1920 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1920 Pittsburgh Pirates
1920 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owners	Barney Dreyfuss
Managers	George Gibson

The 1920 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 39th in franchise history; the 34th in the National League.

Regular season

Pirates pitcher Babe Adams had outstanding control, allowing only 18 bases on balls in 263 innings pitched.^[2]
October 2, 1920: The Cincinnati Reds and the Pirates played in the last tripleheader to date and the only one in the modern World Series era (post-1903). Umpire Peter Harrison officiated all three games.^[3]

Season standings

v
t
e
National League
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Robins	93	61	.604	—	49‍–‍29	44‍–‍32
New York Giants	86	68	.558	7	45‍–‍35	41‍–‍33
Cincinnati Reds	82	71	.536	10½	42‍–‍34	40‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates	79	75	.513	14	42‍–‍35	37‍–‍40
St. Louis Cardinals	75	79	.487	18	38‍–‍38	37‍–‍41
Chicago Cubs	75	79	.487	18	43‍–‍34	32‍–‍45
Boston Braves	62	90	.408	30	36‍–‍37	26‍–‍53
Philadelphia Phillies	62	91	.405	30½	32‍–‍45	30‍–‍46

Record vs. opponents

1920 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	—	8–14–1	7–15	9–12	10–12	10–11	7–15	11–11
Brooklyn	14–8–1	—	13–9	10–12	15–7	14–8	12–10	15–7
Chicago	15–7	9–13	—	9–13	7–15	14–8	11–11	10–12
Cincinnati	12–9	12–10	13–9	—	6–16–1	14–8	12–10	13–9
New York	12–10	7–15	15–7	16–6–1	—	12–10	13–9	11–11
Philadelphia	11–10	8–14	8–14	8–14	10–12	—	9–13	8–14
Pittsburgh	15–7	10–12	11–11	10–12	9–13	13–9	—	11–11–1
St. Louis	11–11	7–15	12–10	9–13	11–11	14–8	11–11–1	—

Game log

1920 Game Log: 79–75 (Home: 42–35; Away: 37–40)

April: 6–5 (Home: 0–3; Away: 6–2)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
1	April 14	@ Cardinals	5–4 (10)	Adams (1–0)	Goodwin	Hamilton (1)	—	1–0
2	April 15	@ Cardinals	2–3	Schupp	Cooper (0–1)	—	—	1–1
3	April 16	@ Cardinals	5–0	Carlson (1–0)	Sherdel	—	—	2–1
4	April 17	@ Cardinals	3–0 (13)	Ponder (1–0)	Haines	—	—	3–1
5	April 18	@ Reds	2–1	Adams (2–0)	Ruether	—	—	4–1
6	April 21	@ Reds	5–3	Cooper (1–1)	Ring	—	—	5–1
7	April 23	Cardinals	7–9	Jacobs	Hamilton (0–1)	—	—	5–2
8	April 24	Cardinals	0–6	Doak	Ponder (1–1)	—	—	5–3
9	April 25	@ Cubs	4–1 (15)	Adams (3–0)	Hendrix	—	—	6–3
10	April 28	@ Cubs	1–11	Alexander	Cooper (1–2)	—	—	6–4
11	April 29	Reds	2–8	Ring	Carlson (1–1)	—	—	6–5

