7–8 (10) Carleton Bush (1–3) — — 21–20
June: 17–11 (Home: 10–5; Away: 7–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 43 June 2 Bees 5–4 Weaver (7–2) Chaplin Brown (2) 2,500 22–20 44 June 3 Bees 3–4 (11) Reis Swift (4–3) — 2,000 22–21 45 June 4 Bees 7–5 Blanton (2–4) Lanning Brown (3) — 23–21 46 June 5 Phillies 14–8 Brown (2–1) Bowman — — 24–21 47 June 6 Phillies 1–5 Jorgens Weaver (7–3) — — 24–22 48 June 7 Phillies 6–2 Swift (5–3) Moore — — 25–22 49 June 8 Dodgers 2–1 Blanton (3–4) Brandt — — 26–22 50 June 9 Dodgers 4–1 Weaver (8–3) Earnshaw — — 27–22 51 June 9 Dodgers 7–5 Brown (3–1) Mungo — 8,000 28–22 52 June 10 Dodgers 6–3 Lucas (3–1) Clark Bush (2) — 29–22 53 June 12 Giants 3–2 Swift (6–3) Hubbell — — 30–22 54 June 13 Giants 6–2 Blanton (4–4) Smith — — 31–22 55 June 14 Giants 0–8 Schumacher Weaver (8–4) — 32,000 31–23 56 June 16 @ Dodgers 9–2 Lucas (4–1) Mungo — 3,500 32–23 57 June 17 @ Dodgers 14–5 Swift (7–3) Baker — — 33–23 58 June 20 @ Phillies 6–0 Blanton (5–4) Bowman — — 34–23 59 June 20 @ Phillies 1–2 Jorgens Weaver (8–5) Johnson — 34–24 60 June 21 @ Phillies 7–6 Lucas (5–1) Kowalik — 5,000 35–24 61 June 22 @ Giants 5–11 Schumacher Swift (7–4) — 5,314 35–25 62 June 23 @ Giants 2–3 Gumbert Brown (3–2) Smith 5,500 35–26 63 June 24 @ Giants 3–4 Hubbell Birkofer (3–3) — — 35–27 64 June 24 @ Giants 4–1 Weaver (9–5) Fitzsimmons — 15,000 36–27 65 June 25 @ Giants 4–5 Coffman Swift (7–5) — 5,000 36–28 66 June 26 @ Bees 2–1 Lucas (6–1) MacFayden — 5,352 37–28 67 June 28 @ Bees 11–2 Blanton (6–4) Benge — — 38–28 68 June 28 @ Bees 4–6 Cantwell Weaver (9–6) Smith 18,133 38–29 69 June 30 Cardinals 1–2 Haines Brown (3–3) — — 38–30 70 June 30 Cardinals 3–4 Rhem Blanton (6–5) Dean 20,000 38–31
July: 13–15 (Home: 6–10; Away: 7–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 71 July 1 Cardinals 9–4 Lucas (7–1) Walker Swift (1) — 39–31 72 July 2 Cardinals 2–4 Dean Weaver (9–7) — — 39–32 73 July 4 Cubs 2–3 (10) French Blanton (6–6) — — 39–33 74 July 4 Cubs 7–4 Brown (4–3) Lee Welch (1) 33,000 40–33 75 July 5 Cubs 4–2 Swift (8–5) Warneke — — 41–33 76 July 9 Phillies 16–5 Birkofer (4–3) Kowalik — — 42–33 77 July 10 Phillies 6–9 (10) Walters Swift (8–6) — — 42–34 78 July 12 Bees 2–6 (10) Cantwell Blanton (6–7) — 5,000 42–35 79 July 13 Bees 1–4 Chaplin Swift (8–7) — 1,200 42–36 80 July 14 Bees 2–1 Brown (5–3) MacFayden — 2,000 43–36 81 July 15 Giants 5–4 (10) Birkofer (5–3) Fitzsimmons — — 44–36 82 July 15 Giants 4–14 Smith Weaver (9–8) — 15,000 44–37 83 July 16 Giants 6–7 Coffman Brown (5–4) Schumacher 6,000 44–38 84 July 17 Giants 0–6 Hubbell Swift (8–8) — — 44–39 85 July 18 Dodgers 5–6 Jeffcoat Brown (5–5) Clark 8,000 44–40 86 July 19 Dodgers 2–4 Clark Blanton (6–8) Mungo 4,000 44–41 87 July 21 @ Phillies 17–6 Swift (9–8) Moore — — 45–41 88 July 22 @ Phillies 4–16 Bowman Brown (5–6) — — 45–42 89 July 23 @ Phillies 10–1 Blanton (7–8) Passeau — — 46–42 90 July 25 @ Dodgers 7–4 Swift (10–8) Clark — 4,700 47–42 91 July 26 @ Dodgers 0–1 Mungo Lucas (7–2) — — 47–43 92 July 26 @ Dodgers 3–4 Brandt Brown (5–7) — 15,000 47–44 93 July 27 @ Dodgers 3–6 Frankhouse Blanton (7–9) — 485 47–45 94 July 28 @ Dodgers 9–8 (10) Lucas (8–2) Brandt — — 48–45 95 July 29 @ Bees 1–4 MacFayden Swift (10–9) — 9,284 48–46 96 July 29 @ Bees 10–4 Brown (6–7) Smith — 9,284 49–46 97 July 30 @ Bees 5–3 (11) Brown (7–7) Cantwell — 2,612 50–46 98 July 31 @ Bees 10–5 Weaver (10–8) Chaplin Hoyt (1) 3,216 51–46
August: 15–15 (Home: 11–7; Away: 4–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 99 August 1 @ Giants 0–6 Smith Blanton (7–10) — — 51–47 100 August 2 @ Giants 2–3 Hubbell Swift (10–10) — 15,000 51–48 101 August 5 @ Reds 4–6 Schott Brown (7–8) — 6,373 51–49 102 August 7 @ Reds 5–1 Lucas (9–2) Hollingsworth — — 52–49 103 August 7 @ Reds 1–0 Blanton (8–10) Hallahan — 3,969 53–49 104 August 8 @ Cubs 2–3 French Swift (10–11) — — 53–50 105 August 9 @ Cubs 2–9 Lee Brown (7–9) — — 53–51 106 August 9 @ Cubs 1–10 Davis Birkofer (5–4) — 40,000 53–52 107 August 11 Reds 6–3 Lucas (10–2) Derringer — — 54–52 108 August 11 Reds 3–7 Hallahan Blanton (8–11) — — 54–53 109 August 12 Reds 6–1 Swift (11–11) Schott — — 55–53 110 August 13 Reds 5–4 Hoyt (3–2) Hollingsworth — — 56–53 111 August 15 Cardinals 7–1 Weaver (11–8) Haines — — 57–53 112 August 16 Cardinals 3–4 Winford Lucas (10–3) Parmelee — 57–54 113 August 16 Cardinals 2–7 Dean Swift (11–12) — 35,000 57–55 114 August 18 Cubs 4–5 French Blanton (8–12) — — 57–56 115 August 18 Cubs 3–1 Hoyt (4–2) Lee — — 58–56 116 August 19 Cubs 5–4 Swift (12–12) Root — — 59–56 117 August 20 Cubs 8–7 (11) Birkofer (6–4) Warneke — — 60–56 118 August 21 @ Cardinals 5–4 Lucas (11–3) Haines — — 61–56 119 August 22 @ Cardinals 3–4 Winford Swift (12–13) — — 61–57 120 August 23 @ Cardinals 3–7 Heusser Blanton (8–13) — — 61–58 121 August 23 @ Cardinals 6–6 (10) — — 61–58 122 August 24 @ Cardinals 17–5 Brown (8–9) Heusser — — 62–58 123 August 25 Dodgers 1–4 (8) Butcher Birkofer (6–5) — — 62–59 124 August 26 Dodgers 3–10 Brandt Swift (12–14) — — 62–60 125 August 27 Dodgers 6–3 Weaver (12–8) Mungo Blanton (2) 2,500 63–60 126 August 28 Giants 2–7 (14) Fitzsimmons Hoyt (4–3) Gabler 5,000 63–61 127 August 29 Giants 7–4 Lucas (12–3) Smith — — 64–61 128 August 30 Bees 4–2 Swift (13–14) Chaplin — — 65–61 129 August 30 Bees 3–1 Blanton (9–13) Smith — 8,000 66–61
September: 18–9 (Home: 10–2; Away: 8–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 130 September 1 Bees 3–1 Weaver (13–8) MacFayden — 1,000 67–61 131 September 3 Phillies 3–4 Bowman Lucas (12–4) — — 67–62 132 September 3 Phillies 5–1 Hoyt (5–3) Passeau — 5,000 68–62 133 September 4 Cubs 0–8 French Swift (13–15) — — 68–63 134 September 5 Cubs 1–0 Blanton (10–13) Henshaw — — 69–63 135 September 6 Cubs 5–4 Weaver (14–8) Davis Swift (2) — 70–63 136 September 7 Cardinals 4–1 Hoyt (6–3) Dean — — 71–63 137 September 7 Cardinals 14–1 Brown (9–9) Parmelee — — 72–63 138 September 9 @ Dodgers 7–8 Brandt Blanton (10–14) — — 72–64 139 September 10 @ Dodgers 11–5 Swift (14–15) Frankhouse — 5,000 73–64 140 September 11 @ Bees 10–3 Blanton (11–14) Weir — 1,594 74–64 141 September 12 @ Bees 2–3 Bush Hoyt (6–4) — 1,500 74–65 142 September 13 @ Phillies 5–3 Birkofer (7–5) Sivess Blanton (3) — 75–65 143 September 13 @ Phillies 3–4 Jorgens Brown (9–10) — — 75–66 144 September 14 @ Phillies 11–4 Swift (15–15) Benge — — 76–66 145 September 14 @ Phillies 6–5 (10) Lucas (13–4) Bowman — — 77–66 146 September 16 @ Giants 1–2 Smith Blanton (11–15) Coffman — 77–67 147 September 16 @ Giants 4–3 Hoyt (7–4) Schumacher — 22,000 78–67 148 September 17 Reds 14–10 Brown (10–10) Hollingsworth — — 79–67 149 September 19 Reds 7–6 (11) Swift (16–15) Hallahan — — 80–67 150 September 20 Reds 5–1 Blanton (12–15) Derringer — — 81–67 151 September 20 Reds 6–4 Lucas (14–4) Davis — 10,000 82–67 152 September 22 @ Cubs 4–11 Davis Hoyt (7–5) — 3,900 82–68 153 September 23 @ Cubs 7–6 (10) Lucas (15–4) Warneke — — 83–68 154 September 24 @ Cubs 4–0 Blanton (13–15) French — 13,000 84–68 155 September 26 @ Reds 1–5 Hallahan Swift (16–16) — — 84–69 156 September 27 @ Reds 5–6 Moore Brown (10–11) Mooty 5,377 84–70
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member

