Pittsburgh Pirates

:This article is on the baseball team. For the National Hockey League team (1925 - 1930), see Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL). Also, the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers were named the Pirates from 1933 to 1940.

Franchise history

Early History

Before it was named the Pirates, this baseball club was called Allegheny, when the north side of the three rivers was a separate city (as with Brooklyn and New York). Sometimes erroneously referred to in modern references as "the Alleghenys" or "the Alleghenies", the plural was used in newspapers in the same way that the club from Chicago was "the Chicagos" or the club from New York was "the New Yorks". The ballclub was renamed Pittsburg (and eventually Pittsburgh) after the City of Pittsburgh annexed the Allegheny government. The ballclub was sometimes dubbed the Innocents during the 1880s.

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After the 1890 season, when the one-year-wonder called the Players' League had broken up, a number of the "rebel" players were assigned to League and Association clubs, typically to their previous clubs, provided they had been reserved by their former teams' owners. Highly-regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, who had previously played with the Philadelphia Athletics of the Association, was instead awarded to the Pittsburgh National Leaguers on the grounds that the A's had not reserved him. This led to loud complaints by the Athletics that the Pittsburgh club were "Pirates". This incident (which is discussed at some length in The Beer and Whisky League, by David Nemec, 1994) quickly accelerated into a schism between the leagues that pretty well finished off the old A.A. In any case, the colorful epithet stuck with the Pittsburghers, and eventually became the club's official nickname. It was first acknowledged on the team jerseys in 1912, but even by the 1903 World Series, "Pirates" was in common usage.

Related Topics:
1890 - Players' League - Lou Bierbauer - 1912 - 1903

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In its early days, the club benefitted three times from mergers with defunct clubs. The AA club picked up a number of players from a defunct Columbus, Ohio team in 1885. In 1890, they merged with the Pittsburgh team from the Players League after that league folded. In 1900, the Pirates picked up star players from the defunct Louisville, Kentucky club, including greats like Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke (who also served as the team's manager from 1900 to 1915), triggering a long string of pennants.

Related Topics:
Columbus, Ohio - 1885 - 1890 - Players League - 1900 - Louisville, Kentucky - Honus Wagner - Fred Clarke - 1915

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1901-1969

The 1901-1903 Pirates completely dominated the National League, in part because they lost few star players to the rival American League. However, owing to injuries to their starting pitchers, they lost the first World Series ever played, in 1903 to Boston. Deacon Phillippe pitched five complete games, winning three of them; but it was not enough. With largely the same star players, the Pirates would continue to be a strong team over the next few years and got their first World Series title in 1909, defeating the Detroit Tigers in seven games.

Related Topics:
1901 - 1903 - American League - The first World Series ever played - Boston - Deacon Phillippe - 1909 - Detroit Tigers

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The decline of Honus Wagner, considered by many to be the greatest shortstop ever, and by a number of his contemporaries to be a greater player than Ty Cobb, led to a number of losing seasons, culminating in a disastrous 51-103 record in 1917, Wagner's last season. However, veteran outfielder Max Carey and young players Pie Traynor and Kiki Cuyler, along with a remarkably deep pitching staff, brought the Pirates back into the spotlight. The Pirates recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win the 1925 World Series over the Washington Senators, and reached the 1927 World Series before losing in a sweep to the New York Yankees, who at that time had built the most dominant team in baseball. The 1927 season was the first for the sharp-hitting combination of brothers Lloyd Waner and Paul Waner, who along with shortstop Arky Vaughan ensured that the Pirates had plenty of Hall of Fame-caliber position players through 1941. However, the crushing defeats of 1927, and also of 1938 when they lost the pennant to the Chicago Cubs in the final days of the season, took awhile to recover from.

Related Topics:
Ty Cobb - 1917 - Max Carey - Pie Traynor - Kiki Cuyler - 1925 - Washington Senators - 1927 - New York Yankees - Lloyd Waner - Paul Waner - Arky Vaughan - 1941 - Chicago Cubs

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The post-World War II years were not kind to the Pirates, despite the presence of a genuine superstar in Ralph Kiner. The Pirates would have only one winning season until 1958, when Danny Murtaugh took over as manager. Murtaugh is widely credited for inventing the concept of the closer by frequently playing pitcher ElRoy Face late in close games. The 1960 team featured eight All-Stars, but was widely predicted to lose the World Series to a powerful New York Yankees team. In one of the most memorable World Series in history, the Pirates were defeated by more than ten runs in three games, won three close games, then recovered from a 7-4 deficit late in Game 7 to eventually win on a walk-off home run by Bill Mazeroski, a second baseman otherwise better known for defensive wizardry. In an amusing sidelight, the 1960 Pirates were the only team between 1945 and 2001 to have not succumbed to the so-called "Ex-Cubs Factor" in the post-season.

Related Topics:
World War II - Ralph Kiner - 1958 - Danny Murtaugh - Closer - ElRoy Face - 1960 - World Series - New York Yankees - Bill Mazeroski - Ex-Cubs Factor

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The 1960s would continue with extremely solid defensive play by Mazeroski and the first Puerto Rican superstar, Roberto Clemente. Clemente was regarded as both one of the game's best all-time hitters and right fielders. Although not the first black-Hispanic baseball player (an honor belonging to Minnie Minoso) Clemente's charisma and leadership in humanitarian causes made him an icon across the continent. However, the Pirates struggled for the remainder of the decade, and Murtaugh was replaced by Harry Walker in 1965.

Related Topics:
Puerto Rican - Roberto Clemente - Minnie Minoso - 1965

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1970-1979 and "The Family"

Slugger Willie Stargell became a fixture in the Pittsburgh lineup in the late 1960s, and the Pirates would return to prominence in 1970 when Murtaugh returned as manager and the Pirates' home field, Forbes Field, was demolished in favor of the multi-purpose Three Rivers Stadium. The Pirates won their first of five division titles over the next six years, and won their fourth World Series the next year behind a .414 Seriesbatting average by Clemente. They also thought they had a genuine superstar pitcher (historically rare for the Pirates) in Steve Blass, who pitched two excellent games in the World Series and put together excellent seasons in 1968 and 1972.

Related Topics:
Willie Stargell - 1970 - Forbes Field - Three Rivers Stadium - World Series - Batting average - Steve Blass - 1968 - 1972

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Clemente died tragically in a plane crash in 1972 while attempting to ship supplies to the victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. The Baseball Hall of Fame waived its usual waiting requirement and inducted Clemente immediately; Pittsburgh would eventually erect a statue and name a bridge and park near the stadium after him. In 1973, Steve Blass suffered a mysterious breakdown in his pitching abilities and posted an outrageous 9.85 ERA. Some speculated that the emotional shock of his friend Clemente's death contributed to his breakdown. He retired soon afterwards; he has now been one of the Pirates' radio and TV announcers for almost two decades.

Related Topics:
1972 - Nicaragua - Baseball Hall of Fame - 1973

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Stargell, speedy Omar Moreno and power-hitting but ostentatious and unpopular Dave Parker became the cornerstones of the Pirates as Murtaugh left and Chuck Tanner took over as manager in 1977. Adopting the then-popular disco anthem "We Are Family" as their theme song, the Pirates won a fifth World Series, again in seven games, in 1979.

Related Topics:
Omar Moreno - Dave Parker - Chuck Tanner - 1977 - Disco - World Series - 1979

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1980s & 1990s: the Leyland era and the decline

Following was a period of decline until the Pirates were regarded as the worst team in baseball during the mid-1980s. Jim Leyland took over as manager, and the Pirates gradually climbed out of the cellar behind young and exciting players such as "outfield of dreams" Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, and Andy Van Slyke; infielders Jay Bell and Jose Lind; and pitchers Doug Drabek and Stan Belinda.

Related Topics:
1980s - Jim Leyland - Bobby Bonilla - Barry Bonds - Andy Van Slyke - Jay Bell - Jose Lind - Doug Drabek - Stan Belinda

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The Pirates would win the first three division titles of the 1990s, but failed to advance to the World Series each time, the second two losing closely contested seven-game series to the Atlanta Braves on questionable calls at the end of the final games.

