50 Fun Facts About Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates nickname arose after the club signed which second baseman in a 'piratical' move?

The Philadelphia Athletics had forgotten to put him on their reserve list; newspapers ran with 'Pirates' from 1891.

Before becoming the Pirates, the club was known by what name from its 1882 founding?

It was chartered as the Allegheny Base Ball Club of Pittsburgh and played across the river in a then-separate city.

Pittsburgh acquired Honus Wagner from which club being eliminated when the NL contracted?

The player deals were separate transactions rather than a merger, but they made the Pirates the class of the league by 1901.

The Pirates lost the first modern World Series in 1903 to which team?

It was played at wooden Exposition Park, a site now marked by a sunken steel home plate in a parking lot.

The Pirates' first World Series title, in 1909, came against which team led by Ty Cobb?

The two clubs are now interleague 'natural rivals' partly because of that Series.

Honus Wagner's nickname was what?

It referenced his German heritage and speed; he won a joint-record eight NL batting titles.

In 2021 a T206 Honus Wagner card sold for roughly how much, then the second-most ever for a card?

It remains one of the rarest cards in existence, reputedly because Wagner objected to promoting tobacco.

The Pirates' 1925 title made them the first team in North American sports to do what?

Two years later they were swept by the Murderers' Row Yankees.

Which slugger led the NL in home runs in seven straight seasons for Pittsburgh from 1946 to 1952?

He later spent more than 50 years as a Mets broadcaster.

Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series-winning homer came off which Yankees pitcher?

It remains the only Game 7 in World Series history to end with a home run.

Bill Mazeroski was renowned defensively for what?

He won eight Gold Gloves at second base and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

Roberto Clemente was born in which Puerto Rican town?

He was a track and field star and Olympic hopeful before committing to baseball.

Roberto Clemente's 3,000th and final regular-season hit was a double off which Mets pitcher?

It came on September 30, 1972, in his final regular-season at-bat; he died three months later.

Roberto Clemente died on New Year's Eve 1972 flying earthquake relief to which country?

His chartered DC-7 crashed off Isla Verde, Puerto Rico; he was 38.

How many consecutive Gold Gloves did Roberto Clemente win from 1961 to 1972?

He also won four batting titles and the 1966 NL MVP.

On September 1, 1971, the Pirates became the first team to field what kind of starting lineup?

That team went on to beat the favoured Orioles in the World Series behind Clemente's bat.

The Pirates beat which team in both the 1971 and 1979 World Series?

Both times Pittsburgh won Game 7 on the road, the last team to do so until the 2014 Giants.

The Pirates' 1970s sluggers Stargell, Parker and Al Oliver were collectively nicknamed what?

The name played on the club's timber-heavy bats and Pittsburgh's blue-collar image.

Which disco hit did the 1979 Pirates adopt as their theme song?

Sister Sledge's anthem fit a clubhouse led by 'Pops' Stargell, who handed out stars for players' caps.

In 1979 Willie Stargell became the only player ever to win which three awards in one season?

He shared the regular-season MVP with Keith Hernandez, and at 38 was the oldest World Series MVP.

The Pirates' colours of black and gold, adopted in 1948, were taken from what?

The Pirates, Steelers and Penguins now all share the city's colours, unique among American cities.

After the National League's 1976 centennial, the Pirates alone permanently adopted what item?

They alternated black and gold versions and wore four different uniform combinations in the 1979 World Series.

The Pirates' mascot, the Pirate Parrot, 'hatched' at the ballpark on what date in 1979?

He was inspired by the Phillie Phanatic and originally looked thinner and meaner, in full pirate garb.

The Great Pierogi Race at Pirates games features Sauerkraut Saul, Cheese Chester and whom?

The race began in 1999 at the old stadium; Oliver Onion and Bacon Burt joined later.

Which outfielder did the Pirates draft sixth overall in 1985 and lose to free agency after 1992?

He won two MVPs in Pittsburgh, and his throw home in the 1992 NLCS was a moment too late.

The Pirates were one out from the 1992 World Series when which slow-footed Brave scored the winning run?

Cabrera's pinch single and a late throw to catcher Mike LaValliere ended Pittsburgh's last pennant chance for decades.

