1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1935 Pittsburgh Pirates
1935 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Bill Benswanger
Managers	Pie Traynor
Radio	KQV; Pat Patterson; WWSW; Walt Sickles

The 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates season was a season in American baseball which involved the Pirates finishing fourth in the National League.

The roster featured five future Hall of Famers: player-manager Pie Traynor, pitcher Waite Hoyt, shortstop Arky Vaughan, center fielder Lloyd Waner, and right fielder Paul Waner.

Offseason

December 12, 1934: Leon Chagnon was traded by the Pirates to the New York Giants for Jack Salveson.^[2]

Regular season

Vaughan hit .385 on his way to being named the NL's Most Valuable Player by The Sporting News. It is considered the best offensive season ever by a shortstop other than Honus Wagner.^[3]

On May 25, 1935, Babe Ruth of the Boston Braves hit the final three home runs of his career in one game against the Pirates at Forbes Field.^[4]

Season standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	100	54	.649	—	56‍–‍21	44‍–‍33
St. Louis Cardinals	96	58	.623	4	53‍–‍24	43‍–‍34
New York Giants	91	62	.595	8½	50‍–‍27	41‍–‍35
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	67	.562	13½	46‍–‍31	40‍–‍36
Brooklyn Dodgers	70	83	.458	29½	38‍–‍38	32‍–‍45
Cincinnati Reds	68	85	.444	31½	41‍–‍35	27‍–‍50
Philadelphia Phillies	64	89	.418	35½	35‍–‍43	29‍–‍46
Boston Braves	38	115	.248	61½	25‍–‍50	13‍–‍65

Record vs. opponents

1935 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	6–16	3–19	10–12	5–16	8–14	2–20	4–18
Brooklyn	16–6	—	5–17	11–11	9–13	12–9–1	11–11	6–16
Chicago	19–3	17–5	—	14–8	14–8	13–9	15–7	8–14
Cincinnati	12–10	11–11	8–14	—	8–14–1	13–9	8–13	8–14
New York	16–5	13–9	8–14	14–8–1	—	12–10–2	14–8	14–8
Philadelphia	14–8	9–12–1	9–13	9–13	10–12–2	—	6–16	7–15
Pittsburgh	20–2	11–11	7–15	13–8	8–14	16–6	—	11–11
St. Louis	18–4	16–6	14–8	14–8	8–14	15–7	11–11	—

Game log

1935 Game Log: 86–67 (Home: 46–31; Away: 40–36)

April: 6–8 (Home: 1–4; Away: 5–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 16	@ Reds	12–6	Hoyt (1–0)	Freitas	—	27,400	1–0
2	April 17	Reds	4–7	Derringer	Bush (0–1)	—	—	1–1
3	April 18	Reds	4–9	Frey	Weaver (0–1)	—	1,560	1–2
4	April 19	Cardinals	3–0	Blanton (1–0)	Hallahan	—	—	2–2
5	April 20	Cardinals	1–4	Walker	Hoyt (1–1)	—	—	2–3
6	April 21	Cardinals	1–6	Dean	Bush (0–2)	—	28,000	2–4
7	April 23	@ Reds	4–3	Weaver (1–1)	Freitas	Swift (1)	8,836	3–4
8	April 24	@ Reds	5–2	Blanton (2–0)	Hollingsworth	—	4,036	4–4
9	April 25	@ Reds	0–6	Frey	Hoyt (1–2)	—	2,590	4–5
10	April 26	@ Cardinals	2–3 (11)	Heusser	Swift (0–1)	—	—	4–6
11	April 27	@ Cardinals	8–5	Weaver (2–1)	Hallahan	—	10,000	5–6
12	April 28	@ Cardinals	3–2	Blanton (3–0)	Dean	—	12,000	6–6
13	April 29	@ Cubs	11–12	Kowalik	Salveson (0–1)	Bryant	—	6–7
14	April 30	@ Cubs	0–3	Henshaw	Birkofer (0–1)	—	—	6–8

