1923 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1923 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 42nd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 37th in the National League. The Pirates finished third in the league standings with a record of 87–67.

1923 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)	Bill McKechnie
Local television	none
Local radio	none
< Previous season     Next season >

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	95	58	0.621	—	47–30	48–28
Cincinnati Reds	91	63	0.591	4½	46–32	45–31
Pittsburgh Pirates	87	67	0.565	8½	47–30	40–37
Chicago Cubs	83	71	0.539	12½	46–31	37–40
St. Louis Cardinals	79	74	0.516	16	42–35	37–39
Brooklyn Robins	76	78	0.494	19½	37–40	39–38
Boston Braves	54	100	0.351	41½	22–55	32–45
Philadelphia Phillies	50	104	0.325	45½	20–55	30–49

Record vs. opponents

1923 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	8–14	6–16	7–15	6–16	13–9	5–17	9–13–1
Brooklyn	14–8	—	10–12	8–14	11–11	12–10–1	11–11	10–12
Chicago	16–6	12–10	—	9–13	10–12	13–9	11–11	12–10
Cincinnati	15–7	14–8	13–9	—	12–10	19–3	8–14	10–12
New York	16–6	11–11	12–10	10–12	—	19–3	13–9	14–7
Philadelphia	9–13	10–12–1	9–13	3–19	3–19	—	9–13	7–15
Pittsburgh	17–5	11–11	11–11	14–8	9–13	13–9	—	12–10
St. Louis	13–9–1	12–10	10–12	12–10	7–14	15–7	10–12	—