Roster

1936 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 27 Russ Bauers 49 Ralph Birkofer 46 Cy Blanton 47 Mace Brown 41 Guy Bush 48 Waite Hoyt 40 Red Lucas 45 Bill Swift 44 Jack Tising 43 Jim Weaver 51 Johnny Welch		Catchers 32 Hal Finney 31 Tom Padden 30 Al Todd Infielders 25 Bill Brubaker 22 Cookie Lavagetto 21,24 Gus Suhr 21 Arky Vaughan 26 Pep Young		Outfielders -- Earl Browne -- Johnny Dickshot 12 Bud Hafey 16 Woody Jensen 14 Fred Schulte 10 Lloyd Waner 11 Paul Waner		Manager 20 Pie Traynor Coaches 33 Jewel Ens 36 Honus Wagner

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	Tom Padden	88	281	70	.249	1	31
1B	Gus Suhr	156	583	182	.312	11	118
2B	Pep Young	125	475	118	.248	6	77
3B	Bill Brubaker	145	554	160	.289	6	102
SS	Arky Vaughan	156	568	190	.335	9	78
LF	Woody Jensen	153	696	197	.283	10	58
CF	Lloyd Waner	106	414	133	.321	1	31
RF	Paul Waner	148	585	218	.373	5	94

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
Al Todd	76	267	73	.273	2	28
Fred Schulte	74	238	62	.261	1	17
Cookie Lavagetto	60	197	48	.244	2	26
Bud Hafey	39	118	25	.212	4	13
Hal Finney	21	35	0	.000	0	3
Earl Browne	8	23	7	.304	0	3
Johnny Dickshot	9	9	2	.222	0	1

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
Bill Swift	45	262.1	16	16	4.01	92
Cy Blanton	44	235.2	13	15	3.51	127
Jim Weaver	38	225.2	14	8	4.31	108
Red Lucas	27	175.2	15	4	3.18	53
Russ Bauers	1	1.1	0	0	33.75	0

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
Mace Brown	47	165	10	11	3.87	56
Waite Hoyt	22	116.2	7	5	2.70	37
Ralph Birkofer	34	109.1	7	5	4.69	44
Jack Tising	10	47	1	3	4.21	27

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
Guy Bush	16	1	3	2	5.97	10
Johnny Welch	9	0	0	1	4.50	5

Awards and honors

1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Gus Suhr, reserve
• Arky Vaughan, reserve

League top five finishers

Cy Blanton

• #3 in NL in strikeouts (127)

Red Lucas

• #5 in NL in ERA (3.18)

Gus Suhr

• #3 in NL in RBI (118)
• #5 in NL in runs scored (111)

Bill Swift

• #5 in NL in losses (16)

Arky Vaughan

• NL leader in runs scored (122)
• NL leader in on-base percentage (.453)
• #5 in NL in batting average (.335)

Paul Waner

• NL leader in batting average (.373)
• #2 in NL in hits (218)
• #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.446)
• #5 in NL in slugging percentage (.520)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
A	Scranton Miners	New York–Pennsylvania League	Elmer Yoter
B	Savannah Indians	Sally League	Bill Gould and Bob LaMotte
C	Hutchinson Larks	Western Association	Dick Goldberg
D	Jeannette Little Pirates	Pennsylvania State Association	Wilbur Cooper
D	Portageville-Owensboro Pirates	Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League	Hughie Wise
D	Winnipeg Maroons	Northern League	Wes Griffin

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Scranton, Jeannette

Notes

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Earl Grace page at Baseball Reference
3. Tommy Thevenow page at Baseball Reference
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 258, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References

• 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.