Related Topics:
1990s - World Series - Atlanta Braves

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Before the 1993 season, Bonds left for a more lucrative contract with his hometown San Francisco Giants. Both players complained about the preferential treatment given to fan favorite Van Slyke, although Bonilla flatly rejected Bonds's suggestion that racism was a motivating factor.

Related Topics:
1993 - San Francisco Giants - Racism

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Since then, the Pirates have not had a winning season. The closest to a winning team was the 1997 "Freak Show" team, which finished second in the NL Central, only being eliminated in the season's final week, despite having a losing record and a payroll of only $9 million. Their overall lack of success in the last decade have been blamed partly on former General Manager Cam Bonifay, who gave large contracts to players such as Derek Bell while failing to identify, develop, and retain numerous young potential star players. Despite poor play in 2001, Bell announced that he would begin "Operation Shutdown", a passive-aggressive ploy in which he would fail to play effectively in response to losing his role as a starter. No such incident has occurred with Jason Kendall, the most successful home-grown player from the late 1990s. Shortly after signing a large contract, Kendall broke his leg in a gruesome collision in 1999, and never regained his extra-base hitting ability. (Interestingly, video footage of Kendall's leg breaking from under him has been circulated on shock sites.)

Related Topics:
1997 - Cam Bonifay - Derek Bell - 2001 - Passive-aggressive - Jason Kendall - 1999 - Shock site

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The failure of the Pirates to compete in recent years has been blamed on "small market syndrome"; teams located in small cities such as Pittsburgh and Kansas City cannot compete with New York and Boston without a salary cap or similar agreement, as the better players tend to gravitate towards cities where teams generate more revenue, meaning larger salaries.

Related Topics:
Pittsburgh - Kansas City - New York - Boston - Salary cap

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2000-present: PNC Park years

The Pirates opened a new stadium, PNC Park, in 2001. Due to its simple, unpretentious concept and strategic usage of the remarkably beautiful Pittsburgh skyline, it is frequently regarded (as in a recent ESPN article) as currently the best park in baseball. Despite this, the Pirates' mediocre performance has translated to subpar attendance figures.

Related Topics:
PNC Park - 2001 - Pittsburgh - ESPN

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Current General Manager Dave Littlefield was installed midway through the 2001 season and began overhauling the team to comply with owner Kevin McClatchy's dictum to drastically reduce the payroll. Enigmatic but talented third baseman Aramis Ramirez was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2003 for a fairly minimal return under pressure to dump his $6 million salary for 2004, and he proceeded to become a star for the Cubs. Brian Giles was one of the National League's best hitters for several years, but he and his $9 million salary were also traded in 2003 to the San Diego Padres for youngsters Oliver Pérez, Jason Bay, and Cory Stewart. Pirate fans found this trade much more palatable in the short run, as Pérez led the majors in strikeouts per inning and Bay won the Rookie of the Year Award award in 2004, while Giles put up a subpar season by his standards. After the 2004 season, Kendall went to the Oakland Athletics in a cross-exchange of high-salary players. Though this rash of trades has not been popular in Pittsburgh, it is generally accepted that it can mostly be attributed to the aforementioned "small market syndrome." It is felt that Littlefield is attempting, with perhaps mixed success, to follow the blueprint created by overachieving small market teams such as the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins, often referred to as the moneyball approach, so-named after the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael M. Lewis. Illustrating the Pirates rebuilding efforts is the fact that at the close of the 2005 season, the team fielded the youngest roster in baseball, with an average age of 26.6. The next youngest team was the Kansas City Royals, with an average age of 27.1. The team also called-up 14 players from its Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, 12 of whom made their first major league appearance.

Related Topics:
Dave Littlefield - 2001 - Kevin McClatchy - Aramis Ramirez - Chicago Cubs - 2003 - 2004 - Brian Giles - National League - San Diego Padres - Oliver Pérez - Jason Bay - Cory Stewart - Strikeouts - Inning - Rookie of the Year Award - Oakland Athletics - Pittsburgh - Minnesota Twins - Moneyball - Michael M. Lewis - 2005 - Kansas City Royals - Indianapolis Indians

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