Game log

1923 Game Log: 87–67 (Home: 47–30; Away: 40–37)
April: 6–7 (Home: 3–0; Away: 3–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 17 @ Cubs 3–2 Morrison (1–0) Osborne — 33,000 1–0 2 April 18 @ Cubs 2–7 Alexander Boehler (0–1) — — 1–1 3 April 19 @ Cubs 5–10 Aldridge Adams (0–1) — — 1–2 4 April 20 @ Cubs 11–12 Osborne Adams (0–2) — — 1–3 5 April 21 @ Reds 6–12 Donohue Cooper (0–1) — — 1–4 6 April 22 @ Reds 15–9 Morrison (2–0) Rixey Bagby (1) — 2–4 7 April 23 @ Reds 8–4 Boehler (1–1) Couch Glazner (1) — 3–4 8 April 24 @ Reds 4–5 Luque Kunz (0–1) — — 3–5 9 April 25 Cubs 7–3 Cooper (1–1) Fussell — 30,000 4–5 10 April 26 Cubs 7–2 Adams (1–2) Osborne — — 5–5 11 April 27 Cubs 2–1 Morrison (3–0) Alexander — — 6–5 12 April 29 @ Cardinals 2–3 Haines Glazner (0–1) — — 6–6 13 April 30 @ Cardinals 5–7 Doak Boehler (1–2) Sherdel 5,000 6–7
May: 18–9 (Home: 9–1; Away: 9–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 14 May 1 @ Cardinals 6–2 Cooper (2–1) Sherdel — 3,500 7–7 15 May 2 @ Cardinals 1–12 Pfeffer Morrison (3–1) — 2,000 7–8 16 May 3 Reds 3–1 Adams (2–2) Donohue — 3,000 8–8 17 May 4 Reds 11–6 Glazner (1–1) Rixey Bagby (2) — 9–8 18 May 5 Reds 10–7 Cooper (3–1) Keck Morrison (1) — 10–8 19 May 6 @ Reds 7–8 Donohue Hamilton (0–1) — — 10–9 20 May 7 Cardinals 11–4 Adams (3–2) Sherdel — 8,000 11–9 21 May 8 @ Robins 8–6 Morrison (4–1) Harper — 3,500 12–9 22 May 11 @ Robins 6–7 Grimes Bagby (0–1) — 2,000 12–10 23 May 13 @ Giants 0–9 McQuillan Cooper (3–2) — 35,000 12–11 24 May 14 @ Giants 4–1 Adams (4–2) Nehf — 8,000 13–11 25 May 16 @ Giants 2–6 Scott Morrison (4–2) — 5,000 13–12 26 May 17 @ Braves 0–1 (10) Rudolph Cooper (3–3) — — 13–13 27 May 18 @ Braves 4–3 Adams (5–2) Fillingim Kunz (1) — 14–13 28 May 19 @ Braves 5–0 Glazner (2–1) McNamara — — 15–13 29 May 21 @ Phillies 5–3 Morrison (5–2) Behan — — 16–13 30 May 22 @ Phillies 13–6 Cooper (4–3) Meadows — — 17–13 31 May 23 @ Phillies 7–6 Kunz (1–1) Head — — 18–13 32 May 24 Cardinals 11–4 Adams (6–2) Sherdel — 10,000 19–13 33 May 25 Cardinals 2–1 Morrison (6–2) Doak — 6,000 20–13 34 May 26 Cardinals 4–5 Haines Cooper (4–4) — 15,000 20–14 35 May 27 @ Cubs 4–2 Meadows (1–0) Aldridge — — 21–14 36 May 28 @ Cubs 4–5 (11) Fussell Kunz (1–2) — — 21–15 37 May 29 Cubs 7–6 Bagby (1–1) Stueland — — 22–15 38 May 30 Cubs 5–4 Morrison (7–2) Kaufmann — 20,000 23–15 39 May 30 Cubs 10–2 Cooper (5–4) Aldridge — 30,000 24–15 40 May 31 @ Cardinals 1–4 Toney Meadows (1–1) — 1,000 24–16
June: 15–8 (Home: 11–6; Away: 4–2) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 41 June 1 @ Cardinals 3–4 (11) Pfeffer Hamilton (0–2) — — 24–17 42 June 3 @ Cardinals 3–4 Haines Cooper (5–5) — — 24–18 43 June 4 Robins 3–5 Grimes Morrison (7–3) — 7,000 24–19 44 June 5 Robins 5–2 Meadows (2–1) Dickerman — 5,000 25–19 45 June 6 Robins 7–3 Hamilton (1–2) Ruether — 4,000 26–19 46 June 8 Giants 9–6 Morrison (8–3) McQuillan — 15,000 27–19 47 June 9 Giants 0–6 Bentley Meadows (2–2) — 30,000 27–20 48 June 12 Giants 4–2 Cooper (6–5) Nehf — 15,000 28–20 49 June 13 Phillies 4–2 Morrison (9–3) Behan — — 29–20 50 June 14 Phillies 1–2 Ring Meadows (2–3) — — 29–21 51 June 16 Phillies 4–1 Cooper (7–5) Weinert — — 30–21 52 June 18 Braves 8–3 Morrison (10–3) Marquard — — 31–21 53 June 20 Braves 8–14 (10) Benton Boehler (1–3) Barnes — 31–22 54 June 21 Braves 2–1 Adams (7–2) Barnes — 3,000 32–22 55 June 22 Reds 8–2 Meadows (3–3) Donohue — — 33–22 56 June 23 Reds 4–5 Rixey Cooper (7–6) Benton 10,000 33–23 57 June 24 @ Cardinals 6–4 Morrison (11–3) Pfeffer Bagby (3) — 34–23 58 June 25 @ Cardinals 3–1 Hamilton (2–2) Haines — 5,000 35–23 59 June 26 @ Cardinals 7–5 Meadows (4–3) Doak Adams (1) 2,000 36–23 60 June 27 @ Cardinals 6–0 Cooper (8–6) Sherdel — 2,000 37–23 61 June 29 Reds 0–2 Luque Morrison (11–4) — — 37–24 62 June 29 Reds 5–3 Bagby (2–1) Benton — — 38–24 63 June 30 Reds 4–3 Adams (8–2) Rixey — 22,000 39–24
July: 19–13 (Home: 10–3; Away: 9–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 64 July 1 @ Reds 2–3 Donohue Cooper (8–7) Luque — 39–25 65 July 2 Cardinals 4–1 Hamilton (3–2) Pfeffer — — 40–25 66 July 3 Cardinals 4–2 Meadows (5–3) Toney — 8,000 41–25 67 July 4 Cardinals 7–5 Cooper (9–7) Pfeffer — — 42–25 68 July 4 Cardinals 6–1 Morrison (12–4) Haines — — 43–25 69 July 6 @ Phillies 2–5 Mitchell Cooper (9–8) — 1,000 43–26 70 July 7 @ Phillies 18–5 Meadows (6–3) Glazner — — 44–26 71 July 9 @ Phillies 2–4 Behan Morrison (12–5) — — 44–27 72 July 10 @ Giants 8–9 (10) Blume Bagby (2–2) — 10,000 44–28 73 July 11 @ Giants 1–6 Watson Hamilton (3–3) — — 44–29 74 July 12 @ Giants 5–3 Meadows (7–3) McQuillan — 25,000 45–29 75 July 12 @ Giants 2–4 Scott Adams (8–3) — 40,000 45–30 76 July 13 @ Giants 10–1 Morrison (13–5) Bentley — 7,500 46–30 77 July 14 @ Robins 1–2 Vance Cooper (9–9) — 20,000 46–31 78 July 14 @ Robins 5–3 Bagby (3–2) Henry — 23,000 47–31 79 July 15 @ Robins 3–2 Hamilton (4–3) Ruether — 15,000 48–31 80 July 16 @ Robins 4–8 Grimes Meadows (7–4) — — 48–32 81 July 17 @ Robins 2–6 Smith Morrison (13–6) — 2,500 48–33 82 July 18 @ Braves 5–1 Cooper (10–9) Marquard — — 49–33 83 July 19 @ Braves 8–6 Meadows (8–4) Barnes Morrison (2) — 50–33 84 July 20 @ Braves 5–8 Genewich Hamilton (4–4) — — 50–34 85 July 21 @ Braves 14–4 Morrison (14–6) McNamara — — 51–34 86 July 21 @ Braves 6–4 Cooper (11–9) Miller — — 52–34 87 July 23 Cubs 3–12 (12) Alexander Meadows (8–5) — — 52–35 88 July 25 Braves 5–2 Adams (9–3) Benton — — 53–35 89 July 25 Braves 10–3 Morrison (15–6) Fillingim — — 54–35 90 July 26 Braves 8–7 (12) Hamilton (5–4) Barnes — — 55–35 91 July 27 Braves 8–5 Meadows (9–5) Oeschger — — 56–35 92 July 28 Braves 3–1 Cooper (12–9) Genewich — — 57–35 93 July 30 Giants 5–4 Steineder (1–0) Scott — 32,000 58–35 94 July 30 Giants 2–17 Nehf Morrison (15–7) Jonnard 32,000 58–36 95 July 31 Giants 4–5 McQuillan Hamilton (5–5) Ryan 10,000 58–37
August: 14–14 (Home: 4–9; Away: 10–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 96 August 1 Giants 2–1 Cooper (13–9) Bentley — 15,000 59–37 97 August 2 Giants 2–3 Watson Meadows (9–6) — 18,000 59–38 98 August 4 Phillies 2–4 Ring Adams (9–4) — — 59–39 99 August 4 Phillies 4–3 Morrison (16–7) Weinert — — 60–39 100 August 6 Phillies 4–6 Mitchell Cooper (13–10) — — 60–40 101 August 7 Phillies 5–7 Glazner Meadows (9–7) Behan — 60–41 102 August 8 Robins 2–9 Vance Hamilton (5–6) — 5,000 60–42 103 August 8 Robins 5–2 Morrison (17–7) Grimes — 7,000 61–42 104 August 9 Robins 6–2 Adams (10–4) Dickerman — 4,000 62–42 105 August 11 Robins 6–7 Ruether Cooper (13–11) — 12,000 62–43 106 August 12 @ Robins 2–11 Vance Hamilton (5–7) — 22,000 62–44 107 August 12 @ Robins 0–6 Grimes Morrison (17–8) — 22,000 62–45 108 August 13 @ Robins 5–2 Meadows (10–7) Smith — 4,000 63–45 109 August 14 @ Phillies 10–16 Couch Stone (0–1) Weinert — 63–46 110 August 15 @ Phillies 4–3 Cooper (14–11) Behan — — 64–46 111 August 16 @ Phillies 5–8 Betts Morrison (17–9) — — 64–47 112 August 17 @ Phillies 11–6 Hamilton (6–7) Ring — — 65–47 113 August 18 @ Phillies 9–8 (13) Adams (11–4) Ring — 10,000 66–47 114 August 19 @ Giants 1–2 (12) Scott Cooper (14–12) — 25,000 66–48 115 August 20 @ Giants 3–1 Morrison (18–9) Nehf — 7,000 67–48 116 August 21 @ Giants 9–5 Adams (12–4) Watson Hamilton (1) 8,000 68–48 117 August 23 @ Braves 8–3 Meadows (11–7) Barnes — — 69–48 118 August 24 @ Braves 7–2 Cooper (15–12) Oeschger — — 70–48 119 August 25 @ Braves 5–2 Morrison (19–9) Marquard — — 71–48 120 August 26 @ Robins 9–2 Adams (13–4) Ruether — 10,000 72–48 121 August 29 Cubs 2–6 Kaufmann Cooper (15–13) — 5,000 72–49 122 August 30 Cardinals 4–6 Haines Morrison (19–10) — 5,000 72–50 123 August 31 Cardinals 2–3 Doak Cooper (15–14) — 4,500 72–51
September: 13–16 (Home: 10–11; Away: 3–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 124 September 1 Cardinals 2–8 Sherdel Adams (13–5) — 10,000 72–52 125 September 2 @ Cubs 8–6 (11) Meadows (12–7) Kaufmann — — 73–52 126 September 3 Reds 7–2 Morrison (20–10) Benton — — 74–52 127 September 4 Reds 1–2 Rixey Cooper (15–15) — 7,000 74–53 128 September 5 Reds 6–2 Meadows (13–7) Luque — 5,000 75–53 129 September 6 Cubs 5–1 (5) Hamilton (7–7) Alexander — — 76–53 130 September 7 Cubs 4–6 Keen Adams (13–6) — — 76–54 131 September 8 Cubs 4–0 Morrison (21–10) Aldridge — — 77–54 132 September 9 @ Reds 3–8 Luque Cooper (15–16) — 10,000 77–55 133 September 10 @ Reds 8–0 Meadows (14–7) Donohue — — 78–55 134 September 11 @ Reds 4–3 Morrison (22–10) Benton — — 79–55 135 September 13 Robins 4–7 Vance Hamilton (7–8) — 5,000 79–56 136 September 13 Robins 6–3 Cooper (16–16) Henry — 12,000 80–56 137 September 15 Robins 4–1 Meadows (15–7) Ruether — 6,000 81–56 138 September 15 Robins 2–13 Grimes Morrison (22–11) — 12,000 81–57 139 September 17 Braves 1–6 Marquard Cooper (16–17) — — 81–58 140 September 18 Braves 12–2 Morrison (23–11) Barnes — — 82–58 141 September 19 Braves 4–5 Genewich Adams (13–7) — — 82–59 142 September 21 Giants 4–8 Scott Meadows (15–8) Nehf 10,000 82–60 143 September 21 Giants 1–8 Watson Cooper (16–18) — 20,000 82–61 144 September 22 Giants 3–4 Bentley Morrison (23–12) — — 82–62 145 September 24 Phillies 2–4 Couch Meadows (15–9) Behan — 82–63 146 September 24 Phillies 4–3 (10) Cooper (17–18) Betts — — 83–63 147 September 25 Phillies 18–5 Steineder (2–0) Glazner — — 84–63 148 September 26 Phillies 6–0 Morrison (24–12) Behan — — 85–63 149 September 27 @ Cubs 2–8 Keen Hamilton (7–9) — — 85–64 150 September 28 @ Cubs 1–2 Aldridge Cooper (17–19) — — 85–65 151 September 29 @ Cubs 4–5 (10) Alexander Meadows (15–10) — — 85–66 152 September 30 @ Cubs 4–5 Wheeler Morrison (24–13) — 20,000 85–67
October: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 2–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 153 October 6 @ Reds 7–1 Meadows (16–10) Rixey — — 86–67 154 October 7 @ Reds 7–5 Morrison (25–13) Donohue — — 87–67
Legend:           = Win           = Loss Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

