1933 Pittsburgh Pirates season

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.

This article is about the baseball team. For the NFL team, see 1933 Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL) season.

1933 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Forbes Field (since 1909) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907)
Other information
Owner(s)	Bill Benswanger
Manager(s)	George Gibson
Local television	none
Local radio	none
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Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Giants	91	61	0.599	—	48–27	43–34
Pittsburgh Pirates	87	67	0.565	5	50–27	37–40
Chicago Cubs	86	68	0.558	6	56–23	30–45
Boston Braves	83	71	0.539	9	45–31	38–40
St. Louis Cardinals	82	71	0.536	9½	47–30	35–41
Brooklyn Dodgers	65	88	0.425	26½	36–41	29–47
Philadelphia Phillies	60	92	0.395	31	32–40	28–52
Cincinnati Reds	58	94	0.382	33	37–42	21–52

Record vs. opponents

1933 National League Records Sources:
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 49 Ralph Birkofer 46 Leon Chagnon 50 Clise Dudley 42 Larry French 44 Bill Harris 48 Waite Hoyt -- Ray Kremer 41 Heinie Meine 47 Hal Smith 43 Steve Swetonic 45 Bill Swift		Catchers 32 Hal Finney 30 Earl Grace 31 Tom Padden 23 Val Picinich Infielders 15 Bill Brubaker 22 Tony Piet 24 Gus Suhr 25 Tommy Thevenow 20 Pie Traynor 21 Arky Vaughan 26 Pep Young		Outfielders 14 Adam Comorosky 16 Woody Jensen 12 Freddie Lindstrom 10 Lloyd Waner 11 Paul Waner Other batters 40 Red Nonnenkamp		Manager 33 George Gibson Coaches 34 Doc Crandall -- Grover Hartley 36 Honus Wagner

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	8	7	2.86	40
Waite Hoyt	36	117	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

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