Glory Days P ittsburgh joined the National League NL in 1887 The club was originally called the Alleghenys They actually played their first game five years earlier in 1882 That season Pittsburgh became a member of the American Association AA a rival league to the NL The team’s best player was Ed Swartwood He won the AA batting crown in 1883 By 1900 Barney Dreyfuss had bought the Pittsburgh club The team was now known as the Pirates though the name wasn’t originally meant as a compliment Pittsburgh got the nickname after people accused the club of stealing a player from another team Dreyfuss was a smart businessman He also owned an NL team in Louisville Kentucky Dreyfuss decided to shut down that club 6
but first he traded his best players to Pittsburgh Included in that deal were outfielder Fred Clarke and shortstop Honus Wagner the game’s greatest young star The Pirates won the pennant three years in a row starting in 1901 In 1903 they played in the first modern World Series and lost to the American League AL champions from Boston Six years later Pittsburgh won the championship That team defeated the Detroit Tigers in a showdown between Wagner and Ty Cobb the AL’s best player The Pirates took the NL pennant again in 1925 and 1927 Those clubs had strong hitters including Pie Traynor Kiki Cuyler and Glenn Wright and later the Waner brothers Paul and Lloyd Pittsburgh finished in second place five times in the years that followed but the team did not return to the World Series The Pirates sank to the bottom of the league in the 1950s The only reason many fans came to the ballpark was to watch the amazing power hitting of Ralph Kiner LEFT Honus Wagner slides home safely He was the NL’s best player in the early 1900s ABOVE Slugger Ralph Kiner appeared on a lot of magazine covers in the 1950s 7
By the 1960s the Pirates had rebuilt their club around good pitching and defense Vern Law Bob Friend and Roy Face were among the top pitchers in the league Roberto Clemente Bill Virdon Dick Groat and Bill Mazeroski were excellent fielders and provided dependable hitting The Pirates won the World Series in 1960 and had several more winning seasons during the decade In 1971 Clemente led a new group of stars to another pennant He teamed with Willie Stargell Manny Sanguillen Dave Cash Richie Hebner and Al Oliver to bring a fourth championship to Pittsburgh In 1979 it was Stargell’s turn to lead the team to the World Series Known to his younger teammates as Pops he played like a kid and his enthusiasm rubbed off on the Pirates and their fans With help from Bill Madlock and Dave Parker Pittsburgh danced its way to the championship to the beat of a popular disco song called We Are Family During the 1980s and 1990s building a winning team became more difficult for the Pirates They could not match the money LEFT Roberto Clemente ABOVE Willie Stargell 9