May: 17–11 (Home: 9–6; Away: 8–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
15	May 3	@ Dodgers	1–2	Mungo	Weaver (2–2)	—	—	6–9
16	May 4	@ Dodgers	1–0	Blanton (4–0)	Zachary	—	—	7–9
17	May 5	@ Dodgers	9–2	Bush (1–2)	Clark	—	13,000	8–9
18	May 6	@ Braves	8–6	Hoyt (2–2)	Benton	Blanton (1)	—	9–9
19	May 8	@ Braves	3–12	Frankhouse	Weaver (2–3)	—	—	9–10
20	May 9	@ Giants	1–3	Hubbell	Blanton (4–1)	—	6,000	9–11
21	May 11	@ Giants	4–1	Bush (2–2)	Schumacher	—	—	10–11
22	May 11	@ Giants	0–3	Fitzsimmons	Hoyt (2–3)	—	40,000	10–12
23	May 12	@ Giants	1–3	Parmelee	Weaver (2–4)	—	20,000	10–13
24	May 13	@ Phillies	10–1	Blanton (5–1)	Bivin	—	—	11–13
25	May 14	@ Phillies	8–1	Birkofer (1–1)	Walters	—	1,500	12–13
26	May 15	@ Phillies	20–5	Swift (1–1)	Jorgens	—	—	13–13
27	May 16	Dodgers	0–2 (13)	Zachary	Hoyt (2–4)	—	6,000	13–14
28	May 17	Dodgers	1–7	Benge	Weaver (2–5)	—	—	13–15
29	May 18	Dodgers	8–2	Blanton (6–1)	Mungo	—	8,000	14–15
30	May 19	Dodgers	9–6	Swift (2–1)	Eisenstat	Hoyt (1)	10,000	15–15
31	May 20	Giants	11–4	Lucas (1–0)	Hubbell	—	—	16–15
32	May 21	Giants	4–9	Castleman	Hoyt (2–5)	Smith	—	16–16
33	May 22	Giants	2–5	Parmelee	Blanton (6–2)	—	6,000	16–17
34	May 23	Braves	7–1	Swift (3–1)	Cantwell	—	10,000	17–17
35	May 24	Braves	7–6	Weaver (3–5)	Brandt	—	—	18–17
36	May 25	Braves	11–7	Hoyt (3–5)	Cantwell	—	—	19–17
37	May 26	Phillies	3–1	Blanton (7–2)	Prim	—	10,000	20–17
38	May 27	Phillies	2–4	Pezzullo	Swift (3–2)	Moore	—	20–18
39	May 28	Phillies	3–1	Weaver (4–5)	Pezzullo	—	—	21–18
40	May 30	Cubs	4–6	Henshaw	Blanton (7–3)	—	40,430	21–19
41	May 30	Cubs	4–1	Lucas (2–0)	French	—	40,430	22–19
42	May 31	@ Reds	4–1	Swift (4–2)	Hollingsworth	—	19,429	23–19

June: 16–11 (Home: 5–1; Away: 11–10)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
43	June 2	@ Reds	8–0	Weaver (5–5)	Derringer	—	2,973	24–19
44	June 4	Cardinals	9–5	Blanton (8–3)	Dean	—	4,000	25–19
45	June 6	Cardinals	2–1	Bush (3–2)	Haines	—	—	26–19
46	June 7	Reds	4–13 (7)	Derringer	Weaver (5–6)	—	1,110	26–20
47	June 8	Reds	14–8	Hoyt (4–5)	Brennan	Bush (1)	5,800	27–20
48	June 9	Reds	7–4	Blanton (9–3)	Johnson	—	5,046	28–20
49	June 10	Reds	14–1	Swift (5–2)	Hollingsworth	—	1,186	29–20
50	June 11	@ Dodgers	4–0	Bush (4–2)	Zachary	—	3,000	30–20
51	June 12	@ Dodgers	7–3	Birkofer (2–1)	Leonard	—	—	31–20
52	June 13	@ Dodgers	0–3	Mungo	Blanton (9–4)	—	—	31–21
53	June 14	@ Dodgers	1–0	Swift (6–2)	Clark	—	—	32–21
54	June 15	@ Phillies	5–6	Johnson	Blanton (9–5)	—	—	32–22
55	June 16	@ Phillies	4–12	Pezzullo	Birkofer (2–2)	—	—	32–23
56	June 17	@ Phillies	12–5	Swift (7–2)	Walters	—	—	33–23
57	June 20	@ Giants	2–6	Smith	Bush (4–3)	—	—	33–24
58	June 21	@ Giants	4–11	Castleman	Lucas (2–1)	—	—	33–25
59	June 22	@ Giants	5–4 (11)	Hoyt (5–5)	Smith	—	—	34–25
60	June 22	@ Giants	3–7	Schumacher	Weaver (5–7)	—	10,000	34–26
61	June 23	@ Braves	4–3	Weaver (6–7)	MacFayden	—	—	35–26
62	June 23	@ Braves	7–4	Bush (5–3)	Smith	—	—	36–26
63	June 25	@ Braves	2–7	MacFayden	Birkofer (2–3)	—	—	36–27
64	June 26	@ Braves	4–2	Bush (6–3)	Cantwell	—	—	37–27
65	June 26	@ Braves	5–1	Swift (8–2)	Betts	—	—	38–27
66	June 28	@ Cubs	0–8	Henshaw	Weaver (6–8)	—	—	38–28
67	June 29	@ Cubs	0–1 (12)	French	Hoyt (5–6)	—	—	38–29
68	June 29	@ Cubs	1–2	Warneke	Lucas (2–2)	—	17,400	38–30
69	June 30	@ Cubs	9–7	Blanton (10–5)	Root	—	10,400	39–30

July: 15–14 (Home: 14–12; Away: 1–2)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
70	July 2	@ Cardinals	0–7	Hallahan	Bush (6–4)	—	—	39–31
71	July 4	@ Reds	9–5	Hoyt (6–6)	Frey	—	—	40–31
72	July 4	@ Reds	4–5	Brennan	Blanton (10–6)	Freitas	13,000	40–32
73	July 5	Cubs	4–0	Lucas (3–2)	Henshaw	—	10,000	41–32
74	July 6	Cubs	8–10 (13)	Warneke	Swift (8–3)	—	—	41–33
75	July 7	Cubs	1–13	Lee	Blanton (10–7)	—	—	41–34
76	July 10	Giants	3–10	Schumacher	Hoyt (6–7)	—	—	41–35
77	July 11	Giants	2–4	Parmelee	Lucas (3–3)	—	—	41–36
78	July 13	Giants	6–7	Hubbell	Hoyt (6–8)	—	—	41–37
79	July 14	Giants	4–2	Blanton (11–7)	Smith	—	12,000	42–37
80	July 16	Dodgers	3–9	Zachary	Swift (8–4)	—	2,000	42–38
81	July 17	Dodgers	4–5	Clark	Bush (6–5)	Leonard	—	42–39
82	July 17	Dodgers	0–5	Earnshaw	Hoyt (6–9)	—	—	42–40
83	July 18	Dodgers	3–5	Benge	Blanton (11–8)	Leonard	—	42–41
84	July 19	Braves	6–5	Bush (7–5)	Cantwell	—	—	43–41
85	July 20	Braves	14–2	Brown (1–0)	Frankhouse	—	—	44–41
86	July 20	Braves	6–3	Weaver (7–8)	MacFayden	—	—	45–41
87	July 21	Braves	7–0	Swift (9–4)	Brandt	—	—	46–41
88	July 22	Phillies	5–4	Bush (8–5)	Pezzullo	—	—	47–41
89	July 24	Phillies	8–6	Birkofer (3–3)	Prim	Bush (2)	—	48–41
90	July 24	Phillies	4–3	Brown (2–0)	Johnson	Hoyt (2)	—	49–41
91	July 25	Phillies	9–8	Bush (9–5)	Davis	—	—	50–41
92	July 27	Cardinals	10–4	Blanton (12–8)	Collins	—	—	51–41
93	July 28	Cardinals	3–4	Dean	Bush (9–6)	—	36,000	51–42
94	July 28	Cardinals	5–4	Swift (10–4)	Walker	—	36,000	52–42
95	July 29	Cardinals	3–2	Lucas (4–3)	Hallahan	—	—	53–42
96	July 30	Cubs	6–9	Lee	Brown (2–1)	—	—	53–43
97	July 31	Cubs	2–4	Henshaw	Blanton (12–9)	French	—	53–44
98	July 31	Cubs	6–5 (11)	Birkofer (4–3)	Root	—	—	54–44

August: 20–11 (Home: 7–2; Away: 13–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
99	August 1	Cubs	6–5	Swift (11–4)	Warneke	Hoyt (3)	—	55–44
100	August 3	@ Cardinals	0–6	Walker	Lucas (4–4)	—	—	55–45
101	August 4	@ Cardinals	3–4 (10)	Dean	Hoyt (6–10)	—	17,000	55–46
102	August 4	@ Cardinals	5–6	Walker	Swift (11–5)	—	17,000	55–47
103	August 6	@ Cubs	1–2	Henshaw	Birkofer (4–4)	—	16,000	55–48
104	August 7	@ Cubs	6–0	Blanton (13–9)	French	—	—	56–48
105	August 8	@ Cubs	5–9	Carleton	Bush (9–7)	—	—	56–49
106	August 9	Reds	1–0	Swift (12–5)	Hollingsworth	—	—	57–49
107	August 10	Reds	0–2	Derringer	Birkofer (4–5)	—	—	57–50
108	August 11	Reds	5–4	Blanton (14–9)	Freitas	—	—	58–50
109	August 11	Reds	3–4	Schott	Bush (9–8)	Derringer	—	58–51
110	August 12	Reds	7–4	Lucas (5–4)	Hollingsworth	Birkofer (1)	—	59–51
111	August 14	@ Phillies	8–1	Swift (13–5)	Davis	—	—	60–51
112	August 14	@ Phillies	7–4	Weaver (8–8)	Pezzullo	—	—	61–51
113	August 15	@ Phillies	1–9	Bowman	Bush (9–9)	—	—	61–52
114	August 17	@ Phillies	2–0	Lucas (6–4)	Jorgens	—	—	62–52
115	August 17	@ Phillies	5–1	Birkofer (5–5)	Walters	—	—	63–52
116	August 18	@ Dodgers	0–3	Clark	Swift (13–6)	—	—	63–53
117	August 18	@ Dodgers	3–9	Benge	Bush (9–10)	Reis	—	63–54
118	August 20	@ Dodgers	2–0	Weaver (9–8)	Zachary	—	—	64–54
119	August 21	@ Dodgers	0–5	Earnshaw	Birkofer (5–6)	—	—	64–55
120	August 23	@ Braves	7–5	Swift (14–6)	Cantwell	Hoyt (4)	—	65–55
121	August 24	@ Braves	3–2	Blanton (15–9)	Frankhouse	—	2,000	66–55
122	August 25	@ Braves	9–2	Weaver (10–8)	Smith	—	—	67–55
123	August 25	@ Braves	6–5 (11)	Lucas (7–4)	Betts	—	—	68–55
124	August 26	@ Giants	10–2	Birkofer (6–6)	Smith	—	—	69–55
125	August 28	@ Giants	6–1	Blanton (16–9)	Hubbell	—	—	70–55
126	August 28	@ Giants	9–5	Swift (15–6)	Parmelee	—	15,000	71–55
127	August 29	Cardinals	5–1	Weaver (11–8)	Dean	—	7,000	72–55
128	August 30	Cardinals	9–3	Lucas (8–4)	Hallahan	—	—	73–55
129	August 31	Cubs	5–0	Birkofer (7–6)	French	—	—	74–55

September: 12–12 (Home: 10–6; Away: 2–6)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
130	September 1	Cubs	2–8	Henshaw	Blanton (16–10)	—	—	74–56
131	September 2	@ Cardinals	3–4 (16)	Dean	Hoyt (6–11)	—	31,000	74–57
132	September 2	@ Cardinals	1–4 (5)	Dean	Swift (15–7)	—	31,000	74–58
133	September 5	Dodgers	5–4	Birkofer (8–6)	Leonard	Hoyt (5)	1,000	75–58
134	September 6	Dodgers	13–0	Blanton (17–10)	Zachary	—	—	76–58
135	September 7	Dodgers	5–4	Bush (10–10)	Benge	—	—	77–58
136	September 8	Giants	1–3	Hubbell	Lucas (8–5)	—	18,000	77–59
137	September 10	Giants	3–4	Castleman	Blanton (17–11)	Stout	—	77–60
138	September 10	Giants	2–4	Smith	Birkofer (8–7)	—	4,000	77–61
139	September 11	Giants	10–7	Bush (11–10)	Parmelee	—	—	78–61
140	September 12	Phillies	11–0	Weaver (12–8)	Pezzullo	—	—	79–61
141	September 13	Phillies	1–5	Davis	Swift (15–8)	—	—	79–62
142	September 14	Phillies	5–7	Prim	Blanton (17–12)	—	—	79–63
143	September 15	Phillies	5–3	Birkofer (9–7)	Jorgens	—	—	80–63
144	September 16	Braves	5–3	Brown (3–1)	Brown	—	—	81–63
145	September 17	Braves	6–4	Weaver (13–8)	Brandt	Hoyt (6)	—	82–63
146	September 18	Braves	5–2	Blanton (18–12)	Frankhouse	—	—	83–63
147	September 19	Braves	7–6	Hoyt (7–11)	Cantwell	—	—	84–63
148	September 21	@ Cubs	3–4	Henshaw	Bush (11–11)	Warneke	39,000	84–64
149	September 22	@ Cubs	0–2	French	Blanton (18–13)	—	40,558	84–65
150	September 23	@ Cardinals	12–0	Weaver (14–8)	Heusser	—	7,500	85–65
151	September 24	@ Cardinals	2–11	Hallahan	Lucas (8–6)	—	—	85–66
152	September 29	@ Reds	5–1	Brown (4–1)	Hollingsworth	—	—	86–66
153	September 29	@ Reds	6–9	Derringer	Passeau (0–1)	—	8,021	86–67

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1935 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

15 Steve Swetonic

Manager

20 Pie Traynor

Coaches

33 Jewel Ens
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	Tom Padden	97	302	82	.272	1	30
1B	Gus Suhr	153	529	144	.272	10	81
2B	Pep Young	128	494	131	.265	7	82
3B	Tommy Thevenow	110	408	97	.238	0	47
SS	Arky Vaughan	137	499	192	.385	19	99
LF	Woody Jensen	143	627	203	.324	8	62
CF	Lloyd Waner	122	537	166	.309	0	46
RF	Paul Waner	139	549	176	.321	11	78

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
Cookie Lavagetto	78	231	67	.290	0	19
Earl Grace	77	224	59	.263	3	29
Pie Traynor	57	204	57	.279	1	36
Bud Hafey	58	184	42	.228	6	16
Babe Herman	26	81	19	.235	0	7
Earl Browne	9	32	8	.250	0	6
Bill Brubaker	6	11	0	.000	0	0
Aubrey Epps	1	4	3	.750	0	3
Steve Swetonic	1	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
Cy Blanton	35	254.1	18	13	2.58	142
Jim Weaver	33	176.1	14	8	3.42	87
Red Lucas	20	125.2	8	6	3.44	29
Claude Passeau	1	3.0	0	1	12.00	1

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
Guy Bush	41	204.1	11	11	4.32	42
Bill Swift	39	203.2	15	8	.270	74
Waite Hoyt	39	164.0	7	11	3.40	63
Ralph Birkofer	37	150.1	9	7	4.07	80
Mace Brown	18	72.2	4	1	3.59	28

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	L	ERA	SO
Jack Salveson	5	1	9.00	2
Wayne Osborne	2	0	6.75	1
Hal Smith	1	0	3.00	0

Awards and honors

Arky Vaughan, The Sporting News NL MVP

1935 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Arky Vaughan, SS, starter
Paul Waner, reserve

League top five finishers

Cy Blanton

MLB leader in ERA (2.58)

Bill Swift

#2 in NL in ERA (2.70)

Arky Vaughan

MLB leader in batting average (.385)
MLB leader in on-base percentage (.491)
NL leader in slugging percentage (.607)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Kansas City Blues	American Association	Dutch Zwilling
A	Birmingham Barons	Southern Association	Clyde Milan and Bill Pierre
C	Portsmouth Pirates	Middle Atlantic League	Jake Pitler

References

^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
^ Leon Chagnon page at Baseball Reference
^ James, Bill. The New Historical Baseball Abstract
^ Shrum, Rick (May 10, 2006). "Parting shots: Two local men recall being witness to Babe Ruth's final three home runs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

External links

1935 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1935 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.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.

[2] Leon Chagnon page at Baseball Reference

[3] James, Bill. The New Historical Baseball Abstract

[4] Shrum, Rick (May 10, 2006). "Parting shots: Two local men recall being witness to Babe Ruth's final three home runs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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