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1896 Pittsburgh Pirates, 66-63, Finished 6th in the National League – Officially known as the Pittsburg Pirates, no “h” at the end of the city name, this team managed by the great Connie Mack (center row in the middle) was mediocre in just about every way. They hit .293 as a team which ranked 7th in the 12-team National League and their pitching ranked 6th with a team ERA of 4.30.
But there were players on this Pirate team that did excel above the norm – the club boasted two hitters with averages over the .350 mark in outfielders Mike Smith (.362) and Jake Stenzel (.361). Smith also led the Pirates in home runs with six and runs batted in as well with 96 while Stenzel was the team’s top base stealer with 57 swipes. Other notable contributions at the plate included Patsy Donovan with a .319 average and shortstop Bones Ely who hit .285 and knocked in 77 runs.
On the rubber Pittsburgh was led by top hurler Frank Killen with 30 wins, tops in the Majors, against 18 losses and a 3.41 ERA. While Killen had his moments with the Pirates, he was anything but a consistent hurler year-by-year. For example in his first year (1893) with the Pirates he finished with a league-leading 36 wins, the following year (1894) he struggled with just 14 wins and the year after just five wins before bouncing back with an outstanding 1896 campaign. And as one would expect in 1897 he once again reverted again back to another inconsistent year with a 17-23 record and a 4.46 ERA.
Another notable hurler on this squad was Pink Hawley (22-21, 3.57 ERA), between these two pitchers, Hawley and Killen started 93 of the 129 games played by the Pirates. Other pitchers on the staff included Jim Hugley (6-8, 4.99 ERA), Charlie Hastings (5-10, 5.88) and Brownie Forman (3-3, 6.57 ERA).
