The major leagues' teams were hard hit during World War II as the United States entered its second year of active military draft. Organized baseball had to cope with wartime travel restrictions and by the spring of 1943 hundreds of major leagues players were proudly serving in the military. And, quite a few of the players had entered 'essential industries' like aircraft building and shipbuilding, to get exemptions which these jobs provided.

The Pittsburgh Pirates 1943 were no exception, as they too, lost most of their regular players to military service. None-the-less the Pirates fielded a number of solid hitters, fielders and pitchers, much to the delight of their fans.

The team posted a solid 80 Wins, 74 Loses, fourth place in the-then 8 team National League.

Outfielder Vince DiMaggio (Joe's brother) and third baseman Bob Elliot were the Pirates' main power hitters. Vince DiMaggio hit a team leading 15 home runs and drove in 88 Runs, while Bob Elliot batted .315, and had 101 RBIs.

Pitchers: Rip Sewell won 21 games, lost just 9 with a low 2.54 ERA in 35 games. Max Butcher collected a 10-8 record 2.60 ERA in 33 games and Bob Klinger was 11-8, 2.72 ERA in 33 games.

1943 Pittsburgh Pirates Roster

Batting Averages

Bill Baker .273 BA, 1 Hr, 26 RBI in 63 Games... John Barrett .231 BA, 1 Hr, 32 RBI in 130G... Pete Coscarart .242 BA, 0 Hr, 48 RBI in 133G... Frank Colman .271 BA, 0 Hr, 4 RBI in 32G... Hank Camelli .000 BA in 1G... Vince DiMaggio .248 BA, 15 Hr, 88 RBI in 157G

Elbie Fletcher .283 BA, 9 Hr, 70 RBI in 154G... Hank Geary .151 BA, 1 Hr, 13 RBI in 46G... Frankie Gustine .290 BA, 0 Hr, 43 RBI in 112G... Jim Russell .259 BA, 4 Hr, 44 RBI in 146G... Al Lopez .263 BA, 1 Hr, 43 RBI in 118G

Tommy O'Brien .310 BA, 2 Hr, 26 RBI in 69G... Tony Ordenana .500, 0 Hr, 3 RBI in 1G... Al Rubeling .262 BA, 0 Hr, 9 RBI in 47G... Maurice Van Robays .288 BA, 1 Hr, 35 RBI in 69G... Jimmy Wasdell .500 BA, 0 Hr, 1 RBI in 4G... Johnny Wyrostek .152 BA, 0 Hr, 1 RBI in 51G

1943 Pittsburgh Pirates Pitchers Records

Bill Brandt 4-1, 3.14 ERA in 29G... Max Butcher 10-8, 2.60 ERA in 33G... John 'Johnny' Gee 4-4, 4.26 ERA in 15G... Hank Gornicki 9-13, 3.98 ERA in 42G... Dutch Dietz 0-3, 6.00 ERA in 8G... Wally Hebert 10-11, 2.96 ERA in 34G.

Jack Hallett 1-2, 1.70 ERA in 9G... Bob Klinger 11-8, 2.72 ERA in 33G.... Johnny Lanning 4-1, 2.33 ERA in 12G... Cookie Cuccurullo 0-1, 6.43 ERA in 1G... Rip Sewell 21-9, 2.54 ERA in 35G... John 'Johnny' Podgajny 0-4, 4.72 ERA in 15G... Xavier Rescigno 6-9, 2.98 ERA in 37G... Harry Shuman 0-0, 5.32 ERA in 11G

For more on your favorite player, try our 'Players' on the upper left side of our home Home Page... we have 1,000s of articles.