On August 8, the Pirates changed hands for the first time since 1900 when the heirs of Hall of Fame owner Barney Dreyfuss sold the franchise to a syndicate led by Indianapolis banker Frank E. McKinney and including John W. Galbreath, Thomas P. Johnson and Bing Crosby.
After coach Spud Davis finished the campaign, the Pirates acquired 37-year-old Billy Herman, like Frisch a Hall of Fame second baseman, and named him playing manager for 1947.
General manager Ray Kennedy, in only his first year in the position, was demoted by the new owners to farm system director and replaced by Roy Hamey.
After the Guild successfully enrolled 34 of the club's 36 roster players when the season began, it was rebuffed by Pirates' then-president William Benswanger when it attempted to start collective bargaining talks.
Although 20 of the team's 36 players voted yes to a strike, the union fell short of the needed two-thirds supermajority, and the Guild movement collapsed.