1929 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1929 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 48th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 43rd in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 88–65.

1929 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)	Jewel Ens
Local television	none
Local radio	none
< Previous season     Next season >

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	98	54	0.645	—	52–25	46–29
Pittsburgh Pirates	88	65	0.575	10½	45–31	43–34
New York Giants	84	67	0.556	13½	39–37	45–30
St. Louis Cardinals	78	74	0.513	20	43–32	35–42
Philadelphia Phillies	71	82	0.464	27½	39–37	32–45
Brooklyn Robins	70	83	0.458	28½	42–35	28–48
Cincinnati Reds	66	88	0.429	33	38–39	28–49
Boston Braves	56	98	0.364	43	34–43	22–55

Record vs. opponents

1929 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	11–11	7–15	8–14	9–13	5–17	8–14	8–14
Brooklyn	11–11	—	6–16	11–11	14–7	9–13	9–13	10–12
Chicago	15–7	16–6	—	14–8–1	12–10–1	17–5–1	9–13	15–5–1
Cincinnati	14–8	11–11	8–14–1	—	10–12	11–11	9–13	3–19
New York	13–9	7–14	10–12–1	12–10	—	16–5	13–8	13–9
Philadelphia	17–5	13–9	5–17–1	11–11	5–16	—	11–11	9–13
Pittsburgh	14–8	13–9	13–9	13–9	8–13	11–11	—	16–6–1
St. Louis	14–8	12–10	5–15–1	19–3	9–13	13–9	6–16–1	—