• May 22, 1923: Cotton Tierney, Whitey Glazner and $50,000 were traded by the Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies for Lee Meadows and Johnny Rawlings.[2]

Roster

1923 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Babe Adams Jim Bagby George Boehler Hal Carlson Wilbur Cooper Whitey Glazner Earl Hamilton Earl Kunz Lee Meadows Johnny Morrison Ray Steineder Arnie Stone		Catchers Johnny Gooch Jim Mattox Walter Schmidt Infielders Spencer Adams Eppie Barnes Jewel Ens Charlie Grimm Rabbit Maranville Eddie Moore Johnny Rawlings Cotton Tierney Pie Traynor		Outfielders Clyde Barnhart Carson Bigbee Max Carey Kiki Cuyler Frank Luce Walter Mueller Reb Russell		Manager Bill McKechnie

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	Walter Schmidt	97	335	83	.248	0	37
1B	Charlie Grimm	152	563	194	.345	7	99
2B	Johnny Rawlings	119	461	131	.284	1	45
SS	Rabbit Maranville	141	581	161	.277	1	41
3B	Pie Traynor	153	616	208	.338	12	101
OF	Max Carey	153	610	188	.308	6	63
OF	Carson Bigbee	123	499	149	.299	0	54
OF	Clyde Barnhart	114	327	106	.324	9	72

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
Reb Russell	94	291	84	.289	9	58
Johnny Gooch	66	202	56	.277	1	20
Cotton Tierney	29	120	35	.292	2	23
Walter Mueller	40	111	34	.306	0	20
Spencer Adams	25	56	14	.250	0	4
Kiki Cuyler	11	40	10	.250	0	2
Jim Mattox	22	32	6	.188	0	1
Jewel Ens	12	29	8	.276	0	5
Eddie Moore	6	26	7	.269	0	1
Frank Luce	9	12	6	.500	0	3
Eppie Barnes	2	2	1	.500	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
Johnny Morrison	42	301.2	25	13	3.49	114
Wilbur Cooper	39	294.2	17	19	3.57	77
Lee Meadows	31	227	16	10	3.01	66
Babe Adams	26	158.2	13	7	4.42	38

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
Earl Hamilton	28	141	7	9	3.77	42
Jim Bagby	21	68.2	3	2	5.24	16
Ray Steineder	15	55	2	0	4.75	23
Whitey Glazner	7	30	2	1	3.30	8
George Boehler	10	28.1	1	3	6.04	12

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
Earl Kunz	21	1	2	1	5.52	12
Arnie Stone	9	0	1	0	8.03	2
Hal Carlson	4	0	0	0	4.73	4

Notes

1. From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Cotton Tierney page at Baseball Reference

References

• 1923 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1923 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac