Pittsburgh Pirates



The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and play in the Central Division of the National League. The franchise has the honor of being 5 time World Series Champions.

The history of Pittsburg Pirates dates back to 1876 when Professional Baseball started in Pittsburgh. The teams of the era were run as a business organization but not affiliated with any organized league. In 1882, the Pittsburgh's baseball team joined the American Association as a founding member. After five average seasons in the A.A., the City became the first A.A. team to switch to the more respectable National League in 1887.

The 1901-1903 Pirates was the strongest team in the National League. However, they lost the first World Series ever played to Boston. Due to injuries to their starting pitchers, the Pirates couldn't make a mark. Deacon Phillippe pitched five complete games and won three of them. The Pirates continued to be a dominating team over the following few years with largely the same star players. In 1909, they were successful in getting their first World Series title in 1909 by defeating the Detroit Tigers in seven games.

Slugger Willie Stargell turned out to be a fixture in the Pittsburgh lineup in the late 1960s. The club returned to prominence in 1970 as they were successful in winning their first of five division titles over the next six years. They also won their fourth World Series in 1971. Steve Blass was their genuine superstar pitcher who pitched two excellent games in the World Series. Blass had excellent seasons in 1968 and 1972 seasons.

The Pirates also became the first Major League Baseball team to field an all-black starting lineup in 1971, consisting of Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillen, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernandez, and Dock Ellis.

Named after the mountain range in the region, the Pittsburgh Alleghenies was the original name of Pittsburgh's National League franchise. The locals argue that Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became Pittsburgh's northside after a 1907 invasion, was the tale behind the moniker. In the 1890s, the Franchise was referred to as the Pittsburgh Innocents.

Current general manager Dave Littlefield began overhauling the team to comply with owner Kevin McClatchy's dictum to drastically reduce the payroll. In 2003, talented third baseman Aramis Ramírez was traded to the Chicago Cubs 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. Bay won the Rookie of the Year Award award in 2004.

Pirate fans found this trade much more palatable in the short run, as Pérez led the majors in strikeouts per inning and, while Giles put up a subpar season by his standards. After the 2004 season, Jason 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."

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