1928 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1928 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 47th season in franchise history. The team scored the most runs in the National League. However, they also allowed the third most and slipped down to fourth place in the standings.

1928 Pittsburgh Pirates
League	National League
Ballpark	Forbes Field
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1]
Owners	Barney Dreyfuss
Managers	Donie Bush
← 1927 Seasons 1929 →

Offseason

• December 3, 1927: Mike Cvengros and Ike Danning were traded by the Pirates to the Wichita Falls Spudders for Fred Fussell.^[2]

Regular season

During the season, Burleigh Grimes became the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in one season for the Pirates in the 20th century.^[3]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	95	59	.617	—	42‍–‍35	53‍–‍24
New York Giants	93	61	.604	2	51‍–‍26	42‍–‍35
Chicago Cubs	91	63	.591	4	52‍–‍25	39‍–‍38
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	67	.559	9	47‍–‍30	38‍–‍37
Cincinnati Reds	78	74	.513	16	44‍–‍33	34‍–‍41
Brooklyn Robins	77	76	.503	17½	41‍–‍35	36‍–‍41
Boston Braves	50	103	.327	44½	25‍–‍51	25‍–‍52
Philadelphia Phillies	43	109	.283	51	26‍–‍49	17‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1928 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	7–15	5–17	10–12	6–16	13–9	5–16	4–18
Brooklyn	15–7	—	10–12	10–12–1	9–13–1	15–7	9–12	9–13
Chicago	17–5	12–10	—	13–9	14–8	13–9	11–11	11–11
Cincinnati	12–10	12–10–1	9–13	—	8–14	13–7	12–10	12–10
New York	16–6	13–9–1	8–14	14–8	—	17–5	11–11	14–8
Philadelphia	9–13	7–15	9–13	7–13	5–17	—	4–18	2–20
Pittsburgh	16–5	12–9	11–11	10–12	11–11	18–4	—	7–15
St. Louis	18–4	13–9	11–11	10–12	8–14	20–2	15–7	—

Game log

1928 Game Log: 85–67 (Home: 47–30; Away: 38–37)
April: 6–8 (Home: 2–2; Away: 4–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 11 @ Cardinals 7–14 Haines Kremer (0–1) — 25,000 0–1 2 April 12 @ Cardinals 0–5 Alexander Grimes (0–1) — — 0–2 3 April 14 @ Reds 0–5 Lucas Miljus (0–1) — 2,500 0–3 4 April 15 @ Reds 3–2 Dawson (1–0) Luque Hill (1) — 1–3 5 April 16 @ Reds 8–1 Grimes (1–1) Rixey — — 2–3 6 April 19 Cardinals 10–13 Littlejohn Miljus (0–2) Sherdel 30,000 2–4 7 April 20 Cardinals 2–6 Haines Grimes (1–2) — — 2–5 8 April 22 @ Cubs 2–3 Jones Miljus (0–3) — 50,000 2–6 9 April 23 @ Cubs 6–0 Kremer (1–1) Malone — — 3–6 10 April 24 @ Cubs 2–7 Blake Dawson (1–1) — — 3–7 11 April 25 @ Cubs 10–0 Grimes (2–2) Root — — 4–7 12 April 26 Reds 7–2 Hill (1–0) Edwards — — 5–7 13 April 29 @ Reds 2–3 Rixey Kremer (1–2) — — 5–8 14 April 30 Cubs 8–7 Miljus (1–3) Malone — — 6–8
May: 12–16 (Home: 11–10; Away: 1–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 15 May 1 Cubs 4–1 Hill (2–0) Bush — — 7–8 16 May 2 Cubs 9–8 (10) Dawson (2–1) Nehf — — 8–8 17 May 3 Braves 4–5 (11) Brandt Kremer (1–3) — — 8–9 18 May 4 Braves 13–3 Grimes (3–2) Greenfield — — 9–9 19 May 5 Braves 6–2 Dawson (3–1) Smith Miljus (1) — 10–9 20 May 7 Braves 9–4 Miljus (2–3) Robertson — — 11–9 21 May 8 Giants 6–5 Grimes (4–2) Henry — — 12–9 22 May 9 Giants 0–6 Barnes Dawson (3–2) — — 12–10 23 May 10 Giants 4–5 Fitzsimmons Kremer (1–4) — — 12–11 24 May 12 Robins 5–4 Hill (3–0) McWeeny — 10,000 13–11 25 May 13 @ Robins 5–8 Clark Grimes (4–3) — 22,000 13–12 26 May 14 Robins 6–7 Doak Brame (0–1) Vance — 13–13 27 May 15 Robins 3–10 McWeeny Miljus (2–4) — — 13–14 28 May 18 Phillies 6–4 Kremer (2–4) Miller Grimes (1) — 14–14 29 May 19 Phillies 3–1 Hill (4–0) Benge — — 15–14 30 May 20 @ Reds 2–3 Lucas Grimes (4–4) — — 15–15 31 May 21 @ Reds 3–4 Rixey Dawson (3–3) — — 15–16 32 May 21 @ Reds 6–3 Fussell (1–0) May — — 16–16 33 May 22 @ Reds 4–5 Mays Kremer (2–5) — — 16–17 34 May 23 @ Reds 3–4 (10) Luque Hill (4–1) — — 16–18 35 May 24 Cubs 6–2 Grimes (5–4) Nehf — — 17–18 36 May 25 Cubs 3–10 Root Fussell (1–1) — — 17–19 37 May 26 Cubs 1–6 Malone Kremer (2–6) — — 17–20 38 May 27 @ Cubs 0–3 Blake Hill (4–2) — 35,000 17–21 39 May 29 Cardinals 1–7 Rhem Grimes (5–5) — — 17–22 40 May 30 Cardinals 1–10 Sherdel Miljus (2–5) — — 17–23 41 May 30 Cardinals 3–4 Johnson Kremer (2–7) Haid — 17–24 42 May 31 Cardinals 3–2 Hill (5–2) Haines — — 18–24
June: 13–11 (Home: 4–2; Away: 9–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 43 June 1 Cubs 10–4 Grimes (6–5) Blake — — 19–24 44 June 2 Cubs 6–10 Weinert Dawson (3–4) Root — 19–25 45 June 3 @ Robins 9–7 (14) Grimes (7–5) Petty — 25,000 20–25 46 June 7 @ Braves 8–6 (12) Burwell (1–0) Smith — — 21–25 47 June 8 @ Braves 5–9 Brandt Kremer (2–8) — — 21–26 48 June 9 @ Braves 6–2 Grimes (8–5) Genewich — — 22–26 49 June 9 @ Braves 6–3 Miljus (3–5) Robertson — — 23–26 50 June 11 @ Phillies 4–6 Ring Hill (5–3) Sweetland — 23–27 51 June 12 @ Phillies 15–4 Kremer (3–8) Miller — — 24–27 52 June 13 @ Phillies 3–4 Sweetland Grimes (8–6) — — 24–28 53 June 14 @ Giants 4–3 (11) Miljus (4–5) Fitzsimmons — — 25–28 54 June 15 @ Giants 1–9 Aldridge Hill (5–4) — 9,000 25–29 55 June 16 @ Giants 0–4 Benton Kremer (3–9) — — 25–30 56 June 17 @ Giants 6–0 Grimes (9–6) Henry — — 26–30 57 June 20 Reds 2–1 Kremer (4–9) Rixey — — 27–30 58 June 21 Reds 4–5 Appleton Fussell (1–2) — — 27–31 59 June 22 Reds 11–1 Grimes (10–6) Kolp — — 28–31 60 June 23 Reds 6–5 (10) Miljus (5–5) Kolp — — 29–31 61 June 24 @ Cubs 1–8 Nehf Kremer (4–10) — 15,000 29–32 62 June 26 @ Cubs 1–0 Grimes (11–6) Blake — — 30–32 63 June 26 @ Cubs 3–7 Bush Miljus (5–6) Malone — 30–33 64 June 28 @ Cardinals 3–4 Sherdel Hill (5–5) — — 30–34 65 June 29 @ Cardinals 4–9 Mitchell Kremer (4–11) — — 30–35 66 June 30 @ Cardinals 4–3 Grimes (12–6) Alexander — — 31–35
July: 17–12 (Home: 11–6; Away: 6–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 67 July 1 @ Cardinals 2–0 Fussell (2–2) Haines — — 32–35 68 July 1 @ Cardinals 6–8 Johnson Miljus (5–7) Haid — 32–36 69 July 3 Reds 7–9 Edwards Grimes (12–7) — — 32–37 70 July 4 Reds 0–6 Rixey Dawson (3–5) — — 32–38 71 July 4 Reds 3–11 Kolp Grimes (12–8) — — 32–39 72 July 6 Giants 7–11 Faulkner Fussell (2–3) — — 32–40 73 July 7 Giants 8–6 Fussell (3–3) Benton — — 33–40 74 July 7 Giants 5–2 Brame (1–1) Fitzsimmons — — 34–40 75 July 9 Giants 5–3 Grimes (13–8) Faulkner — — 35–40 76 July 10 Phillies 6–5 Kremer (5–11) Ring — — 36–40 77 July 11 Phillies 3–1 (6) Brame (2–1) Benge Hill (2) — 37–40 78 July 14 Braves 10–0 Grimes (14–8) Brandt — — 38–40 79 July 16 Braves 8–3 Kremer (6–11) Delaney — — 39–40 80 July 17 Braves 7–6 Hill (6–5) Smith Fussell (1) — 40–40 81 July 18 Braves 16–3 Grimes (15–8) Barnes — — 41–40 82 July 19 Robins 0–3 McWeeny Fussell (3–4) — — 41–41 83 July 20 Robins 7–8 Elliott Kremer (6–12) Clark 4,000 41–42 84 July 21 Robins 7–3 Hill (7–5) Ehrhardt — — 42–42 85 July 21 Robins 10–2 Meadows (1–0) Petty — 15,000 43–42 86 July 22 @ Robins 0–5 Vance Grimes (15–9) — — 43–43 87 July 22 @ Robins 6–5 Kremer (7–12) Clark — 29,000 44–43 88 July 23 @ Robins 2–1 Fussell (4–4) McWeeny — — 45–43 89 July 24 @ Giants 3–6 Benton Dawson (3–6) — — 45–44 90 July 25 @ Giants 5–6 Walker Hill (7–6) Genewich — 45–45 91 July 26 @ Giants 7–5 Grimes (16–9) Hubbell — — 46–45 92 July 27 @ Giants 2–4 Fitzsimmons Fussell (4–5) — — 46–46 93 July 30 @ Braves 2–1 Kremer (8–12) Brandt — — 47–46 94 July 30 @ Braves 6–5 (10) Grimes (17–9) Barnes — — 48–46 95 July 31 @ Braves 5–11 Smith Meadows (1–1) — — 48–47
August: 23–9 (Home: 15–8; Away: 8–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 96 August 2 @ Phillies 18–4 Grimes (18–9) Miller Dawson (1) — 49–47 97 August 3 @ Phillies 14–6 Fussell (5–5) Sweetland Tauscher (1) — 50–47 98 August 4 @ Phillies 14–8 Grimes (19–9) Benge — — 51–47 99 August 4 @ Phillies 11–4 Hill (8–6) Ring Dawson (2) — 52–47 100 August 7 @ Robins 4–3 Grimes (20–9) McWeeny — — 53–47 101 August 7 @ Robins 3–2 (12) Hill (9–6) Elliott — 6,500 54–47 102 August 8 @ Robins 4–3 Kremer (9–12) McWeeny — 2,500 55–47 103 August 9 Cardinals 5–4 Hill (10–6) Haines Grimes (2) — 56–47 104 August 10 Cardinals 1–2 (12) Mitchell Fussell (5–6) Sherdel — 56–48 105 August 11 Reds 0–1 Lucas Grimes (20–10) — — 56–49 106 August 13 Robins 6–1 Kremer (10–12) Doak — — 57–49 107 August 14 Robins 4–2 Hill (11–6) McWeeny — — 58–49 108 August 15 Robins 5–6 Vance Fussell (5–7) Petty — 58–50 109 August 16 Robins 11–6 Grimes (21–10) Doak — — 59–50 110 August 17 Phillies 10–3 Kremer (11–12) Willoughby — — 60–50 111 August 17 Phillies 9–1 Brame (3–1) Sweetland — — 61–50 112 August 18 Phillies 9–0 Hill (12–6) Benge — — 62–50 113 August 18 Phillies 8–11 Ring Fussell (5–8) Ferguson — 62–51 114 August 20 Braves 11–14 Smith Grimes (21–11) Delaney — 62–52 115 August 21 Braves 6–2 Kremer (12–12) Brandt — — 63–52 116 August 22 Braves 10–3 Brame (4–1) Greenfield — — 64–52 117 August 23 Giants 3–6 Benton Hill (12–7) Scott 35,000 64–53 118 August 23 Giants 13–3 Fussell (6–8) Hubbell — 30,000 65–53 119 August 24 Giants 16–5 Grimes (22–11) Genewich — — 66–53 120 August 25 Giants 7–1 Kremer (13–12) Fitzsimmons — — 67–53 121 August 26 @ Reds 3–4 Lucas Brame (4–2) — — 67–54 122 August 27 @ Reds 9–4 Fussell (7–8) Luque — — 68–54 123 August 28 Phillies 9–2 Hill (13–7) Sweetland — — 69–54 124 August 28 Phillies 16–7 Dawson (4–6) Benge — — 70–54 125 August 29 Phillies 0–4 (7) Willoughby Brame (4–3) — — 70–55 126 August 31 Cardinals 6–5 Kremer (14–12) Alexander Grimes (3) — 71–55 127 August 31 Cardinals 2–6 Haines Fussell (7–9) — — 71–56
September: 14–11 (Home: 4–2; Away: 10–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 128 September 1 Cardinals 1–4 Sherdel Hill (13–8) — — 71–57 129 September 2 @ Cubs 2–3 Malone Grimes (22–12) — 32,000 71–58 130 September 3 Cubs 16–1 Brame (5–3) Root — — 72–58 131 September 3 Cubs 6–3 Kremer (15–12) Carlson — — 73–58 132 September 4 Cubs 8–9 Blake Hill (13–9) — — 73–59 133 September 6 @ Cardinals 3–4 (10) Mitchell Grimes (22–13) — 10,000 73–60 134 September 7 @ Cardinals 3–6 Haines Kremer (15–13) — — 73–61 135 September 8 @ Cardinals 4–2 Hill (14–9) Sherdel — — 74–61 136 September 9 @ Cardinals 8–7 Dawson (5–6) Reinhart — — 75–61 137 September 10 @ Cubs 7–5 Grimes (23–13) Nehf — — 76–61 138 September 11 @ Cubs 3–9 Malone Hill (14–10) — — 76–62 139 September 14 Reds 4–1 Grimes (24–13) Rixey — — 77–62 140 September 15 Reds 6–1 Hill (15–10) Ash — — 78–62 141 September 16 @ Giants 1–0 Fussell (8–9) Benton — 50,000 79–62 142 September 17 @ Giants 2–9 Hubbell Brame (5–4) — 3,000 79–63 143 September 18 @ Giants 2–3 (10) Fitzsimmons Dawson (5–7) — — 79–64 144 September 20 @ Phillies 6–4 Hill (16–10) Willoughby — — 80–64 145 September 21 @ Phillies 6–5 Dawson (6–7) Sweetland — — 81–64 146 September 22 @ Phillies 9–7 Grimes (25–13) McGraw — — 82–64 147 September 22 @ Phillies 5–3 Brame (6–4) Caldwell — — 83–64 148 September 24 @ Braves 3–1 (10) Dawson (7–7) Delaney — — 84–64 149 September 24 @ Braves 2–4 Smith Blankenship (0–1) — — 84–65 150 September 25 @ Braves 13–8 Brame (7–4) Greenfield Dawson (3) — 85–65 151 September 27 @ Robins 6–7 (10) Petty Grimes (25–14) — — 85–66 152 September 27 @ Robins 1–8 Koupal Blankenship (0–2) — — 85–67
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Roster