Game log

1929 Game Log: 88–65 (Home: 45–31; Away: 43–34)
April: 4–6 (Home: 1–2; Away: 3–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 16 @ Cubs 4–3 Grimes (1–0) Root — 46,000 1–0 2 April 17 @ Cubs 2–13 Malone Kremer (0–1) — — 1–1 3 April 18 @ Cubs 1–11 Blake Petty (0–1) — 14,000 1–2 4 April 20 @ Reds 5–4 Grimes (2–0) Rixey — — 2–2 5 April 22 @ Reds 4–9 Lucas Hill (0–1) — — 2–3 6 April 24 Cubs 5–4 (13) Swetonic (1–0) Horne — 32,000 3–3 7 April 26 Cubs 6–9 Bush Kremer (0–2) Cvengros 8,000 3–4 8 April 27 Cubs 7–8 Malone Swetonic (1–1) Blake 25,000 3–5 9 April 28 @ Cardinals 6–2 Petty (1–1) Alexander — — 4–5 10 April 29 @ Cardinals 3–7 Mitchell French (0–1) — 12,000 4–6
May: 19–8 (Home: 7–3; Away: 12–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 11 May 1 @ Cardinals 4–4 (13) — — 4–6 12 May 4 @ Braves 3–5 Seibold Petty (1–2) — — 4–7 13 May 5 @ Braves 7–2 Grimes (3–0) Smith — 28,000 5–7 14 May 6 @ Braves 4–3 Swetonic (2–1) Jones — — 6–7 15 May 7 @ Giants 3–2 (10) French (1–1) Benton — — 7–7 16 May 8 @ Giants 0–11 Hubbell Petty (1–3) — 8,000 7–8 17 May 9 @ Giants 4–3 Grimes (4–0) Fitzsimmons — 7,500 8–8 18 May 10 @ Phillies 13–9 Brame (1–0) Willoughby French (1) — 9–8 19 May 11 @ Phillies 6–11 Roy Hill (0–2) — — 9–9 20 May 13 @ Robins 12–4 French (2–1) Elliott — — 10–9 21 May 15 @ Robins 9–4 Grimes (5–0) Clark — — 11–9 22 May 16 Cardinals 9–10 (10) Johnson Swetonic (2–2) — — 11–10 23 May 17 Cardinals 6–2 French (3–1) Alexander — — 12–10 24 May 18 Cardinals 6–3 Kremer (1–2) Sherdel — — 13–10 25 May 19 @ Cubs 4–1 Grimes (6–0) Malone — 38,000 14–10 26 May 20 @ Cubs 1–6 Bush Swetonic (2–3) — — 14–11 27 May 21 @ Cubs 6–8 Horne French (3–2) Root — 14–12 28 May 22 Reds 11–2 Kremer (2–2) Ash — — 15–12 29 May 23 Reds 6–3 Grimes (7–0) Rixey — — 16–12 30 May 25 Reds 6–4 Brame (2–0) Luque — — 17–12 31 May 26 @ Cardinals 12–8 Fussell (1–0) Haines Grimes (1) 30,000 18–12 32 May 26 @ Cardinals 7–5 Kremer (3–2) Frankhouse Grimes (2) 30,000 19–12 33 May 27 @ Cardinals 10–1 Petty (2–3) Hallahan — — 20–12 34 May 28 @ Cardinals 5–2 Brame (3–0) Mitchell — — 21–12 35 May 29 Cubs 7–2 Swetonic (3–3) Malone Hill (1) 5,500 22–12 36 May 30 Cubs 1–5 Nehf Kremer (3–3) Bush 25,000 22–13 37 May 30 Cubs 4–0 Grimes (8–0) Root — 30,000 23–13 38 May 31 Phillies 7–10 Willoughby Dawson (0–1) McGraw 3,500 23–14
June: 17–11 (Home: 10–7; Away: 7–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 39 June 1 Phillies 4–9 Benge Petty (2–4) — — 23–15 40 June 3 Phillies 14–2 Grimes (9–0) Sweetland — — 24–15 41 June 4 Phillies 9–5 Swetonic (4–3) Collins — — 25–15 42 June 6 Braves 4–2 Kremer (4–3) Seibold — — 26–15 43 June 7 Braves 6–2 Brame (4–0) Brandt — — 27–15 44 June 8 Robins 9–2 Grimes (10–0) Clark — — 28–15 45 June 9 @ Robins 6–9 Dudley Petty (2–5) — 20,000 28–16 46 June 10 Robins 6–7 Moore Swetonic (4–4) Morrison 3,500 28–17 47 June 11 Robins 3–2 Brame (5–0) Dudley — — 29–17 48 June 12 Giants 7–6 Meine (1–0) Scott — 15,000 30–17 49 June 13 Giants 11–7 Hill (1–2) Genewich Swetonic (1) — 31–17 50 June 14 Giants 2–7 Benton Petty (2–6) — 10,000 31–18 51 June 15 Giants 15–20 (14) Mays Swetonic (4–5) — 22,000 31–19 52 June 16 @ Reds 8–3 Meine (2–0) Luque — — 32–19 53 June 16 @ Reds 1–8 Donohue Grimes (10–1) — — 32–20 54 June 17 @ Reds 2–1 Kremer (5–3) May — — 33–20 55 June 18 @ Reds 1–2 Lucas Brame (5–1) — — 33–21 56 June 19 @ Reds 6–5 Hill (2–2) Rixey — — 34–21 57 June 21 @ Cubs 14–3 Grimes (11–1) Cvengros — 35,000 35–21 58 June 22 @ Cubs 7–4 Kremer (6–3) Blake — 25,000 36–21 59 June 23 @ Cubs 8–7 Swetonic (5–5) Nehf — — 37–21 60 June 24 @ Cubs 3–4 Root Brame (5–2) — 7,000 37–22 61 June 26 Reds 4–6 Luque Kremer (6–4) — — 37–23 62 June 27 Reds 5–3 Meine (3–0) May — — 38–23 63 June 28 Reds 3–10 Lucas Brame (5–3) — — 38–24 64 June 29 Reds 3–0 Grimes (12–1) Donohue — — 39–24 65 June 29 Reds 2–3 Kolp Swetonic (5–6) — — 39–25 66 June 30 @ Reds 7–6 Kremer (7–4) Luque Meine (1) — 40–25
July: 18–11 (Home: 7–7; Away: 11–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 67 July 2 Cardinals 5–3 Brame (6–3) Mitchell — — 41–25 68 July 3 Cardinals 13–2 Grimes (13–1) Sherdel — — 42–25 69 July 4 Cardinals 8–4 Meine (4–0) Johnson — 20,000 43–25 70 July 4 Cardinals 8–2 Kremer (8–4) Haid — 43,000 44–25 71 July 6 Reds 3–5 Kolp Swetonic (5–7) May — 44–26 72 July 7 @ Robins 17–6 Brame (7–3) Dudley Fussell (1) 19,000 45–26 73 July 8 @ Robins 8–4 Grimes (14–1) Morrison — — 46–26 74 July 9 @ Robins 3–1 Kremer (9–4) Dudley — — 47–26 75 July 10 @ Phillies 15–9 Fussell (2–0) Benge Hill (2) — 48–26 76 July 11 @ Phillies 6–2 Brame (8–3) Roy — — 49–26 77 July 12 @ Phillies 6–4 Grimes (15–1) Sweetland — — 50–26 78 July 13 @ Phillies 10–2 Kremer (10–4) Dailey — — 51–26 79 July 15 @ Braves 5–4 (11) Meine (5–0) Brandt — — 52–26 80 July 16 @ Braves 1–4 Smith Brame (8–4) — — 52–27 81 July 17 @ Braves 4–7 Seibold Grimes (15–2) — — 52–28 82 July 17 @ Braves 13–5 Kremer (11–4) Leverett — — 53–28 83 July 18 @ Giants 1–4 Hubbell Brame (8–5) — — 53–29 84 July 20 @ Giants 5–2 Grimes (16–2) Walker Swetonic (2) — 54–29 85 July 20 @ Giants 4–8 Mays Meine (5–1) — — 54–30 86 July 21 @ Giants 5–3 Kremer (12–4) Benton — — 55–30 87 July 22 Robins 13–3 Brame (9–5) Moore — 10,000 56–30 88 July 23 Robins 7–10 Morrison Fussell (2–1) — — 56–31 89 July 24 Robins 4–6 Clark Meine (5–2) — — 56–32 90 July 26 Braves 9–8 Petty (3–6) Smith — — 57–32 91 July 27 Braves 3–10 Seibold French (3–3) — — 57–33 92 July 27 Braves 5–2 Brame (10–5) Smith — — 58–33 93 July 29 Braves 9–10 Jones Meine (5–3) Cantwell 2,500 58–34 94 July 30 Phillies 5–13 Willoughby Kremer (12–5) — — 58–35 95 July 31 Phillies 2–6 Koupal Brame (10–6) — 3,000 58–36
