1927 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1927  Pittsburgh Pirates
National League Champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [1]
Owners	Barney Dreyfuss
Managers	Donie Bush
←  1926 Seasons 1928  →

The 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates season was a season in American baseball. That year, the Pirates won the National League pennant, which was their second in three years and their last until 1960. The team included five future Hall of Famers: Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner, Pie Traynor, Kiki Cuyler, and 20-year-old rookie Joe Cronin (who played just 12 games).

In the World Series, however, Pittsburgh was no match for the New York Yankees. They were swept in four games.

Regular season

Paul Waner had one of his best seasons en route to being voted NL MVP. His .380 batting average and 131 RBI paced the entire circuit. Younger brother Lloyd and Traynor finished third and fifth in the batting race, respectively. Pitcher Ray Kremer won the ERA title with a 2.47 ERA on his way to a 19–8 record.

Season standings

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	94	60	0.610	—	48–31	46–29
St. Louis Cardinals	92	61	0.601	1½	55–25	37–36
New York Giants	92	62	0.597	2	49–25	43–37
Chicago Cubs	85	68	0.556	8½	50–28	35–40
Cincinnati Reds	75	78	0.490	18½	45–35	30–43
Brooklyn Robins	65	88	0.425	28½	34–39	31–49
Boston Braves	60	94	0.390	34	32–41	28–53
Philadelphia Phillies	51	103	0.331	43	34–43	17–60

Record vs. opponents

1927 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	12–10	7–15	4–18	7–15	14–8	9–13–1	7–15
Brooklyn	10–12	—	7–15	11–10	10–12–1	11–11	8–14	8–14
Chicago	15–7	15–7	—	14–8	10–12	13–9	9–13	9–12
Cincinnati	18–4	10–11	8–14	—	7–15	16–6	8–14	8–14
New York	15–7	12–10–1	12–10	15–7	—	15–7	11–11	12–10
Philadelphia	8–14	11–11	9–13	6–16	7–15	—	7–15–1	3–19
Pittsburgh	13–9–1	14–8	13–9	14–8	11–11	15–7–1	—	14–8
St. Louis	15–7	14–8	12–9	14–8	10–12	19–3	8–14	—

