‎
The 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 season was a season in American baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

. That year, the Pirates won the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 pennant

Pennant (sports)

A pennant is a commemorative flag typically used to show support for a particular athletic team. Pennants have been historically used in all types of athletic levels: high school, collegiate, professional etc. Traditionally, pennants were made of felt and fashioned in the official colors of a...

, which was their second in three years and their last until 1960

1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season

‎The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the team's 79th season. The team finished with a record of 95-59, seven games in front of the second-place Milwaukee Braves to win their first National League championship in 33 seasons...

. The team included five future Hall of Famers

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...

: Paul Waner

Paul Waner

Paul Glee Waner , nicknamed "Big Poison", was a German-American Major League Baseball right fielder.-Pittsburgh Pirates:...

, Lloyd Waner

Lloyd Waner

Lloyd James Waner , nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball center fielder. His small stature at 5'9" and 132 lb made him one of the smallest players of his era. Along with his brother, Paul Waner, he anchored the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s...

, Pie Traynor

Pie Traynor

Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and radio broadcaster. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He batted and threw right-handed...

, Kiki Cuyler

Kiki Cuyler

Hazen Shirley "Kiki" Cuyler was a Major League Baseball right fielder from 1921 until 1938. He was born in Harrisville, Michigan.Cuyler broke into the big leagues in 1921 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and became a fixture in the lineup in 1924...

, and 20-year-old rookie Joe Cronin

Joe Cronin

Joseph Edward Cronin was a Major League Baseball shortstop and manager.During a 20-year playing career, he played from 1926–45 for three different teams, primarily for the Boston Red Sox. Cronin was a major league manager from 1933–47...

 (who played just 12 games).

In the World Series

1927 World Series

In the 1927 World Series, the New York Yankees swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games. This was the first sweep of a National League team by an American League team....

, however, Pittsburgh was no match for the New York Yankees

1927 New York Yankees season

The New York Yankees season was their 25th season. The team finished with a record of 110-44, winning their fifth pennant and finishing 19 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics. New York was managed by Miller Huggins. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they swept the...

. 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

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 and 131 RBI

Run batted in

Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...

 paced the entire circuit. Younger brother Lloyd and Traynor finished third and fifth in the batting race, respectively. Pitcher Ray Kremer

Ray Kremer

Remy Peter "Ray" Kremer was a former professional baseball player. He was a pitcher over parts of ten seasons , all with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He led the National League in ERA in both 1926 and 1927. For his career, he compiled an 143-85 record in 308 appearances, with a 3.76 ERA and 516...

 won the ERA

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 title on his way to a 19-8 record.

Notable transactions

• May 9, 1927: Don Songer
  Don Songer
  Donald C. Songer was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played four seasons in the major leagues, from until , for the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants.-Sources:...
  
   was purchased from the Pirates by the New York Giants
  San Francisco Giants
  The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
  
  .

Roster

1927 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders		Manager

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		101	291	75	.258	2	48
1B		129	411	134	.326	5	73
2B		151	531	162	.305	8	66
SS		143	570	160	.281	9	105
3B		149	573	196	.342	5	106
OF		150	629	223	.355	2	27
OF		155	623	237	.380	9	131
OF		108	360	115	.319	3	154

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
	85	285	88	.309	3	31
	66	189	51	.270	5	25
	62	168	46	.274	0	17
	38	92	26	.283	0	13
	18	61	14	.230	0	4
	14	35	10	.286	0	3
	12	22	5	.227	0	3
	32	21	6	.286	1	4
	6	7	1	.143	0	3
	11	6	0	.000	0	0
	1	2	0	.000	0	0

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
	40	299.1	19	10	3.40	84
	43	277.2	22	11	3.24	95
	35	239.1	15	10	4.25	86
	35	226	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
	20	80.2	3	7	4.46	17
	19	75.2	8	3	1.90	24
	23	53.1	2	1	3.35	21
	9	27.2	1	3	9.71	9
	5	6.2	1	2	13.50	1
	2	9.1	1	0	7.71	4

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
	23	3	2	3	4.19	21
	8	0	3	0	5.86	9
	2	0	0	0	11.57	1
	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

League top five finishers

Carmen Hill

Carmen Hill

Carmen Proctor Hill born in Royalton, Minnesota was a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates , New York Giants and St...

• #3 in NL in wins (22)

Ray Kremer

Ray Kremer

Remy Peter "Ray" Kremer was a former professional baseball player. He was a pitcher over parts of ten seasons , all with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He led the National League in ERA in both 1926 and 1927. For his career, he compiled an 143-85 record in 308 appearances, with a 3.76 ERA and 516...

• NL leader in ERA (2.47)

Lee Meadows

Lee Meadows

Henry Lee "Specs" Meadows was a professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of 15 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the National League wins leader in 1926 with Pittsburgh...

• NL leader in complete games (25)

Pie Traynor

Pie Traynor

Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and radio broadcaster. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He batted and threw right-handed...

• #5 in NL in batting average (.342)

Lloyd Waner

Lloyd Waner

Lloyd James Waner , nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball center fielder. His small stature at 5'9" and 132 lb made him one of the smallest players of his era. Along with his brother, Paul Waner, he anchored the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s...

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

Paul Waner

Paul Waner

Paul Glee Waner , nicknamed "Big Poison", was a German-American Major League Baseball right fielder.-Pittsburgh Pirates:...

• 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)

Game 1

October 5, 1927 at Forbes Field

Forbes Field

Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...

 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

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 Waite Hoyt Waite Charles Hoyt was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, one of the dominant pitchers of the 1920s, and the winningest pitcher for the New York Yankees during that decade...  (1-0)  L: Ray Kremer Ray Kremer Remy Peter "Ray" Kremer was a former professional baseball player. He was a pitcher over parts of ten seasons , all with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He led the National League in ERA in both 1926 and 1927. For his career, he compiled an 143-85 record in 308 appearances, with a 3.76 ERA and 516...  (0-1),   S: Wilcy Moore Wilcy Moore William Wilcy "Cy" Moore was a former professional baseball right-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He led the American League in ERA as a rookie in 1927 while playing for New York.For his career, he compiled a 51-44 record, with a 3.70 ERA and...  (1)

Game 2

October 6, 1927 at Forbes Field

Forbes Field

Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...

 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

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 George Pipgras George William Pipgras was an American right-handed starting pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball. Known as "The Danish Viking," he spent most of his playing career with the New York Yankees, breaking in as a rookie in 1923...  (1-0)  L: Vic Aldridge Vic Aldridge Victor "Vic" Aldridge , nicknamed the "Hoosier Schoolmaster," was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants, and was known to be an excellent curveball pitcher. Before his playing career he was a schoolmaster,...  (0-1)

Game 3

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

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 Herb Pennock Herbert Jefferis Pennock was a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his time spent with the star-studded New York Yankee teams of the mid to late 1920s and early 1930s. Pennock won two World Series championships with the Red Sox and then four World Series championships with the...  (1-0)   L: Lee Meadows Lee Meadows Henry Lee "Specs" Meadows was a professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of 15 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the National League wins leader in 1926 with Pittsburgh...  (0-1)
HR: NYY – Babe Ruth Babe Ruth George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...  (1)

Game 4

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

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 Wilcy Moore William Wilcy "Cy" Moore was a former professional baseball right-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He led the American League in ERA as a rookie in 1927 while playing for New York.For his career, he compiled a 51-44 record, with a 3.70 ERA and...  (1-0)   L: John Miljus (0-1)
HR: NYY – Babe Ruth Babe Ruth George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935... (2)