August: 13–16 (Home: 8–4; Away: 5–12) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 96 August 1 Phillies 3–1 Petty (4–6) Elliott — 3,000 59–36 97 August 2 Phillies 0–2 Sweetland French (3–4) — — 59–37 98 August 5 Giants 10–11 Hubbell Brame (10–7) Benton — 59–38 99 August 6 Giants 3–5 Walker Petty (4–7) — — 59–39 100 August 7 Giants 4–3 Kremer (13–5) Henry — — 60–39 101 August 8 Cardinals 5–1 Brame (11–7) Alexander — — 61–39 102 August 9 Cardinals 7–6 Swetonic (6–7) Johnson — 5,000 62–39 103 August 10 @ Robins 6–4 Petty (5–7) Clark Hill (3) — 63–39 104 August 10 @ Robins 3–6 Vance Meine (5–4) — 20,000 63–40 105 August 11 @ Robins 3–5 Moss Kremer (13–6) Morrison 9,000 63–41 106 August 12 @ Robins 2–4 (10) Morrison Hill (2–3) — — 63–42 107 August 14 @ Braves 1–0 Petty (6–7) Jones — — 64–42 108 August 15 @ Braves 1–2 Brandt Kremer (13–7) — — 64–43 109 August 16 @ Braves 9–3 Brame (12–7) Seibold — — 65–43 110 August 17 @ Braves 3–2 French (4–4) Smith Swetonic (3) — 66–43 111 August 19 @ Phillies 6–7 Smythe Swetonic (6–8) — — 66–44 112 August 19 @ Phillies 5–8 McGraw Kremer (13–8) Smythe — 66–45 113 August 20 @ Phillies 6–8 Koupal Brame (12–8) Willoughby — 66–46 114 August 21 @ Phillies 8–10 Collins Swetonic (6–9) Smythe — 66–47 115 August 22 @ Giants 6–2 Petty (7–7) Henry — — 67–47 116 August 24 @ Giants 8–14 Fitzsimmons Fussell (2–2) — — 67–48 117 August 24 @ Giants 6–7 Hubbell Grimes (16–3) — — 67–49 118 August 25 @ Giants 5–10 Benton Petty (7–8) — 20,000 67–50 119 August 27 @ Phillies 4–7 Smythe Brame (12–9) — — 67–51 120 August 28 Cubs 10–3 Grimes (17–3) Malone — — 68–51 121 August 28 Cubs 7–6 Kremer (14–8) Cvengros Swetonic (4) 20,000 69–51 122 August 29 Cubs 5–4 Petty (8–8) Carlson — — 70–51 123 August 30 Cubs 15–0 Meine (6–4) Bush — — 71–51 124 August 31 Cubs 6–7 Malone Grimes (17–4) Bush — 71–52
September: 15–12 (Home: 11–7; Away: 4–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 125 September 1 @ Reds 9–7 (12) Kremer (15–8) Lucas — — 72–52 126 September 2 Reds 5–7 May Petty (8–9) — 8,500 72–53 127 September 2 Reds 9–8 (13) Swetonic (7–9) Kolp — 12,000 73–53 128 September 4 @ Reds 4–5 Kolp Meine (6–5) — 1,148 73–54 129 September 5 @ Reds 10–5 Brame (13–9) Lucas — — 74–54 130 September 6 Robins 5–6 Clark Grimes (17–5) Morrison — 74–55 131 September 6 Robins 8–1 Petty (9–9) Moss — 4,000 75–55 132 September 7 Robins 6–2 Kremer (16–8) Dudley — — 76–55 133 September 8 @ Robins 1–2 Vance French (4–5) — 10,000 76–56 134 September 9 Robins 9–7 Brame (14–9) Moore — — 77–56 135 September 10 Robins 7–6 French (5–5) Morrison — — 78–56 136 September 11 Giants 1–2 Walker Grimes (17–6) — — 78–57 137 September 11 Giants 5–10 Mays Swetonic (7–10) — — 78–58 138 September 12 Giants 5–8 Fitzsimmons Kremer (16–9) — — 78–59 139 September 16 Phillies 3–2 (10) Petty (10–9) Sweetland — — 79–59 140 September 16 Phillies 5–2 Brame (15–9) Smythe — — 80–59 141 September 17 Phillies 11–7 French (6–5) Smythe Swetonic (5) — 81–59 142 September 18 Braves 4–5 Brandt Kremer (16–10) — — 81–60 143 September 18 Braves 5–2 Meine (7–5) Jones — — 82–60 144 September 19 Braves 3–6 Seibold Grimes (17–7) Cooney — 82–61 145 September 20 Braves 10–3 Petty (11–9) Peery — — 83–61 146 September 21 Braves 4–0 Brame (16–9) Smith — — 84–61 147 September 26 @ Cardinals 1–2 Haid Petty (11–10) — — 84–62 148 September 27 @ Cardinals 2–4 Frankhouse Brame (16–10) Johnson — 84–63 149 September 28 @ Cardinals 8–5 Swetonic (8–10) Sherdel — — 85–63 150 September 29 @ Cardinals 5–1 Kremer (17–10) Grabowski — — 86–63 151 September 29 @ Cardinals 2–10 Hallahan Meine (7–6) — — 86–64
October: 2–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 1–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 152 October 5 Cardinals 1–3 Hallahan Brame (16–11) — — 86–65 153 October 5 Cardinals 8–7 Kremer (18–10) Johnson — — 87–65 154 October 6 @ Cubs 8–3 French (7–5) Grampp — 30,000 88–65
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Tie Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1929 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Erv Brame Leon Chagnon Joe Dawson Ralph Erickson Larry French Fred Fussell Burleigh Grimes Carmen Hill Ray Kremer Lee Meadows Heinie Meine Jesse Petty Steve Swetonic		Catchers Charlie Hargreaves Rollie Hemsley Bob Linton John O'Connell Infielders Sparky Adams Dick Bartell Stu Clarke George Grantham Cobe Jones Harry Riconda Ben Sankey Earl Sheely Jim Stroner Pie Traynor Bill Windle		Outfielders Fred Brickell Adam Comorosky Ira Flagstead Jim Mosolf Lloyd Waner Paul Waner Other batters Mel Ingram		Manager Jewel Ens

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	Charlie Hargreaves	102	328	88	.268	1	44
1B	Earl Sheely	139	485	142	.293	6	88
2B	George Grantham	110	349	107	.307	12	90
SS	Dick Bartell	143	610	184	.302	2	57
3B	Pie Traynor	130	540	192	.356	4	108
OF	Lloyd Waner	151	662	234	.353	5	74
OF	Paul Waner	151	596	200	.336	15	100
OF	Adam Comorosky	127	473	152	.321	6	97

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
Rollie Hemsley	88	235	68	.289	0	37
Sparky Adams	74	196	51	.260	0	11
Stu Clarke	57	178	47	.264	2	21
Fred Brickell	60	118	37	.314	0	17
Cobe Jones	25	63	16	.254	0	4
Ira Flagstead	26	50	14	.280	0	6
Bob Linton	17	18	2	.111	0	1
Harry Riconda	8	15	7	.467	0	2
Jim Mosolf	8	13	6	.462	0	2
Jim Stroner	6	8	3	.375	0	0
Ben Sankey	2	7	1	.143	0	0
John O'Connell	2	7	1	.143	0	0
Bill Windle	2	1	0	.000	0	0
Mel Ingram	3	0	0	---	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
Burleigh Grimes	33	232.2	17	7	3.13	62
Erv Brame	37	229.2	16	11	4.55	68
Ray Kremer	34	221.2	18	10	4.26	66
Leon Chagnon	1	7	0	0	9.00	4

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
Jesse Petty	36	184.1	11	10	3.71	58
Steve Swetonic	41	143.2	8	10	4.82	35
Larry French	30	123	7	5	4.90	49
Heinie Meine	22	108	7	6	4.50	19
Carmen Hill	27	79	2	3	3.99	28
Fred Fussell	21	39.2	2	2	8.62	18

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
Joe Dawson	4	0	1	0	8.31	2
Ralph Erickson	1	0	0	0	27.00	0
Lee Meadows	1	0	0	0	13.50	0

References

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

• 1929 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1929 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac