| Pittsburgh Pirates |
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 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates season |
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Established in 1882 |
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| Current uniform |
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| Name |
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- Pittsburgh Pirates (1912–present)
- Pittsburg Pirates (1891–1911)
- Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1887–1890)
- Allegheny (1882–1886)
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| Other nicknames |
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- The Bucs, The Buccos, The Black and Gold
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| Ballpark |
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| Major league titles |
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| World Series titles (5) |
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| NL Pennants (9) |
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| Central Division titles (0) |
None |
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| East Division titles (9) |
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| Wild card berths (3) |
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| Front office |
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| Owner(s) |
Robert Nutting |
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| Manager |
Clint Hurdle |
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| General Manager |
Neal Huntington |
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| President of Baseball Operations |
Neal Huntington |
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The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Pirates play their home games at PNC Park; the team previously played at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium, the latter of which was named after its location near the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. Founded on October 15, 1881[1] as Allegheny, the franchise has won five World Series championships. The Pirates are also often referred to as the "Bucs" or the "Buccos" (derived from buccaneer, a synonym for pirate).
The franchise joined the NL in its eighth season in 1887 and was competitive from its early years, winning three NL titles from 1901 to 1903, playing in the inaugural World Series in 1903 and winning their first World Series in 1909 behind Honus Wagner. The Pirates have had many ups and downs during their long history, most famously winning the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees on a game-winning walk-off home run by Bill Mazeroski, the only time that Game 7 of the World Series has ever ended with a home run, still to this day. They also won the 1971 World Series, led by the talent of Roberto Clemente, and the 1979 World Series under the slogan "We Are Family", led by "Pops" Willie Stargell. Overall, the Pirates have won five World Series and lost two. (The Pirates have won nine NL pennants which implies 9 World Series appearances. However, the first two NL pennants they won, as stated above, were in 1901 and 1902, before the creation of the World Series.)
After a run of regular-season success in the early 1990s (winning three straight East Division titles), the Pirates struggled mightily over the following 20 years, with 20 consecutive losing seasons from 1993 to 2012—the longest such streak in North American professional sports history—before posting a winning record in 2013 of 94–68, qualifying them for the NL Wild Card. They would then advance to the NL Division Series round, where they lost in 5 games to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates would continue their success and make the playoffs in both 2014 and 2015, losing in the Wild Card Game both times.
Franchise history
Professional baseball has been played in the Pittsburgh area since 1876. The teams of the era were "independents", barnstorming throughout the region and not affiliated with any organized league, though they did have salaries and were run as business organizations.[2] On October 15, 1881, the strongest team in the area joined the American Association as a founding member to begin play in 1882.[1] Their various home fields in the 19th century were in a then-separate city called Allegheny City, across the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh. The team was listed as "Allegheny" in the standings, and was sometimes called the "Alleghenys" (not the "Alleghenies") in the same generic way that teams from Boston, New York, and Chicago were sometimes called the "Bostons", the "New Yorks", and the "Chicagos", in the sports writing style of that era. After five mediocre seasons in the A.A., Pittsburgh became the first A.A. team to switch to the older National League in 1887. At this time, the team renamed itself the Pittsburgh Alleghenys,[3] although Allegheny remained a separate city until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. At that time, owner-manager Horace Phillips sold the team to Dennis McKnight; Phillips stayed on as manager.[4]
Before the 1890 season, nearly all of the Alleghenys' best players bolted to the Players' League's Pittsburgh Burghers. The Players' League collapsed after the season, and the players were allowed to go back to their old clubs. However, the Alleghenys also scooped up highly regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, who had previously played with the AA's Philadelphia Athletics. Although the Athletics had failed to include Bierbauer on their reserve list, they loudly protested the Alleghenys' move. In an official complaint, an AA official claimed the Alleghenys' signing of Bierbauer was "piratical".[5] 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 contributed to the demise of the A.A. Although the Alleghenys were never found guilty of wrongdoing, they made sport of being denounced for being "piratical" by renaming themselves "the Pirates" for the 1891 season.[3] The nickname was first acknowledged on the team's uniforms in 1912. Around the time the team adopted the Pirates nickname, the United States Board on Geographic Names forced the city of Pittsburgh to undergo a controversial name change by having them drop the "h" at the end of the name, making the team's official name the "Pittsburg Pirates" from the adoption of the Pirates nickname until Pittsburgh was able to get the "h" restored to its name in 1911.
The Pirates were a strong team in the early 1900s, winning National League pennants from 1901–1903 and taking their first World Series title in 1909. They again won the NL in 1925 and 1927 and the World Series in 1925. After a slow period, they returned to dominance and won the 1960 World Series, 1971 World Series and 1979 World Series. They won Eastern Division titles from 1990–1992 but did not return to the post-season after that until 2013.
On Opening Day 2015 the Pirates' loss to the Cincinnati Reds represented its 10,000th franchise loss since moving to the NL. This made the Pirates the fourth MLB team to achieve this distinction, following the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs.[6] Their victory over the Colorado Rockies later in 2015 on September 24 made them the 7th team in MLB history to reach 10,000 wins.
Rivalries
Historical
Philadelphia Phillies
The rivalry between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pirates was considered by some to be one of the best rivalries in the National League.[7][8][9] The rivalry started when the Pittsburgh Pirates entered the NL in 1887, four years after the Phillies.[10]
The Phillies and the Pirates had remained together after the National League split into two divisions in 1969. During the period of two-division play (1969 to 1993), the two National League East division rivals won the two highest numbers of division championships, reigning almost exclusively as NL East champions in the 1970s and again in the early 1990s.[9][11][12] the Pirates nine, the Phillies six; together, the two teams' 15 championships accounted for more than half of the 25 NL East championships during that span.[11]
After the Pirates moved to the National League Central in 1994, the teams face each other only in two series each year and the rivalry has diminished.[8][9] However, many fans, especially older ones, retain their dislike for the other team, with regional differences between Eastern and Western Pennsylvania still fueling the rivalry.[13]
Within the Central Division
The Pirates have long-standing, albeit sometimes dormant, rivalries with their fellow NL Central Division teams, including the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers (with the The Sausage incident and the 'You can steal first' game) and the Chicago Cubs (with the Homer in the Gloamin' and most recently, the 2015 NL Wild Card game). The intensity of the rivalries often depend upon the competitiveness of the teams involved during that season.
Current roster
| Pittsburgh Pirates 2017 spring training roster |
| 40-man roster |
Non-roster invitees |
Coaches/Other |
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Pitchers
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
40 active, 0 inactive, 4 non-roster invitees
 7- or 10-day disabled list
* Not on active roster
† Suspended list
Roster, coaches, and NRIs updated December 17, 2016
Transactions
• Depth Chart
→ All MLB rosters
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Players
Baseball Hall of Fame
| Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famers |
| Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |
- Players and managers listed in bold are depicted on their Hall of Fame plaques wearing a Pirates or Alleghenys cap insignia.
- * – depicted on Hall of Fame plaque without a cap or cap insignia due to not wearing a cap or playing when caps had no insignia; Hall of Fame recognizes Pittsburgh as "Primary Team"
- † – inducted as Executives/Pioneers due in part to their contributions to baseball as executives with the Pirates; depicted on their plaques without a cap.
- 1 – inducted as player; managed Pirates or was player-manager
- 2 – inducted as manager; played for Pirates/Alleghenys or was player-manager
- 3 – inducted as umpire; played for Pirates/Alleghenys or was player-manager
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Ford C. Frick Award recipients
| Pittsburgh Pirates Ford C. Frick Award recipients |
| Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |
- Names in bold received the award based primarily on their work as broadcasters for the Pirates.
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Team captains
Retired numbers
- ↑ This was Wagner's uniform number only during his tenure as coach.
- ↑ Robinson's number is retired throughout all Major League Baseball
Franchise records
Won-loss records
- 100 Wins in a Season
- 100 Losses in a Season
- 1890 (23–113), Guy Hecker
- 1917 (51–103), Jim Callahan, Honus Wagner, and Hugo Bezdek
- 1952 (41–113), Billy Meyer
- 1953 (50–104), Fred Haney
- 1954 (53–101), Fred Haney
- 1985 (57–104), Chuck Tanner
- 2001 (62–100), Lloyd McClendon
- 2010 (57–105), John Russell
First-in-MLB accomplishments
- First ever Major League Baseball game broadcast on the radio, a game between the Pirates and the host Philadelphia Phillies aired August 5, 1921, on KDKA (AM) Pittsburgh. The Pirates won the game 8–5.
- In 1925, the Pirates became the first MLB team to recover from a 3-games-to-1 deficit in winning a best-of-seven World Series; they then became the first MLB team to repeat that feat in 1979.[14][15]
- During the 1953 season, the Pirates became the first team to permanently adopt batting helmets on both offense and defense. These helmets resembled a primitive fiberglass "miner's cap". This was the mandate of general manager Branch Rickey, who also owned stock in the company producing the helmets. Under Rickey's orders, all Pirate players had to wear the helmets both at bat and in the field. The helmets became a permanent feature for all Pirate hitters, but within a few weeks the team began to abandon their use of helmets in the field, partly because of their awkward and heavy feel. Once the Pirates discarded the helmets on defense, the trend disappeared from the game.[16] In 2014, Major League Baseball allowed pitchers to choose to wear a padded hat that aims to combine the added safety of a helmet with the comfort of a baseball cap.[17] The cap would prove widely unpopular, with only Alex Torres of the New York Mets choosing to wear it.[18]
- First franchise to win a World Series on a home run (1960 World Series) in the 7th game. The only other team to meet this feat is the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, though they accomplished it in game 6.
- In 1970 the Pirates became the first major league club to create their uniforms using a cotton-nylon blend featuring pull-over shirts and beltless pants.[19]
- The first all-minority lineup in MLB history took the field on September 1, 1971.[20] The lineup was Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillén, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernandez, and Dock Ellis.[21]
- The first World Series night game was played in Three Rivers Stadium on October 13, 1971 — eleven years to the day since Mazeroski's walk-off homer brought the Pirates their last World Series title in 1960. In this case, however, it was Game 4 between the Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles, rather than a decisive Game 7. Apparently, good things happen for the Pirates on this date, as they knotted the '71 Series at two games apiece on their way to their fourth title.
- The first MLB scout to win the "Scout of the Year Award", Howie Haak, in 1984, three additional scouts from the organization have subsequently won the award.
- The first combined extra inning no-hitter in MLB history took place at Three Rivers Stadium on July 12, 1997. Francisco Córdova (9 innings) and Ricardo Rincón (1 inning) combined to no-hit the Houston Astros, 3–0 in 10 innings. Pinch-hitter Mark Smith's three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning sealed the victory and the no-hitter for the Pirates. It remains the only such no-hitter to date.[22]
- In November 2008, the Pirates became the first MLB team to sign Indian players when they acquired the non-draft free agents of Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel.[23][24] This was also seen by Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, as "not only add[ing] two prospects to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market."[25]
- The Pirates are the first team in professional sports to have 20 consecutive losing seasons. This streak lasted from 1993 to 2012. This is the longest such streak in North American professional sports history.
- The Pirates are the first MLB team (as well as only second in major professional sports) to be owned by an openly gay owner, although Kevin McClatchy had already divested his shares in the Pirates when he openly announced his homosexuality in September 2012.