May: 13–12 (Home: 11–8; Away: 2–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
12	May 1	Reds	1–7	Ruether	Adams (3–1)	—	—	6–6
13	May 2	@ Reds	3–0	Cooper (2–2)	Sallee	—	—	7–6
14	May 5	Cubs	2–0	Adams (4–1)	Martin	—	—	8–6
15	May 6	Cubs	3–1	Cooper (3–2)	Hendrix	—	—	9–6
16	May 7	Cubs	4–6	Alexander	Carlson (1–2)	—	—	9–7
17	May 8	Cubs	1–4	Vaughn	Hamilton (0–2)	—	—	9–8
18	May 9	@ Cubs	7–8	Martin	Adams (4–2)	Carter	—	9–9
19	May 10	Phillies	3–1	Cooper (4–2)	Causey	—	—	10–9
20	May 12	Phillies	5–3	Hamilton (1–2)	Rixey	—	—	11–9
21	May 15	Giants	0–2	Nehf	Adams (4–3)	—	12,000	11–10
22	May 17	Giants	7–6 (15)	Ponder (2–1)	Douglas	—	6,000	12–10
23	May 18	Braves	7–2	Hamilton (2–2)	Oeschger	—	—	13–10
24	May 19	Braves	2–1	Cooper (5–2)	McQuillan	—	—	14–10
25	May 20	Braves	5–1	Adams (5–3)	Fillingim	—	—	15–10
26	May 21	Braves	9–0	Carlson (2–2)	Eayrs	—	—	16–10
27	May 22	Robins	1–4	Grimes	Cooper (5–3)	—	18,000	16–11
28	May 23	@ Robins	1–0	Ponder (3–1)	Pfeffer	—	10,000	17–11
29	May 24	Robins	0–1	Mamaux	Adams (5–4)	—	2,500	17–12
30	May 25	Robins	2–0	Carlson (3–2)	Cadore	—	3,000	18–12
31	May 26	Robins	2–3	Grimes	Wisner (0–1)	—	—	18–13
32	May 28	@ Reds	1–6	Ruether	Cooper (5–4)	—	—	18–14
33	May 29	@ Reds	2–3	Luque	Carlson (3–3)	—	—	18–15
34	May 30	@ Reds	3–5	Sallee	Wisner (0–2)	—	—	18–16
35	May 31	Cardinals	4–5	Sherdel	Ponder (3–2)	Jacobs	—	18–17
36	May 31	Cardinals	7–4	Cooper (6–4)	Doak	Carlson (1)	—	19–17

June: 10–13 (Home: 2–2; Away: 8–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
37	June 1	Cardinals	4–5 (15)	Haines	Ponder (3–3)	—	—	19–18
38	June 2	Cardinals	2–6	Schupp	Carlson (3–4)	—	—	19–19
39	June 6	@ Reds	3–1 (10)	Cooper (7–4)	Ruether	—	—	20–19
40	June 9	@ Braves	6–7 (10)	Fillingim	Adams (5–5)	—	—	20–20
41	June 10	@ Braves	1–2	Scott	Cooper (7–5)	—	—	20–21
42	June 11	@ Braves	0–3	Fillingim	Hamilton (2–3)	—	—	20–22
43	June 12	@ Phillies	6–4	Carlson (4–4)	Rixey	—	4,000	21–22
44	June 14	@ Phillies	6–1	Cooper (8–5)	Gallia	—	—	22–22
45	June 15	@ Phillies	7–6 (10)	Ponder (4–3)	Causey	—	—	23–22
46	June 18	@ Giants	4–5	Barnes	Cooper (8–6)	—	1,000	23–23
47	June 19	@ Giants	3–0	Adams (6–5)	Nehf	—	15,000	24–23
48	June 20	@ Giants	0–8	Douglas	Carlson (4–5)	—	23,000	24–24
49	June 22	@ Robins	9–7	Cooper (9–6)	Pfeffer	—	5,000	25–24
50	June 23	@ Robins	2–5	Marquard	Carlson (4–6)	—	—	25–25
51	June 24	@ Robins	2–6	Mamaux	Adams (6–6)	—	3,500	25–26
52	June 25	Cubs	6–3	Cooper (10–6)	Hendrix	—	—	26–26
53	June 26	Cubs	9–4	Ponder (5–3)	Vaughn	—	—	27–26
54	June 27	@ Cubs	8–3	Carlson (5–6)	Alexander	Cooper (1)	—	28–26
55	June 28	@ Cubs	2–5	Tyler	Adams (6–7)	—	—	28–27
56	June 28	@ Cubs	4–5	Gaw	Ponder (5–4)	—	—	28–28
57	June 29	@ Cubs	4–3 (11)	Cooper (11–6)	Martin	—	—	29–28
58	June 29	@ Cubs	3–14	Hendrix	Meador (0–1)	—	—	29–29
59	June 30	@ Cubs	0–1	Vaughn	Ponder (5–5)	—	—	29–30

July: 18–15 (Home: 12–8; Away: 6–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
60	July 1	@ Cardinals	6–2 (10)	Carlson (6–6)	Sherdel	Adams (1)	—	30–30
61	July 2	@ Cardinals	0–3	Doak	Hamilton (2–4)	—	—	30–31
62	July 3	@ Cardinals	3–1	Cooper (12–6)	Goodwin	—	—	31–31
63	July 4	@ Reds	0–5	Ruether	Adams (6–8)	—	—	31–32
64	July 5	Reds	4–1	Carlson (7–6)	Fisher	—	—	32–32
65	July 5	Reds	6–5 (11)	Hamilton (3–4)	Luque	—	—	33–32
66	July 6	Reds	2–7	Ring	Meador (0–2)	—	—	33–33
67	July 7	Phillies	2–1	Cooper (13–6)	Smith	—	—	34–33
68	July 8	Phillies	1–0	Adams (7–8)	Meadows	—	—	35–33
69	July 9	Phillies	1–4	Rixey	Carlson (7–7)	—	—	35–34
70	July 10	Phillies	7–8 (11)	Meadows	Cooper (13–7)	—	—	35–35
71	July 10	Phillies	1–3	Hubbell	Ponder (5–6)	—	—	35–36
72	July 12	Braves	3–2 (11)	Adams (8–8)	Fillingim	—	—	36–36
73	July 13	Braves	5–2	Carlson (8–7)	Scott	—	—	37–36
74	July 14	Braves	4–3	Cooper (14–7)	Oeschger	—	—	38–36
75	July 15	Braves	9–8	Carlson (9–7)	Watson	—	—	39–36
76	July 16	Giants	0–7 (17)	Benton	Hamilton (3–5)	—	4,000	39–37
77	July 17	Giants	2–0	Adams (9–8)	Toney	—	—	40–37
78	July 17	Giants	2–4	Barnes	Carlson (9–8)	—	25,000	40–38
79	July 20	Giants	2–5	Nehf	Cooper (14–8)	—	3,000	40–39
80	July 21	Robins	4–3	Ponder (6–6)	Marquard	—	3,800	41–39
81	July 22	Robins	5–2	Carlson (10–8)	Cadore	—	4,000	42–39
82	July 23	Robins	5–6	Smith	Adams (9–9)	—	4,000	42–40
83	July 24	Robins	5–1	Cooper (15–8)	Grimes	—	15,000	43–40
84	July 25	@ Robins	5–4	Ponder (7–6)	Mitchell	—	22,000	44–40
85	July 26	@ Robins	4–6	Smith	Carlson (10–9)	—	—	44–41
86	July 27	@ Phillies	7–1	Hamilton (4–5)	Meadows	—	—	45–41
87	July 28	@ Phillies	6–3	Cooper (16–8)	Smith	—	—	46–41
88	July 28	@ Phillies	4–5	Causey	Adams (9–10)	Gallia	—	46–42
89	July 29	@ Phillies	3–7	Rixey	Ponder (7–7)	—	—	46–43
90	July 30	@ Phillies	2–7	Hubbell	Carlson (10–10)	—	—	46–44
91	July 31	@ Braves	4–2	Cooper (17–8)	Rudolph	—	—	47–44
92	July 31	@ Braves	1–6	Fillingim	Hamilton (4–6)	—	—	47–45