1928 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Les Bartholomew Homer Blankenship Erv Brame Bill Burwell Joe Dawson Fred Fussell Burleigh Grimes Carmen Hill Ray Kremer Lee Meadows Johnny Miljus Glenn Spencer Walt Tauscher Elmer Tutwiler		Catchers Johnny Gooch Charlie Hargreaves Rollie Hemsley John O'Connell Earl Smith Infielders Sparky Adams Dick Bartell George Grantham Joe Harris Mack Hillis Cobe Jones Eddie Mulligan Pie Traynor Bill Windle Glenn Wright		Outfielders Clyde Barnhart Fred Brickell Adam Comorosky Pete Scott 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	Charlie Hargreaves	79	260	74	.285	1	32
1B	George Grantham	124	440	142	.323	10	85
2B	Sparky Adams	135	539	149	.276	0	38
SS	Glenn Wright	108	407	126	.310	8	66
3B	Pie Traynor	144	569	192	.337	3	124
OF	Lloyd Waner	152	659	221	.335	5	61
OF	Paul Waner	152	602	223	.370	6	86
OF	Fred Brickell	81	202	65	.322	3	41

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
Dick Bartell	72	233	71	.305	1	36
Fred Brickell	81	202	65	.322	3	41
Clyde Barnhart	61	196	58	.296	4	30
Pete Scott	60	177	55	.311	5	33
Rollie Hemsley	50	133	36	.271	0	18
Earl Smith	32	85	21	.247	2	11
Johnny Gooch	31	80	19	.238	0	5
Eddie Mulligan	27	43	10	.233	0	1
Mack Hillis	11	36	9	.250	1	7
Joe Harris	16	23	9	.391	0	2
Cobe Jones	1	2	1	.500	0	0
Bill Windle	1	1	1	1.000	0	0
John O'Connell	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
Burleigh Grimes	48	330.2	25	14	2.99	97
Carmen Hill	36	237.0	16	10	3.53	73
Ray Kremer	34	219.0	15	13	4.64	61
Fred Fussell	28	159.2	8	9	3.61	43

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	31	128.2	7	7	3.29	36
Erv Brame	24	95.2	7	4	5.08	22
Johnny Miljus	21	69.2	5	7	5.30	26
Homer Blankenship	5	21.2	0	1	5.82	6
Bill Burwell	4	20.2	1	0	5.23	2
Lee Meadows	4	10.0	1	1	8.10	3

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
Walt Tauscher	17	0	0	1	4.91	7
Les Bartholomew	6	0	0	0	7.15	6
Glenn Spencer	4	0	0	0	1.59	2
Elmer Tutwiler	2	0	0	0	4.91	1

League leaders

George Grantham

• #3 in NL in on-base percentage (.408)

Burleigh Grimes

• MLB leader in wins (25)
• #4 in NL in strikeouts (97)

Pie Traynor

• #2 in NL in RBI (124)

Lloyd Waner

• #3 in NL in runs scored (121)

Paul Waner

• NL leader in runs scored (142)
• #2 in NL in batting average (.370)
• #2 in NL in on-base percentage (.446)