The Pirates posted losing records in how many straight seasons from 1993 to 2012, a record?

The streak outlasted the opening of PNC Park by more than a decade.

Which outfielder won the 2013 NL MVP as the Pirates finally returned to the playoffs?

They beat Cincinnati in the Wild Card Game, still their only postseason series win since 1979.

The Pirates' home since 2001 sits on the banks of which river?

Fans walk over from downtown on a bridge renamed for Clemente as a consolation after the park took a bank's name.

PNC Park's right-field wall is exactly how many feet high, matching Roberto Clemente's uniform number?

Statues of Clemente, Stargell, Mazeroski and Wagner stand at the park's entrances.

PNC Park was the first two-deck ballpark built in the U.S. since which venue opened in 1953?

The highest seat is just 88 feet above the field, and the batter is closer to the seats behind him than to the pitcher.

The Pirates' home from 1909 to 1970, the first three-tiered steel-and-concrete park, was called what?

Owner Barney Dreyfuss 'hated cheap home runs' and made the field huge; Babe Ruth's last three homers still flew out of it.

Which multipurpose venue did the Pirates share with the Steelers from 1970 to 2000?

It was demolished the winter after the Pirates' last game there on October 1, 2000.

LECOM Park in Bradenton, the Pirates' Florida base since 1969, opened in 1923 and is the oldest what?

Formerly McKechnie Field, LECOM Park is also the third-oldest stadium used by any big-league team, after Fenway and Wrigley.

Which pitcher, drafted first overall in 2023, started the 2024 All-Star Game as a rookie for the Pirates?

He was only the fifth rookie ever to start the Midsummer Classic and had won a College World Series at LSU the year before.

The Pirates' 2023 City Connect jersey carries which three-letter abbreviation on the chest?

Its design elements include an inverted Y for the three rivers and the diamond star of the Steelmark logo.

The Pirates' biggest divisional rival, whom they have met six times in the postseason, is which team?

The two clubs hit each other with a lot of pitches in the 2010s, and the cities' football rivalry carries over.

The Pirates' pre-1994 rivalry with which Pennsylvania club dominated the NL East?

The Pirates took nine of them, the most in the division's history.

Which pitcher, later a Pirates broadcaster, starred on the mound in the 1971 World Series win?

His name later became shorthand for a pitcher's sudden loss of control after his career collapsed in 1973.

The Pirates' 1979 season saw a Pittsburgh player win MVP of the All-Star Game; who was it?

That year a Pirate won every MVP award available, four in all.

The Pirates' overall record from 1882 through 2025 was exactly what?

A perfect .500; their 10,000th loss came on Opening Day 2015.

PNC Park cost roughly how much to build, mostly with public money?

Opponents labelled the funding plan 'Scam B'; the Pirates pledged $40M themselves.

The biggest crowd in PNC Park history, 40,889, saw the Pirates lose 4-0 in which contest?

Jake Arrieta shut them out, ending a 98-win season in one night.

Which executive was brought in during the early 1950s to rebuild the Pirates into the 1960 champions?

The Mahatma had already built the Cardinals' farm system and integrated the Dodgers with Jackie Robinson.

Who was the Pirates' star third baseman of the 1920s?

He, Carey and Cuyler carried the club to the 1925 title after the 51-103 disaster of 1917.

In what year did the Pirates' nickname first appear on their uniforms, down the placket?

The name did not return to the jerseys until 1933, and 'Pittsburgh' first appeared on the road grays in 1942.

Most of the Alleghenys' stars defected in 1890 to which Players' League club?

The Players' League collapsed after one season and the players were allowed to return to their old clubs.

Who became MLB's first African-American manager on September 21, 1963, filling in for Danny Murtaugh?

Murtaugh himself fielded the first all-minority starting lineup in MLB history on September 1, 1971.

Which South African became the first African-born MLB player when the Pirates promoted him in 2017?

He was called up from the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians on April 26, 2017.

Which Pirates broadcaster, nicknamed 'The Gunner', became lead play-by-play man in 1955?

Prince joined Rowswell in the booth in 1947 and his nearly 30-year run coincided with the club's rise.