August: 16–13 (Home: 7–8; Away: 9–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
93	August 2	@ Braves	3–2	Adams (10–10)	Oeschger	Carlson (2)	—	48–45
94	August 3	@ Braves	3–2	Ponder (8–7)	McQuillan	—	—	49–45
95	August 4	@ Braves	3–0	Cooper (18–8)	Fillingim	—	—	50–45
96	August 5	@ Robins	8–5 (10)	Hamilton (5–6)	Grimes	—	7,000	51–45
97	August 7	@ Robins	7–0	Adams (11–10)	Smith	—	12,000	52–45
98	August 8	@ Robins	1–2	Cadore	Ponder (8–8)	—	20,000	52–46
99	August 9	@ Giants	0–9	Nehf	Cooper (18–9)	—	12,000	52–47
100	August 11	@ Giants	1–5	Benton	Hamilton (5–7)	—	—	52–48
101	August 11	@ Giants	3–6	Douglas	Carlson (10–11)	—	20,000	52–49
102	August 12	@ Giants	2–0	Adams (12–10)	Barnes	—	15,000	53–49
103	August 13	Cardinals	2–4	Schupp	Cooper (18–10)	—	—	53–50
104	August 14	Cardinals	0–1	Doak	Ponder (8–9)	—	—	53–51
105	August 14	Cardinals	1–1 (8)			—	—	53–51
106	August 15	@ Cardinals	4–2 (11)	Hamilton (6–7)	May	—	—	54–51
107	August 15	@ Cardinals	2–3	Kircher	Wisner (0–3)	—	—	54–52
108	August 16	@ Cardinals	3–2	Adams (13–10)	Haines	—	—	55–52
109	August 17	@ Cardinals	10–6	Cooper (19–10)	Schupp	Carlson (3)	—	56–52
110	August 19	Phillies	2–5 (12)	Enzmann	Hamilton (6–8)	—	—	56–53
111	August 20	Phillies	2–4 (11)	Betts	Ponder (8–10)	—	—	56–54
112	August 21	Phillies	1–3	Rixey	Cooper (19–11)	—	—	56–55
113	August 21	Phillies	5–0	Adams (14–10)	Hubbell	—	—	57–55
114	August 23	Robins	0–3	Pfeffer	Hamilton (6–9)	—	3,500	57–56
115	August 24	Robins	4–3	Carlson (11–11)	Grimes	—	3,000	58–56
116	August 25	Robins	3–4	Mamaux	Ponder (8–11)	—	4,000	58–57
117	August 26	Braves	2–1	Adams (15–10)	McQuillan	—	—	59–57
118	August 27	Braves	8–1	Cooper (20–11)	Oeschger	—	—	60–57
119	August 28	Braves	1–5	Fillingim	Hamilton (6–10)	—	—	60–58
120	August 30	Giants	4–2	Carlson (12–11)	Douglas	—	—	61–58
121	August 30	Giants	2–1	Ponder (9–11)	Toney	—	5,000	62–58
122	August 31	Giants	6–5	Wisner (1–3)	Nehf	Hamilton (2)	—	63–58