Game log

1927 Game Log: 94–60 (Home: 48–31; Away: 46–29)
April: 8–6 (Home: 2–3; Away: 6–3) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 12 @ Reds 2–1 Kremer (1–0) Donohue — 37,758 1–0 2 April 14 @ Reds 6–2 Meadows (1–0) Mays — 4,000 2–0 3 April 15 @ Reds 10–6 Mahaffey (1–0) Rixey Morrison (1) — 3–0 4 April 16 @ Cubs 2–5 Bush Hill (0–1) — 13,000 3–1 5 April 17 @ Cubs 8–3 Kremer (2–0) Root Morrison (2) 45,000 4–1 6 April 18 @ Cubs 9–1 Meadows (2–0) Kaufmann — — 5–1 7 April 21 Reds 3–2 Kremer (3–0) Rixey — 33,439 6–1 8 April 22 Reds 3–1 Meadows (3–0) Luque — 4,000 7–1 9 April 23 Reds 4–6 Donohue Hill (0–2) — 15,000 7–2 10 April 24 @ Cardinals 1–2 Alexander Aldridge (0–1) — — 7–3 11 April 25 @ Cardinals 0–1 Haines Kremer (3–1) — — 7–4 12 April 26 @ Cardinals 9–5 Meadows (4–0) Sherdel — — 8–4 13 April 28 Cubs 4–16 Root Bush (0–1) — — 8–5 14 April 30 Cubs 4–5 Roy Morrison (0–1) — — 8–6
May: 18–6 (Home: 6–3; Away: 12–3) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 15 May 1 @ Cubs 7–6 Kremer (4–1) Root Morrison (3) 37,000 9–6 16 May 3 Cardinals 11–10 Kremer (5–1) Bell — 3,000 10–6 17 May 4 Cardinals 3–8 Haines Cvengros (0–1) — 5,500 10–7 18 May 5 Cardinals 2–4 Alexander Aldridge (0–2) — 5,000 10–8 19 May 7 @ Phillies 5–6 Pruett Kremer (5–2) — 18,000 10–9 20 May 11 @ Braves 4–4 (8) — — 10–9 21 May 12 @ Braves 8–7 Morrison (1–1) Mogridge — — 11–9 22 May 14 @ Robins 6–1 Kremer (6–2) Elliott — — 12–9 23 May 15 @ Robins 9–6 Morrison (2–1) Ehrhardt — 22,000 13–9 24 May 16 @ Robins 5–9 Petty Yde (0–1) — — 13–10 25 May 17 @ Robins 1–2 Vance Hill (0–3) — — 13–11 26 May 18 @ Giants 13–6 Aldridge (1–2) Henry — — 14–11 27 May 20 @ Giants 8–3 (12) Meadows (5–0) Greenfield — 15,000 15–11 28 May 21 @ Giants 6–3 Hill (1–3) McQuillan — 25,000 16–11 29 May 22 @ Giants 9–4 Aldridge (2–2) Grimes — 40,000 17–11 30 May 23 @ Reds 8–5 Morrison (3–1) May — — 18–11 31 May 24 @ Reds 11–1 Meadows (6–0) Donohue — 2,500 19–11 32 May 25 @ Reds 2–0 Hill (2–3) Mays — — 20–11 33 May 26 Cardinals 2–1 Aldridge (3–2) Haines — 5,000 21–11 34 May 27 Cardinals 8–7 (10) Bush (1–1) McGraw — 6,000 22–11 35 May 28 Cardinals 6–4 Meadows (7–0) Ring — 18,000 23–11 36 May 29 @ Cubs 8–5 Hill (3–3) Osborn — 30,000 24–11 37 May 30 Cubs 6–7 (10) Kaufmann Nichols (0–1) — 25,000 24–12 38 May 30 Cubs 6–5 (10) Aldridge (4–2) Blake — 40,000 25–12 39 May 31 Cubs 10–9 Hill (4–3) Osborn — — 26–12
June: 13–12 (Home: 10–8; Away: 3–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 40 June 1 Phillies 4–7 Pruett Meadows (7–1) Carlson — 26–13 41 June 2 Phillies 7–3 Hill (5–3) Ferguson — — 27–13 42 June 3 Phillies 11–1 Aldridge (5–2) Ulrich — — 28–13 43 June 6 Phillies 7–5 Hill (6–3) Scott — — 29–13 44 June 7 Giants 9–6 Meadows (8–1) Grimes — 15,000 30–13 45 June 8 Giants 7–8 Greenfield Aldridge (5–3) Clarkson 15,000 30–14 46 June 9 Giants 1–12 Fitzsimmons Bush (1–2) — — 30–15 47 June 10 Giants 13–4 Hill (7–3) Clarkson — — 31–15 48 June 11 Robins 10–11 Petty Nichols (0–2) Vance — 31–16 49 June 12 @ Robins 10–11 Plitt Nichols (0–3) — 20,000 31–17 50 June 13 Robins 4–3 Kremer (7–2) Barnes Hill (1) — 32–17 51 June 15 Braves 7–4 Hill (8–3) Robertson — — 33–17 52 June 16 Braves 6–0 Meadows (9–1) Greenfield — 5,000 34–17 53 June 17 Braves 7–8 Mogridge Dawson (0–1) Smith — 34–18 54 June 18 Braves 7–4 Kremer (8–2) Smith — — 35–18 55 June 19 @ Cubs 7–14 Root Hill (8–4) — — 35–19 56 June 20 @ Cubs 4–0 Meadows (10–1) Carlson — 25,000 36–19 57 June 21 Reds 6–7 (10) Mays Morrison (3–2) — — 36–20 58 June 22 Reds 11–9 Hill (9–4) Lucas Aldridge (1) — 37–20 59 June 24 Cubs 2–4 Root Meadows (10–2) — — 37–21 60 June 25 Cubs 4–6 Carlson Aldridge (5–4) — 30,000 37–22 61 June 26 @ Cardinals 9–3 Hill (10–4) Haines — — 38–22 62 June 27 @ Cardinals 5–7 Rhem Dawson (0–2) — 3,500 38–23 63 June 28 @ Cardinals 9–8 Cvengros (1–1) Keen Hill (2) 9,000 39–23 64 June 29 @ Cardinals 9–10 Haines Kremer (8–3) Reinhart 5,000 39–24
July: 18–14 (Home: 9–4; Away: 9–10) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 65 July 1 Reds 5–1 Hill (11–4) Luque — — 40–24 66 July 2 Reds 7–6 Cvengros (2–1) Nehf — 8,000 41–24 67 July 3 @ Reds 4–5 Lucas Dawson (0–3) — — 41–25 68 July 4 Cardinals 7–2 Meadows (11–2) Alexander — — 42–25 69 July 4 Cardinals 6–4 Hill (12–4) Ring — — 43–25 70 July 5 Cardinals 14–2 Aldridge (6–4) Reinhart — — 44–25 71 July 7 Cubs 1–2 (8) Carlson Dawson (0–4) — — 44–26 72 July 8 Cubs 0–1 Root Meadows (11–3) — — 44–27 73 July 9 Cubs 4–0 Aldridge (7–4) Brillheart — 23,000 45–27 74 July 12 @ Robins 2–1 Hill (13–4) Vance — — 46–27 75 July 13 @ Robins 1–2 (11) Clark Meadows (11–4) — 6,000 46–28 76 July 14 @ Robins 6–5 Aldridge (8–4) Barnes — — 47–28 77 July 15 @ Robins 5–2 Dawson (1–4) Elliott — 5,000 48–28 78 July 16 @ Phillies 10–11 Decatur Yde (0–2) — — 48–29 79 July 16 @ Phillies 9–11 Scott Kremer (8–4) — — 48–30 80 July 18 @ Phillies 9–7 Yde (1–2) Kaufmann — — 49–30 81 July 18 @ Phillies 6–5 Meadows (12–4) Ferguson Hill (3) — 50–30 82 July 20 @ Phillies 3–4 Mitchell Dawson (1–5) — — 50–31 83 July 20 @ Phillies 6–5 Hill (14–4) Sweetland — — 51–31 84 July 21 @ Braves 1–2 Greenfield Kremer (8–5) — — 51–32 85 July 21 @ Braves 2–5 Smith Miljus (0–1) — — 51–33 86 July 22 @ Braves 5–2 Meadows (13–4) Edwards — — 52–33 87 July 23 @ Braves 2–6 Greenfield Yde (1–3) — — 52–34 88 July 23 @ Braves 4–3 (6) Aldridge (9–4) Wertz — — 53–34 89 July 24 @ Giants 11–6 Hill (15–4) Barnes — — 54–34 90 July 24 @ Giants 3–9 Grimes Dawson (1–6) — 50,000 54–35 91 July 25 @ Giants 0–1 Benton Kremer (8–6) — — 54–36 92 July 26 Robins 6–5 Meadows (14–4) Elliott — — 55–36 93 July 27 Robins 2–1 Aldridge (10–4) Vance — — 56–36 94 July 28 Robins 5–7 Doak Hill (15–5) Clark — 56–37 95 July 29 Robins 4–3 Dawson (2–6) Plitt — — 57–37 96 July 30 Braves 2–3 (10) Genewich Meadows (14–5) — — 57–38
August: 14–12 (Home: 4–5; Away: 10–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 97 August 1 Braves 1–4 (11) Genewich Aldridge (10–5) — — 57–39 98 August 2 Braves 2–5 Greenfield Hill (15–6) — — 57–40 99 August 3 Phillies 9–6 Dawson (3–6) Mitchell — 6,500 58–40 100 August 4 Phillies 8–5 Miljus (1–1) Pruett — — 59–40 101 August 4 Phillies 7–3 Kremer (9–6) Ulrich — — 60–40 102 August 5 Phillies 7–9 Ferguson Aldridge (10–6) Ulrich 3,500 60–41 103 August 6 Giants 2–9 Fitzsimmons Hill (15–7) — — 60–42 104 August 9 Giants 7–6 Hill (16–7) Fitzsimmons — — 61–42 105 August 10 Giants 3–8 Benton Dawson (3–7) Henry 10,000 61–43 106 August 11 @ Cardinals 1–2 Alexander Aldridge (10–7) — — 61–44 107 August 12 @ Cardinals 1–2 (11) Haines Hill (16–8) — 23,945 61–45 108 August 13 @ Cardinals 6–2 Meadows (15–5) Rhem — — 62–45 109 August 14 @ Cardinals 5–1 Kremer (10–6) Sherdel — 20,000 63–45 110 August 16 @ Giants 4–8 Henry Aldridge (10–8) — 25,000 63–46 111 August 17 @ Giants 4–1 Hill (17–8) Fitzsimmons — — 64–46 112 August 19 @ Giants 9–3 Meadows (16–5) Benton — — 65–46 113 August 19 @ Giants 2–5 Grimes Kremer (10–7) — 30,000 65–47 114 August 20 @ Robins 10–7 Miljus (2–1) Clark — 7,000 66–47 115 August 21 @ Robins 2–1 Hill (18–8) Doak — 20,000 67–47 116 August 25 @ Braves 1–5 Greenfield Meadows (16–6) — — 67–48 117 August 25 @ Braves 8–1 Kremer (11–7) Smith — — 68–48 118 August 26 @ Braves 4–6 Robertson Miljus (2–2) — — 68–49 119 August 29 @ Phillies 2–2 (6) — — 68–49 120 August 30 @ Phillies 2–3 (10) Pruett Kremer (11–8) — — 68–50 121 August 30 @ Phillies 12–6 Miljus (3–2) Decatur — — 69–50 122 August 31 @ Phillies 3–2 (13) Hill (19–8) Ulrich — — 70–50 123 August 31 @ Phillies 7–2 Miljus (4–2) Scott Cvengros (1) — 71–50
September: 22–9 (Home: 17–8; Away: 5–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 124 September 1 Cubs 4–3 Meadows (17–6) Carlson — 18,000 72–50 125 September 2 Cardinals 5–3 Kremer (12–8) Alexander — — 73–50 126 September 3 Cardinals 14–0 Hill (20–8) Haines — — 74–50 127 September 4 @ Reds 8–4 Aldridge (11–8) Luque — — 75–50 128 September 5 Reds 6–8 Rixey Miljus (4–3) — — 75–51 129 September 5 Reds 3–4 Donohue Meadows (17–7) — — 75–52 130 September 6 Reds 5–0 Kremer (13–8) May — — 76–52 131 September 7 Reds 5–6 Lucas Hill (20–9) — — 76–53 132 September 9 Phillies 3–2 Aldridge (12–8) Pruett — — 77–53 133 September 10 Phillies 4–0 Kremer (14–8) Ulrich — — 78–53 134 September 12 Phillies 3–2 Hill (21–9) Scott — — 79–53 135 September 13 Braves 6–1 Meadows (18–7) Greenfield — — 80–53 136 September 13 Braves 5–4 Aldridge (13–8) Genewich Kremer (1) 30,000 81–53 137 September 14 Braves 6–2 Kremer (15–8) Greenfield — — 82–53 138 September 14 Braves 3–0 Miljus (5–3) Robertson — — 83–53 139 September 15 Braves 2–1 Hill (22–9) Smith — — 84–53 140 September 16 Braves 4–3 Meadows (19–7) Wertz — — 85–53 141 September 17 Robins 2–1 Aldridge (14–8) Petty — — 86–53 142 September 17 Robins 6–0 Kremer (16–8) Elliott — 27,000 87–53 143 September 19 Robins 0–3 Vance Hill (22–10) — — 87–54 144 September 20 Robins 0–3 Doak Meadows (19–8) — — 87–55 145 September 21 Robins 4–2 Miljus (6–3) McWeeny — 6,000 88–55 146 September 22 Giants 5–2 Kremer (17–8) Benton — — 89–55 147 September 22 Giants 1–7 Fitzsimmons Aldridge (14–9) — 40,000 89–56 148 September 23 Giants 5–6 Plitt Hill (22–11) Benton 18,000 89–57 149 September 24 Giants 1–3 Fitzsimmons Meadows (19–9) — 40,000 89–58 150 September 25 @ Cubs 2–1 Aldridge (15–9) Bush — — 90–58 151 September 25 @ Cubs 6–1 Kremer (18–8) Root — — 91–58 152 September 26 @ Cubs 1–0 (6) Miljus (7–3) Nehf — 5,000 92–58 153 September 27 @ Cubs 2–1 Kremer (19–8) Carlson — 3,000 93–58 154 September 30 @ Reds 1–2 Lucas Aldridge (15–10) — 2,011 93–59
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 155 October 1 @ Reds 9–6 Miljus (8–3) Donohue — — 94–59 156 October 2 @ Reds 0–1 Appleton Meadows (19–10) — — 94–60
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Tie Bold = Pirates team member

Detailed records

National League Opponent W L WP RS RA Boston Braves 13 9 0.591 97 80 Brooklyn Robins 14 8 0.636 100 86 Chicago Cubs 13 9 0.591 101 95 Cincinnati Reds 14 8 0.636 119 83 New York Giants 11 11 0.500 123 120 Philadelphia Phillies 15 7 0.682 144 107 Pittsburgh Pirates St. Louis Cardinals 14 8 0.636 133 88 Total 94 60 0.610 817 659 Season Total 94 60 0.610 817 659

Month Games Won Lost Win % RS RA April 14 8 6 0.571 65 56 May 24 18 6 0.750 164 123 June 25 13 12 0.520 176 155 July 32 18 14 0.563 152 129 August 26 14 12 0.538 129 114 September 31 22 9 0.710 122 75 October 2 1 1 0.500 9 7 Total 154 94 60 0.610 817 659 Games Won Lost Win % RS RA Home 79 48 31 0.608 406 345 Away 75 46 29 0.613 405 308 Total 154 94 60 0.610 817 659

Notable transactions

• May 9, 1927: Don Songer was purchased from the Pirates by the New York Giants. ^[2]

Roster

1927 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Vic Aldridge Joe Bush Mike Cvengros Joe Dawson Carmen Hill Ray Kremer Roy Mahaffey Lee Meadows Johnny Miljus Johnny Morrison Chet Nichols Red Peery Don Songer Emil Yde		Catchers Johnny Gooch Earl Smith Roy Spencer Infielders Dick Bartell Joe Cronin George Grantham Heinie Groh Joe Harris Hal Rhyne Ed Sicking Pie Traynor Glenn Wright		Outfielders Clyde Barnhart Fred Brickell Adam Comorosky Kiki Cuyler Herman Layne Lloyd Waner Paul Waner		Manager Donie Bush

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	Johnny Gooch	101	291	75	.258	2	48
1B	Joe Harris	129	411	134	.326	5	73
2B	George Grantham	151	531	162	.305	8	66
SS	Glenn Wright	143	570	160	.281	9	105
3B	Pie Traynor	149	573	196	.342	5	106
OF	Lloyd Waner	150	629	223	.355	2	27
OF	Paul Waner	155	623	237	.380	9	131
OF	Clyde Barnhart	108	360	115	.319	3	54

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
Kiki Cuyler	85	285	88	.309	3	31
Earl Smith	66	189	51	.270	5	25
Hal Rhyne	62	168	46	.274	0	17
Roy Spencer	38	92	26	.283	0	13
Adam Comorosky	18	61	14	.230	0	4
Heinie Groh	14	35	10	.286	0	3
Joe Cronin	12	22	5	.227	0	3
Fred Brickell	32	21	6	.286	1	4
Ed Sicking	6	7	1	.143	0	3
Herman Layne	11	6	0	.000	0	0
Dick Bartell	1	2	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
Lee Meadows	40	299.1	19	10	3.40	84
Carmen Hill	43	277.2	22	11	3.24	95
Vic Aldridge	35	239.1	15	10	4.25	86
Ray Kremer	35	226.0	19	8	2.47	63

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
Joe Dawson	20	80.2	3	7	4.46	17
Johnny Miljus	19	75.2	8	3	1.90	24
Mike Cvengros	23	53.1	2	1	3.35	21
Emil Yde	9	27.2	1	3	9.71	9
Roy Mahaffey	2	9.1	1	0	7.71	4
Joe Bush	5	6.2	1	2	13.50	1

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
Johnny Morrison	23	3	2	3	4.19	21
Chet Nichols	8	0	3	0	5.86	9
Don Songer	2	0	0	0	11.57	1
Red Peery	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Carmen Hill

• #3 in NL in wins (22)

Ray Kremer

• NL leader in ERA (2.47)

Lee Meadows

• NL leader in complete games (25)

Pie Traynor

• #5 in NL in batting average (.342)

Lloyd Waner

• NL leader in runs scored (133)
• #3 in NL in batting average (.355)

Paul Waner

• NL leader in batting average (.380)
• NL leader in RBI (131)
• NL leader in triples (18)
• #2 in NL in on-base percentage (.437)
• #2 in NL in doubles (42)
• #4 in NL in runs scored (114)
• #4 in NL in slugging percentage (.549)

1927 World Series

Main article: 1927 World Series

Game 1

October 5, 1927, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	1	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	5	6	1
Pittsburgh (N)	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	4	9	2
W: Waite Hoyt (1–0)  L: Ray Kremer (0–1),   S: Wilcy Moore (1)

Game 2

October 6, 1927, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	6	11	0
Pittsburgh (N)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	7	2
W: George Pipgras (1–0)  L: Vic Aldridge (0–1)

Game 3

October 7, 1927, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	1
New York (A)	2	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	x	8	9	0
W: Herb Pennock (1–0)   L: Lee Meadows (0–1)
HR: NYY – Babe Ruth (1)

Game 4

October 8, 1927, at Yankee Stadium in New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (N)	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	10	1
New York (A)	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	12	2
W: Wilcy Moore (1–0)   L: John Miljus (0–1)
HR: NYY – Babe Ruth (2)

References

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
2. Don Songer page at Baseball Reference

External links

• 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac