The Best Players in Pittsburgh Pirates History, Position by Position
An all-time Pittsburgh Pirates lineup, rotation and bullpen picked from club career leaders, MVP and Cy Young winners and Hall of Famers, with the criteria stated and the close calls argued out.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a record that is exactly even after 144 seasons: 10,910 wins and 10,910 losses in the historical record through 2025. Behind that dead-level total sits one of the more remarkable collections of individual talent in the National League. Honus Wagner, Paul Waner, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Barry Bonds all wore the uniform, and the club has five World Series titles, in 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979.
The challenge of an all-time team is that Pittsburgh's stars are spread across a century and a half, so the picks have to compare a shortstop of 1905 with an outfielder of 1966. This article builds the team position by position, lays out the rules used to choose, and argues the close calls openly. It also says what the evidence cannot show: the historical record carries no wins above replacement, no defensive metrics and no park adjustments.
How the team was chosen
Four criteria decide each spot. The first is production with the Pirates only: a player's totals in other uniforms do not count, so a star who finished elsewhere is judged on his Pittsburgh years. The second is longevity, because the Hall of Fame players on the fact sheet range from four seasons in the franchise (Vic Willis, Jack Chesbro) to 21 (Willie Stargell), and someone who spent two decades in town has earned more weight than someone who passed through. The third is honors: the club has had eight Most Valuable Player awards, three Cy Young Awards and two Rookie of the Year winners. The fourth is championship fit, with a lean toward members of the title teams when two cases are close.
Two warnings apply to every choice. The first is era: the dead-ball hitters of the 1900s and the sluggers of the 1970s played under different conditions, so a .328 average in 1908 and a .317 average in 1968 are not directly comparable. The second is that the historical record has no way to separate a Gold Glove shortstop from a merely adequate one in the early decades, so the defensive case for any player rests on reputation rather than numbers.
| Position | Player | Seasons with the club | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Manny Sanguillen | 1967-1976, 1978-1980 | Two World Series teams (1971, 1979), 1,343 hits |
| 1B | Willie Stargell | 1962-1982 | 475 HR, 1,540 RBI, MVP 1979 |
| 2B | Bill Mazeroski | 1956-1972 | 2,016 H, 17 seasons, Hall of Fame |
| SS | Honus Wagner | 1900-1917 | 2,967 H, .328, 639 SB |
| 3B | Pie Traynor | 1920-1937 | 2,416 H, .320, 1,273 RBI |
| LF | Barry Bonds | 1986-1992 | MVP 1990 and 1992, 251 SB |
| CF | Andrew McCutchen | 2009-2025 | MVP 2013, 248 HR |
| RF | Roberto Clemente | 1955-1972 | 3,000 H, MVP 1966 |
| DH | Paul Waner | 1926-1940 | .340 average, MVP 1927 |
Catcher: Manny Sanguillen over Jason Kendall
Catcher is the one position where the franchise has no Hall of Famer to point to. The two best candidates are Manny Sanguillen and Jason Kendall. Sanguillen caught for the club in 12 seasons, and a year-by-year addition of his Pittsburgh seasons gives 1,343 hits. He hit .325 in 1970, .319 in 1971 and .328 in 1975, was an All-Star in 1971, 1972 and 1975, and was on the roster of both the 1971 and the 1979 championship clubs. His career average of .296 includes one season at Oakland in 1977.
Kendall played for the Pirates from 1996 to 2004, and the same addition gives him 1,409 hits, with averages of .327 in 1998, .332 in 1999, .320 in 2000, .325 in 2003 and .319 in 2004. He was an All-Star in 1996, 1998 and 2000. On pure hitting, the two are close; the edge in Kendall's favor is on-base ability, as his career on-base percentage of .366 is well above Sanguillen's .326. The tiebreaker here is the criterion about winning: Sanguillen played on the two Pirates teams that won a World Series in the 1970s, while Kendall played on none. That is team context, not a measure of individual quality, and a reader who prefers Kendall's walks has a defensible case.
First base: Willie Stargell
No Pirate hit more home runs, and no Pirate drove in more runs. Stargell's 475 home runs from 1962 to 1982 are 174 more than runner-up Ralph Kiner's 301, and his 1,540 RBI are 65 more than Honus Wagner's 1,475. He is also the club leader in walks with 937. He played 21 seasons for Pittsburgh, the most of any Hall of Famer in the franchise's history, and shared the Most Valuable Player award in 1979 with Keith Hernandez, the year the Pirates won the World Series.
He spent much of his early career in left field and moved to first base in his later years, so the position assignment here is a convenience: the lineup wants his bat, and first base is where it fits. Jake Beckley (eight seasons in the franchise) is the historical alternative, and Kiner is the pure slugger who deserves a place on the bench. Kiner hit 301 home runs in only eight seasons, from 1946 to 1953, and led the National League in home runs in each of his first seven.