September: 14–15 (Home: 9–4; Away: 5–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
123	September 1	Giants	4–3	Cooper (21–11)	Benton	—	—	64–58
124	September 2	Giants	1–5	Barnes	Hamilton (6–11)	—	5,000	64–59
125	September 3	Cubs	2–4 (13)	Vaughn	Carlson (12–12)	—	—	64–60
126	September 4	Cubs	3–2	Adams (16–10)	Tyler	Cooper (2)	—	65–60
127	September 5	@ Cubs	0–2	Alexander	Ponder (9–12)	—	—	65–61
128	September 6	Cubs	2–5	Martin	Cooper (21–12)	—	—	65–62
129	September 6	Cubs	12–1	Hamilton (7–11)	Bailey	—	—	66–62
130	September 7	Cubs	7–4	Carlson (13–12)	Vaughn	Adams (2)	—	67–62
131	September 9	@ Phillies	7–6	Ponder (10–12)	Causey	Hamilton (3)	—	68–62
132	September 10	@ Phillies	8–3	Cooper (22–12)	Hubbell	—	—	69–62
133	September 11	@ Phillies	3–2	Hamilton (8–11)	Meadows	—	—	70–62
134	September 13	@ Braves	0–3	Scott	Adams (16–11)	—	—	70–63
135	September 15	@ Braves	2–1	Cooper (23–12)	McQuillan	—	—	71–63
136	September 15	@ Braves	1–4	Fillingim	Carlson (13–13)	—	—	71–64
137	September 16	@ Giants	3–1	Hamilton (9–11)	Barnes	—	—	72–64
138	September 16	@ Giants	0–4	Nehf	Ponder (10–13)	—	10,000	72–65
139	September 17	@ Giants	3–4 (10)	Toney	Adams (16–12)	—	6,000	72–66
140	September 18	@ Giants	7–8	Douglas	Ponder (10–14)	—	12,000	72–67
141	September 19	@ Robins	3–4	Pfeffer	Cooper (23–13)	—	25,000	72–68
142	September 20	@ Robins	1–2 (10)	Mamaux	Hamilton (9–12)	—	6,000	72–69
143	September 22	Reds	2–0	Adams (17–12)	Luque	—	—	73–69
144	September 22	Reds	3–1	Ponder (11–14)	Ruether	—	—	74–69
145	September 23	Reds	4–0	Cooper (24–13)	Eller	—	—	75–69
146	September 24	Cardinals	12–7	Hamilton (10–12)	Schupp	—	—	76–69
147	September 25	Cardinals	2–1 (12)	Zinn (1–0)	Sherdel	—	—	77–69
148	September 25	Cardinals	1–3	Haines	Ponder (11–15)	—	—	77–70
149	September 26	@ Reds	0–8	Napier	Adams (17–13)	—	—	77–71
150	September 28	@ Reds	0–2	Eller	Cooper (24–14)	—	—	77–72
151	September 28	@ Reds	3–5	Brenton	Hamilton (10–13)	—	—	77–73

October: 2–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–0)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
152	October 2	Reds	4–13	Fisher	Cooper (24–15)	—	—	77–74
153	October 2	Reds	3–7	Brenton	Zinn (1–1)	—	—	77–75
154	October 2	Reds	6–0 (6)	Morrison (1–0)	Napier	—	—	78–75
155	October 3	@ Cubs	4–3	Carlson (14–13)	Tyler	—	—	79–75

Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1920 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

George Gibson

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	94	310	86	.277	0	20
1B	Charlie Grimm	148	533	121	.227	2	54
2B	George Cutshaw	131	488	123	.252	0	47
SS	Howdy Caton	98	352	83	.236	0	27
3B	Possum Whitted	134	494	129	.261	1	74
OF	Billy Southworth	146	546	155	.284	2	53
OF	Carson Bigbee	137	550	154	.280	4	32
OF	Max Carey	130	485	140	.289	1	35

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
Fred Nicholson	99	247	89	.360	4	30
Walter Barbare	57	186	51	.274	0	12
Bill Haeffner	54	175	34	.194	0	14
Bill McKechnie	40	133	29	.218	1	13
Cliff Lee	37	76	18	.237	0	8
Pie Traynor	17	52	11	.212	0	2
Cotton Tierney	12	46	11	.239	0	8
Clyde Barnhart	12	46	15	.326	0	5
Homer Summa	10	22	7	.318	0	1
Bill Hinchman	18	16	3	.188	0	1
Nig Clarke	3	7	0	.000	0	0
Wally Hood	2	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
Wilbur Cooper	44	327.0	24	15	2.39	114
Babe Adams	35	263.0	17	13	2.16	84
Hal Carlson	39	246.2	14	13	3.36	62
Elmer Ponder	33	196.0	11	15	2.62	62

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	39	230.1	10	13	3.24	74
Johnny Meador	12	36.1	0	2	4.21	5
Jimmy Zinn	6	31.0	1	1	3.48	18
Johnny Morrison	2	7.0	1	0	0.00	3

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	ERA	SO
Jack Wisner	17	1	3	3.43	13
Sheriff Blake	6	0	0	8.10	7
Mule Watson	5	0	0	8.74	1
Whitey Glazner	2	0	0	3.12	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
B	Wichita Falls Spudders	Texas League	Walter Salm

References

^ From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.88, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.43, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0