Second base: Bill Mazeroski
Bill Mazeroski played 17 seasons for the Pirates, from 1956 to 1972, and collected 2,016 hits and 853 RBI, a modest line for a Hall of Famer that makes sense only with the glove included. The historical data does not measure it, but his reputation as one of the finest defensive second basemen the game has seen is a large part of the reason for the plaque. His most famous moment came in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, when his ninth-inning home run beat the New York Yankees and won the championship for Pittsburgh. The series ended 4-3 for the Pirates.
There is no serious rival at the position. The Pirates have had useful second basemen in other decades, but none who combined 17 seasons, a Hall of Fame election and a title-winning swing. That is a fine illustration of how an all-time team differs from a statistical leaderboard: Mazeroski does not appear in the top five of any club offensive category on the fact sheet, and he still gets the spot.
Shortstop: Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner is the easiest choice on the roster, and arguably the best player in the history of the franchise. In 18 seasons, from 1900 to 1917, he collected 2,967 hits, scored 1,521 runs, drove in 1,475 runs, hit .328 and stole 639 bases, the second-highest total in club history behind Max Carey's 688. The Pirates won the pennant in 1901, 1902, 1903 and 1909, and Wagner was the best hitter in the National League for most of that period. He was among the first five players elected to the Hall of Fame.
His average is the second highest among Pirates with 3,000 at-bats, behind only Paul Waner's .340. What makes the comparison unfair to everyone else is the position he played. A shortstop who produces like a first baseman has historically been the most valuable kind of player, and the best shortstop on the franchise's list after Wagner is Arky Vaughan, who hit .324 over 10 seasons and drew 778 walks, a Hall of Fame line that would win the starting job on most clubs. He is on the bench here.
Third base: Pie Traynor
Pie Traynor played 17 seasons for the Pirates, from 1920 to 1937, and collected 2,416 hits, 1,273 RBI and 1,183 runs, with a .320 career average. He is a Hall of Famer. His RBI total is fourth in club history, ahead of Paul Waner, and he did it at a position that normally produced fewer runs than the corner outfield.
Traynor's selection also illustrates the limit of the method. The fact sheet shows no other Pirates third baseman with a Hall of Fame résumé, and a player who spent 17 seasons with the club beats one who spent a few, even though no rule says he should. If you weigh peak over longevity, you could build a different third base, but the club-record lists give no obvious candidate.
Left field: Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds played seven seasons for Pittsburgh, 1986 through 1992, and won the Most Valuable Player award twice, in 1990 and 1992, while the club won three straight division titles from 1990 to 1992. He hit 176 home runs and stole 251 bases with the Pirates, and his stolen-base total ranks seventh in club history. He left for San Francisco after the 1992 season.
Seven seasons is short beside the 17 to 21 played by the Hall of Famers around him, and he had not yet hit most of the home runs that make his career famous. His selection is a bet on peak. Other claimants include Ralph Kiner, who is the franchise's runner-up in home runs, and Fred Clarke, who was a player-manager from 1900 to 1915 and scored 1,015 runs. The reason Bonds gets the spot is that two Most Valuable Player awards in seven seasons is the best peak at the position, and his later seasons in San Francisco are outside the scope of a Pirates team. Readers who want the whole career can look him up in the player database.
Center field: Andrew McCutchen
Andrew McCutchen debuted in 2009, won the Most Valuable Player award in 2013 and was the face of the Pirates' return to October in 2013, 2014 and 2015. His club totals, spanning 2009 to 2025 with a gap in the middle of his career, are 248 home runs, 875 RBI and 885 walks. He ranks third in the franchise in home runs and fourth in walks.
The historical alternative is Max Carey, who stole 688 bases with Pittsburgh, a club record, and collected 2,416 hits (tied for fourth in club history with Pie Traynor) over 17 seasons. Carey's case is the strongest, and it comes down to a decision: honor the running game and a longer career, or take the player with the MVP award and the power. McCutchen wins on honors and on being the central player on the Pirates clubs that reached the postseason in 2013, 2014 and 2015; Carey is the first name off the bench. The same logic puts Lloyd Waner, who collected 2,317 hits in 17 seasons, in reserve.
Right field: Roberto Clemente
Clemente is the franchise's symbol as much as its right fielder. He played 18 seasons, from 1955 to 1972, and finished with exactly 3,000 hits, 240 home runs and 1,305 RBI, and a .317 average. He won the Most Valuable Player award in 1966 and is a Hall of Famer. He recorded his 3,000th hit in the 1972 season, and he died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, while delivering relief supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake. His number is retired by the franchise and his name is on a humanitarian award that Major League Baseball gives each year.
On the field he was celebrated for his arm and his range in right, and he won 12 Gold Gloves and four batting titles. His 3,000 hits are the only 3,000-hit total in Pirates history, and Wagner's 2,967 are 33 short of it. He was on the roster of the 1960 champions and a star of the 1971 World Series, so he is tied to two of the five titles.
Designated hitter and bench
Paul Waner takes the DH slot. He played 15 seasons for the Pirates, from 1926 to 1940, and collected 2,868 hits, scored 1,493 runs and drove in 1,177. His .340 average with the club leads every Pirate with at least 3,000 at-bats, and he won the Most Valuable Player award in 1927, when Pittsburgh won the pennant. In another lineup he might be the right fielder.
The bench: Kendall behind the plate, Kiner and Parker in the outfield (Dave Parker hit 166 home runs for the club and won the MVP award in 1978), Carey and Lloyd Waner as additional outfielders, Vaughan at shortstop, and Fred Clarke as a player and a manager. A reader who prefers a pure outfield of Clemente, Waner and Bonds, with McCutchen in a platoon, would not be wrong.
The rotation
Pitching is where the era problem is sharpest. The club's win leaders pitched in the early 1900s and the 1910s, when complete games were routine, and the modern game gives starters fewer decisions. Five starters make the cut: Bob Friend, Wilbur Cooper, Babe Adams, Sam Leever and Vern Law.
Wilbur Cooper is the club's career wins leader with 202, from 1912 to 1924, with an earned run average of 2.74 and 33 shutouts. Babe Adams won 194 games between 1907 and 1926, led the franchise with 44 shutouts and appeared in 481 games. Sam Leever also won 194, from 1898 to 1910, with a 2.47 ERA and 39 shutouts. Bob Friend pitched 15 seasons from 1951 to 1965, won 191 games, struck out 1,682 batters (the club record) and appeared in 568 games.
Vern Law won 162 games and the Cy Young Award in 1960 with a 20-9 record, then won 17 games in 1965 with a 2.15 earned run average and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. His 1960 season helped the Pirates reach the World Series that Mazeroski ended. Those five are the choice, though Deacon Phillippe (168 wins, 2.50 ERA), Vic Willis (a 2.08 ERA in four seasons, the lowest among Pirates with at least 1,000 innings) and Bob Veale (1,652 strikeouts) all have claims.
Two more modern names are worth recording. Doug Drabek won the Cy Young Award in 1990 with a 22-6 record and a 2.76 ERA. Paul Skenes won the Rookie of the Year award in 2024 with a 1.96 ERA over 133.0 innings and the Cy Young Award in 2025 with a 1.97 ERA, 216 strikeouts and a 10-10 record. That last line is a good lesson in why wins are a poor measure of a pitcher: a 10-10 record and a 1.97 ERA belong to the same season. He has only two seasons in the books, which is too few for the all-time rotation, but he is the most interesting future entry in this list.
The bullpen
The relievers are easier. Roy Face saved 188 games and appeared in 802, the most of any Pirate, between 1953 and 1968. In 1959 he went 18-1 while throwing only 93 1/3 innings, a line that still looks like a misprint. Kent Tekulve saved 158 and pitched in 722 games from 1974 to 1985, with a career ERA of 2.68 for the club. Mike Williams (140 saves), Dave Giusti (133) and Mark Melancon (130) are the other closers, with David Bednar (101 saves from 2021 to 2025) the most recent. Face closes, Tekulve sets up, and Giusti and Melancon share the middle innings.
The manager
Fred Clarke managed the club from 1900 to 1915 and won 1,422 games against 969 losses, about .595, in 2,427 games. His teams won the pennants of 1901, 1902 and 1903 and the 1909 World Series, and he was a Hall of Fame outfielder. Danny Murtaugh (1,115-950, 1957 to 1976) won the 1960 and 1971 World Series, and his case is the best alternative, because winning two championships with the roster of the day required a different kind of skill. Clarke gets the job for his winning percentage and the length of his run, but the choice between him and Murtaugh is close. Jim Leyland, Chuck Tanner and Clint Hurdle round out the club's managers with at least 1,300 games.
What the numbers cannot settle
Three honest limits. First, The historical record has no WAR, so a ranking of Clemente against Wagner rests on awards and career totals, and anyone who wants wins above replacement has to find it elsewhere. Second, the Negro Leagues are not part of this team: Pittsburgh was also the home of the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, but those clubs were separate franchises, and their stars are not in the Pirates' record. Third, era: the dead-ball hitters of the early century faced different baseballs, ballparks and rules than the 1970s sluggers, so the cross-era leaderboard (Wagner, Waner, Clemente, Stargell) is a comparison of ranks within the sport at the time as much as of raw totals.
Common questions
Who is the best Pirate ever? The choice is usually between Honus Wagner and Roberto Clemente. Wagner's 18 seasons, 2,967 hits and .328 average make the case on numbers, and Clemente's 3,000 hits, MVP award and the cultural weight of his career make the case on legacy.
How many World Series have the Pirates won? Five, in 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979, as the historical record shows.
Who holds the franchise home run record? Willie Stargell, with 475.
Has a Pirate won the Cy Young Award? Three have: Vern Law in 1960, Doug Drabek in 1990 and Paul Skenes in 2025.
Where to go next
For the full story, read the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the club's best seasons and October runs. The home park is covered in the PNC Park guide, and their National League Central neighbors in the histories of the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers. The live record and schedule are on the Pirates team page.